Page 10 of Aberrant Monsters
Archie drifted away from the machine, his solid form flickering and becoming momentarily translucent before solidifying again. He was one of the few people I’d met with naturally red hair, a shade so rich it looked like blood. His eyes weren’t as vibrant a shade of green as Telarion’s, more jade than emerald. Still, Archie was a handsome guy, with a devil-may-care attitude and snarky mouth, and in a kinder world he’d have had his pick of ladies, but our world wasn’t kind, and creatures like Archie didn’t get their pick of anything. So I could understand him being pissed about not even getting a cup of coffee.
He crossed his arms and arched a brow as Nandi expertly plucked the pot from its cradle.
“That bloody thing hates me,” he muttered.
The coffee machine gurgled in confirmation.
“She says if you touch her again, she’ll burn your nuts.” Nandi smiled sweetly.
Archie’s lip curled. “She’srequired to provide caffeine for every member of this team. That includes me.” He sniffed in indignation.
I sighed. “He’s right, Nandi. Can you please explain that to Dot?”
Nandi patted the machine. “No, of course you don’thaveto.”
“Nandi…” There was warning in my tone.
Nandi sighed and patted the coffee machine again. “I’m sorry, Dot, you do have to provide coffee. He’s sorry about calling you a useless hunk of metal.” She glared at Archie. “Aren’t you?”
Archie glowered at Dot. “That was a month ago and I apologized, you pathetic excuse for a—”
“Whoa!” I held up my hands. “No more insults.” I arched a brow at Archie. “And no more playing favorites, Dot.” I fixed my gaze on her, not knowing if she could even see me, but knowing full well she heard us. “You want to be a part of this team, then you need to pull your weight.”
“Okay…thank you, Dottie.” Nandi looked across at Archie. “She says she forgives you for your insensitive comment and is happy to provide you coffee if you ask her nicely.”
Archie stuck out his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “I did ask nicely. Twice. That’s it, I’m getting my own coffee machine. A perfectly normal, unpossessed one!” He spun on his heel and strode through the wall and into the back room.
“Why is he on the payroll again?” Nandi asked.
“Because he’s a computer genius who can pass through walls and we can’t do this without him. We could, however, get a new coffee machine.”
Nandi sucked in a horrified breath.
I smirked. “Think about that, Dottie.”
Dot was Nandi’s find. A possessed coffee machine she’d picked up at a thrift store, and there was some definite favoritism going on there.
“Fine, fine,” Nandi said. “Dottie will behave.” She poured us a coffee. “Are you going to speak to Archie about his living arrangements?”
I eyed the backpack and rolled-up sleeping mat in the corner of the room. They’d been there for over a week now, an indication that Archie was sleeping at the office.
“I’ll do it now.”
Nandi carried her coffee over to her desk just as the office phone rang. “I’ll get it.”
I left her to it and headed to the back office, a dismal space that we’d converted into a lunchroom with a battered sofa, a microwave, fridge-freezer, small TV, and table for four. Another door led to a short corridor and the washroom.
Archie sat slouched on the sofa, staring at the blank TV screen, arms folded defensively across his chest. All he needed to do to complete the picture of discontent was stick out his bottom lip.
I pulled a chair from the table and parked my ass on it. “What’s going on, Archie?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve been sleeping here.”
“Have not.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Your sleeping bag is in the office, dude. Along with your backpack of stuff. What happened?”
