Page 27 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck

I huffed.

“Fine, Drest. Do you have an interest in him romantically?” asked Henry.

“I’m very tempted to tell you I’m hell-bent on eloping with him before morning light,” I said, only to realize after the fact that I kind of meant it.

Henry paled. “Oh God, Rachael, please don’t.”

“I won’t if you stop being a giant ass,” I shot back.

“Do you have to use such language?” he questioned.

“It’s what we strumpets do,” I returned.

He flinched. “I wish you’d have known Mother. In this moment, I’m realizing just how much like her you are. She didn’t suffer a fool.”

“Implying you’re the fool here?” I asked, doing my best to refrain from laughing at him.

“Oh yes. I am without a shadow of a doubt the fool here,” he said. “And, again, I’m sorry.”

I hugged him and kissed his cheek before putting my mouth near his ear. “Watch your temper and your tongue. One of these days, I won’t accept your apology.”

“Understood,” he said.

I eased back.

Amice was about to say something, but Drest cut her off.

“If I ever hear you talk about your sister that way again, I’ll knock your teeth out of your head, Henry, and then cram them down your throat,” warned Drest. “This isn’t me talking to you as your Hunter. It’s me talking to you as a man who will not tolerate that behavior from you over your sister ever again. Am I clear?”

I saw the challenge light in Henry’s dark gaze and expected him to take the bait. I waited for an argument to happen.

Henry surprised me by squaring his shoulders and nodding. “Understood. Now, how about we all sit down and eat?”

“I’m sitting next to your sister,” announced Drest. “Deal with it. If I sit by you, I might stab you and save your wife the time.”

Amice snorted.

Henry laughed softly too. “Fine, but I think I stand a better chance against you than my wife at the moment.”

“Smart man,” said Amice before walking up to Henry and kissing him chastely. “Rachael, have a seat.”

I did as she asked and was pleased when Drest took the spot next to me.

I expected fireworks and for my brother to start in again on Drest and the Nightshade Clan. Much to my delight, Henry stayed true to his word and was actually pleasant to Drest.

When the two began discussing wars of the past, Amice and I shook our heads and sipped our wine, neither of us daring to say a word that might break the spell of peace.

Henry had always been fascinated with history and seemed to take great joy in getting to ask questions from someone who, from the sounds of it, had been at a fair number of the battles being discussed.

Wrapping my head around Drest being immortal wasn’t about to happen any time soon. Sure, I’d known my fair share of Nightshade Hunters, but until Drest, they’d not really been people to me. They’d just been Hunters.

My brother poured everyone another glass of wine, and the conversation continued as we ate. I kept waiting for tensions to flare once more, but it didn’t happen. The topic stayed on wars throughout history, landing at some point on World War I. Seeing as how I wasn’t quite the history buff my brother was, I didn’t offer anything to the conversation, but I did sit back and enjoy listening to it.

Drest said something about the Germans that made Henry laugh.

I dropped my fork, the clatter drawing everyone’s attention. Embarrassed, I made a funny face. “Henry laughed at ourjailor’sjoke.”

“Jailor?” asked Drest with a wink.

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