Page 16 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

She caught my finger in her hand and held it as she closed her eyes. I stood there, with a goblin at my side, watching as my niece drifted off to sleep once more. When she relaxed enough, she released my finger. I moved back, and Torid stepped up to the crib, staring down at her while she slept.

I shut off the main light and went for the door.

There was a swooshing noise behind me, and I turned to see a massive rottweiler dog curling up on the rug near the crib. It looked up at me from eyes that matched the goblin’s. I’d seen Torid change into a dog before and knew he could change shapes into several other animals, so I wasn’t shocked. From what Amice had told me in her letters, Torid seemed to favor the form of the dog above all else.

He shut his eyes, and I closed the door to the room, knowing Astria was in excellent hands. Torid would lay waste to anyone or anything that tried to harm the child.

My attention went to my damp shirt. “Guess Henry will get his wish after all,” I said, heading to my room to change for dinner and for my first meeting with our new Hunter.

Yippee.

ChapterSeven

Rachael

I smoothedthe front of my pullover blue dress as I headed down the stairs. The dress was slim fitting, which Henry wouldn’t like, but it was a far cry better than jeans and a T-shirt in his mind. The dress had a stand-up collar and a V-neck that stopped just before my cleavage started. I’d paired it with a slim black belt and a pair of three-inch strappy heels.

My hair was down, and I’d gone with a simple blue barrette to pin back one side. If Henry didn’t find this outfit better suited to a dinner guest he didn’t even like, there was a high chance I’d stab him with a butter knife.

We’d had several different Nightshade Hunters assigned to us throughout my life. My uncle and brother did an amazing job of running them off. The last one had been kind of stodgy and spoke with a very polished English accent. Uncle Nile somehow managed to sound snootier than the man.

That was impressive.

The Hunter I’d reported to while in London had been fairly easygoing and something of a flirt. So were most of the men I’d encountered there. Not that I was complaining or anything. I left that out of letters home to my brother. He didn’t like to think about me and men. And he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to hear about a Hunter flirting with me.

When Amice had called to let me know she’d planned a dinner with our newest Hunter, I’d entertained lying to her and telling her I had to study this weekend. Nile and Henry did nothing but argue with each Hunter in the past, and I didn’t want to come in and have to spend an evening full of awkward tension.

Amice had insisted I make the journey in, even offering to send Henry to retrieve me. I could drive but I didn’t take a car with me to the city. I used public transportation while there. Getting home on my own took a little doing, but it happened.

All I knew of the newest Hunter assigned to us was that his name was Drest. Henry complained about him ad nauseam. According to my brother, Drest was the worst Hunter we’d had to date. Since we’d had one when I was little who’d actually kicked me, I found that hard to believe.

“I should go check on Rachael and Astria,” said Amice from the dining room.

I was midway through the foyer when I heard my brother speak next.

“Wouldn’t want her to miss thisrivetingconversation,” he said, nearly outdoing Uncle Nile in the snooty department.

A small handmade child’s stuffed toy that looked a great deal like Torid was on the side table in the foyer, pulling my attention. I went to it and touched it lightly. It hadn’t been there earlier. Had the Hunter brought it?

If so, he was already winning against all the other Hunters we’d had over the years.

“The conversation had been perfectly lovely until you insisted on bringing up the sanctions, Henry,” said Amice, annoyance coating her every word.

“He refuses to engage in a healthy debate about them,” returned my brother.

“I’m not going to argue with youagain, Henry,” said a deep voice that caused my breath to catch and my step to falter. “It’s the same debateeverytime. I tell you I can’t get the sanctions lifted, and you tell me I’m wrong, and you know best how to do my job. It’s tiring.”

Henry scoffed. “If you’d just approach the higher-ups and ask them to revisit the—”

“No,” said Drest. “I need to use your phone to check in and let them know I’m here. When I’m done, can we eat and get through this night without arguing more?”

“Probably not,” said Henry. “Use the phone in the kitchen.”

I entered the foyer as the door to the kitchen swung shut slowly. Pity. I’d wanted to see the man who had caused such a visceral reaction in me by merely speaking.

Amice was standing on the other side of the room, across from me, her hands gripping the back of a chair. Since my seat was normally next to hers, I headed in that direction, which left my back to the kitchen door.

Amice glanced at me. “Astria?”

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