Page 128 of My Monster’s Keeper

I grind my molars and lean back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest.

“Puppy, don’t eat him,” I say evenly. “The Healer,” I stress, “saved my life. Which is currently, at this moment, saving yours.”

The twin with a less severe frown stiffens and turns slowly, finding Puppy right behind him.

“He wants to be eaten. I can hear it in his insolent words. Eat me. Eat me. Blah, blah, blah.” Puppy smiles, one of his terrifying expressions that makes my heart clench.

He’s adorable.

I laugh, and Song wags her tail. Pitch, on the other hand, keeps her eyes on the oldest of the five, who is pretending like none of us exist.

“Still, I think we should talk to the boss man. Goodbye, Sirens. It was nice meeting you,” I purr with over the top politeness.

Wilder, Frost, Stix, and I stand at the same time. The Sirens back off, and, without concern, we turn our backs on the five and walk away.

Diablos watches us come towards him, and his lips twitch. “It’s funny, no?”

“You’re doing a good job, Di,” I admit, and he elbows me.

“Don’t get soft on me now, Becky Dawson.”

He looks stressed and unhappy. I don’t blame him.

Diablos clears his throat. “Can I please have my Hart back?”

“He’s at home.”

Diablos vanishes, and, before any of us can think it, Pitch yowls and tears us through an ice-cold blackness. When I open my eyes again, I’m clutching my heaving stomach, and I’m standing in my kitchen.

“That was the single most unpleasant thing I’ve ever experienced. Way worse than the horse.”

“That cat should not be able to do that,” Stix grumbles. He advances on Frost and Pitch, but the cat hisses and takes off into the house. Song warbles a defensive argument and then trots after the cat.

“Well, you sure got told,” Wilder teases.

Stix looks at him with hooded eyes and moves into his space. Okay, this blossoming relationship between the two of them is fascinating to watch. And hot. Wilder takes Stix’s long fingers and lifts them to his mouth. The soft kiss is ignored by everyone but me and Diablos, who has been herded into the kitchen by the hissing cat.

“Interesting,” Our boss says evenly. He shakes his head and turns back to me. “What was your take on that? The meeting, that is? For note, I have no interest in knowing about the mating behaviour of Fae, Demon, Shadow, or human, so keep that information to yourself.”

I snort a laugh and pull out a chair.

“Either they don’t care or some of them are involved,” I say at once. “I’m hesitant to say either way because it took some teaching to stop these homicidal maniacs from killing everything that moved.”

Diablos and I stare at each other.

“I can’t flush them all out.”

“There has to be a way,” I murmur.

He shakes his head. “We need to get all of them or it won’t end.”

I ponder the situation for a long moment, then shrug. “We’ll find an answer.”

“This is true,” Diablos murmurs, glancing sideways at Stix and Wilder, who are making out. “Er, I’m going to take Hartley away from this obscene display.”

“Wait-” I call out, but he disappears. I turn with exasperation to snarl at Stix and Wilder, but Stix has his hands down the front of Wilder’s jeans and is clearly stroking his huge cock. Both of them have their eyes on me.

“Baby,” Stix purrs. “Come here.”