Chapter 6 #2
I ignore all of that and grudgingly get out of bed.
This really is the worst part about being over here.
There’s no reception in Torin’s world, so the only way someone can get ahold of us is by calling whoever is currently at Mickey’s house and having them run all the way over here to fetch us.
At least that means that people bother me less since Joy has taken it upon herself to respond to them for me.
“I’m thinking long and hard about telling her that I’m sick,” I grumble.
Torin winks at me. “I can make you ‘sick’ with something long and hard… if you get what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” Joy says with a finger gun. Torin, having absolutely no idea what a finger gun is since he hasn’t read about it in one of my “porn books,” cocks his head and then winks at her too.
She’s confused. He’s confused.
I’m just feeling lazy.
But since I’m up, Torin hurries to follow me as we head down the stairs and through the Door into Mickey’s house.
When Mickey decided that his house would be a perfect place for Torin to make a Door that led to Torin’s palace, I wasn’t sure I was extremely fond of the idea, but I’m not going to lie…
it’s quite convenient. It doesn’t hurt that his undead—while Mickey watched or napped—put up some solar panels that run the appliances in the kitchen and stocked the pantry, so we no longer have to suffer every time we’re hungry.
And now we even have the promise of them putting AC in Torin’s bedroom.
Once we step into Mickey’s house, I see that the call is indeed still going and waiting for me, but of course I don’t notice that until after I loudly go, “I just really don’t want to answer this call.
Doesn’t she have someone better to pester?
” which means that answering said call becomes the most awkward moment of my life.
I clear my throat, toss a prayer out to any and all gods that she might have possibly not heard me, and answer with an especially cheery, “Special Agent Strand here, how can I help you, ma’am?”
“Special Agent Strand, I need to see you, Torin, and Special Agent Rowe in my office in half an hour. And no. I woke up this morning knowing that the only person I desired to pester was you.” And before I can be like, “I’m so sorry, let me atone for my sins,” she hangs up.
I scowl at the phone while Mickey comes through the Door being carried by two muscular young men. One has Mickey’s legs and the other his arms as Joy points and goes, “Throw him there.”
And throw him they do. Mickey hits the couch with an “Oof.” They wash their hands of him and go back to watching TV.
“Why must the world hate those who simply wish to slumber?” Mickey asks as he stretches and yawns.
“Lt. Lindsey wants us,” I say.
“All three of us? Are you sure? She rarely wants anything to do with me. I’ve actually heard her say, ‘Why are you here?’ more often than she says, ‘I’m glad you’re here,’” Mickey complains.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Torin tells him, which makes Mickey beam and makes me glare.
“First, you let him spoon you, and now you compliment him? I’m not sharing Torin with you, Mickey,” I teasingly threaten.
“First off, you’re mistaken, I was spooning you. Second, I found him first,” Mickey retorts.
“You thought he was dead and were going to reanimate him for… who knows what,” I say as I make sure he sees my grimace.
Mickey gasps. “I was not going to bang him! I made a rule for myself after I brought a woman back to life when I was sixteen and asked her if I could touch her boobs that I would never fondle another dead person.”
“We’ve allowed him in our lives… willingly,” I remind Torin, who looks a little concerned.
“She let me touch them, in case you guys are curious. She was just far too into it, so I got scared and hid from her in my bathroom until I remembered that I could just unalive her,” Mickey says. “Joy, I need food to help me recover from this memory. Torin, what would you like?”
“Lobster,” Torin says.
“I don’t think there are any drive-through lobster places. How about Chinese food?”
“Have I had Chinese food?” Torin asks me.
“I… don’t think you have,” I realize. “How have I not fed you Chinese food?”
“I’ll grab something for Lt. Stick-Up-Her-Ass too,” Mickey says. “Maybe it’ll make her a little less angry.”
“Is that what you guys call a surname?” Torin asks.
“Yes, that’s her surname,” Mickey says.
Torin nods approvingly. “Riley likes it when my stick is up his—”
I quickly exit the house and get into the car with Joy as Mickey cackles and calls the restaurant.
“The lady who answered barked at me that it’d be ten minutes. She gets off on belittling people. I bet she and Lt. Lindsey would be hot together… although I also get off on belittling people,” Mickey says.
“I’ve only ever seen you aroused by the idea of sleep,” Torin reminds him.
Mickey shrugs. “It’s a hard existence living my life. Exhausting, really.”
“Well, you can sleep until we get there,” Torin says.
“Someone should let me sleep on their lap. I get scared when I don’t have a solid lap of masculine thighs to sleep on.”
“You can sleep on Riley,” Torin suggests, and I gawk at him. Like when the hell did I become Mickey’s pillow?
“It’s either you or Torin, Riley. Hurry now. Get into position.”
“Or you could just lean against the door like a normal person,” I say as Torin gets into the front seat and Mickey pins me down in the back seat with my seat belt. He seems pleased when he lies down on me.
“You really could try a bit harder to be more comfortable,” he says.
“I bet if he turned into a unicorn he’d be very comfortable,” Torin comments.
“You’re both shitheads,” I inform them.
“Hey, Torin… you jelly?” Mickey asks while he pets my leg.
“The look on Riley’s face assures me there’s nothing to be jealous about,” Torin says with a huge smile.
Mickey grumbles as he squeezes my leg. “I hate how cute you two are together. It sickens me.” And then he falls asleep just that damn fast. I assumed he’d actually get up after he was done harassing me, but I should have known better.
My finger hovers over the third notch in my pendant, considering the fun I’d have slipping a shard of ice under his shirt, but I sigh and leave him to sleep in peace.