Page 76 of Insidious Monsters
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“Thank you for the cake.”
Wait, when had she had time to bake him a cake?
“Pearl’s bakery is my favorite.” He flashed her a smile.
So much for baking it herself, but still, Pearl’s creations were expensive. The woman was a wizard with pastry, fondant, and anything dessert.
“The cake was…delicious.” Lothos’s tone dropped to something deep and almost seductive.
Wait a bloody second. Was he flirting with my bestie?
Nandi, to give her credit, remained unflustered. “Don’t mention it. I mean you saved my life, after all. A cake’s no biggie.” She grinned up at him and his smile widened, showcasing his even white teeth.
The eye contact remained for long seconds. Yep, he was definitely flirting, and Nandi wasn’t telling him to piss off.
I cleared my throat. “Shall we go?”
Lothos slow-blinked and turned the radiance of his regard back to me. “Yes, let’s. It won’t do to keep Barathos waiting.”
“Barathos can go fuck himself for all I care.” I took his arm. “But if this gets him off my back, then whatever.”
“In that case, let’s get this over with.”
* * *
Lothos maneuveredthe car through city traffic like a pro. “There’ll be a lot of attention on you. Other incubi may try to seduce you. To test you. But a nova prima has eyes only for her primus.”
“I got it. I’ll stick to you like glue.”
“We’ll stay for an hour and then I’ll claim that you’re feeling overwhelmed and unwell and we can leave. No one will question my decision to take you home. A primus is naturally overprotective of his nova prima. They’ll expect me to be hovering over you.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Nothing else. Eat and drink and try to enjoy the experience. Not every nova prima gets a Failte.”
“They don’t?”
He glanced my way, smile tugging at his lips. “No, they don’t.”
“So…why am I getting one?” Something told me this was more than Barathos being generous.
“It befits my status.” He turned onto a private road. “We’re here.”
A brick wall and open gates greeted us. Liveried guards were stationed at the entrance. They shone a light into the car and then stepped back so we could drive through.
Rows of fancy cars were parked on the huge gravel drive and a monolith of an Edwardian manor house sat behind it, lit up from the many tall, narrow windows that dotted its face.
“Are all the visitors fae?”
“Hardly. Believe it or not, fae avoid coming to this world when possible. Too much iron for their liking. It weakens them.”
“And you?”
“Doesn’t bother me as much.” He gave me a quick smile. “Let me get your door.”
I waited as he strode around the car to help me out. Not that I needed help, but it was that kind of event and social niceties had to be observed, so I took his hand, so warm and secure around mine, and stepped out of the car. The chill immediately attempted to wrap itself around me, but Lothos drew me against his side and draped his arm around me.
