Page 12 of The Banning of Bath Bombs
“Da. Is good. I will find them soon.”
Remi sent a screen over to Declan’s workstation so he could see what she was doing, which was quite impressive. She was a natural, her fingers moving at speeds he’d thought only Kit could achieve. The flickering of screens wasn’t from a computer glitch, but from how fast she was accessing, observing, and dismissing different windows, switching tasks faster than most could comprehend.
A moment later, he saw Ivan hand Kit and Gun a box. They placed tiny buds into their ears and in the next breath, he could hear Kit’s sweet tenor. “I’m going to murder the next person who coughs in my face.”
“Aww, baby. It wasn’t that bad. He only did it once.”
Declan shuddered because, no. Absolutely not. He agreed with Gunnar wholeheartedly—germs were not allowed.
“We are on the move,” Ivan announced. “We will keep communication lines open.”
“Roger,” Remi said, all business.
“So what kind of fuckery did Master Declan get into while we were flying across half the country?” Kit asked, the bustling noise of the airport changing to the car’s quiet interior. Declan heard seatbelts zing from the reels and click into place. Then he barely heard anything else from the vehicle. It must be an amazing model to cut out all background noise. Declan would have to inquire about the car when things were settled…if he could remember later.
“He tried to make a computer sentient,” Remi chirped.
“He didwhat?” Gunnar asked gravely. “Did he succeed?”
“No. Uncle K squashed it before the spell finished…I think.”
Declan made not a single sound, not even a minuscule movement. If he remained quiet and still as death, they wouldn’t remember he was there.
“You…youthink?”
“Uncle K snatched the plugs out of the power strip before anything went screwy, so pretty sure. But we’ll send over any repair bills if we need to murder a computer.”
“No! MY BABY!” Declan cried. “How could you?”
Five people sighed in unison, and Declan sat back, afraid someone would start yelling at him again.
Okay, then. Perhaps he was being a tad dramatic. But only a tad!
“I swear,” Kit started, “if you get into any more mischief, I will send back every single book you have purchased in the last forty-five days and keep the refunds for myself and Gun to have a vacation in Spain.”
Declan gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try. Me.”
“I am offended!” Declan tried his best to sound pitiful.
“Be offended,” Kit snipped back. “In fact, get a cape and be Super Fucking Offended, but for the love of god, no more magic until we’re home. Okay?”
With a sigh, Declan agreed, “Fine.”
These people had no imagination.
The next day, Declan felt miserable, packed between two grumbling vampires who were bitchy because they hated flying during the day. Declan hated it too. Couldn’t they have at least bought them first class seats? Even business class would have worked. But this? They were crammed into the flying sardine can. Meanwhile, the child behind him kicked his seat, and his knees were pressed right up against the seat in front of them. How was this any different from a flying coffin?
Skin crawling, he gripped his armrests, gritted his teeth, and prayed it would be a short trip.
Wordlessly, Gunnar handed him two books. With a blink, he took them, eyeing the covers, and realized they were follow-up books to the one K had given him last night.
“Reading material for the flight,” Gunnar informed him. “From K.”
His attitude about the whole flight changed on a dime. “Perfect! I think we need other textbooks, don’t you? These are fascinating.”
“Master, we need more books like a dog needs more fleas.”
