17. How could a piece of technology thwart me? #2
All three gorgons turned their glares on the head of the CDC, and I considered it a miracle he didn’t end up petrified. A few of my grandfather-in-law’s snakes hissed their displeasure.
“Yes, Chief Quinn. Once he finished laughing and could get off the floor of his office, he grabbed me, tossed me into an SUV, and carted me to Virginia. He refused to allow me out of the courthouse until I married him. He didn’t think a mere license was sufficient to convince you I was off-limits.”
“You married Chief Quinn.”
I really couldn’t blame the man for his incredulous tone and doubtful expression.
After a trip to Virginia, two hours driving to Washington, and waiting in a cafeteria for an hour, my white shirt had turned gray, my jacket had new scuffs and leather wrinkles, and my jeans needed a good washing. “Is it that hard to believe?”
It was, but I fully intended to be a bitch to the man after having to endure his stupid phone call at the station.
“Yes. It’s on file you have a terrible relationship. Actually, it’s on file you have a terrible relationship with everyone, but Chief Quinn is able to make you do your job with minimal struggle.”
I turned to my grandfather-in-law. “Can I really say whatever I want?”
He chuckled. “Be my guest.”
“You might want to cover the whelp’s virgin ears. I’m not sure if gorgon kings have delicate sensibilities, but if they do, maybe your brother better cover his ears, too.”
Barnabus cleared his throat and hid his mouth behind his hand. “Excuse me. By all means. I’m sure my son could use the education. While it would be tragic if he didn’t survive the experience, I would enjoy whelping more children to replace him.”
Ouch. I almost felt bad for the gorgon prince—almost.
I smiled at Clemmends. “My relationship with Chief Quinn is so terrible we’ve had sex in every room of his home.
Absolutely miserable, our relationship. Oh dear.
I forgot to ask Sylvester to confirm I am most certainly not a virgin.
” With a dramatic sigh, I fluttered my lashes at my grandfather-in-law.
“Quinn must have gotten his charm from you.”
My grandfather-in-law chuckled. “You’re such a gem.
I’m sorry, Barnabus. Little Samuel has been after her for years.
Once I found out about her altercation with your whelp, I may have called in a few favors.
” Every one of his coral snakes rose from his head and turned to Quinn’s cousin.
“As for you. You made a very poor choice. If I ever catch wind of you even thinking of forcing a woman, I will castrate you myself. Being my nephew will not save you. Once your tongue softens, you will apologize to your cousin and his bride in a sincere fashion. Give them a wedding gift while you’re at it.
You’re fortunate he wasn’t present. A courting prince is well within his rights to safeguard his future bride, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have had any problem with petrifying you and bashing your statue into tiny fragments. ”
It would take some time to get used to anyone referring to me as someone’s bride, let alone as someone’s wife. How had that happened? I’m not sure I would ever understand the nature of miracles, which was what I thought had been required to have someone like me marry someone like Quinn.
Quinn’s cousin cringed and stared at the floor.
Later, I’d have to ask who would be doing the petrifying and how Quinn would go about bashing his cousin’s statue to pieces.
“Excuse me?” Clemmends choked, cleared his throat, and shot looks at my grandfather-in-law and his brother. “A courting prince? Did I hear you correctly?”
Clemmends didn’t realize my Quinn was related to the three gorgons in his office? My grandfather-in-law had even referred to the prince as Quinn’s cousin.
Idiot.
With a slow, sly smirk, my grandfather-in-law sank onto one of the room’s three guest chairs and propped his feet up on Clemmends’s desk.
“Gorgon society is complex, but I’ll focus on the local gorgons.
We have two kings and two princes born of the same line.
My brother is a gorgon king. My eldest human son is also a gorgon king.
I gave my rank to my eldest male offspring, as is proper.
I have whelped many girls, and they are the pride of my life.
My son’s eldest child is Samuel Quinn, and as his father is a king, he is a prince.
While there are other gorgon clans in the area, only ours has the right to rule. ”
Clemmends paled and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
I was missing something. While I specialized in cleaning up after gorgons, learning about their familial structure hadn’t been a priority for me. “Right to rule? Why’s that?”
“It’s a what, not a why, dear. It’s a type of magic, and it’s why I am not wearing sunglasses.
My brother wears his only because he loses his temper far easier than I do.
It’s also why our snakes are uncovered. Our control over our powers is superior.
Many other gorgons petrify with a look, as their abilities are always active.
We choose when we petrify someone. That is evidence of our right to rule. I have it. My brother has it.”
I didn’t need to do the math; if Quinn ever became a gorgon, he’d have it, too. Would dust even work on someone who carried gorgon genes already? I couldn’t remember anything about the CDC testing the possibility.
I hadn’t even known gorgons could have human children.
The head of the CDC blanched. “Chief Quinn is gorgon spawn?”
Every single snake in the room hissed, and Quinn’s cousin’s expression turned so terrible I suspected his sunglasses were the only thing keeping Clemmends from petrifying. I filed ‘spawn’ away as an insult.
“My grandson is the child of two humans. By the CDC’s own rules, he’s quite human, I promise you. He will not accidentally petrify anyone.”
My eyes widened at the subtle inflection in my grandfather-in-law’s voice. Could Quinn petrify someone as a human?
“I see.”
“Bailey, dear heart, do show Mr. Clemmends your bracelet.”
My bracelet? Oh, the tattoo. I’d forgotten about the thing, and I obeyed, shoving back my coat sleeve to reveal the golden pattern, which still glowed with a faint light, although it had dimmed. “It’s really pretty. I didn’t get a chance to thank Sylvester.”
“Don’t you worry your lovely head about that. Angels love weddings. I give it a day at most before his common sense dribbles out of his ears and he has eloping regrets.”
“He doesn’t have ears.”
“Oh, he does. If you want to see a great reaction, give his shoulder a slap one day. You might luck out and launch him into orbit.”
I could handle an angel’s lack of a head. I could handle their ears being on their shoulders. I could. I’d gotten better at being a polite adult. “That’s good to know.”
My grandfather-in-law smirked at me before turning to the head of the CDC.
“Mr. Clemmends, I witnessed the signing of their marriage certificate. Samuel’s other grandfather bound them together until the end of days, and they both carry the evidence of their binding on their left wrists.
Now, please explain to me why you thought, for even a second, it was acceptable to attempt to coerce someone into an agreement to serve as a surrogate? ”
I took a discreet step to the side to get out of the biting range of the hissing, swaying coral snakes, and Barnabus joined me, whispering in my ear, “I’m just the scapegoat. On behalf of my side of the family, I’m very sorry you got dragged into this. My whelp’s idiocy is inexcusable.”
“Let’s review,” I muttered. “I really had no idea how I’d get my husband to marry me—or even keep me as his girlfriend at the minimum.
I’m hopeless. I should be thanking someone for this mess, but if I get too close to your whelp, I might be tempted to try to kill him again. He tried to petrify me!”
“Tried?” Barnabus straightened, and both of his eyebrows rose. “He didn’t succeed?”
“Freak bit me, too. I hate when gorgons bite me. It hurts like hell.”
“You’re really immune. Full immunity?”
“I’m really immune. That’s why I get the worst jobs in the city.”
The gorgon king made a thoughtful noise in his throat. “Even to dust?”
I wrinkled my nose at the mention of the substance. “I’m immune even to dust.”
“It seems Prince Samuel picked an extraordinary woman indeed. I’m impressed, and that doesn’t happen often. You should escape while you can. Once my brother begins to rant, he doesn’t stop for a long while. Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you.” I backed away and fled while I could, easing the door open enough I could slip out of the office and make my escape.
I made it to the ground floor before I realized I’d forgotten to ask about the CDC’s proposal for employment.
While I could use a job, in a way, I was grateful I hadn’t stuck around.
The idea of working for someone who viewed me as a thing with monetary value left a sour taste in my mouth.
If I’d been treated like a person rather than a commodity, I never would have needed to marry Quinn in the first place, although I had zero regrets about having done it.
We’d figure it out, and I suspected Sylvester was onto something with his comment about the best sex of my—and Quinn’s—life.
Mary’s belief in the bright side of things worked sometimes.
Quinn drove me crazy in all the right and wrong ways.
The longer I was with him, the more time I wanted to spend with him, in and out of bed.
Quinn, Perky, and Nilman were where I’d left them. The three had their heads together, staring at Perky’s phone. One of them giggled. “Not to interrupt your play time, but we can leave now. I delivered the papers. No one was assaulted.”
“Sneaky,” my husband muttered. Then he giggled. My eyes widened.