Addict (Hunter #2)(48)

I yawned and after a long shower, finally went to bed. Outside the snow fell, and the world was wrapped in winter.





Chapter Ten



“Kelsey, wake up, you totally have to see this.” An excited voice broke through my peaceful slumber, dragging me out of sleep. Lucky for him, I recognized his voice or baby boy might have found himself on the floor with my hands around his throat.

We really needed to work on our security.

“Go away, Lee,” I muttered and tried to turn over. I reached for Marcus and was met with only an empty pillow where he should have been. I pulled the comforter over my head and prayed my little friend would take the hint.

“I think she went back to sleep,” an unfamiliar voice said.

I brought the comforter down only as far as my chin. I was kind of naked here and Lee had brought a friend. “Who are you, and why are you in my bedroom?”

The small blonde girl with big blue eyes smiled brightly.

“Hi, I’m Mia,” she said as though that should explain everything. She was the same size as Lee and they looked like they weighed roughly the same. I noticed this because I thought briefly about how much effort it would take to toss them both bodily from my rooms. Then the door opened, and I thought about how poor Gulliver must have felt when all those irritating Lilliputians interrupted his sleep.

“My father has counseled me on many occasions that it’s better to flee from a sleeping woman than to wake one,” Sean Quinn said as he and Rhys joined the crew. I noticed that both the boys had chocolate bars in their hands. Marcus was somewhere, and he’d sicced this bunch on me. “Father believes that when a woman is asleep, this is the best time to take one’s leave.”

I heard Mia sigh and saw the slight roll of her angelic eyes. Smart girl. She was wearing a thick coat and had a hat on her head. She greatly resembled the shrink I’d met the day before. She had his eyes and the set of his mouth. I was betting her last name was Day.

Rhys took a bite of his Snickers and shrugged off his uncle’s advice. “My papa says that if I ever want to have a goddess of my own, I should never, ever listen to your father.”

“What time is it?” I was not going to lie here listening to dating advice from nine-year-olds. Though from what I’d seen and heard of Declan Quinn, Rhys was probably right on.

“Nine o’clock,” Mia supplied helpfully.

“Shit,” I growled. I shook my head when I realized I had an audience with tender ears. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Lee said. “My mama says stuff like that all the time. I’m allowed to curse, too.”

“Only if a shark bites off your arm or you’re getting chased by dinosaurs,” Rhys clarified.

Lee nodded as though he looked forward to both incidents. “Yeah, but then I’m allowed to say the F word.”

“I can’t believe Marcus let me sleep all freaking day,” I muttered, sitting up. I pulled the covers around me and tried to figure out how to get rid of the gang of children in my room.

“It’s nine o’clock in the morning,” Mia corrected.

I hadn’t been aware that morning had one of those, too. I snuggled back down under the covers. “Then go away. Come back after noon.” I thought of something. “Aren’t you supposed to be playing basketball or something?”

“It got canceled because of the snow,” Lee explained. “See.”

He shoved a mittened hand at my face. The small snowball slipped out of his palm and went straight under my covers. I screamed and used that word Lee is only supposed to use in the event of a dinosaur attack.

“Guys,” Liv said from the doorway in her best teacher voice. “I told you to wake her up, not put her in a killing mood.”

“Make them go away,” I begged. If my boyfriend hadn’t been completely incapable of fathering children, I would have checked to make sure my birth control was up to date.

“Sorry,” Lee mumbled.

“Breakfast is ready,” Liv announced. “If you want French toast and bacon, I would eat it before the bottomless pit there gets her hands on it. Go.”

The Lilliputian crew ran out of my bedroom in search of food. I rubbed my eyes, still sleepy. I do not do well on short sleep. Liv walked over, carrying a mug of coffee. The aroma was heavenly and my will to live was on the rise. She was dressed in jeans and a thick sweater, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

“Well, good morning, sunshine.” She grinned as she passed me the coffee. “Did you have a rough night last night?”

I took the coffee and thought about Italy. No one ever invaded my bedroom in Italy. No one sent small children in to torture me with snowballs. “I did, in fact, which is why I should be sleeping now.”

“Ain’t happening, Kels.” Liv sat down on the bed. She giggled as she peeked under the covers. Like I said, the supernatural world doesn’t have the hang-ups about nudity the human world has. “And look, you’re all naked again. Seriously, this is a habit with you.”

I groaned. “I was wearing underwear last night, Liv. It wasn’t like I was running around the city nude. Wait, oh shit, is this already a story that’s going around?”

The supernatural world was big on gossip, however.

I didn’t like the amusement on Liv’s face. “Well, let’s just say that there’s a reason people fight over the security jobs in this building. It’s a cushy job where they take turns monitoring the numerous security cameras that cover almost all of the public places in the building.”