How very odd A gorgeous blond man entered the room from the hallway to the right and cursed the instant he saw Tabitha in the foyer.
"Love you, too, Kyr," Tabitha said with an open, friendly smile.
He took a deep breath that said he would need patience to deal with Tabitha.
"Kill any vampires lately?" he asked.
"Apparently not, you're still breathing, huh?" Tabitha clucked her tongue at Amanda. "When's Geritol here gonna drop dead from old age, anyway?"
Kyrian narrowed his eyes at his sister-in-law before he looked at his wife.
"You know, I always thought I had faced evil incarnate. And then I met your sister.
She makes a total mockery of all known malevolent forces."
"Would you two stop?" Amanda said to them. "We have company, and speaking of evil incarnate. Why don't you go face it in the nursery and change your daughter's diaper?"
"Anything to get her out of Tabitha's clutches before she corrupts her. It's even worth facing the toxic waste."
Tabitha snorted at that. "Go on, little Marissa, and make sure you do something really nasty to Daddy when he changes you, okay?"
The baby laughed as Tabitha handed her over to her father.
Kyrian started for the stairs, then stopped as he caught sight of the wolf sitting quietly behind Bride.
"Is that who I think it is?" Amanda asked him.
Kyrian cocked his head. "Yeah, I think so."
Bride's heart stopped. "You know his owner?"
Kyrian looked a bit uneasy with her question. "He doesn't really have an owner per se. How did you end up with him?"
"He turned up at my house and I took him in."
Kyrian and Amanda exchanged a puzzled look. "He let you?"
"Well, yeah."
Tabitha opened her mouth as if she understood what they were thinking.
"Oh, dear Lord, don't tell me he's one of your cockamamie friends."
"They're better than yours," Kyrian snapped. "At least mine aren't insane."
"Yeah, right. They're just" Tabitha snapped her mouth shut, then passed a fake smile to Bride. "You want to show him your hand? I'm sure he's going to know all about your mysterious serial killer."
Bride hesitated. "He knows serial killers?"
"He knows lots of truly unsavory people."
"And Tabitha leads off that list."
"Kyrian!" Amanda snapped.
Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's okay, Mandy. Let him pick. At least I'm not the one with the receding hairline."
His face suddenly ashen, Kyrian ran his hand along his hairline.