Page 66 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“I’m pleased to see that you can speak English again,” Leland sarcastically comments.

“The lasses and lads love my accent. Don’t be jealous, ya weasel.”

“Oh, you were trying to seduce her? She just looked confused,” Leland says.

Tavish leans into me. “It was sexy, eh?”

Everyone in the room turns to look at me, and I feel like my face grows a bit red at the attention. “Umm… yes?”

Leland snorts, and now I feel a bit bad.

“It really was?” I toss out, afraid I’m going to make Tavish feel bad if he thinks I was lying.

“Why do you keep answering with a question?” Cassel asks.

“My brain has been overworked,” I settle on. “And instead of breaking into his office, why don’t we wait until he gets here to talk to him?” I ask, unsure why we’d resort right to what has to be an illegal move.

“I’m with Tavish,” Cassel says. “If I can get onto his computer, I might be able to figure something out.”

“Why don’t we wait until he arrives?” Jackson suggests. “Then while we’re talking to him, Cassel, you go get on his computer. That way we can alert you when he’s heading your way.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll be patient.”

The group of us sit down in the swivel chairs that surround the large rectangular table.

“I should have gotten that coffee,” Tavish grumbles, evidently bored after having been here for a grand total of five minutes.

“I’m not sure they would have understood what you wanted even if you asked for it,” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“Itwasa bit hard to understand,” I tell him.

“Huh. Fine, fine, I won’t lay it on as thick next time.” He swivels his chair around and scoots over to a window. “I’m glad I don’t work a stuffy job like this… but I do like the view.”

“Itisa nice view,” I agree as I get up. I’m honestly not sure how much longer I can convince myself to sit, and this seems like a good excuse to be up and doing something.

Tavish spins his chair around for a moment before stopping to look at me. “Are your parents really worth all of this?”

“What?” I ask, confused by the question.

“Well, I kind of feel like a lot of what you’re doing stems from the fact you want to keep your mom and sister safe, and you want to know what happened to your father. Is it really worth that?”

The question seems odd to me. Of course my family is worth this. “Yeah, of course. I mean, I’m not quite sure I’m doing anything of use so far, but I really want to keep them safe.”

Tavish leans back in his chair and kicks his feet up on the decorative board below the window.

“You’re not close to your family?” I guess.

“HA! You’re hilarious. I wouldn’t pick up a fucking rock lying in the middle of the sidewalk to save my parents.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Leland mutters. “I’d actually add more rocks to it. Or start throwing rocks at them. Help them along into the afterlife a bit faster.”

“I think Jackson’s the only one who has parents he’s close to,” Cassel explains.

“Ava’s not a parent. She’s a gargoyle,” Leland says.

Jackson sighs. “My mother is not a gargoyle. You two have been getting along so well lately. She actually asked to have lunch with you again sometime.”

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