“Yes, but he still knows more.” Zoe was adamant. “I know you like him because he saved your daughter but he’s a game-player. He’s only telling us what he believes we need to know to get us from point A to point B. He won’t ever tell us anything beyond that.”
“How can you be sure?” Aisling challenged. “I mean, I’m not saying I believe everything he says either. He did save me, though. He made sure I got back to my family. That makes me kind of like him.”
“Isn’t he the reason the gate glitched in the first place?” Zoe argued.
“I ... well ... yeah.”
“Then he wouldn’t have needed to save you if he hadn’t put you in danger in the first place.” Zoe dragged a hand through her hair, as if willing herself to calm. “He’s not our enemy. I would never say otherwise. However, he’s going to use us to get what he wants.”
“Is that a bad thing if he wants the same thing we want?” Griffin queried. “I mean ... I’m with my wife. He made sure she got back to me. I’ve been ... struggling since it happened. I knew what she did for a living when I fell in love with her, but the idea of losing her on the other side of that gate paralyzes me.”
Aisling reached over and grabbed his hand, dragging it to her chest and offering him a reassuring smile. “It won’t happen again. I promise. I should’ve taken your feelings into consideration when we were fighting by the gate last time. I just ... lost my head.”
The smile he mustered was full of love. “I’m not angry, baby. I was as much at fault as you that day. I just ... I have so much fear.”
Aric shot him a sympathetic look. “It’s the baby.”
“No.” Griffin shook his head. “I feared for her before we had a baby.”
“This much?” Aric arched an eyebrow. “You’re out of sorts right now because having a baby changes everything. I remember what it was like for us. We had people coming out of the woodwork to steal Sami. Zoe had to go out on her own a handful of times — right after giving birth, mind you — to go scorched earth on these monsters.
“We were tired and sleep-deprived and wondering if we’d made the biggest mistake of our lives,” he continued. “This was after my wife had eradicated more enemies than I can count. Having a baby changed things for us. I’m sure, to a certain extent, it’s changed things for you, too.”
Griffin worked his jaw. “I don’t know what to think. I just know I was really angry that I couldn’t be the one to go through the gate to get her.”
“Because you had Lily to think about,” Aric surmised. “It’s okay. I felt the same angst when I had to stay with Sami and watch my wife storm off to war. Balancing parenthood with marriage isn’t always easy. You guys are going to be fine, though. You’re just new to the game.”
The look Cormack shot Aric was full of such profound gratitude that a lump formed in my throat.
“Thank you,” Aisling said in a quiet voice. She looked as grateful as her father. “I think we both needed to hear that. It has been a learning experience. I didn’t realize how much our lives were going to change. I mean ... I knew they wouldn’t be the same. Things are just really different.”
She leaned closer, as if imparting some magical secret. “Do you know that we practically live here now? We have a townhouse in Royal Oak and we spend like one night a week there these days. If you had told me a year ago that I would be living with my father again, I would’ve called you a filthy liar.”
Cormack lifted a finger to quiet her. “I want you here as long as you want to be here.”
“I know, but ... it’s still a little weird.” Aisling’s smile was rueful. “That doesn’t mean I’m leaving. I need my daddy and I don’t care who knows it.”
“I need your daddy, too,” Griffin agreed. “He’s the only reason we get three nights of sleep a week.”
Cormack smirked at both of them. Before he could respond, his eyes drifted toward the door that led to the foyer. “Are they using an actual puck?”
I pressed my lips together and pretended I didn’t hear the question and instead focused on my ragged fingernails. “We should set up a spa day when this is over with. I could use a bit of pampering.”
“I’m with you there,” Jerry said. “We’ll make a whole day of it and get the works. I — oh, man! Who let the Devil in the house?”
Confused, I turned back to the doorway that led to the foyer. There, a familiar dark-haired woman stood in what could only be described as a pastel pink nightmare of a suit. Her hair was pulled away from her face — which was caked in about an inch of makeup — and the room instantly felt smaller because of her evil presence.
“Hello, Genital Boil,” Aisling called out from the couch. “I’m not sure if you’ve been lying to your pimp again about your work ethic or something, but this is a ‘no whores allowed’ zone so there’s no picking up marks under this roof.”
I pressed my lips together and instantly glanced at Zoe, briefly wondering how she would feel about the interaction. One look at her face told me she was fine with it — intrigued, even.
“And hello to you, too, Aisling,” Angelina Davenport replied with faux sweetness practically dripping from her tongue. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you.”
“Did your pimp tell you to say that?” Aisling challenged.
Angelina’s bland expression didn’t change but there was a momentary flash in the depths
