“Well, I mean they were going to feed him to the others,” Fen pointed out.
“I don’t know. I think anyone who smells his farts might disagree.” Trent sniffed and then shook his head. “We’re going to need to find a proper diet for the little guy.”
“Oh, I have a spell for that.” Jade was finally smiling, petting Puff’s wouldn’t-be-little-for-long head. “I’m probably not good at it though. I bet someone in Frelsi could do it. Or the gnomes have some herbs that erase scent.”
“Did you stop at a pet store?” I continued because this was a terrible plan that Gray had not thought out in the least.
“There’s not a Petco on the Hell plane.” Gray seemed every bit as frustrated as me. “But I can certainly go now. I kind of thought Eddie would do it. I knew you would be upset if I sent Tix, though he would do just the same as Eddie.”
“Except he would buy evil things.” I didn’t even care how stupid the words coming out of my mouth sounded.
“No, he would buy what I tell him to buy,” Gray countered.
“Guys, let’s bring down the heat.” Trent got in between us, putting a hand on both of us. “Let’s go back to our room and talk this out. Gray was trying to reconnect with Fenrir.”
“He did a good job, too. His enemies taste great,” Fen announced. “And the little guy is supercute.”
“I hope you think so when you are picking up his poop.” I wasn’t letting anyone get out of this easy.
Gray had left us and he would leave us again. And no matter how well-meaning he’d been, he’d placed our son in a terrible position.
He’d placed all of us in a terrible position.
“I’m not really good at that,” Fen said with a shake of his head. “I have a sensitive nose… I will get over it and hey, maybe we can train him to burn off his own poop. Problem solved. Please don’t make me choose between my mom and Pop. I know I should choose Mom because of the whole staring down the alpha thing, but I really missed that jerky, and I don’t think Evan is going to give up the hellhound.”
The hellhound was currently trying to lick Evan to death, and I prayed she was fireproof, and what had Jade said?
“I’m going with Casey.” Trent stepped back with a sigh. “I’m not going to play referee for you two again. I’ll go to Dallas and help Nate with anything he needs. I sincerely hope you two can get it together before I get back.”
I knew I should be more upset about that. Trent was practically a saint and I’d managed to drive him off, but I was stuck on what Jade had said as Trent walked away.
“What do you mean the gnomes have herbs that negate bad smells?”
Jade’s eyes widened as she realized somehow in all of this drama she’d become the center of attention. “Well, they do. All smells, really, though we don’t normally use them.”
“Well, that explains how Fenrir couldn’t track anyone from Alvis’s apartment.” I needed to regain control of this situation. There were a whole bunch of moving parts, and they all threatened to go off the rails. “Evan, you’re on dog duty. The first thing you teach that dog is to not eat the brownies, and you better warn them about his fire breathing from both ends.”
“I thought I was getting the reports.” Evan held Puff, who had now fallen asleep against her shoulder.
“Nope. You now have a baby and you have to take care of the baby, who can’t leave this apartment because we’re not sure your baby is allowed to be here.”
“I could…” Gray began.
I turned on him. “If the next words out of your mouth are anything about Tix coming to watch the dog for a while, you should rethink them.”
“I could stay with the dog,” Gray offered in a way that let me know I’d been right about what he’d meant to say.
“No, I should stay with him,” Evan admitted. “He needs to bond with me. Fen can take Jade to get the reports, and that way Gray can back you up, Kelsey.”
“That is an excellent idea. I’ll go change into something more appropriate.” Gray walked off toward the bedroom.
Evan looked at me with wide, innocent eyes, but I knew when I’d been manipulated into a situation.
A tiny burst of flame accompanied the puppy’s bout of gas.
“Oww.” Evan frowned. “I need to figure out how to keep this baby’s tummy settled. What do you think he eats?”
Fen shoved another piece of jerky in his mouth as though he knew where his girlfriend would go next.
It was a good move because Evan was ruthless.
“There are some herbs I can blend up to help with that,” Jade offered. “Maybe Kelsey can grab them when she goes down to talk to the gnomes.”
I was pretty sure the gnomes wouldn’t be friendly after they figured out I was going to accuse them of murder.
I should probably get those herbs first.