It was a tediously familiar argument.
“By reasonable I assume you mean, ‘Why won’t I be a good girl and allow myself to be incarcerated in Styx’s dungeon?’ ”
The king snorted. “Hardly a dungeon. I might not like the leeches, but not even you can deny Styx’s lair is the finest piece of real estate in Chicago. It makes most museums look shabby.”
It was true.
Styx and Darcy’s lair, which was only a few miles to the north, was a sprawling mausoleum filled with acres of marble and gilt and priceless works of art.
Her own home was half the size, but as far as she was concerned it was far superior.
The long sunken living room was decorated in shades of pale gray and silver with a glass wall overlooking the pool and distant tennis courts. The kitchen was large and airy with a breakfast nook and an attached dining room. A curved double staircase led from the foyer to the master suite upstairs, which had a bed large enough to accommodate a football team and a built-in whirlpool that would make any Were purr in pleasure.
And her bathroom ... it was every woman’s fantasy, with a shower that ran the entire length of one wall, while the tub was deep enough to drown in.
No way in hell was she giving up her comforts to hide in the basement of a leech.
Or at least, that was the story she’d given her daughters when they pleaded for her to join them.
And she was sticking to it.
“It’s cold,” she informed her unwelcome guest. “And it’s crawling with bloodsuckers.”
“Your daughters are all settled in.”
“Good. They need your protection.” She was genuinely relieved to know that Darcy and Harley and Regan were safely hidden. If only Cassandra was with them she could at last breathe easy. “I, however, do not.”
“These are dangerous times, Sophia. Even for a pure-blooded Were.”
She rolled her eyes.
Yeah, King of the Obvious.
There wasn’t a demon alive who wasn’t aware that the Dark Lord was threatening to return from his banishment and unleash all hell. Or that there were all sorts of nasties crawling out of the shadows.
Which was precisely why her daughters were currently being hidden in Styx’s lair.
And why she wasn’t about to put them in any further danger.
“I’ve been taking care of myself for centuries.”
Salvatore studied her stubborn expression.
“You don’t have to anymore,” he said at last, his voice soft. “You have a family.”
Once those words would have given her a rash. Now it made her heart warm with a strange emotion.
Hell, maybe she was getting old.
“A family is like medicine.” She twisted her lips into a sardonic smile. “Best in small doses.”
The golden eyes flared as his wolf prowled close to the surface.
“I’m also your king. I could make joining us an order.”
Her smile widened, edged with a warning that made the large predator pale.
“And I could tell Harley about those nymph triplets that you—”