“I need out of these clothes. I stick out like a sore thumb in a suit,” he mumbled to himself. “Need to blend in and look like I’m on vacation.”
“What is this, your first case, Super Spy?”Daig snidely snickered. “You sound like Colton running through one of the hundred or so checklists you gave him. Badge? Check. Head on shoulders? Check. Brain engaged? Che…”
“Okay, Smart ass,”Van grumbled. “I was just…”
“You were just tryin’ to think about anything other than Lottie,” the Dragon King snorted. “Fat chance. I live up here in this thing you call a brain, in case you forgot, and I have been keeping score. So far, you are losing that battle by about a million to zero.”
“Whatever,”Van grumped. “How about you…?”
Knock-knock-knock
“Saved from another of your witty retorts,”Daig laughed out loud. “It must be my lucky day.”
“Fat chance, Ass… Oh, shit, Ji,” he quickly corrected. “Sorry. I thought you were…”
“An asshole?”
“Asshat, actually,” Van laughed out loud, following the Valkyrie’s lead.
“Arguing with Daig again?”
“Always.”
“Give the Old Man a break,” she winked. “He’s one of the good guys.”
“Yeah, I know,” Van reluctantly agreed. “But he doesn’t need to hear you sayin’ it. His ego is already too damned big.”
“I heard that,” Daig warned.
“I meant for you to. Now, hush and listen. We might just learn something that will help us catch Vanessa and Hammond and make Lottie hate us a little less.”
“She doesn’t hate me.”
“She doesn’t hate you either, Van,” Jianna interjected. Tapping her temple, she grinned, “You guys seriously need to work on your shielding. It’s like youwantthe whole world to listen.”
“I am shielding,” Van and Daig countered in unison. “Brynn and Ellie even added some extraoomphto what we already had because they have no clue what Vanessa is planning to do with that Grimoire.”
“Then something is seriously wrong.”
Looking more curious than upset, the Valkyrie held out her hand, drew the three-sided sigil of Merlin on her palm, and murmured, “Hey, Hotstuff, you around?”
“Always for you,” the famous Wizard’sdisembodied voice sounded before his cheeky grin and knowing blue eyes instantly followed by the rest of his visage in perfect miniature hologram. “Whassup, Sexy Pants? Miss me? Need a little Merlin time?”
“Hey, Merlin,” Van chuckled since Jianna was laughing so hard she couldn’t speak.
Spinning around so quickly, he thought the legendary Wizard might fall right off his Mate’s hand, Merlin looked Van right in the eye before joining Jianna in hysterical laughter. Taking several deep breaths as he clapped his hands, he finally got himself mostly under control and chortled, “Hey, Van. Sorry, ‘bout that. Ji’s never called me this way when anyone else was around. It’s reserved for our…”
“That’s far enough,” Van held up his hands and furiously shook his head. “Please don’t say another word. I seriously don’t need the image of you and Jianna doing whatever you do stuck in my brain.” Making a show of shivering and shaking, he added with a quiver in his voice, “We’ve all known each other way too long for that shit.”
“Point taken,” Merlin chuckled, giving a single, final clap of his hands. “So, whatcha need? As much as I love catchin’ up, I’d rather do it in person over a good steak and a bottle of Scotch.”
“Well, that’s on the way,” Jianna teased.
“And that is just wrong. You should never mess with me that way. The food out here is shit.”
“I know,” the Valkyrie commiserated. “And you hate magicking your food because it tastes weird.”
Winking at Van, the Wizard nodded, “Just wait till you and Lottie get together. She’s gonna know you like the back of her hand, just like Jianna knows me.”