Page 68 of Plaidypus
“That is not fair.”
“I love you, Bailey, but you are not sensible, our children are not sensible, and I find myself losing my tenuous grip on my sensibility due to long-term exposure.”
“Oh, that burned good. Do it again.”
“That statement is evidence why you’re not sensible.”
With a delighted expression, Bailey clapped her hands and bounced her legs against her husband’s sides. “More!”
“Please don’t mind them,” Lucifer said, and he smiled at the couple. “Let’s just say they had a rather turbulent start to their relationship, and Bailey still isn’t quite clear on the other forms of affection.”
“But it burns sogood,” the woman said.
“As I said, don’t mind her. Her native language is sarcasm and spite.”
“Spite is a language?” I asked.
“It is now,” Darlene said with laughter in her voice, and she bobbed her head. “I’m afraid I started it. I’m just a big bundle of spite, which Lucifer has used to his advantage from the day we met.”
“She literally invaded my home, took it over, and made me like it, all so she could rescue her brother. She has turned spite into an art. I’m afraid it is quite contagious. I’m not really sure where Bailey got her spite from. It probably has something to do with her species. Cindercorns are made of spite and sarcasm. I’m quite proud of my cindercorns.” Lucifer grinned at the pair, who leveled glares his way. “They’re also made of fire and fury and all those nice things.”
Fire and fury were nice things? Someone needed to adjust the Devil’s vocabulary, but as I valued my life, I’d let someone else take the fall to correct him. “Will Matthieu even make it like that?”
We stared at my sleeping brother.
“Maybe if we tie him to the saddle,” Ernesto said, and he considered my brother with a frown. “Conquest could just teleport him to the site and dump him off somewhere shady.”
“He’s useless comatose,” Lucifer said, shaking his head. “Conquest, go on home and have Belial put the vampire to bed and find him a donor. He’s probably thirsty on top of fatigued. Request Mina come and partner with him. Let’s not disturb Ernesto’s education more than necessary. Will that work, Ernesto?”
“Quite well. He should be more active by the time we stop for the night. His control is far better than I expected. You really did good work with him, Miss Nadine. Other vampires would have been far more aggressive at this stage of their second life.”
Mindful of the truth, I nodded my head in acceptance of his compliment. “He was quite guilty over Icy. I’m glad she was rescued by the hotspot, too.”
“A moose has sufficient blood to stave off most of the first thirst. Good fortune for you—and better fortune the hotspot blessed you with lycanthropy. But in the future, you donated too much for being on your own. But I’m aware of the circumstances, and I’m quite impressed with your determination and drive. As he’s not conscious to protest, are you all right with him moving to Chicago to learn?”
“Take him. I can visit. And if you think I can’t, you will adjust your initial plan so I can.” I engaged the vampire in a staring contest. “I’ve killed more than a few mad vampires, and I will not take kindly should you bar visitation with my brother.”
Ernesto’s daughter clapped her hands. “You are simply a delight. Father, I’m sure there are a few kirin in the gardens who’d get along great with her and Icy.”
“Qilin,” Ernesto corrected. “If Lucifer says they’re the qilin, then we’ll begin adjusting our language as such, though those habits will, I expect, be a challenge to change.”
“Will the Babylonians mind?” Pierina inquired, her brows furrowing.
“Does it matter if they mind?”
I raised my brows at the question, marveling at the simplicity of Ernesto’s solution to the naming issue. “Can change happen that quickly?”
“For the right reason, yes,” the ancient vampire replied. “I suspect it will be easy for them. They were probably aware of their original name long before I drew my first breath.”
“This is true,” Lucifer confirmed. “They will have no problem with the switch, and they will appreciate things being returned to their natural order.”
I scratched my head. “At the risk of sounding ignorant, who or what are the Babylonians? You mean the Tower of Babel? The myth from the Bible?”
“Babylon wasn’t a myth, and the Tower of Babel was quite real, I assure you,” Lucifer replied. “They’re not humans, and they are the protectors of knowledge in many ways. When Ernesto and his family became vampires, it was the Babylonians who sheltered and taught them, allowing them to survive through the ages. Should you earn your way into Ernesto’s good graces, perhaps he’ll take you into the gardens, where the Babylonians of Chicago currently thrive with their qilin companions. Some of the qilin are quite eager to enter the world, so you may be able to befriend one to journey through life with you. It wouldn’t be the first time, nor will it be the last. For now, try not to worry much about it. The qilin will one day rise to take their place among the rest of my unicorns, albeit they are not quite unicorns. They’re more like stags with an extra horn, and even the females possess antlers. They’re among my most beautiful creations.”
“And among your most terrible,” Ernesto said in a soft tone.
“No, there is nothing terrible about them. They are the balance of nature given flesh. They are life, and they are also death. Squeamish people who forget corpses are nothing but decaying flesh and bone view my unicorns as terrible. Eat or be eaten at its finest, and well, if you leave your body just lying around, somebody is going to eat it. It just happens my unicorns, qilin, and kirin ensure the bodyissoulless when they’re done with it. Consider what would happen if that were not the case.”
