Page 47 of Avaritia
“We see far too much of you,” Theon grumbled, slipping past me and taking my seat, grabbing my hips to pull me down onto his lap.
Don’t get horny, don’t get horny, don’t get horny.
Poor, single Damen spent most of his time with Allerick or Soren, both of whom were mated off. He was probably really sick of horny ex-Hunter pheromones.
“You know this is how it has to be,” Damen replied lightly, not missing a thing as he took the seat angled toward us, watching as Theon passed me my cup and discreetly adjusted my sweater, keeping my neck completely concealed.
Did that look suspicious?
Maybe.
No, probably not. We were fine. Shit. Maybe I should just say something now.
Aderith appeared with more tea and a plate of small gray sweet cakes, and if Shades could blush, I swear she would have at the charming smile Damen sent her.
“How’s the tour going?” Theon asked him, showing a frankly astounding level of civility.
Damen made a discontented sound. “Meridia’s rebellion didn’t entirely die with her. It’s been… a little stressful from a security perspective.”
Huh.
I’d never thought of Theon as a serious threat to Allerick’s reign, but if Damen was telling him this… did that mean he didn’t think Theon’s threats had any heat either? Theon was nodding along like he understood completely and this was entirely reasonable conversation for the two of them to be having.
I didn’t get it at all. Maybe it was just my only-childness showing.
“I executed a particularly eager follower of hers just the other day,” Theon replied, entirely relaxed.
“Excuse me?” I spluttered, coughing up half my tea. “You did what? When?”
“Executed. The other day,” Theon repeated slowly, as if my comprehension was the problem here.
“When were you going to mention that?!”
He shrugged. “Never, probably. Should I have?”
Damen laughed. “That does seem like something the lady of the house might want to know. You really shouldn’t be going around doing vigilante executions, though. The Council of Shades will get mad.”
Theon snorted. “They offered to be my own personal army. I think the Councilors would find that more offensive.”
“That’s why you killed them?” Damen asked, sounding more curious than anything else.
“I killed them for watching Verity.”
Damen nodded. “That seems reasonable.”
“Does it?” I asked, though I was oddly flattered in a way that probably required a psychiatric evaluation.
“Yes,” Theon replied easily, squeezing my middle lightly.
“Are you on track to have the court here tomorrow?” Damen asked, apparently satisfied with that answer.
“So long as you’re not expecting too much,” Theon replied off-handedly. “I have no interest in feeding an entire court.”
“Good thing you’re not a king then,” Damen shot back, a teasing smile on his face. I held my breath, not at all confident that Theon was going to respond well to Damen’s ribbing.
But he just scoffed. “Allerick is welcome to that particular perk of leadership.”
Huh. Was Theon… the Brain?