Page 42 of Destined for Dreams
“Bring the woman to me now and take the vampire to the dungeon at the house. I’ll deal with him later,” Derrick said.
She nodded. “Whatever you want, boss.”
“And Kariann…” He gave her a stern look. “Don’t be bringin’ messes like this to holiday dinners no more. Call me instead.”
“Now where would be the fun in that?” she asked with a saucy grin.
“I mean it,” he snarled.
She sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
No doubt it had to be hard to take orders from someone centuries younger than her, but she didn’t have aspirations to be a leader. That left her with serving others—even if she didn’t always like it.
Kariann went back outside and a moment later carried in a curvy woman, who was slumped unconscious in her arms. The female victim was deathly pale with long, dark hair falling almost to the floor. Lucas, having joined the group in the foyer in the last few minutes, stepped up to take the poor woman while Derrick handed the vampire to Kariann.
“Get him out of my sight,” the alpha ordered.
Kariann shook her dangling prisoner and glanced between the dining room and living room. “Anyone want a good punch or kick on this guy before I go?”
“Just get out of here!” Derrick waved her off.
“I’m going. I’m going.” The female vampire sashayed out the door, holding the squealing vampire in front of her like rancid meat as she left.
Melena shook her head. “Well, that was the cherry on the cake for our dinner tonight.” She gestured toward her husband. “If you want to take the victim to the den, we can look after her there.”
“Good idea,” Derrick said. “Thank you.”
Melena, Lucas, and the alpha headed in that direction.
Cori took that as her cue to take over while they were gone. She stood up and called out loud enough for everyone to hear, “Who’s ready for dessert?”
A chorus of voices replied. She gestured at Emily and her teenage friends, who’d come out of their designated eating area in the den. “Come help me.”
They happily fell in line behind her, chatting about the unexpected event during dinner.
“It’s never boring at your house,” one of the girls said to Emily.
Melena’s adopted daughter rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.”
Kerbasi was already in the kitchen when they arrived. “I’m here to help.”
“I’m sure you are,” Cori said, angling around to get a look at the counter he blocked with his large body. “But we’ve got it.”
He wrinkled his nose at the girls. “I can carry more than them.”
She pointed at a half-eaten pumpkin pie that was definitely not like that when she left the kitchen last time. “If I let you have any more desserts, you’ll be lucky.”
The guardian’s shoulders slumped. “Very well. I will wait with the others.”
