“There has to be more to it than them just linking up a few dark objects to one another,” Darius said. “The few times we caught them with something like that they’d always been carrying it. So what if they were trying to take them somewhere?”
“So how can we figure out where they were taking them?” Darcy asked, twirling a lock of dark blue hair around her finger.
“By golly, I think I know,” Geraldine gushed, raising her hand like we were in class and she had an answer to offer up to the teacher. Orion fell back into his professor role without even seeming to notice and pointed at her, giving her permission to speak. “We catch one of the dastardly Daniels and our very own bothersome barracuda uses his gifts to take a root around in its Nymphy noggin!” She looked to Max with an excited expression and he raised a brow.
“You want me to interrogate a Nymph?” he asked, looking kind of excited by the challenge in that suggestion.
“That could work,” Seth said keenly, pushing himself up and bouncing on the bed a little. “You could go full Siren on its woody little ass and dig all of their secrets right out of its brain.”
“That didn’t go so well when our parents tried to interrogate one,” Caleb pointed out, shifting forward in his seat so that his knee knocked against mine and Darius growled at him in warning again.
“That is because your parents, much like the four of you, have no finesse,” Geraldine cried. “You don’t catch a trout on a hook and expect it to lead you back to its lair. You slide a slippery worm down its blowhole and tickle its tentacles until it’s offering you its secrets as willingly as a wildebeest.”
“Trouts don’t have blowholes or tentacles,” Max muttered in confusion and Geraldine groaned dramatically, throwing the back of her hand over her eyes and almost hitting him in the face with her elbow.
“Heavens save me from the linear minds of men!” she cried.
“I think what Grus is saying is that you should get the Nymph under your thrall before it even realises you’re there,” Orion translated as I laughed. “So that rather than trying to probe anyone or attempting to hide its secrets, it just wants to offer them up to you.”
“It won’t hurt them, right?” Darcy asked in concern, and bless my fucking sister for her sweet soul. I mean, she’d killed a bunch of Nymphs - like, a whole bunch – but I knew since seeing Diego’s side of things she was worried about attacking someone innocent. And I guessed she had a point.
“It won’t, beautiful,” Orion said, looking at her like he’d just fallen for her a bit harder.
“You’re gonna have to seduce a Nymph,” I said, barking a laugh and pointing at Max who scowled at me.
“Fuck off,” he growled. “I’m not doing that.”
“You don’t think you can?” Darius taunted and Max bristled.
“I could seduce you away from Tory if I had a fucking mind to, asshole. Don’t doubt my power.”
“Prove it,” I said.
“You want me to seduce Darius?” Max teased and I glanced over at my big Dragon boyfriend, wondering if my jealousy could take a backseat long enough for me to enjoy watching that show before my gaze fell on Seth who was still bouncing about like a puppy on the bed behind him.
“Nah. I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “You should make Seth and Cal hook up instead.”
Seth’s lips popped open and he gave me half a death glare mixed with half an I love you glare while I just smirked at my master plan. Subtle? Not so much, but genius all the same.
“Too easy,” Max said dismissively, waving me off and ruining my master plan as Caleb straightened in his seat beside me.
“So are you gonna get us the information we need or what?” Orion asked, cutting through our game with his bossy professor tone.
“Is it information or Nymphormation?” I asked, barking a laugh at my own joke and Darcy fell apart with me while the others just looked at us like we’d cracked. “That was fucking funny,” I grumbled when none of them joined in.
“It wasn’t, babe,” Seth said, shaking his head at me like I was some poor pathetic soul. “You’re not the funny one. Just try and stick in your snarky, bitchy lane, yeah? It suits you better.”
I opened my mouth to protest that, but Darius turned and punched him in the arm before I could. “Don’t tell her she can’t be funny, dickhead,” he warned like my own personal dark knight.