Chapter 112

Chapter 112
All the nonhumans snickered. As the imps flitted around the kitchen, I learned a bit more about them. They had come out of the primordial ooze in the same batch of imps. The maras that they had been assigned to were friends, so their bond strengthen. Every few centuries, they update their names. Always choosing ones that were similar.

I looked at Caspian. “Do you change your name too?” He nodded. “Ohhhh! What was it?”

He smiled at me. Damn tingle shot through me. Apparently, I was going to be horny and emotional today. I shrugged at his knowing look. Lena snickered too. Guess she could sense it too. “My original name is in a tongue a human can’t speak. Caspian is the closest version of it. I did however think about changing it after it was used in books.”

Lena snickered again. I joined her since I knew which books he was referring to. “Don’t you want to be a prince?”

“No.” He gave me a sultry look. “I’d rather be a butler.”

Tingle. Oh, he was hot. The perfect Derek Bourbon. Definitely leading man material. Rolling their eyes, the imps shooed us to the living room. Once they got Lena and I settled on the couch with our feet up, they blew out of the room in tornado form.

“Anyone else suspect they are off to cause trouble?” I quirked an eyebrow at the maras. They both just gave me a knowing look. I shrugged and drank my smoothie happily. “What are we going to watch?”

As we finished the second feel good movie from the Hallmark channel, the room shimmered. Bodhi appeared in front of Lena. He had his usual appearance of dark black hair and bright blue eyes. Dark stumble lined his jaw. Today he was in a navy-blue button up and black jeans.

“Kendrick said we were all having dinner tonight.” His eyes bounced between all of us. “Something about an announcement?”

“MM HM.” Was all I said. I exchanged a look with Caspian; he was fighting a smile.  Awkwardly we gathered our dishes to carry into the kitchen. As we passed the formal dining room, a mouthwatering scent wafted out. Hurring, I ditched the dishes I was carrying in the sink. As a group, we went into the suddenly popular room. It was still decorated the same as when we had the goodbye dinner with Ace and Carissa. On shiny silver plates appetizers taunted us with their incredible smells. Tzatziki waited in silver cups for the cucumber canapes, baked sweet potato sticks, and mini stuffed bell peppers to be dipped in it.

Caspian held out a chair for me. Across the table, Bodhi was doing the same for Lena. I smiled reassuringly at the succubus across from me. Her blue eyes were wide with the frantic look of someone trying not to run. As we ate the offerings left by the imps, Bodhi kept looking out of the corner of his eye at the woman beside him. He probably thought he was being inconspicuous. But since I was studying him as hard as he was her, I noticed. We kept the conversation light. Nothing of real importance was discussed.

Once the starters were finished, the imps both appeared with a trolley. Plates with a rounded bottom were placed in front of each of us. Each contained lasagna made from raviolis for noodles and garlic bread. Fall themed mocktails were given to all of us. Lena smiled at Kensington thankfully. If only us women folk had been given non-alcoholic drinks it might have been a tip off. Enthusiastically, we dug into the dinners the imps had given us.

“Seriously, the imp is mine.” I moaned as I took a bite. Beside me, my demon chuckled.

“You know the rules on that.” I could hear the smile in his sexy voice. Nodding, I agreed to the terms.

Clearing her throat, Lena told Bodhi about one of the movies we had just watched. Unplanned pregnancy led to love. Caspian and I both tensed as we watched Bodhi’s reaction.

“Doesn’t that sound romantic?” Lena prompted. Her demon shrugged.

“I guess. Never thought much about children.” He kept eating. His response seemed odd. Usually, he was very in tuned to her very movement. Now he suddenly is oblivious? I don’t buy it. Perhaps he was hiding a desire.

“Do you wish you could have children?” I decided to help Lena out by joining the conversation. Bodhi shrugged.

“No point wanting what you can never have.” He kept eating, his eyes focused on his plate. Oh yeah. He was deflecting.  Finally, he looked up at Caspian and changed the topic to how he was thankful Kerrigan and Kensington had returned home and hadn’t been up to anything bad. The three of us chuckled.

‘I guess you are behind.” I snickered. He looked at Lena in confusion. Happily, we filled him in on what the two imps had been up to with Rich. He chuckled at their antics. Using that as an opening, we segued into how Kerrigan is now torturing me because they think I’m pregnant.

“Why on earth would they think that?” Bodhi had laughed so hard when I told him about the fake coffee he was near tears. Caspian told him about the meteor shower and professing our love. As uncomfortable as it made me to have our private moment exposed, it was for the better good. He froze as the implications hit him. Slowly, he turned his dark head towards the succubus beside him. The very one he had done the same with. Waiting for his response made me so anxious that I bit my lip.

“Don’t.” Caspian whispered in my ear. His talented finger traced my lip as he leaned in. I smiled sweetly at him. Quickly I pressed a kiss to his lips then pulled back. Didn’t want him to get any idea. Looking back across the table, the other maras were just staring at each other.

Kerrigan and Kensington came in with trollies loaded with desserts.  Their dark eyes took in the scene quickly. Both imps clapped their hands together.

“Oh, you told him he’s going to be a daddy!” Kensington cooed as they placed a plate of fruit in front of Lena with chocolate sauce for dipping on the side. I covered my mouth with my hand as I tried to keep the snort in. Always count on an imp to break the tension. Kerrigan replaced the empty mocktail glass with a fruity concoction in a wine glass in front of her. Not noticing the rising tension, the imps moved around the room. Bodhi stared at Lena, looking somewhat like a fish with his mouthing hanging open.

“Lena?” Bodhi’s voice broke as he said her name.