Page 81 of Feral

“Settle down, horn dog. I don’t know how many, but they all have mates, uh, boyfriends.”

“Mates? Are we in England now?”

I laugh off my mistake. “Help me clean this up.”

“Sure thing.”

He slides off the stool and the two of us find containers to pack the leftovers in, then we load the dishwasher. It all feels weirdly domestic, but it’s nice having Dimi here.

I still don’t know how he’s gonna be at Lair without finding out what everyone is, but Hale told me to trust him, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that it’s something I can definitely do.

Chapter 23

Hale

“We have another mortal joining us tonight, but he has no idea what we are, so I was gonna ask you to make a stronger cocktail than normal.”

Tiago, leaning on the bar, grins. “Why are we being protective?”

“He’s Yannis’s little brother. Which brings me to my next update. Our friend Ricco has a boss named Johnny ‘Bricks’ Maffeo. He’s big mad that his cousin is dead.”

“Cousin?” Rhett whistles, his arms folded over his chest and straining the material of his shirt. “Oh boy.”

“Exactly. Yves is aware, so the guys will be monitoring the city too, but if he’s able to find Lair, we may have trouble.”

“How are Johnny and Yannis’s brother connected?” Hemsley asks.

“Indirectly. His brother showed up at Yannis’s apartment last night and I learned that his place was being stalked. I found someone willing to talk to me.”

Rhett chuckles. “I’ll bet.”

I wink. “Johnny is searching the city for whoever’s behind his cousin’s death. It’s yet to be determined whether any of them can find Lair.”

“Wonder why he’s called Bricks,” Hemsley muses.

“Who knows.”

“The brother is coming here?” Tiago asks. “Why?”

“Two reasons. To keep him safe and to see if he can potentially work here, but Yannis wants to ease him in slowly. I figured a bit of glamour should help.”

“What’s his name?” Hemsley asks.

“Dimitrious, but he goes by Dimi. He’s an adult, early twenties, cute, a bit naive perhaps.”

“Does he look like Yannis? Because rawr,” Hemsley says, making a clawing motion with his hand.

I growl in response, narrowing my eyes.

“Settle down, Hale,” Tiago says, squeezing my shoulders. “No one is making moves on your man.”

Hemsley grins. “I was just teasing you, man.”

“Dimi is cute,” I say, ignoring the comment. “But he looks nothing like Yannis. Patrons will like him.”

“Alright, I’ll mix up a batch just for him,” Tiago says. “Anything else we should know?”

“Not really. Just be on alert for troublemaking mortals.”