Page 84 of Myths and Shifts

“I have heard your debate.” Toman wasn’t nearly as confused as he should’ve been. “We have not found an origin species on our world, so we were assuming they came from here?”

Interesting.

“Have you found ways to keep them out of your homes?”

And that was how you stunned a room full of mages and dragons completely stupid.

Chapter 24

Merritt

Life was just getting better and better.

I had a Daddy for a mate and a new friend who knew about dinosaurs.

“Lorne is going to really hate that he refused to come.” Kenzie did a little happy dance in his seat that broke the tension. “Please continue so that I can brag later.”

I tried not to laugh…I really did.

Daddy rolled his eyes. “We’re staying on track.”

Did that mean we weren’t going to get dinosaur answers?

Toman looked around the room. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to stick to the original list of questions or deviate as new ones come up.”

Oh…he had a point.

Daddy looked like he wanted to groan, and a mix of frustration and curiosity was coming through the bond. “The original list. Then we’re going to have a logical conversation about what to do next.”

“I want to hear about the dinosaurs.” Florida Man, as Daddy called him, looked ready to go all Florida Man about that one. “You don’t always get to decide how we debate things.”

“You wanted to turn it into a theme park.” Daddy’s glare said what he thought about that idea. “I don’t care if you were right about the dinosaur part. That doesn’t fix your stupidity.”

I was going to have to talk to Daddy about manners again, but for the time being, I rested my hand on his leg and got a very clearI apologizein my head.

The stronger bond made me want to do a happy dance and I didn’t bother trying to hide that from him. It had Daddy pressing his lips together as he worked to keep his stoic expression. “Does anyone want to debate the order of the meeting?”

Yes.

The answer was yes.

After about five minutes of everyone nearly shouting at each other and at Toman, Daddy looked over at Boyd and gave him ayou’re itkind of look. I was pretty sure Boyd had been hoping they’d wear themselves out like angry toddlers, but it didn’t seem like that plan was going to work in the time we had available.

“We’re done.” Somehow he made the words echo through the room like a movie wizard instead of the mage that he was.

Kenzie’s eyes went wide with excitement and even Wren clapped, but the rest of the room was stunned silent as Boyd gave them a bored look like they were beneath him.

I was pretty sure it turned Daddy on, but it was impressive, so I didn’t mind.

“This chaos will stop or all of you will be sent home with an explanation that you can’t perform under pressure.” Boyd might not have meant that the way it sounded but the men all winced and the women in the room were trying not to laugh.

“Questions will be submitted in writing.” Boyd seemed to have used the chaos to plan out something logical, so I was curious to see what he would say. “Someone will be picked to interview Toman and provide the answers to everyone.”

Quiet grumbles went around the room but no one interrupted yet, so Boyd seemed to take that as permission to continue to be an angry badass. “You will all grow up or get out. Yes, we made some mistakes in not monitoring the portal, but we’re working on rectifying that. Nearly all of you have been useless or worse than useless and have actually hindered decision-making.”

He looked at Florida Man when he said that, but all of the visitors got a firm glare. “Yes, the situation has changed and has gotten more complicated, but that’s why you need to function. You were sent as representatives of your local councils and you look more dysfunctional than us.”

It was hard to imagine that being true…yet it was.

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