“We, um, had a…” I elbowed Cassius. “Fight.”
“Is he dead?” Mason wondered aloud. “What I mean to say is, did he survive this… er, ordeal?”
“Yes, did the King last his first bout of lovemaking or shall I call the time of death?” Alex joked.
Cassius swore under his breath then in an instant rose to his scary full seven-foot height and glared down at them.
Ethan and Mason took a cautious step back while Alex stood there with a stupid grin on his face. “So, sex heals all, hmm?”
“I made myself a promise Alex, care to know what it was?”
“Sex before your old as hell anatomy falls off?” he guessed.
Cassius’s grin widened. “I think I’ll enjoy this.” With a wave of his hand Alex’s voice was gone.
“Frozen voice box… it may take a few hours to thaw, if it ever does.”
Alex’s eyes widened.
“But all Sirens have are their voices and good looks!” Genesis argued from her spot in the hall.
Cassius’s eyes softened. “Perhaps he’ll learn to choose his words more wisely in the future then.”
Alex stomped out of the room, while Cassius faced everyone. “It seems that I am… restored.”
“How?” Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Sariel took pity on your weakness?”
“More like—” Cassius glanced back at me. “—I accomplished what I was sent to do as a human, and he restored me.”
“She’s trained?” Ethan nodded seemingly impressed. “Fantastic.”
“Yes,” I lied, and the air immediately turned bitter, while Cassius laughed inside my head. “But it might be good to get a few more sessions in this evening, just in case.”
“And by sessions you mean…” Ethan pointed between the two of us. “Never mind, don’t tell me.” He raised his hands above his head. “If you tell me the mental image will permanently ruin my existence.”
Genesis sighed behind him. “That’s so romantic though, don’t you think? That they’re finally together?”
A sudden wind whistled along the hall and swirled into the room.
“Sweet hell,” Ethan muttered as Cassius tossed clothes in my direction. The air had shifted.
“What?” I glanced around the room. “What’s wrong?”
“Angels,” Mason spat. “Or just one in particular. Seems he’s paying us a visit. Damn it, I only set the table for six. If he wants ham he’s shit out of luck.”
“Yes, because I’m sure that’s what’s on his mind,” Cassius hissed. “Ham!”
“Says the one who tried to chase a blue jay with his pitchfork!”
“I had no pitch fork!”
“Yes, a lament I’m quite familiar with.” Mason rolled his eyes. “If only I had a pitchfork, a bow and arrow, a gun, I could hunt my own meat. Thank God your appetite will disappear, I was afraid the goldfish was next.”
Cassius shared a glance with me. “We have gold fish?”
“Goldfish.” Genesis laughed. “Mason likes to see how long he can keep them alive.”
“So they’ve died before?” Cassius asked.