The Flame Game (Magical Romantic Comedies #12) - R.J. Blain Page 0,33

like that.”

I pondered what had happened in the gypsum mine up until I’d taken a rather unexpected trip to where the Egyptian pantheon dwelled away from the mortal coil. “That asshole recognized you.”

“I have no idea who he was, but gorgons are aware I exist, as I’m the current prince of my line. My father is king in name only, although he’s definitely embraced some elements of gorgon society. When he gets tired of staring contests and dealing with pissed gorgons who can’t petrify him, he’ll pass the title to me.”

“And since you’re a shapeshifter, you’ll be justified in having it?”

“And should we have a son, he’ll probably pick up more of my traits than yours, so he’ll be the next prince of the line. Sons are rare for gorgons.”

“You could control that, you know, Mr. Samuel Quinn.”

“I could, but maybe I like the surprise.”

“If I want a son, if you won’t self-manipulate to do your job appropriately, I will bring your uncle into it.”

My husband’s chuckle was enough to curl my toes. “I’m not even going to battle with you over this one. Why don’t you surprise me when you decide we should have a boy? Otherwise, we’ll probably get girls constantly. My grandfather and his brother have over thirty older sisters, although it was unusual that they were in consecutive hatchings. There were no other boys from their parents. Then it was really unusual my grandfather had my father fairly early. I suspect my uncle or one of my grandfathers had something to do with my birth, truth be told.”

“Because your father is consistently producing sisters for you to spoil?”

“Spoil? You mean flee from at the earliest possibility. My sisters are vicious. The only reason I haven’t been ambushed is because I’ve been hiding in here with you. I’m hoping they go home before I have to face them.”

“Do you love or hate your sisters?”

“I love them, but I am severely outnumbered, and they lack mercy. When we were young, I appropriately defended them. Now? I run away so I don’t need to be rescued from them. Sometimes, I consider warning the gorgon males they will bring in true predators should my sisters decide to become brides. Gorgon males like to think they’re the kings of their harems, but the brides are really the rulers.”

“I definitely noticed your grandfather is the definition of hitched and whipped, and that your grandmother is the primary culprit. His other wives are more reclusive. Have I even met them?”

“No. You probably will at Easter. His hive is rather large, and his wives are closely bonded. They hate leaving anybody at home, so they either all go or they all stay. Add in the whelps, and getting everyone moved around is quite the challenge. But, we can help with that moving forward, as we can babysit sometimes to give them some space, although we’ll have to recruit some help from other hives.”

“How many whelps does he have right now?”

“Twenty or so, all girls.”

My mouth dropped open. “Twenty?”

“They’re all six, too.”

“All of them are six?”

“My grandmother is getting older, as is my grandfather, so that’s their last clutch. He won’t accept another bride at this point in his life, nor does he plan on cultivating any new wives. This clutch is from his youngest wives. That’s just how it goes. That’s why my father is the current king of our line. Grandfather wants to spend the rest of his days doting on his children, his wives, and his bride. My father handles the diplomacy, and my grandfather shows up to help remind the other gorgons of my father’s authority. My father has it easy. The hives don’t tend to push because my grandfather may be retired, but he’s still spry, and I have a far shorter temper than my grandfather does.”

“Big, scary gorgon-incubus doohickey.” I grinned at him. “We just need to find out who has been hurting the gorgons, brutally kill them, and go about our business. Babysitting for him sounds like fun!”

“I should be telling you that we shouldn’t brutally kill the guilty, but I’d be quite the hypocrite if I did that, as that’s precisely what I’d like to do if I get my hands on the fuckers.”

My husband would. “I’ll try not to brutally kill them if you try not to brutally kill them. That whole day in court thing.”

“We’d be saving the court system a lot of money,” he muttered.

“I’ll just ask Sariel really nicely for a favor to