Page 110 of The Empire and the Wolf King

Then Zach stood. “No one stop me. I know I’m not supposed to do anything, I must be waited on, but if we don’t have a round of beers we’re going to be drunk off my arse.” He hiccuped, laughed, and went into the house.

Magnus shook his head. “How long did we keep him from the kitchen?”

Emma said, “It was a valiant effort, but lasted about an hour.”

Fraoch said, “Tis where he is lord, he must rule over it.”

We all raised our glasses again, but then Zach returned with a case of beer and a pitcher of what he called Party Punch, a nonalcoholic juice.

Hayley said, “Hey, how come you don’t serve us Party Punch after a jump? Why go-go juice? Party Punch tastes much better.”

“It’s much better because it has mounds of sugar in it, go-go juice is specially made to be vitamin heavy and... gah!” He waved his hand. “Just drink your juice. Just accept that I have concoctions that are specially made and I know best. When I pass everyone a juice...” He popped a cap off a beer bottle and tipped it up taking a swig. “What do you say?”

Quentin joked, “Yes, sir. It tastes terrible, sir, thank you, sir.”

Chef Zach said, “See, Quentin gets me!”

I said, “Now where were we...?”

Hayley spoke, “I said ‘History is settled’ and was told to wheesht and not to tempt fate, is that what you mean?”

I said, “I agree with the wheesht — no talking about the big scheme of things, not when everything seems good — it feels settled. We’re surrounded by twinkly lights and barbecue, babies sleeping, a baby about to be born... let’s not discuss the history of the world.”

Hayley said, “I’m sorry I said it. Now, looking around at everyone, that seems like a downward turn, who wants that? Not me! I ate a fine dish of barbecue, let’s just digest.”

Lochie said, “But...”

Magnus groaned. “What, Lochinvar?”

“Nothin’, just daena like the idea of becomin’ soft.”

Fraoch scoffed. “We arna soft.” He tried to pop the cap off a beer and accidentally nicked his thumb, winced, and sucked it for a minute. “Daena look at me.”

Lochie said, “We canna be soft, we must keep aware of our surroundings.”

Quentin nodded. “Totally agree.”

Lochie said, “We hae tae keep a clear eye when we look around at the timeline, make certain we arna missin’ something.”

Magnus exhaled. “Aye, tis true. We must always be watchful.”

Hayley said, “Well, that’s a downer. I notice no one toldyouto wheesht.”

Beaty returned, holding Noah.

I asked, “Did Jack wake?”

“Nae, he’s fast asleep.”

She sat down with Noah in her lap. Quentin kissed her cheek and the top of Noah’s wee head. Mookie dropped down to his side by her chair with a grunt.

I asked, “What would be a good way to keep aware of our surroundings?—?”

The security guard up on the roof said, “Sir, there’s a storm.”

Zach jumped up from his chair and rushed into the kitchen and came back with his monitor while Magnus and Fraoch both rose from their seats.

Zach said, “Looks like your mom.”

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