Avery blushed. "Thank you."
Kari sighed. "I wish I had his eyelashes."
Meryn shook her head. "He is pretty like that too, but I mean his..." she waved her hand around her chest. "I don't know, his heart maybe. I've never seen anyone so kind. He gives off good vibes."
Aiden frowned and walked over to his mate. "When did you start seeing vibes?" He rubbed her back.
Meryn shrugged. "I think I always have, but I've created a classification system for what I see now; it's helping me identify more." She pointed to Kari. "Like she's all boxes and clean lines like Beth. I'm guessing that means she's organized."
"You have no idea," Avery muttered.
Kari bumped him with her hip.
Meryn pointed to Avery. "He's fluffy. Light and fluffy and sweet. Like cotton candy." Her eyes became unfocused, and even though he was standing behind her and couldn't see her expression, Ryuu reacted by reaching down and circling one of her wrists. She shook her head as if to clear it. "Fluffy means nice."
Aiden and Ryuu's eyes met over Meryn's head. Meryn elbowed them both. "I know when you do that."
Aiden leaned down and nuzzled her neck. "Just worried about you baby."
"I'm cool. I'm getting better at using my Jedi powers." Meryn beamed at them.
Avery turned to Kari with puppy dog eyes. "Can we keep her?" he pleaded.
Kari laughed. "I think Bethy has dibs. She adopted Meryn as her sister."
Meryn nodded. "Yup! But you can join me for Doctor Who in the afternoons." She looked at Kari. "I got Declan hooked."
Avery began to bounce from foot to foot. "Who's your favorite Doctor?" he blurted out.
Meryn's eyes lit up. "I love Ten, but Eleven has his moments, you know?"
Avery bobbed his head up and down. "I had such a crush on Eccleston," he admitted shyly.
Meryn began to nod energetically. "It was totally the jacket."
Avery pointed to her then turned to Kari. "She gets it!"
Kari watched as the two of them jumped down the geek rabbit hole. She didn't care if Meryn McKenzie blew up half the city; she understood Avery and was treating him as a friend. For that reason alone, Kari would defend the small women unconditionally.
Aiden's eyes began to glaze over when they began chattering away about favorite episodes. He shook his head. "Okay baby, I'm heading back out to help Magnus field the shit storm Rex Lionhart will stir up with Declan getting hurt." He turned to Kari. "Staying?"
Kari nodded. "For a bit."
"Meryn has a walkie-talkie. If you need us, let her know." Aiden gave Meryn a final kiss then left.
Meryn rubbed her lower back, and Avery immediately became contrite. "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry. I'm nattering on like a geek, and you should be sitting down."
Meryn waved off his concern. "I needed to walk around. I've been working with Nigel and Neil creating the perfect revenge for Declan. Then Aiden had to go and steal my drone."
Kari waved her finger back and forth. "Vin and Keegan will be bringing it back soon. I hate to admit it, but I want to see what you can do. Declan is my mate, after all."
Meryn threw her hands in the air and hopped around. "Yes! Yes! Kari, you rock!"
Avery moved his hands as if trying to get her to calm down. "Please, don't bounce!"
Meryn giggled. "It's not like the baby is going to fall out or anything." She grabbed his hand. "Come on! I'll show you my secret lair."
Kari raised an eyebrow to Ryuu. He cleared his throat. "The communication hub."
Meryn and Avery began going back and forth about the latest Doctor Who special as they walked down the hall. Meryn used her hand, and the door opened to a large room. "My bat cave!"
CHAPTER FOUR
Kari looked around the room. Long tables lined three walls with piles of boxes, electronics, and cables organized in small piles. Meryn hurried over to a table and removed a large cardboard box covering what looked like a small helicopter.
"I told them you had more than one," Kari murmured.
Meryn turned to her and grinned. "I actually ordered three, so that each of us could practice."
"Us?"
"She means us," a male voice piped up.
Kari looked to her right and blinked. She was seeing double.
One of the men chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with your vision; we're twins."
Avery moved to stand beside Meryn. "Could you teach me how to use this?"
Meryn shrugged. "I'm not too good with them yet. Nigel is the best pilot of the three of us."
Nigel snorted. "That's not saying much; we're all kinda terrible."
Avery picked the small drone up and turned it over. "What were you going to use it for?"