Page 15 of Marked By Moonlight
“Please.”
“Sugar? Milk?”
“I’ll help myself.”
Storks wading in knee-deep water would have been less stilted than this conversation.
I stirred my tea nervously and considered my pastry. Would it taste better now or after Clem read me my rights?
“So, your questions…?” I prompted.
His face fell, and his nostrils flared as he glanced back at the house.
Oh, I was definitely in deep shit.
“I saw the vampire, and I could smell the felines. Is that dragon shifter still around?”
“No. He’s…out,” I said in a major understatement. “Are they relevant to this conversation?”
Clement snorted. “They’re trouble, Mina. You know that, right?”
Boy, did I. And I would bet the ranch — or the château — that I knew more than Clem did. At least, I hoped so. If not, we were all headed for the slammer.
I pictured Bene running through the house as Clem and I spoke, collecting his things. Roux burning documents. Henrik gathering his favorite books. Then they would pile into their van and roar down the driveway. The longer Clem and I sat out here, the farther they could flee.
I could imagine it easily, and part of me wailed. They wouldn’t abandon me as their fall guy, would they?
I snorted, considering recent events. Of course they would.
“Like I said, they’re just renting a few rooms,” I repeated the lie I’d told myself a hundred times. “Just for a few weeks.”
Clem shook his head. “They’ve already been here too long.”
Not long enough, when it came to Marius. But I kept that to myself.
“People are talking in town…” he continued.
I huffed. “People will always talk.”
“About you letting four men stay in your home?” Clement’s voice took on a canine growl as his inner wolf paced closer to the surface.
I’d only let one man into my bedroom, but I doubted that would halt the rumors. Another thought I kept to myself.
“Do you want me to get a chaperone?” I crossed my arms. Clement meant well, but I wasn’t in the market for a knight in shining armor to save me.
But I sure wouldn’t mind a dragon shifter swooping in, to be frank.
“I want you to get yourself out of whatever it is you’ve gotten mixed up in,” Clement half pleaded, half growled.
SayingI want me to get out of this mess toowould be a little too incriminating, so all I said was, “I appreciate your concern, Clem. I really do. But they work for my godfather, and he needed a place for them to stay.”
The truth, but not the whole truth, so help me God. And boy, could I use His help around now.
“Right. Your godfather,” Clement said flatly.
I cocked my head. “What about my godfather?”
Clement shrugged. “You tell me.”
