Page 49 of Camriel
“Scratching and biting them, mostly,” Victoria said.“He tried to stab a little girl in the eye with a crayon once.I stopped him from fudging blinding her.”
“That’s why you say fudge instead of cursing?”Cam asked.“Because you guard small children?”
“Yeah,” Victoria said sheepishly.“I try not to use any bad language around the kids, but I sometimes slip.”
“I’m guessing the psycho kid wasn’t raptured,” Grace figured.
Vic nodded ruefully.“I went to work the day after everyone disappeared, just to check and he was already there,” Victoria said, hugging herself when a breeze reminded her that her clothes were still wet.“Mickey was standing in the foyer, looking lost and innocent.The little cork sucker looked up at me and pretended to cry.He held his arms up for me to pick him up and I stupidly fell for his act.”She shook her head in disgust at herself for being so gullible.
“You’re compassionate,” Camriel said, sounding like he was proud of her.He’d lost his slightly wary expression and his gaze had become warm again.
“What happened next?”Grace asked, caught up in her tale.
“I picked him up to hug him and the shiz for brains stabbed me in the cheek with a scalpel,” Victoria explained, touching the long-healed wound again.“The cork sucker was giggling like an evil little troll and I knew he was going to try to kill me.It seemed humane to crush him to death, rather than ripping his horrible little head off.”
“You did the right thing,” Zoe said, regaining some of her color.“I’m sorry I reacted the way I did.I should have watched the whole memory first.”
“It’s okay,” Vic said.“I still feel fudging horrible about it.”
“We’ve been forced to eradicate evil younglings many times,” Amaros said, commiserating with her.
“They wereourkind,” Grace reminded him wryly.
“Whatarewe, exactly?”Victoria asked.“Is that evil dude with the red eyes really my father?”
“He is,” Camriel confirmed.“Your sire’s name is Phul, going by your resemblance to him.”
“My dad is a fool, that tracks,” Victoria said with an eyeroll.
“I think his name is spelled differently to how it sounds,” Zoe said.
Victoria nodded, feeling like she’d aged a thousand years.“I don’t suppose you have hot coffee in your lair?”she asked hopefully.
“We sure do,” Grace said cheerfully.“We have dry clothes that will fit you, too,” she added slyly.
“Come with us, mate,” Camriel said in a coaxing voice, holding out his hand to her.“Let us show you our home.You’d be far safer living with us than in whatever dwelling you’ve found here.”
“The cabin is small, but it’s isolated enough that you guys haven’t found it yet,” she pointed out, highly tempted to take them up on their offer.
“Come visit for a cup of coffee,” Grace suggested.“You can leave whenever you like.We’re not slaves or prisoners.Zoe is Amaros’ mate, not his concubine.”
“Are your mothers human?”Victoria asked, still not convinced.
“Of course,” Zoe said.“Isn’t yours?”
“I have no idea,” Victoria confessed.“She gave me up for adoption when I was only a few days old.”
“Did you have good adoptive parents?”Grace asked, feeling for the wrestler.
“No one wanted me,” Victoria said, pretending it didn’t still hurt that she’d never been good enough to become a permanent member of a household.“I went into foster care instead.”
“I will love you as you deserve, once you become mine,” Camriel declared, handsome face filled with purpose.
“Is he for real?”Vic asked the girls.
“Yep,” Grace said almost wistfully.“The knights will do anything for their mates.”
“Will you come back with us for a short while?”Zoe asked, gesturing at the far side of the lake.“We’ve got a lot to talk about.I’d rather do it somewhere warm and where we can sit down.”
