Page 54 of Magic and Mayhem

“You’re welcome and you’re right about those charms.” Kind of. Most of his money had just been going to watches and silly things lately, but we’d be able to go over his budget later after we figured out how to tell Daddy that I was a dragon.

“You’re insane.” Boyd had decided that dramatic was going to be his default state because he was back to glaring again. “We’re going to sit in your living room and have drinks and talk to him about itlogically. Then if he wants to see you shift, you can go outside and we’ll be there to support him and make sure he knows you won’t eat him.”

“Why would I eat him?” Daddy was smarter than that. “I already told him I don’t like wiggly food.”

If Alick didn’t stop laughing, he was going to have to sit down. He looked like he was going to tip over.

“Meat should be cooked and I don’t know how to cook a chicken, much less a human.” Would they be skin on or off? High heat? Low heat?

“Do not tell me what just went through your head.” Boyd’s eyes were going to stick like that if he kept rolling them. “He’ll have at least a minute of worrying if you’re going to eat him. You’re a fucking dragon, moron.”

“But he’s my Daddy, grumpy.” Boyd was wrong about Daddy. “He’ll worry about something unexpected.”

But having people around to explain things might not be a bad idea.

“Okay, it’ll be a group project and we’ll have dessert.” What kind of dessert went with fun news and a possible heart attack?

Ice cream?

No, cake.

Heart attacks were definitely cupcakes.

Chapter 15

Talon

It was some kind of alien intervention.

Glancing at everyone in the living room and nodding a greeting like it was nothing, I set my duffel bag down by the doorway. As soon as Kenzie had brought me into the living room with his sweet smile leading the way, the first thing I’d seen had been his friends scattered around the room all doing their best to look relaxed and all failing.

Yep, I should’ve expected it.

The way my boss had been giving me the side eye most of the afternoon said something had gotten interesting in the alien community, but since I hadn’t been eaten yet or beamed up, I’d decided I wasn’t going to worry about it.

I probably should’ve worried about it.

“I’m not sure I made enough dinner for everyone, cutie. But I think it will work.” Ignoring the way the one human in the mix kept giggling as Kenzie made the introductions, I brushed off the curious stares and focused on Kenzie. “Do you have any rolls or biscuits in the freezer?”

That’d help stretch out the stew to feed a crowd.

“Yes, I do.” Kenzie’s smile turned up a notch and he took a step toward the kitchen. “Let me go—”

“No, don’t get distracted.” Boyd rolled his eyes and I had to fight the urge to laugh. Wrangling Kenzie was like herding chickens. “Sit down.”

Kenzie rolled his eyes before I had a chance to remind Boyd that he had to be nice. “He’s just worried. Ignore him.”

Worried?

“I’ll do my best.” Giving Kenzie a quick peck, I kept hold of his hand and led him over to the empty chair in the middle of the half circle that was obviously meant for me. “But how about we get whatever drama is getting cooked up out of the way and then we can have dinner and playtime later?”

“Oh, I want to play.” Lorne quickly lost all interest in the intervention and slid forward on the couch cushion. “Can we play trains? Oh, let’s play Barbies. I want to dress her up in the ball gown again.”

“I want Ken in the ball gown, personally.” Alick’s helpful idea had Kenzie giggling and getting the littles delightfully off track.

“Yes, oh yes, he needs new clothes. I can do it.” Kenzie rocked back and forth on his feet and gave a smile that had his eyes lighting up again as he aimed his excitement at me. “I won’t stab myself, Daddy. I’ll be careful and I’ll find a pattern and it’ll be—”

“Good grief, how do you get sidetracked so quickly?” Boyd groaned, rubbing his hands over his face as his head fell back. “And for fuck’s sake, stop doing that. There’s no way he thinks you’re human.”

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