he was hands-down the most irritating. And if he came up with one more idiotic nickname for me, I’d have to off myself.
“Jolie, Sinjin makes a good point,” Rand piped up from his seat beside my sister. He reached for her hand and held it in his, smiling down at her warmly. “Your safety is everyone’s first priority.”
“And as I said,” Jolie started, her lips tighter, “Klaasje is well beyond capable of protecting me. And, besides, most of my time is spent with you anyway, Rand.” Then she turned to face Sinjin again. “My mind is already made up,” she finished resolutely, as she looked at me with a quick smile. “Bryn, you will be in very good hands.”
“Great,” I grumbled while shaking my head. The thought that I was going to be stuck with Sinjin now, for who knew how long, didn’t exactly thrill me. ’Course, it was definitely better than being stuck with wolfboy, or the prophetess, or the fae king who was in the process of imagining me naked, or the dour-looking vampire who looked both emaciated and sick, as if he hadn’t drunk blood for an eternity. And that definitely wouldn’t bode well for me, considering it seemed my blood was like the elixir of the gods where vampires were concerned. Well, where Sinjin was concerned anyway …
“Now that just leaves us with Bryn’s day care,” Jolie continued .
Bryn’s day care? I asked her in thought. Do you really have to make it sound like I’m all of two years old or, failing that, a dog?
Jolie’s laugh translated over our telepathic bond as she settled her gaze on me and smiled. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was coming off that way.
Well, it is, I responded sternly, crossing my arms against my chest.
Duly noted, she said as she glanced at everyone in the room again. Her attention settled on the fae king. “Odran, I would like to take you up on your generous offer to guard my sister during the day; and thank you for your kindness in offering.”
Odran smiled as he stood up, bowing his head in a practiced manner. To me, he looked completely trumped up and ridiculous. I didn’t know much about Underworld royalty, but, as for me, there was no way could I ever kowtow to someone else. “Aye, mah queen, Ah will treat her as if she were one o’ mah own.”
Jolie cocked her head to the side, as if she were suddenly alarmed by his statement. “Well, on that subject, Odran, let me just remind you that Bryn is the twin sister of the queen, and I trust you will keep that fact in mind at all times because she is …” She stopped and glanced at me with a smile while shaking her head before focusing on Odran again, “Attractive.”
“Och aye,” Odran responded with a hefty laugh as he faced me. “Aye, yer sister is quite the bonny lass, ma queen.”
“Right,” Jolie continued. “So I trust you will do your very best to curtail any…thoughts you might have about her.”
“Good Lord,” I grumbled as I faced Odran, throwing my hands on my hips. Yep, my gut instinct that he was a womanizer and then some had been spot on. “Another way of stating that, oaf boy, is that if you so much as look at me the wrong way, your testicles will be hanging around my neck.”
Odran erupted into a raucous laugh and belted his thigh with a large mitt of a hand. “ I willnae so mooch as look at ye, mah wee lass!”
“Ahem,” Sinjin cleared his throat as he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “As for myself, I cannot make the same promise to you.”
“Whether it’s Scottish testicles hanging around my neck or shriveled up English ones, it makes no difference to me,” I responded in a hushed tone.
Sinjin chuckled. “I can assure you, dear heathen, that they are most undoubtedly not shriveled.”
“I don’t care,” I spat back. “I just want to make sure you and Odran are on the same page where I’m concerned.”
“Understood,” Sinjin responded. “Although as to the fae king and myself sharing the same page, I must admit there
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