“If you had to marry the sea bitch, you’d be in a mood as well,” I muttered. “I left her in the kitchen to deal with the chef because apparently our food doesn’t meet her picky standards.”
“I’m guessing she doesn’t like blood-flavored cuisine.”
“She said it tastes like iron,” I replied, shaking my head. “Clearly, her palate is going to be a problem.” In addition to a great many things. “Anyway, I need you here like—”
“Grigory!” Zay’s shrieking voice echoed through my quarters. “Where are they?”
“Hmm, I need to go,” I said. “But come soon.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Adrik replied.
“Tomorrow,” I added.
“I’ll talk to Valora.”
“Thank you.” I hung up before he could say anything else and arched a brow at Zay as she stormed into my sitting room with bright blue eyes. Her hazel irises were always flickering with different colors, typically to match her mood.
And blue meant angry.
“Hello, Zay. I’m having a fantastic evening. Thank you for asking.”
“Where are the charms?” she demanded.
“What charms?” I asked innocently, opening my cabinet for another bottle. I went with red wine this time, craving some blood. Although, the female in my room would do nicely. She’d tasted me out of necessity, not that she remembered it. She’d been pretty close to death that night.
What would it be like to bite one another for pleasure instead? I’d yet to indulge in that craving in her dreams, mostly because it was a boundary I didn’t want to cross.
“The charms that take me to the human world,” she snapped, drawing me back to our conversation.
“Oh, you mean the collection of stolen tokens in your room?” I countered. “Yes, I confiscated them.”
Because the last thing I needed right now was to have to babysit an errant demon with a vengeful chip on her shoulder. I had enough going on with the viper in the kitchen.
“You had no right to go through my things, Grigory,” she seethed, stepping into my personal space, thereby forcing me to focus on her instead of the cork of my wine bottle.
I really did enjoy her blue eyes.
However, I adored their turquoise gleam when she came. I wondered if they looked like that outside of her fantasies. Was it real, or had I made them glow that way to suit my own interests?
Sadly, finding out the truth was firmly off the table given her history and my future. Mutual interest wasn’t really our problem so much as timing.
Time.
Fucking time.
I had too little left before the wedding and no damn solution. Ugh, I really needed this wine. Only, the bottle disappeared from my grasp as Zay took it and sent it into the same wall as the empty bottle of scotch.
“What the fuck?!” I shouted as red liquid sprayed across my obsidian floors and matching wall.
“You had no right!” she screamed back at me, repeating her words. “That’s my room!”
“In my wing, under my fucking roof,” I retorted, just as irritated. “You’re not fucking ready, Zay. And I don’t have time to follow you this week. You’re staying here. End of discussion.”
“You can’t just keep me here.”
“I can and I will,” I replied. “You’re my responsibility, Zaya. And right now, I have competing responsibilities, and I would really appreciate you behaving for me right now.”
She glowered at me. “I’m responsible for myself.”