Page 11

Pierce

“Thank you for your insight.” The way Merritt patted my leg under the table said he was proud of my restraint as I tried to shift the conversation away from the woman who was the biggest pain in the ass I’d ever met. “Mr. Akeman? What does Scotland think about that?”

Everyone liked his accent and even a few of the straightish men smiled when the guy talked, so I was hoping he’d be a good bribe to get her to shut up.

It wasn’t.

She just couldn’t help herself.

The sturdy woman glared at me as she straightened her shoulders and ignored everyone around her as they winced. “If you’d let me finish, boy.”

It looked like I’d found my line in the sand…and judging by the way the rest of her party winced, they didn’t blame me. Neither would our audience, if I was being honest. They’d long since started rolling their eyes at her antics and were running on a lot less patience than I was.

I was pretty sure I’d even heard Kenzie at the back of the room offering up Lorne to eat her. It was starting to sound like a viable solution to the problem, which probably meant it was time for another break.

“No.” My simple response had almost everyone around the table going completely still. The only movement was the way two of the men who’d come with the angry woman slowly inched back from the table and away from her. “You had more than enough time to explain your proposal but we are not blowing up the portal.”

It was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard, and I didn’t care what her husband did for a living, we weren’t using explosives to solve the problem. “I don’t care how much research you’ve done about earthquakes. That is not my primary concern even though we are on a fault line.”

Therefore, that made it even more stupid.

Magic plus explosives equaled the eastern portion of the US becoming an island.

“So unless you can get more than half the members at the table currently to vote in favor of continuing the discussion, I am denying your proposal.” She had more than a few screws loose if she thought anyone else would think that was a brilliant idea.

When she just got silence and no one would meet her eyes, she went from being a nagging old woman to a mage who seemed to be deciding how to do something drastic or dramatic. For a moment I thought I was just being an ass because she had a Wicked Witch of the West vibe going for her even though she technically hadn’t done anything wrong.

But as I mulled over my own possible prejudices against mages since they had an amazing ability to make startlingly bad decisions, Merritt finally spoke up. “You will not like what I’ll do to you if you finish that spell.”

Oh, a cute little and a badass mate.

Spell?

I wasn’t a dick…she was up to something.

A subtle pressure seemed to pop, and it wasn’t until it was gone that I finally noticed it. Judging by the looks everyone was exchanging, I hadn’t been the only one who’d missed the growing danger from the crazy woman.

For a split second, I thought we’d have trouble from the rest of her party, but their eyes went wide and I wasn’t sure they were breathing as panic seemed to set in.

So it didn’t look like we had anything to worry about from them…they were smarter than she was at the very least.

“That was a very good decision on your part.” Merritt’s quiet words were definitely a threat and the way she slowly sat back in her chair proved she understood that. “I would like to submit a motion to have Mrs. Phillip removed from discussions going forward and be advised to return home. I will not have my mate harmed because she doesn’t like to be told no.”

“How harmed?” Deputy Winslow had stayed at the back of the room like a silent and slightly bored reminder to behave, but he came to life quickly when someone said the words to activate his police instincts.

“Pierce would’ve ended up with flu-like symptoms over the next couple of days.” Merritt’s cold, firm tone made me glad I was sitting down for the meeting. It was sexy as fuck. “For most people it’s not fatal, just frustrating and inconvenient, but it can be if the spell isn’t properly done. It could just keep getting worse until the body couldn’t fight it any longer.”

He was amazing and frighteningly competent when it came to magic.

“I don’t know how good she is but I’m not willing to take any chances.” Turning back to look at the woman, who was a slightly gray color, Merritt kept his icy gaze on hers. “I want her away from my mate.”

Dangerous was a good look on him.

“Done.” The deputy spoke with a confidence that said he knew his will would be followed. “She has one hour to leave town and six hours to leave the country. I’m being generous since international flights are a bitch sometimes.”

Quiet murmuring went around the table but no one questioned the deputy’s power.

“The locals here are crazy, brilliant, and beyond powerful. I will not put up with behavior that is designed to deliberately injure another.” Still sounding remarkably dragon-like, the deputy continued. “This wasn’t a prank. This wasn’t just a bad decision. You were going to hurt someone in my town because you were pissed you didn’t get your way. Grow up and get out.”

I liked him.

“Agreed.” One of the local elders who seemed to actually have been bestowed with power when it came to local politics and common sense spoke up. “We are The Wight. We are not human. Our magic gives us great power and great responsibility. You will be disciplined by your council or they will no longer be welcome in this country.”

The room was utterly silent and we didn’t even get any good reactions to the Spider-Man reference until a suddenly startled-looking man on her right sucked in a breath. “But I have a vacation at Disney World scheduled for Christmas.”

As I sat there wondering what kind of evolutionary nonsense had led us to this level of brilliance, the elder somehow managed to take it seriously and sighed. “Then this needs to be handled quickly, doesn’t it?”

Mrs. Phillip was not impressed with the traitorous man’s quick nod or the even faster way they escorted her out of the conference room. It might’ve been the Disney threat or it could’ve been the way everyone around her started questioning how often they’d been sick.

When the still too crowded room was quiet again, I reached under the table and squeezed Merritt’s hand as I focused on the rest of the nuts. “Are we ready to proceed?”

With more reasonable options?

With less violence?

With more common sense?

I probably shouldn’t hold my breath on that last one, but I had a badass mate and had found at least two locals that didn’t make me want to whack them upside the head with a safeword.

A very firm safeword.

It was going to be a long day.

****

“I still can’t believe that mage from Florida wanted to sell tickets.” Merritt was shaking his head like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard, but I’d never moved past the woman who’d wanted to blow it up so we didn’t have to worry about it any longer.

The conversation had jumped from one extreme to the other all day long and I wasn’t sure we’d made much progress.

“At least he didn’t say he wanted to wrestle whatever he found on the other side.” Turning it into a theme park had not been on my top ten list when it came to figuring out what to do with the portal.

Nearly giggling, Merritt leaned into my side as we made our way to the car I’d rented. “I had a hard time staying grown-up and boring when he started talking so excitedly about all the dinosaurs he hoped were on the other side.”

Okay, that had been hilarious.

“I don’t think anyone would’ve noticed. They were too busy trying to keep their eyes in their heads. His implication that we were some kind of dinosaur hadn’t gone over well.” He either couldn’t read the room or just hadn’t cared…maybe both.

“I think we should make sure he gets to hang out at the diner.” Merritt’s snicker was definitely sliding toward silly little territory. “I wonder if the men know that the Florida man might be a dinosaur?”

My groan pushed his little side closer to the surface because his smile widened and his arms started swinging at his sides. “They’d be very helpful, Daddy.”

“They’d certainly try to do something for him.” Or possibly to him. “Let’s not scare him, though.”

I wasn’t sure how that conversation would go, but I could easily picture chaos ensuing and someone getting offended.

“He’s from Florida, Daddy.” Merritt rolled his eyes and sighed. “We wouldn’t scare him.”

Hmm.

“Okay, you might have a point there.” But the whole thing made me wonder how he knew what alligators thought of dragons.

But before I could get trapped in that mental horror show, Merritt took my hands and started to swing them. “What do you want to do for dinner, Daddy?”

Not something overly adult, that was for sure.

“I do not have a plan, but now that I’m thinking about it, something relaxing.” And possibly something that would qualify as fun. “Do you have any ideas or is this a Daddy make a decision thing?”

I was fairly certain I knew the answer to that question but I let him shrug and step from side to side like he wanted to bounce or dance. As we got close to the car, he finally peeked up at me, trying to look cute. “Can we go to my house this time and have mac and cheese and play toys?”

“I think that sounds like a very relaxing dinner.” Kissing his head, I led him around to the passenger side as we ignored everyone else. “What do you think about stopping by my room first so I can grab an outfit for tomorrow? That way we won’t have to do it in the morning.”

He might not want to stay little all night, but the chances of either of us wanting to go back out after dinner were slim to none. It’d been an incredibly long day and I was going to do my best to avoid everyone but Merritt.

“Yes.” Bouncing on his toes, he kissed my cheek and let me help him into the car. “I have a toothbrush for you, Daddy. I’ll share my shower stuff.”

Campground showers.

The things we did for our mates.

“Perfect. Thank you.” Kissing his forehead, I buckled him in and tried to think through the rest of our evening. “Do me a favor and help me decide if there’s anything else we need to do before we go back to your house.”

He got the cutest thinking face on and nodded decisively as I shut his door and went around to the driver’s side. Even with everyone still trickling out from the meeting and just milling around town, it finally felt peaceful and we just got a few nods and smiles aimed in our direction.

If it were that quiet all the time, I’d have loved it, but on a break earlier we’d gotten cornered by an antique old man who’d asked us if we knew about the playdates that happened over at the VFW Hall. On one hand, I was glad they were looking out for people, but on the other, I was not ready for whatever they considered normal playdates.

So while I was pleasant and nodded back at everyone, I was grateful to get in the car and escape. Merritt seemed to understand at least part of that because he was fighting back a smile as he reached over to pat my head. “Daddy’s all done.”

“Oh yes.” Letting out a deep breath, I rubbed my head against his hand and smiled as his giggle finally escaped. “They’re exhausting.”

Merritt didn’t agree with me but he did pat my head again. “I’d go to a dinosaur park, Daddy.”

“I know.” My slightly exasperated tone had his shoulders shaking with barely suppressed snickers. “And judging by the deputy’s quiet groans, so would his mate.”

“Kenzie.” Rocking side to side, Merritt made another happy sound. “He made good cupcakes.”

Hmm.

“How many good cupcakes did you eat?” He hadn’t wandered away from my side that many times, had he?

His snicker said I needed to keep better track of my mate.

“He’s nice.” Shrugging, Merritt leaned forward and started playing with the radio buttons, scanning through them like a madman. “I’m nice.”

So to be nice he’d needed to eat cupcakes?

The logic was suspicious and highly questionable, but at least he seemed to be making new friends. “Being nice doesn’t mean ending up with a tummy ache from too many cupcakes.”

His grin just got wider. “Yes, Daddy.”

More supervision was definitely required.

“Thank you.” I wasn’t going to add a good boy on there because I was very certain the amount of junk he’d eaten behind my back made that title questionable. “Alright, have we thought of anything else I need to grab?”

The motel was just far enough that we couldn’t easily walk to the meeting but not far enough away for the trip to take very long.

“No. Just Daddy stuff.” Shrugging, Merritt didn’t look worried. “I have food and toys and snuggly stuff and coloring books and cartoons and cookies.”

My sigh made a few giggles sneak out. “And carrots, Daddy. I have carrots.”

Shaking my head as I parked the car, I pretended to frown at him. “One cupcake earlier means cookies after dinner. Do you get cookies after dinner?”

I wasn’t surprised when I got an adorably overdramatic pout. “No. I get carrots after dinner.”

Thought so.

“Thank you for being honest.” Leaning over, I kissed his cheek. “Good boy.”

Merritt’s face scrunched up like he was debating how he felt about that good boy, but I didn’t make him voice that dilemma out loud. “Do you want to come in with me?”

I wouldn’t make it an order, but I was glad when he nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. You might get eaten by a dinosaur walking by.”

The perfect distraction got giggles and his debate about earning a good boy was gone. “A big one. Grrr.”

Chuckling, I tried to look confused. “I think that’s a bear sound.”

As he flopped back dramatically and looked adorably shocked, I turned off the car and walked around to the other side. He was still doing his Best Overactor in a Drama impression, shaking his head as I unbuckled him. “I was a good dinosaur, Daddy.”

“Were you?” Being skeptical was still getting a wonderful reaction, so I shrugged as I helped him out of the car. “We’ll have to keep practicing and see if I can hear it next time.”

I’d meant when we got privacy but Merritt’s time in the interesting town had changed him already.

“ Roar .”

Better.

Much better.