“Which is totally unfair.” Sami’s voice was shrill, like nails on a chalkboard, but I seemed to be the only one bothered. “They had my vampire. I had to save him.”
Oliver stirred. “Your vampire?”
Sami spared him a cursory glance and then did a double-take. “Whose vampire are you?”
I expected Oliver to snap at her. Instead, he smirked. “I guess you could say I’m Izzy’s vampire.” He pointed at me. “When she was young — much younger than you — I helped take care of her. I’m guessing your vampire helps take care of you, too.”
“He does, but he had to make some trip so he’s not with us this time.” Sami’s gaze was dark when it landed on her mother. “I’m not supposed to know about the trip but I heard them whispering. He’s doing something that I can’t know about.”
“That’s because you can’t be trusted,” Aric offered blithely. “When we feel we can trust you again, then we’ll talk about lifting your grounding. Until then ... stuff it.”
“I’m not talking to you,” Sami hissed, burying her face in Paris’ shoulder. “You can talk to them, Aunt Paris. You can make them see.”
Paris hesitated and I could read the conflict on her features. “I think I’m going to stay out of this one, Sami.”
“What?” Sami was positively apoplectic. “You were my only hope.”
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Zoe offered, shuffling to the bottom of the stairs. She seemed curious about the gate, but she was more leery about closing the distance than her husband had been. “She’s at that age where all you want to do is lock her in a room and not come back for three years.”
To my utter surprise, Cormack chuckled. “I remember that age so well. She reminds me of my Aisling.”
That was when things clicked into place for me. Cormack wasn’t bothered by the security breach because Sami served as some sort of blast from the past. He was an indulgent father in almost every sense, which meant he was drawn to mouthy children. Sami was right up his alley.
“You must be the father,” Zoe noted, looking him up and down. “Paris has mentioned you. She says you have a gaggle of kids that all look alike.”
He smiled. “They’re adults now. My daughter, however, acted just like your daughter when she was that age.”
“I’m sorry.”
He chuckled. “I survived. You will, too. Heck, I had five of them within five years of each other.”
“You’re clearly a glutton for punishment.”
“Pretty much,” he agreed, pursing his lips. “You only have the one, though. That was probably smart, if everything I’ve heard about you is true.”
“My wife needs little embellishment,” Aric offered, extending his finger toward the gate. “She’s a legend.”
Instinctively I reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking my head when he cast a sidelong look in my direction.
“What will happen if I touch it?” he asked curiously.
“Probably nothing, but we just got it back up and running and it’s been known to glitch a time or two. I would prefer it if you didn’t get sucked to the other side.”
“I would prefer that, too,” Zoe volunteered. “If I have to cross that thing to save you, I’m going to be totally ticked.”
“I think you should both cross,” Sami snapped. “Maybe then I can have five minutes of peace.”
“Keep it up,” Aric warned. “I can make your life less comfortable than it is.”
“How, when I’ve got parents crawling up my —”
“Sami!” Zoe’s tone was low and full of warning as she extended her finger. “Not one more word.”
I was uncomfortable with the dark ambiance crawling over the room, but Cormack seemed to be happier than I’d seen him in weeks.
“I’m really liking this kid,” he enthused.
“You can keep her if you want,” Aric offered, his attention turning back to the gate.
“Don’t tempt me.” Cormack offered Sami another grin before focusing on her parents. “My understanding is that you’re here to help with our ... situation.”
“Actually, we’re here to visit Paris,” Zoe replied, moving away from the stairs. She seemed fine giving the gate a wide berth. “If we can help you at the same time, then I’m open to it. I’m simply not sure what it is we can do for you.”
“We’re not sure either,” Cormack admitted.
“Well ... then I guess we’ll figure it out.” Zoe shot him a rueful smile and shifted her eyes toward Aric. “You’re starting to make me nervous. Can you please move away from the gate?”
Aric shifted to stare at his wife over his shoulder. There was genuine affection there, as well as amusement. “I will, but only because I think we’re both tired of drama.” He cast one more extended gaze toward the gate and then sidled down the stairs. “I don’t suppose anyone can tell me how that thing works, can they?”
“I think it’s supposed to be a secret,” Paris offered ruefully.
“It’s a little late for that,” Zoe noted.
“Especially since our security proved to be so lax,” Cormack said.
“It’s not lax,” Aric countered. “My kid is just very, very good.”
Sami opened her mouth to say something — whether good or bad, I couldn’t say — but Zoe extended the same finger toward her child as before. “Zip it.”
“We’re sorry if we took you by surprise.” Aric looked legitimately sincere. “We didn’t mean to throw off your day. It’s just ... one of those things. We thought it might be best to take you by surprise in case there was something weird going on down here.”
The amusement returned to Cormack’s eyes. “What is it you thought we were doing?”
“Actually, we had no idea. We’ve seen some weird things, though.”
“I once knew a witch who tried to kill me in the backyard of a house that looked exactly like a vagina with frilly window coverings,” Zoe offered. “There are disturbing things around every corner.”
I almost choked as I tried to stifle my laughter. “A house that looked like a vagina?”
“It was totally eerie.”
“Well ... .” I tilted my head as a low murmur assailed my ears.
Zoe continued as if nothing had changed. “I also had this group of teenage witches who decided they wanted to steal a magic book from me. They made up stories in chat rooms, saying that if you said my name three times in a row I would appear like the freaking Candyman. Leslie of the Snotgrass.”
“Her last name was Snodgrass,” Aric corrected.
I barely registered what they were saying as a ripple ran up my spine. The murmuring continued, and I recognized where it was coming from. It was the gate. Something was moving on the other side.
“Can I speak now?” Sami asked out of nowhere.
“No,” Aric and Zoe answered at the same time.
“I would let you speak,” Cormack offered indulgently.
“Then I totally want to move in with you,” Sami groused.