Summon Lyght(67)

"What's wrong with my accent and vocabulary?"

"You sound like a…."

When she struggled for several seconds, Tyler generously offered up the word. "Snob?"

She pointed at Robert. "Yes! A snob." She looked at Tyler. "That means one who thinks they are smarter than most?" Tyler nodded.

Robert held up his hands. "Too bloody bad. I'm not giving up intellect. Sorry.

Peggy rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to play the part. Now you'll need to keep quiet. You can't go around sounding like you're from another planet."

"Not a problem there. I have nothing to say unless it's necessary. And I am certainly capable of discerning the variables in any given scenario, sister. I am the Diamond prince."

"I know, I know." She rolled her eyes. "But why not explore other themes while you have the opportunity, have fun, live a little?"

The female was annoyingly ridiculous. "This is plenty exploratory for me, thank you."

****





Francis used his cell phone to call his father. They all had one now and had orders to get used to communicating by human means in order to keep a low profile. At the compound there was no one else to keep a low profile from, but the idea was to get in the habit of using the cell phones so when they were out in the world, they didn't look technologically challenged. "Dad?"

"Yes, you've reached your dad, and I hate these damn things. What's up? You okay?"

Francis couldn't agree more about the cell phones. Confounding pain in the ass. "Yeah, I just wondered if we could call a meeting." He held his breath.

"Everything okay?"

"Um, yes. Me and the others have something we wanted to run by the Brotherhood." Francis tried not to hold his breath again since it made him sound odd, and kind of guilty.

"Oh, yes, sure." Kassern sounded relieved. "Now?"

"If that's possible."

"Okay. I'll contact the Brothers and let you know when." His father sounded a little distracted, as if his thoughts were already elsewhere. Hopefully things were okay with Karly.

"Alright. I'll wait for your call back."

Kassern sighed. "If I can remember how this contraption works."

Francis smiled. "I'm sure you'll get it."

"Thanks for the confidence."

"Duh. You're the Ruby Warrior, dad."

He laughed and the sound warmed Francis to his toes. "Duh? You're starting to sound like a real live human dude."

It was Francis' turn to laugh. "Dude. That's a good one."

"I take after my amazing son."

Francis thought his face would break with his huge smile. "And I take after my amazing father."

"Fair enough. I'll call you soon, be watching."

"Okay."

"How do you turn this thing off?" Kassern mumbled in the background.

Francis stayed on, listening, partly for his own information, and partly for entertainment. His parents had a lot of real fun together and he liked hearing them.

"The talk button." Karly's smile came through her voice.

"Talk button? Why not have a stop talking button?"

"Maybe when you're done saving the world, you can save the cell phone companies from this ruin."

"Very funny."

Francis grinned as the connection was finally cut.





Chapter Twenty-Three





Miya lay on her side watching Lesedi sleep. Her muscles ached deliciously in places she hadn't realized existed. Memory of discovering those places sent heat rushing to her cheeks. Over the past few hours, she'd done things she never believed she would personally experience.

Time with Lesedi proved the naysayers wrong. He was every inch the kind of man that her favorite authors wrote about. Pity her friends would never find out men like that really did exist. Her determination not to settle for less had paid off because now she had the man of her dreams.

She really should get up and shower and then find them something to eat. Earlier she'd attempted to, but Lesedi woke as she got out of bed and convinced her to wait. How many times had they made love? She'd lost count, but she'd learned several incredible things and Lesedi was a great teacher. He seemed to automatically know what she needed and when.

The contours of his chest tempted her mercilessly to touch and stroke when she tried to slip out of bed without waking him. Finally she succeeded in getting her feet on the floor and her body upright. She stood for a long moment watching Lesedi, tempted to slide back into his arms and wake him. The loud growl of her belly reminded her why she'd worked so hard to get up.

Almost regretfully, she went to the bathroom and donned the fluffy robe she'd worn after her shower. She eyed the unbelievable bathtub and her priorities nearly shifted with the promise of the best bath of her life. She could wait.