Fashionably Dead Down Under(43)

“I am,” I hissed. “My intention was to send him home and stay till I finished whatever was expected of me here.”
“Do you really think the most powerful Vampyre in the world would go for that plan?” George chuckled at my lack of foresight.
“I hadn’t thought that far,” I muttered, hating that yet again the General was correct. “Okay, Smartypants, where will he be safe?”
“There is a guest house on Dixie’s property. We will go there.”
“Fine. Go fast. I don’t want to run into anyone I’d have to kill. I’m not in the mood right now,” I said, hoping Ethan would stay knocked out till we arrived.
“As you wish.”
***
The guesthouse was charming—one bedroom, a living area, kitchen, dining area and a huge bathroom with a sunken tub. God, I wanted to get in the tub and wash the stench of Hell’s waiting area off of my body, but there was no time for that at the moment.
The Hounds helped me get Ethan to the bed and I wrapped him in blankets after I cleaned his now healing wounds. I tried to feed him more blood, but in his exhausted and unconscious state he refused to cooperate.
“You will need to cloak the house,” Bambi told me through her eyebrows as she peed on the front porch wrought iron furniture.
“Um, is that necessary?” I asked as she continued to mark the flowerbeds, the bird feeder and the small garden shed.
“The cloaking? Yes. The peeing? No, but it’s fun.” She giggled and finished up by urinating on the welcome mat. It smelled like brownies, but it was still gross.
“Once you’ve cloaked the house we shall leave. All you have to do is call us in your mind if you need us. We will come,” George said, admiring Bambi’s work.
“Why?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, lifting his leg and hitting a few spots Bambi had apparently missed.
“Why are you helping me?” Everyone had an ulterior motive here. What was theirs?
“Because you’re special,” his eyebrows bounced, answering logically.
“What does that mean?” I blew out an exasperated sigh and wondered why everyone was so fucking cryptic.
“It’s for me to know and you to find out,” he grunted and then laughed uproariously at his own joke.
“What are you? Five?” I snapped.
“I am far beyond five, but your lack of maturity seems to be rubbing off on me.” He grinned and bowed. “Thank you for an eventful day, Little Astrid. Good luck to you, you will need it.”
“Me want to play with doggies,” Abe screeched from my pocket. Hell’s Bells, I’d forgotten they were in there.
“Me tooooo. Me ride the doggie and jump on him and tickle him,” Rachel added enthusiastically.
“My doggy. Me have the doggy,” Beyonce yelled, flying out of my pocket and landing on the General’s snout.
“Me kick your asssssssssssss,” Ross grunted, dive bombing Beyonce and starting a slap fight of epic proportions on George’s head.
“Enough,” George roared. The Demons froze and looked curiously at him. “If you promise to behave and Astrid okays it you may come for a play date at the Dark Palace.”
A chorus of, “Pleeeeeze Mommmmy,” made my head ache.
“Will they be safe?”
Bambi and the General rolled their beady eyes at me and shook their bulbous heads.
“Fine.” I gave in. The Hounds would probably be able to keep a better eye on them than I could. “You little turds behave,” I said, kissing them. “Will you bring them home tonight?”
“Absolutely.” The Hell Hounds were excited to have little guests and the little guests were screaming with joy so loudly I had to slap my hands over my ears.
In the most beautiful blast of magic and glitter I’d seen yet, the Hell Hounds disappeared with my monsters. Good luck . . . you’ll need it? That did not sound good. At all. For now I felt relatively safe with the guesthouse cloaked. Dixie would think I’d gone for a walk and I had at least an hour or so to wake Ethan up and get him up to speed.
Locking the doors and windows seemed silly considering I was in a place where people popped up magically, but it made the former human side of me feel more secure. Ethan was still out. He’d kicked off the covers and his muscle bound body was in full view. I ran my fingers over the light sprinkling of blond hair on his chest. I breathed in his scent and snuggled up next to him—warm and safe. He made me whole.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too, you crazy Vampyre.” His voice was hoarse, but laced with amusement.
I bolted up and took his face in my hands. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve been better, but I would feel very happy if you were naked.”