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Cinnamon and caramel mixed together with some kind of coffee creamer.

Disgusting.

Before I can pry my jaws apart, the spike on the end of the tail extends, piercing through the back of mythroat. I open my mouth wide and glare at him. Not content with that bit of violence, he hefts my weight off of Mitri and throws me across the room with his tail.

It's time to rethink my judgments of Kimi, too.

I land in a crouch and shift my mouth back to a standard size.

“That’s my husband. I don’t know you,” Kimi says in a flat tone.

Mitri sits up and stands, straightening his jacket, then reaching down for the gun before putting it away. They stand side by side, watching me as I rise from my crouch.

All is silent for a full minute as we eye each other. Mitri seems calmer, and Kimi is eerily steady, standing so still even his tail isn’t moving from where it’s coiled by his feet. None of us speak.

A muffled roar comes from behind them, Mal losing his patience.

“He is a gift,” Mitri finally breaks the silence.

“What?” I swipe grave dust from my shoulder and hope this ends soon so I can shower.

“I see,” Kimi turns back towards the seated prisoners. “He’s hers to torture, and Mal would interfere.”

I pause in my dusting to stare at Mitri.

“I need to step up my gift-giving game,” Kimi continues in a murmur.

I lean over to take another look at King and Mal.

Both are still secured in place with cloth, lips sealed. I pace around the chairs as their eyes follow me, Mal’s with a feral rage and King’s with fear he’s trying to hide. I pull the damaged table away from them with one hand to study their fronts. Neither appear harmed, but I scent the fading residue of a sleep spell on them.

It’s pretty thoughtful of him. I would have just eaten King and pretended he had disappeared.This way, she has a choice on how he should be punished. Thatsquishy feeling inside flares up at the thought and then withers.

“She won’t be able to punish him herself. She’s dealing with the other one’s death poorly.”

“She cried,” Kimi agrees. “But that’s why she has us.”

His tail does a circular motion, indicating the three of us.

“It is her choice,” Mitri says.

I sigh and nod in agreement as Mal’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“I need to clean up,” I look down at myself in disgust. “If she sees me like this, she’ll freak out. You guys clean the rest of this, and if she’s well enough, I’ll bring her here.”

Kimi claps his hands once and begins digging into his suit jacket, pulling out all manner of clothing and weaponry.

“Do you have a dimensional pocket?” I ask in surprise.

He doesn’t answer as he pulls out a short red sequined dress and eyes it critically before shaking his head with a muttered, “Not this time. Maybe later.”

“What are you doing?” I try again as he draws out a candelabra filled with lit candles and sets it on the cracked table.

“Mitri, clean up some,” Kimi eyes the wrinkled state of the immortal’s suit. “Our wifey is coming home.”

Mitri’s fingers snap, and six Brownies appear in my kitchen, scurrying over to clean the soil and blood from the floor and repairing the table with their magic.

“And now I have a brownie infestation,” I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut.