"Hello?" Kyrian said. "Oh, hi, hon. No, I'm okay." He cringed a bit. "No, hunting was good. We'll... uh... we'll be home tomorrow."
He paused, then glanced to Julian. "What head wound?" He cringed even more. "No, tell Grace, Julian is fine. Just a little bump. We're all fine."
Wulf laughed at the way the ex-Dark-Hunter was squirming.
"Yeah, okay, will do. Love you too. Bye." Kyrian hung up the phone and let his gaze go to everyone. "Jeez, never marry a psychic woman." He looked at Talon, then Julian. "Guys, we're so screwed. The women know we didn't go hunting."
Zarek made a rude noise at that. "You think? What idiot came up with that lie?"
"I'm not an idiot," Talon snapped. "And it's not like I lied. I just omitted what exactly we were hunting and where we were doing it."
Zarek made another noise of disagreement. "Like your wives wouldn't know better?" He glanced to Kyrian. "When was the last time Mr. Armani hunted something that didn't have a price tag on it?" His gaze then went to Julian. "Oh, and the loafers and trousers are perfect camouflage."
"Shut up, Zarek," Talon snapped.
As Zarek opened his mouth to retort, a knock sounded on the door.
Grumbling, Chris went to open it and let Acheron and Urian into the room. Wulf rose to his feet as they entered.
Urian looked bad. He was pale, his clothes still covered in blood. But the worst was the restrained fury and pain in his pale eyes.
Wulf didn't know what to say to the man. He'd lost everything and gained nothing.
"We were getting worried about you, Ash," Kyrian said.
"I wasn't," Zarek said. "But now that you're here, do you need me for anything else?"
"No, Z," Ash said quietly. "Thanks for coming."
Zarek inclined his head. "Any time you want me to help rip something apart, just give me call. But in the future, could you pick somewhere warmer to do it?" Zarek flashed out of the room before anyone could respond.
"You know," Talon said. "It really pisses me off that he's a god now."
"Just make sure you don't piss him off," Ash said in warning. "Or he might turn you into a toad."
"He wouldn't dare."
Kyrian snorted. "We are talking about Zarek, right?"
"Oh, yeah," Talon said. "Never mind."
Kyrian stood up with a groan. "Well, since I'm one of the few nonimmortals in the room, I think I'm going to head to bed and rest."
Talon flexed his bandaged arm. "Sleep sounds like a plan to me."
Chris threw the medical supplies back in the plastic box. "C'mon, guys, and I'll show you where you can crash."
Cassandra stood up with Erik. "I guess I should-"
"Wait," Urian said, stopping her.
Wulf tensed as the Daimon approached his wife and son. Ash put his hand on his arm to keep him from interfering.
"Can I hold him?" Urian asked.
Both Cassandra and Wulf frowned. Urian had barely looked at the baby before this.
Cassandra glanced to Ash who nodded.