Midlife Blues - Victoria Danann Page 0,38
and let out a roar that shook the building as he positioned himself between the bench, meaning me, and the rest of the room.
That brought about immediate silence, but not good judgment on the duchess’s part.
As soon as the room was quiet, she tilted her red face up to me and said, “Are. You. Insane?”
I gave her my best bitch face and urged a correction, “Are you insane, Your Honor? Unless you want to be Bulent’s pet for twenty days.”
I watched as the realization washed over her that she might actually have to serve a sentence as someone’s pet. Bogdan was frantically attempting to get her to offer a verbal retraction.
Just when I was about to lose patience, she told Bogdan, “FINE!”
To me she said, “I apologize for my belligerence, Your Honor.”
“The chieftain has assured me that you will be treated better than you treated Ekrem when you were responsible for his well-being. You will not be harmed physically. My hope is that, at the end of thirteen days, you will be a person who is less self-centered and more considerate of others. You’re remanded into the custody of the gargoyles as of now.”
I banged my gavel. “Court is adjourned.”
I expected to relish being home that night, but I hadn’t expected to be greeted with one of my favorite comfort meals. Gods bless Olivia. How did she know it was a tuna casserole night?
Rice, cream of mushroom soup, tuna, and a layer of buttered crackers backed on top. Yes. I know it’s not jeggings-friendly, but it wasn’t a deprivation night. And not having tuna casserole after being greeted by that aroma would have meant deprivation. I told myself all was okay because she’d left a fresh salad and I would dutifully nibble rabbit bits as a counterbalance.
“As much as I’d like to sit down and eat. And drink wine. I feel like I need a hot soak more.”
“Go ahead,” Keir said. “Dinner will still be here. I’ll catch up on sports.”
That’s all it took for life to resume an air of normalcy. Well, I mean as normal as can be expected for the only Hallow Hill resident who’s American. And human. And acting as the moral compass for the entire magic world.
An hour later I emerged in silk-cotton-blend pajamas, my hair still piled on my head and damp at my neck where I’d laid back in my glorious oversized claw-foot tub. I knocked on the door of Keir’s room.
“How are you able to watch sixteen screens of sports all at once?”
He smiled. “It’s a gift. Ready for dinner?”
“Oh yeah. I’m eating with or without you.”
Keir poured wine while I sat by the fire in the kitchen.
“You made quite an impression today,” he said. “Maybe shook the whole magic world.”
After a deep sigh, I said, “Don’t make me guess. Good thing or bad thing?”
“Well,” he laughed. “It was entertaining.”
“There were a couple of times I thought you might fall off the dais laughing.”
“You are one of a kind. The magic world will never be the same.”
“Again, good thing? Or bad thing?”
“I guess that depends on your point of view. I would not want to spend a couple of weeks as Bulent’s pet, especially not after what she did to Ekrem.”
“I extracted a promise from Bulent that he wouldn’t hurt her, just teach her how it feels to be away from home, your own species, and powerless.”
“Yeah. See the thing is, those values that you take for granted are not necessarily part of our world. You could be holding magic kind to a standard they’ve never been exposed to.”
“If there’s no standard governing treatment of each other, then what’s BOBO all about?”
His brow crinkled. “BOBO?”
“You don’t call it that? The Bureau of Behavioral Oversight.”
Keir shook his head smiling. “One of a kind, Rita.” He took a sip of wine. “I guess you’re right. They do pay attention to abuses. Crossing a line.”
“Okay! There! What line are they crossing if there’s no standard?”
“You’ve got a point. I guess up until now that line has been up to the individual.”
“Anarchy is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.”
“You’re wanting to establish a standard.”
“Can that be done?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I do know that you rocked our world today. Groundbreaking ideas.”
“Thanks for backing me up.”
“That’s my job,” he said with his mouth half full. He swallowed. “This is good wine. You did good work today.”
“Crazy coincidence about Ekrem and John David.”
“I know. John David is alright. You didn’t mention him by name.”
“Because I wasn’t