wrench open the door and let him in. He immediately hurries over to the living room where a bunch of people are still playing video games. Some are playing, others are watching, and someone else set up a projection from their phone, and they’re streaming a movie on the wall.
Addie and her mates are among the movie watchers, and when she spots me and the spawn, she jumps up. “Freddie? What are you doing here?”
He ignores her because he’s homed in like a tracker beam on the bowl of popcorn that’s on the floor. He plops down in front of it, straddling the whole thing as he dips his hands in—the very same hands he just picked his nose with and drew in the dirt—and starts eating it one fistful after another. I let out a sigh of relief that I’m rid of the talkative little dude.
“I wouldn’t eat that popcorn if I were you,” I warn her.
“Good to know. Where’d you find him?”
“He was spying on me,” I explain. “I don’t know how to return him.”
Addie chuckles and pulls out her phone. “He’s Janie and Collins’s kid. I’ll text them and let them know he’s here. He’s super smart for his age but he’s always sneaking off. It’s funny that he followed you around.”
“Yeah, don’t you eat kids?” Lafe calls from the floor where they’ve thrown down comforters and pillows to lay on to watch the movie.
“Only on Sundays,” I snark.
Much to my dismay, Spawn comes back over to me. But now, he’s covered in greasy popcorn butter. “She doesn’t eat kids. She’s a ninja!” he tells Lafe. “She’s gonna be my ninja teacher.”
“Did you say teacher, Freddie? That’s interesting.”
With a groan, I look over at the person who just popped up from out of nowhere. Jericho.
I roll my eyes at the smirk on his face. “Don’t start,” I warn him.
He ignores me and kneels down in front of Freddie. “So she’s gonna teach you, huh? Like a trainer? That’s cool.”
Freddie nods excitedly as he licks his fingers, making my nose wrinkle in disgust. “Yep, I know! I’m gonna be the bestest ninja ever!” Spawn says.
I mean, I appreciate his confidence, but he seems a little cocky for a kid who can’t even balance enough to draw a straight line in the sand.
Jericho stands up, shoving his hands into his pockets. He’s dressed in his black cargo pants and shirt, like he just got off enforcer duty. “Looks like it’s official, huh?” he asks me. “Well, you’re in luck, because I scheduled you to have free rein of the gym tomorrow afternoon.”
Frustration turns my lips down. “I never said—”
“Freddie, there you are!”
My words get cut off at the female’s voice, and I turn to see her hurrying forward. The little boy sees her and grins. “Hi, Mommy!”
She kneels down in front of him, her face a mixture of relief and chastising in the way only a mother can look. “Freddie, how many times do we have to tell you? You are not allowed to sneak out of your bedroom!”
A male comes walking up beside her, presumably the spawn’s father if I had to judge by the matching shade of blond hair. But immediately, I notice the milky, off-centered direction of his eyes, and it hits me that he’s blind.
Even so, he doesn’t falter as he walks through the room. He makes it to his mate’s side and then lifts the boy up into his arms. “Hi, Daddy! I met a ninja!”
“Did you now?” he asks with amusement.
The female stands and shoots her mate a glare that he can’t see, but I’m guessing he can feel it, because his face immediately sobers. “I mean...uh...did you hear your mother? You did a very bad thing tonight, sneaking out. We were very worried.”
Spawn looks immediately castigated, and his bottom lip comes out again. “Sorry. But I saw a rabbit out my window. It was just like me, ’cept it was wild. I wanted to play with it, but it ran away. Then I followed her into the cafeteria,” he says, pointing at me. “Cuz I thought she was getting snacks and I could get some too since I didn’t get dessert.”
His mother sighs and squeezes the bridge of her nose. “You didn’t get dessert because you didn’t finish your dinner.”
“It was carrots!” he says indignantly.
“You’re a rabbit,” she says with an arched brow. “And anyway, I don’t care if you see a superhero outside of your window. You’re never allowed to leave