Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (19 page)

A look of outrage and disgust crossed Madison’s face. “The
point is that you were about to get busy in
my
kitchen!” she whispered in a squeak. When Dylan ducked her head, she turned to
Crispin. “The midnight snack you wanted was a little
nookie
from your
cookie,
isn’t it?” she asked.

The Vampire wouldn’t deny the truth. “That is a rather crude
way to think of your baby sister,” Crispin answered diplomatically. When
Madison simply folded her arms, he smirked. “Contrary to what you think, I did
not have any edible relations with said cookie.” Green eyes glowed as he
watched his wife.
“Yet.”

Troy looked at Dylan, who had turned an interesting shade of
red. He then ran his fingers through Madison’s hair and nuzzled her ear. “Now,
I saw a can of
Reddi
Whip in the fridge and I don’t
know about you, but I’m in the mood for something sweet.”

Madison giggled and then covered her mouth in shock of the
sound. She looked at Crispin and Dylan, who were both exchanging odd looks.
“What?”

Dylan shook her head. “I didn’t say anything. Just keep your
kinky love life out of my food,” she said before opening the refrigerator and
pulling out the can of
Reddi
Whip. She tossed it to
Troy and then went back into the pantry. “Where did you leave the peppermint
patties?”

“I think Donald put them on the top shelf so the boys
couldn’t find them.” Madison looked at Crispin and smiled sweetly as she put
her chin in her hand. “Can you be a good little Prince and bring me a blanket
for Troy?” she asked.

Crispin leaned against the wall. It had been forever since
Madison had been in such a good mood. For that alone he would always be
thankful to the werewolf, but that didn’t mean he had to go easy on them. “What
if I don’t want to?” he asked.

Madison grinned at him. “I have my Mate back, and I just
figured out what you’ve been doing in my kitchen.” She glanced at Dylan and saw
that her sister was starting to get over her embarrassment. “Turnabout is fair
play,” she reminded them. “We can go into your house and completely defile the
kitchen that you two so painstakingly renovated.” She then wrapped her arms
around Troy’s neck. “Their kitchen isn’t as big as this one, but it has a lot
of flat surfaces.”

“Plenty of room to work,” Troy said with a nod. He snorted
when Crispin turned and walked out of the kitchen. “You are so wrong,” he
laughed.

Dylan shook her head. “That’s Madison for you.” When Troy
looked at her, she smiled at the two of them. “That’s also one of the reasons
why we love her.”

“Please tell me this isn’t one of those if you hurt her,
we’ll hunt you conversations,” Madison groaned. “I really don’t feel like
listening to any of those.”

The Vampire Princess smiled at her sister. “That was all
covered on the way here. You don’t have to worry about that one.”

Crispin walked back into the kitchen with a towel in his
hands. “This was all I could find,” he said handing it to Troy. He glanced at
Dylan and winked at her as he opened the towel.

Madison ducked her head as she laughed. Of all the things
for Crispin to find, he brought them a He-Man towel that Donald had bought for
the boys. She looked at Troy and smiled. “It fits.”

Troy smiled as he accepted the towel from Crispin. As
Madison stood up, he covered himself with the towel. “Well now that that’s
taken care of, I will bid you Royals good night,” he said with an exaggerated
bow. When he spied Madison frowning, he smirked. “I’m going to go shack up with
my mate,” he said before pulling her with him out of the kitchen.

She lifted a finger before running back to the doorway. Madison
frowned when she saw Crispin leaning over to kiss Dylan. “You’re going to pay
for the cleaning people to scrub this place down with bleach.” Her frown then
deepened when Crispin opened his mouth to say something to her. “Better yet,
you’re paying for a whole renovation,” she said before leaving them to their
candy.

* * *
* *

An alarm clock started to ring. Lily stretched as she
thought of all of the errands she would have to run today. Her boss wanted her
to join him in a handful of meetings so she could take notes. The lunch meeting
would be the worse one out of them all. They had to meet with the defense’s
council to see if they could plea out a case where the crime was clear as day.

Lily always hated having to deal with murders. Just because
she was a Demon didn’t mean she bathed in violence. Really all she wanted was
to be normal, or at least as close to normal as she could get.

As she walked to the bathroom, Lily noticed Cord standing in
the kitchen. She frowned as she spied the way his hands were shaking. It was as
almost like he was high. “Cord?” she asked softly. He spun around to face her
at a speed that made her jump. Her eyes widened as he started to giggle. “What
did you do?” she asked in a whisper.

“Would you believe…?” he started. He closed his eyes for a
moment and seemed to tip himself forward before he straightened. Cord cleared
his throat and laughed. “Would you believe that I actually forgot how good a
virgin could taste?” Wild green eyes looked at the utter horror that crossed
Lily’s face. She had always been one to take things way to seriously. Another
chuckle escaped him as she started to shake her head in denial. “It’s been so
long since I had one. I tell you, I love the sexual freedom of the 21st
Century. But finding a virgin is almost impossible now. I don’t even know if
she was legal.”

Lily started to pace. She had known Cord was getting out of
control, but now this was too much. “Where did you leave the body?” That was
the first order of business. This would be the last mess she cleaned up for
him. Their father would have to find someplace else for Cord to go. Hopefully
then she could get a grip and move on with her life.

Cord looked up at the ceiling and smiled as he thought back
to the delicious meal he had. “Not that far from the club,” he giggled.
“There’s an alley that’s between Haven and this little rundown mill that was
perfect.”

Disgust rolled through Lily’s stomach. “I have some calls to
make.” She ran her hands through her hair as she tried to get her thoughts in
order. A gasp escaped her when Cord’s arms wrapped around her. The gasp turned
into a growl when Cord started to trail his lips up and down her neck. “Let me
go,” she ordered.

“Why don’t you let me watch you anymore?” he asked. Cord could
only smile as he grabbed one of Lily’s thinly covered breasts. “We used to have
so much fun. And I have to say, you with another girl is hot as hell.” He
moaned softly as he moved to slide his hand under her shorts.

Lily quickly threw her elbow back into his chest and turned
to bring her knee into his stomach. “We aren’t children anymore, Cord,” she
spat. “There are rules that we have to live by. Do you know what could happen
if we’re found?”

Cord gave her a smile that most women would consider charming.
“The real question of the day is: do I
care
what would happen if people find out about us?” He leaned in close to Lily,
only to pause when something sharp scraped against his neck. His eyes spied the
fact that her fingers were now claws, and laughed. “You’re going to hurt me?”

She hated the way he always seemed to mock her. She would
not continue to live as his accomplice. “Get out of my house,” she said lowly.
When he blinked at her, she held onto his throat as she walked him to the door.
“I am done with you. I will not be your scapegoat, your accomplice, or even
your entertainment any longer.” She pushed him into the hall. As she watched
him to struggle to his feet, the urge to peel the skin off of his bones nearly
consumed her.

He looked into her eyes and swallowed. It was rare that Lily
would lose her temper, but when she did she was scary as hell. Cord forced
himself to sit up at her feet. “Don’t do this Lily,” he said shaking his head.
“Dad just got to town. If he finds out you kicked me out he’s going to be
pissed.”

“I am done. I’ll handle Daddy. You get out of here before I
call the Keepers for you,” she said before closing the door in his face. Lily
leaned against the large piece of wood and slowly inhaled. In the matter of
moments her day had gone to mediocre to shit. Cord knew not to knock on her
door. There was a man on her floor that was prone to shoot first and ask
questions later when it came to loud noise. And anything Cord would do in the
state he was currently in would be noisy.

Lily walked into her living room and grabbed her phone. She
sat on her sofa as she dialed the first important phone call. It didn’t
surprise her when her adoptive father’s voice answered. “I kicked Cord out,”
she said simply.

“Do I want to know what happened?” he asked.

“He’s been breaking the rules lately. The news said
something about chaos down at the morgue yesterday afternoon. A Keeper was
there to examine three bodies. They were Cord’s casualties. There is also
another girl in an alley by the club Haven.” Lily took a breath and leaned her
head in her hand. “And he doesn’t even know if she was legal. I can’t keep this
up. Not for him. Not if this is the way he’s going to keep acting.”

Her father was silent for a moment. “I will handle
everything, Sweetheart,” he assured her. “You sound off. Did Cord do something
else that you don’t want to tell me?”

Lily pressed her lips together. She tangled her hand in her
hair and pulled on the strands in frustration. “He said some really crude
things and grabbed me. It’s no big deal.”

“Lilavanti,” her father said sternly. “What your brother did
is a big deal. You have come too far to let him take you back to where I found
you.”

“I know Daddy,” she said as tears filled her eyes. He had
always been so proud of her. Most days she wished she had been born a Mage
instead of a Demon.

“Now, I want you to call your boss and take the day off.”

She stood and started to pace again. “I can’t do that.”

“Eric Maxwell is going to be too busy to have you fetching
his coffee. He was supposed to be supervising that fiasco you were just talking
about. Call out. Tell them you had a family emergency or that you were
attacked. I don’t care which. Just stay out of the office today.
Especially if Cord left another body for them to find.”

Lilavanti sat on the sofa again and sighed. She was supposed
to be extinct. If the Council found out about her or Cord, she would become a
lab rat. “Alright,” she said softly. “I’ll call in now.”

“You’re doing the right thing.”

“I’m not too sure of that. But if you say so.” She leaned
back and put her feet up on the table. “I’m
gonna
go.
I have those calls to make. Love you Daddy.”

Troy woke and smiled at the woman sleeping in his arms.
After leaving the kitchen he and Madison ended up putting that can of
Reddi
Whip to good use. When they finally fell asleep two
hours ago he promised that he would be the one to get up with the boys. He
buried his nose in Madison’s loose hair and brushed his lips against her pulse.
It still amazed him. He was home with his Mate.
With his
family.

He untangled himself from Madison’s grip. Troy could only
chuckle when she moaned in protest and pulled his pillow into her arms. It was
the most vulnerable he had yet to see her and it only made him want to protect
her more.

Troy got out of bed and made his way down to the kitchen. He
folded his arms over his chest and could only laugh at the sight that greeted
him. Aiden and Kayin were standing on the counters trying to reach for bowls
and boxes of cereal. “Good morning boys,” he greeted. He would have panicked if
he hadn’t seen them the night before.

Two pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Aiden grabbed a box
of Fruit Loops and turned his attention to his father. “Morning Daddy,” he said
happily. He jumped from the counter and went to the table.

“We’re fixing breakfast,” Kayin chirped with two bowls under
his arm.

“I can see that.” Troy walked over to the table. He sat next
to where the boys were working and leaned his chin on his hand. “Why didn’t you
come and get me or Mommy?” he asked curiously.

“Because with Alex gone, we’re the men of the house,” Kayin
announced proudly. “We have to make sure Mommy eats right.”

The entire conversation was getting stranger by the second.
“And why would you boys need to do that?”

Aiden gave his father a serious look. It took everything in
Troy not to laugh in his son’s face. “Daddy, we have to tell you a secret about
Mommy.” He leaned over to Troy’s ear as if he had the world’s biggest secret to
tell. “She can’t cook. She tries but it comes out really bad. But don’t say
anything, it’ll hurt her feelings and she’ll cry.”

Troy looked into his son’s face and couldn’t fight the
chuckles that left him. “Then I think it’s a good thing for you two that I can
cook,” he said trying to be as serious as Aiden. When they both looked at him
skeptically he stood and went to the stove. “I even went to school for it.” He
pulled out a frying pan and looked at the two boys. He was still trying to wrap
his head around the fact that he had two sons. The more he looked at the twins
he could see how much they resembled their mother. “What would you like to
eat?”