Page 69 of Wolfgang

In less than a minute, he and Jay were settled side by side, giggling over whatever over-the-top comic-book violence they were reading.

“Okay, yeah,” Eric conceded, smiling at Danny. “The comics were a really good idea.”

“Psh. Duh,” Danny said happily. “But, um, speaking of good ideas…what exactly are we going to do? We’re all pretty well known in this town. It would be awfully conspicuous if we suddenly had, like, a half-feral ward. And Jay barely looks old enough to drink, let alone have a ten-year-old son.”

Jay looked up from his comic. “Technically I wasn’t. Old enough to drink, that is. When I was turned.”

“You, on the other hand.” Danny pointed a finger at Wolfe. “You’re new here.”

“I will not be raising a child,” Wolfe said firmly, his eyes focused on Riley’s dirty hands all over his kitchen table.

A wave of relief washed through Eric. Riley seemed…fine? But it was going to be enough of a challenge, keeping Wolfe in line for the next eternity, without the added pressure of throwing a child into the mix.

Danny looked a little shocked by the refusal, which was kind of funny, considering who he’d just asked. “But—”

“I think you’ll like my solution just fine, Nurse Danny. It should be here in about two hours. Plenty of time to get this creature a little more presentable.”

Riley scowled at Wolfe over his comic book.

Wolfe inclined his chin. “Yes, I’m talking about you. And you can’t take the comic into the bath. It will get soggy.”

Johann shuffled through the comics, selecting one out of the pile. “You can take this one. Colin has two copies, and he said you could have this one for keeps. So it’s okay if it gets a little soggy.”

Riley grinned triumphantly at Wolfe, as if to say,See?Wolfe looked askance at Johann. “Does this human manager of yours actually know there’s a vampire child in town?”

Johann didn’t even look up from his comic. “Why, was it a secret?”

Wolfe pinched the bridge of his nose. “Two more hours,” he muttered. “Just two more hours.”

twenty-one

Wolfe

Wolfe’ssolutionshowedupright on time. And it actually knocked like a civilized person, unlike the two miscreants playing Go Fish with a freshly bathed Riley on Wolfe’s elegant coffee table not suitable at all for children.

But manners apparently stopped short there, because Wolfe barely had the door open before Daphne—dark eyes shining like he’d never seen—sailed past him into the house without so much as a hello. “Is he here? Did he agree?”

Wolfe nodded to Sybil—still on his doorstep, dressed in a formfitting velvet wrap dress just this side of decent—who shot him a wink in return. “She’s a bit overexcited about the whole situation.”

They followed the clacking of Daphne’s platforms to the sitting room. She’d paused in the doorway, her hand on the doorframe. “Well, hello there, little one.”

Riley only threw her a mistrustful look from his seat on the floor, his muscles tensing as if to fleeagain, but Johann shot up immediately. “Daphne!” He rushed to embrace her, arms held wide, as if she were a long-lost sister rather than an acquaintance met only a handful of times.

Such a sentimental little thing.

But the warm welcome seemed to appease the skittish child, who unclenched his muscles and took the opportunity to peek at Johann’s cards. He was decent enough looking now that he’d been bathed, Wolfe supposed. There was certainly a sort of elfin charm there, when he wasn’t snarling or beheading squirrels.

But enough charm to entice a pair of would-be mothers?

Johann peered around Daphne’s form—for once, he wasn’t the shortest in the room, platform shoes or not—and his eyes lit up in delight. “And Sybil!”

Wolfe was forced to bear witness to more hugging, more enthusiastic reassurances of affection. It was, frankly, over the top.

“Well?” Wolfe asked when all the fawning was over, gesturing to Riley. Impatience was getting the best of him, and he was struggling to rein it in. He wanted this situation over with. He wanted all these people out of his house. And he wanted Ericalone, preferably on all fours, being fucked within an inch of his life.

Sybil cocked a mocking brow, her hand on the nape of Daphne’s neck. “You’re not going to rush us, Wolfgang. Not with this.”

Johann looked at the women with dawning comprehension, his gray eyes going wide. “Oh.You’rethe solution.” He turned back to Riley and Danny, who for his part was looking cautious but hopeful. “So, Riley, maybe we should go finish our game upstairs. Let the grown-ups talk.”

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