Page 7 of How to Hide Your Angel Kid

He frowned as he left. Car doors slammed; there came the sounds of Mav and Telos bickering about something.

Wren hurried into the backyard. He was a small, thin mage, and the moment he saw Pinks, he rushed over. “Where’s your baby?”

“In the house, safe.” Pinks glanced at the window and tried not to roll his eyes. “I wasn’t going to investigate and risk her at the same time.”

“You shouldn’t have left the house at all,” Ace said.

Pinks glowered at Galent. “Forgive me if I didn’t know statues could come alive. I was already out of the house when he moved.”

“You went to check out a statue that wasn’t in your backyard the day before? That is full of horror movie vibes,” Raptor said dryly. “What did you think was going to happen?”

“I promise I’m not a serial killer,” Galent said, staring intently at Pinks. “But Iamunder a curse. I turn into a statue at the most inopportune times.”

“In bed?” Raptor smirked.

Ace elbowed his brother. “Gives a whole new meaning to ‘rock-hard’.”

“Oh, oh!” Raptor perked up. “I don’t suppose this is like The Frog Prince. Where you have to kiss Galent’s ugly mug to break the curse.”

“Better yet. Kiss his rock-hard cock.” Ace waggled his eyebrows.

“Withwhatpart of your body?” Raptor laughed. “And do you have to kiss it with theoutsideof your body, or theinside?”

Pinks was definitelynotthinking about any of that.

Galent groaned, his ears turning pink. But he glanced at Pinks. “I had not thought to try... touching someone.”

“I’m not volunteering,” Pinks spluttered, backing away.

He was thinking up more things to yell at Galent, when Wren dragged him over to the safehouse and tested the doorknob. “Could you unlock the door?”

What did Wren have to say, that he couldn’t in front of the other men? Curious now, Pinks stroked the lock and whispered to it, “Hey, it’s me. Could you let us in?”

The jagged mouth of the keyhole curved into a smile, and Pinks inserted his key.

Wren tugged him deeper into the house—as though Galent couldn’t hear them anyway. When they were far enough from the backyard, Wren stopped, peering at Pinks. “Did he hurt you?”

“He was... very nice about everything.” Suspiciously nice.

“But your phone’s GPS died!”

A blush crept up Pinks’ cheeks. “I, uh. I threw my phone at him. It broke.”

To Wren’s credit, he didn’t probe for details. The mage studied Pinks carefully, looking relieved. “I’m glad you’re fine.”

Pinks grimaced. “I don’t trust him, even if everyone else seems to. He wants something from me.”

“What does he want?”

“He says Zarrie can lift his curse, and he wants to borrow her.”

Wren glanced at the next room, where Zarrie sounded like she was smacking her pillow. “Huh.”

“Can you try lifting his curse?” Pinks pleaded. “I don’t want him to take her away for any amount of time.”

Wren squared his shoulders. “I’ll try.”

In the backyard, Galent was red-faced, scowling with his arms folded. Ace, Raptor, and Fang—Wren’s mate—were all standing in a row, holding up sheets of paper with large numbers on them.

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