Ryuu had a faint smile. "What she is handling is in no way a danger to her."
Aiden turned back to Meryn. "No more attempting to go after Gerald DuBois."
"I make no promises," Meryn said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Aiden looked over at Kari and scowled. "Where have I heard that before?"
Kari widened her eyes, giving him her best innocent look. "Who me?"
Meryn peeked past her mate. "Who are the new peeps?"
Aiden turned so that Meryn could see them. "Meryn, this is Kari Delaney, Declan's mate, and her younger brother, Avery Therian."
Meryn stared at her then nodded before turning to Avery. Her eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head again. "He's pretty."
Avery blushed. "Thank you."
Kari sighed. "I wish I had his eyelashes."
Meryn shook her head. "He is pretty like that too, but I mean his..." she waved her hand around her chest. "I don't know, his heart maybe. I've never seen anyone so kind. He gives off good vibes."
Aiden frowned and walked over to his mate. "When did you start seeing vibes?" He rubbed her back.
Meryn shrugged. "I think I always have, but I've created a classification system for what I see now; it's helping me identify more." She pointed to Kari. "Like she's all boxes and clean lines like Beth. I'm guessing that means she's organized."
"You have no idea," Avery muttered.
Kari bumped him with her hip.
Meryn pointed to Avery. "He's fluffy. Light and fluffy and sweet. Like cotton candy." Her eyes became unfocused, and even though he was standing behind her and couldn't see her expression, Ryuu reacted by reaching down and circling one of her wrists. She shook her head as if to clear it. "Fluffy means nice."
Aiden and Ryuu's eyes met over Meryn's head. Meryn elbowed them both. "I know when you do that."
Aiden leaned down and nuzzled her neck. "Just worried about you baby."
"I'm cool. I'm getting better at using my Jedi powers." Meryn beamed at them.
Avery turned to Kari with puppy dog eyes. "Can we keep her?" he pleaded.
Kari laughed. "I think Bethy has dibs. She adopted Meryn as her sister."
Meryn nodded. "Yup! But you can join me for Doctor Who in the afternoons." She looked at Kari. "I got Declan hooked."
Avery began to bounce from foot to foot. "Who's your favorite Doctor?" he blurted out.
Meryn's eyes lit up. "I love Ten, but Eleven has his moments, you know?"
Avery bobbed his head up and down. "I had such a crush on Eccleston," he admitted shyly.
Meryn began to nod energetically. "It was totally the jacket."
Avery pointed to her then turned to Kari. "She gets it!"
Kari watched as the two of them jumped down the geek rabbit hole. She didn't care if Meryn McKenzie blew up half the city; she understood Avery and was treating him as a friend. For that reason alone, Kari would defend the small women unconditionally.
Aiden's eyes began to glaze over when they began chattering away about favorite episodes. He shook his head. "Okay baby, I'm heading back out to help Magnus field the shit storm Rex Lionhart will stir up with Declan getting hurt." He turned to Kari. "Staying?"
Kari nodded. "For a bit."