Page 98 of Minding the Minotaur

I shake my head. “We chose not to find out the gender.”

They all throw around names for both girls and boys. It’s fun, and I make a note to remember a few.

Otis doesn’t join in. He’s still frowning, toying with his empty glass.

“What the matter with you?” Arlo asks him when we’ve all settled down, clearly a tad miffed at Otis’s lack of enthusiasm.

“I can’t get the coding to work on the new surveillance system.” He huffs a sigh. “I could work it out if I had morefucking time, but I have a desk full of sheriff duties piling up, and my deputy can only do so much.”

“You need an assistant,” Arlo says.

“I fucking know I need an assistant. You try finding one around here. They’re all working for higher pay down on the lower levels.”

Jax takes a vape. (Yes, he’s succumbed to vaping, with Tippy in his ear and me being pregnant.) “I can get you an assistant,” he says.

“If you’re thinking of a human, it would be too risky.” Otis’s face flushes dark green as he realizes his faux pax. “Present company excepted, of course.”

“The human I have in mind, I would vouch for with my life.” For once, Jax’s face is deadly serious.

Otis raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? So which motley peripheral have you got in mind?”

“Not a peripheral. My sister.”

Otis smacks his forehead with a big palm. “Your sister! Gods help me.”

“Clem!” I squeal, clapping my hands. “Clem is amazing, Otis, honestly. She works in accounts at DeVines. She’s the most organized person I know.”

Jax grins at me. “What’d you reckon, Blondie? Could we persuade Clem to work for the sheriff?”

It suddenly makes so much sense. Clem is exactly who Otis needs. And she needs to escape Sparkle, it’s not safe for her up there anymore. They know she’s my friend, they’ll be putting pressure on her, maybe even interrogating her to find out if she knows where I am. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.” I can’t help smiling at Otis’s dark expression. I say teasingly, “If Clem can’t help you, Otis, honestly, no-one can.”

Otis glares at me. “Are you implying I’m impossible to work for?”

I smirk. “Maybe a bit grumpy.”

Otis growls, but his red eyes twinkle. I can’t believe I everfound him remotely scary. He’s a big, soft-hearted teddy bear under all that green muscle.

Jax cocks an eyebrow. “So what d’you reckon?”

Otis shrugs. “I’ll consider it.”

We all roll our eyes. Arlo says, “I think the question is, willsheconsider working foryou,mate.”

“Youarerather messy, Otis,” I laugh.

“Pile on a few more insults, why don’t you?” Otis grumbles, good-naturedly enough.

I glance over at him and see that he’s trying to hide a smirk. And I think to myself, he likes the idea of Clem being his assistant more than he’ll admit.

As for Jax, of course he wants to get Clem away from DeVines and Marsha Winters. To keep his sister safe.

It’s a win-win solution.

When I look over at Jax, he winks at me. “And Blondie gets to have her best buddy here in the Labyrinth. That’s the most important thing of all, right, Blondie?”

I beam back at him. “Too damn right!”

To be continued…

Organizing the Orcis coming soon!

One grumpy disorganized genius orc, one sunny little human not afraid to kick his butt.

Some seriously sizzling slow-burn chemistry.

And a Labyrinth full of monsters that need protecting from evil magic and malefics.

It’s a recipe for smut and suspense…