Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(88)
When we locked eyes, his brows drew together. “Are you hurt, female?”
“She has a raging bout of diarrhea,” Christian announced. “It’s grisly. Perhaps someone should bring a chamber pot and air freshener in case the meeting goes on too long.”
I glared up at him. “Are you sure you aren’t an escaped mental patient?”
As we entered the room, Wyatt was clearing trash off his long desk. Niko held up the wall by the door, his eyes closed and arms crossed. I let Claude and Gem take the couch and decided to sit down in one of the beanbag chairs so I’d have a direct view of the doorway. I half expected Viktor’s wolf to trot in, tail wagging. But instead, Viktor swaggered in wearing a dark robe tied at the waist and pajama bottoms underneath. He pulled out a leather computer chair and sat facing the room. Gem switched on the floor lamp beside the sofa to give us more light.
Wyatt shoved the overflowing wastebasket under the desk.
Viktor gave him a peevish look. “This is stolen property.”
“Found,” Wyatt corrected, crossing his ankle over his knee.
Viktor stroked his beard and didn’t bother arguing the details. “I want them returned tomorrow.”
“You want me to just walk into a store and give them a box? It doesn’t work like that.”
“Nyet. I want you to locate the company from whence they came and leave them on the property.”
“Better do as he says,” Gem piped in. “You’re starting to grow a tire around your waist.”
He winked. “A woman needs something to grab on to.”
Christian sat on a roller stool next to Wyatt. “I’ll handle breakfast in the morning,” he announced.
A few eyes darted my way, but no one said anything.
“Sorry I’m late.” Blue strode in, the baby cradled in one arm and a bottle in the other hand. “I had to give him a quick bath.”
Claude reached out. “Let me feed him.”
She looked at him warily. “Hold him gently. Have you ever fed a baby before?”
Claude took the baby in his good arm. The moment the baby started to cry, Claude released a purr that was more felt than heard. The vocalization was different from previous ones he’d made, and it delivered the same comforting embrace of a mother or father’s hug. The baby instantly shushed, delighted by the sound as he gripped one of Claude’s long fingers. Blue rubbed the nipple against the baby’s lips, and when he opened his mouth and began sucking on the bottle, Claude took over.
I studied Christian, curious where the bottle and formula had come from. “Did we stop for baby supplies, or do you guys just have that stuff lying around?”
Wyatt answered for him while unwrapping a MoonPie. “You sleep like the dead.”
“From what I hear, the dead don’t sleep.”
He pointed at me and winked. “Now you’re catching on.”
Shepherd appeared in the doorway, looking like a man who’d survived an explosion by the skin of his teeth. He hadn’t changed out of his shredded pants, so I could see the cuts on his legs, probably from escaping the bomb. Though his face and hair were rinsed, he hadn’t done anything to clean the dried blood off his chest. He took a seat on the short end of the L-shaped sofa that faced me and tossed a pillow on the floor.
Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Now that we’re all here, I’ll give you an update. After speaking with the higher authority about tonight’s events, the case is officially closed. Final payment will appear in my account in the morning, and I will distribute it to everyone by tomorrow evening.”
The baby suckling the bottle drew our attention away.
Blue tilted the end of the bottle higher. “Hold it like that so he doesn’t swallow air. This isn’t one of those fancy bottles.”
Claude was lost in the smell of a new baby. His nostrils twitched when he leaned over and sniffed his head. Unlike others in the house, Claude didn’t appear uncomfortable with holding him.
Viktor yawned. “I’ve requested the Regulators come by in the morning to collect the infant. Tonight he should rest and eat plenty while in our care.”
Wyatt yawned dramatically. “That goes for the rest of us too. Do we need to give statements, or can I sleep until noon?”
“I want to commend all of you,” Viktor continued. “The child is safe, and the threat is contained.”
I unstrapped the knife holster from my arm and set it on my lap. “What do we tell the Regulators about what happened to Cristo?”
Viktor centered his eyes on mine. “That he perished in the explosion. They will not send anyone down to scrape up what remains of him. Our confirmation will be sufficient.”
“Is that what really happened?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Did you see anything otherwise?”
“Nope.”
Viktor rose to his feet. “Tomorrow we rest. Christian, come with me. I need your help with a cradle upstairs.”
“You can put it in my room,” Blue said. “I’ll go light a fire. Does anyone want to make bottles? I’m not sure how often he eats, but it’s a long walk to the kitchen, and I could use the help when he wakes up hungry.”
Gem raised her hand. “I can.”
Blue jerked her head toward the door. “Come on. I’ll show you how. Claude, are you okay with him?”