Page 9 of The Party

I like their spirit, my witch, Hellreaver said.

“Uncle Tomas and I have a bet going on whether Amelia grows up to be a dominatrix or not,” Oliver informed them nonchalantly, still reading.

William grimaced. “Do you even know what a dominatrix is, kid?”

Oliver looked up with narrowed eyes. “This is why you should read more books, Uncle William.”

William’s mouth flattened to a thin line. “That kid has an answer for everything.”

“He really does,” Leah muttered.

“That’s because his father is the Sphinx,” Haruki explained wisely.

A haughty half-smile curved Oliver’s lips.

A toddler in a cowboy hat and diapers chose that moment to shoot out of a side passage and cross the foyer at a dead run, high-pitched squeal echoing across the hall.

A bear of a man came barreling out after him.

“Marcus, stop right there!” He slowed at the sight of Mae and Nikolai. “Oh, hi. You must be our guests from New York. I’m Asgard. Asgard Go—” He faltered, wariness creeping in his face. “What are you all doing in front of the closet?”

“Amelia is trying to jump Jacob again,” Pig Tails blabbed. She pointed helpfully.

Asgard drew a horrified breath. He came over and scowled at the accused. “Why, you little—!” A crash, followed by an excited squeal, came from a room opening off the foyer. “Dammit! Sorry, gotta run! Amelia, you better unhand Jacob before your father sees you!” he warned over his shoulder.

A familiar figure appeared at the rear of the foyer just as Asgard vanished after the little boy.

“Did I just hear Asgard and Marcus?” Madeline Godard-Black asked in a harried voice. She was holding another kid in a cowboy hat and diapers under her arm. Her expression brightened at the sight of Mae and Nikolai. “You made it.”

Mae smiled faintly. “Hey, Madeline.”

They’d met the scientist and Mila in Philadelphia a few months back.

“Asgard and Marcus went that way,” Lucy indicated for Madeleine’s benefit.

Madeline’s charge took this opportunity to slip out of her hold and his diaper and make a run for it. She gasped, outraged.

“Leonard, get your sweet little tushie back here, right now!”

They watched her dash after the naked fugitive.

“Aunt Naomi!” Bow Boy finally wailed. “My brother is being mean to me!”

A brunette with blue eyes popped her head out of another room, a half-blown up balloon in hand.

“That’s probably because you did something to deserve it.”

It was the witch whose core Mae had sensed.

Naomi Wagner Lancaster’s face lit up when she spotted Mae and Nikolai. Her pregnancy bump stretched her dress as she came toward them, a white cat with yellow and blue eyes at her feet.

“Welcome.” Naomi beamed. “It’s nice to finally meet?—”

Something drew her eyes. She stopped, her smile fading. Her expression grew flinty.

“John David Dante Lancaster, what are you doing up there?!” she hissed at the kid on the chandelier.

“You must address me by my superhero name, Mother,” the boy proclaimed disdainfully.

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