Darian choked on the champagne he had just sipped. "I'm sorry, what?"
Avery blushed a deep red. "Only if you add me to the judges' panel you have for the warriors," he countered.
"Deal!"
"Whatever is the matter, darling?" Amelia asked, rushing over to rub Darian's back.
Darian pointed to Meryn then to Avery, then let his hand drop. "Nothing, just Meryn being Meryn."
Amelia brightened. "Did I hear correctly; Avery is now one of our judges?"
Oron stared at his baby sister. He knew Amelia heard the other part as well, but she was more worried about their warrior watching. He looked at his brother who was now scowling at his mate.
Meryn grinned evilly. "We picked up a few more judges here in Noctem Falls. I feel like we're being very inclusive."
Amelia clapped her hands together happily. "I wonder how many we can get in Éire Danu."
Darian huffed. "The ladies of Éire Danu are refined and above such things." Oron clinked his champagne glass with his brother's as they drank together in solidarity.
Meryn gave him a sly look and held up her phone. "Then why do I have an application from the queen herself to join my Facebook cult?"
Both he and his brother gasped in union, causing them to inhale their champagne.
Amelia eyed her mate. "You kinda deserve that for being uppity."
Oron's eyes watered. "It burns," complained. "Bubbles, burn!"
Meryn giggled. "I should put that on a tee shirt." Avery held up a fist and Meryn bumped it.
Sebastian was fighting to keep a straight face as he handed them glasses of water. "This may help."
Oron grabbed at the glass and chugged the water. Breathing hard, he looked at his commander's tiny mate. "You truly cause chaos wherever you go."
Meryn shrugged. "Hey, what can I say, I'm playing to my strengths."
Amelia frowned. "She does not cause chaos, she is amazing."
Oron backtracked. "I meant that in a good way," he said quickly.
Amelia's face cleared and she smiled again. "Oh, that's okay then."
Behind her big-sister cousin's back, Meryn stuck her tongue out at him. With no other avenue of recourse available to him, he stuck his out in retaliation.
"Meryn!"
Everyone turned to see the red-headed twins come running up to them with a smaller vampire in tow.
Meryn eyed the twins. "Why are you yelling my name like ferals are chasing you?"
One of the twins grinned. "Neil and I just heard, Prince Magnus has accepted the Wolftown pack as citizens of the city, they're going to be living here permanently now!"
"Whoa, that's pretty huge. What about the kids, don't they need air?"
Nigel frowned. "Meryn there's air here; otherwise we'd all be dead."
Avery giggled as Meryn gave them a flat expression. "You know what I mean, don't they need to be outside? Like sun and wind in their fur yadda, yadda."
Nigel nodded. "Oh yeah, that. Evidently, Queen Aleksandra has granted Prince Magnus additional portals. They are building a new council estate on this huge piece of land one of the vampires donated, it's something crazy like five thousand acres that butts up against the national preserve. There's plenty of land for the pups to run and the wolves' enforcers will act as security for the new estate."