The Fae Book 3: Butcher and Raine

Chapter 19 (Raine): A Good Cause

"Guess I've been voluntold," Hatch laughed at Burr's announcement that he would be the target. "Watching the two of you try to hit me should be entertaining as hell."

"I swear, Burr, if even one hair on my husband's head gets fried, I'm telling Mom," Harmony warned her brother, but there wasn't any real heat behind her words.

"He'll be fine, little mess. The fae will be shielding him. Much as I'd like to zap him, I won't. Probably."

"Even the fae won't be able to protect you if you hurt him in any way," Harmony now had her hands on her hips, and I knew that stance well from our growing up years. Harmony was getting worked up and Burr was just yanking her chain.

"Don't you have babies at home to watch?" Burr kept taunting his sister. "Your problem is Hatch lets you out of the kitchen too often. You should run along home and go make dinner or whatever it is that good little wives do."

"I promise, Burr, the day you turn eighty-eight and another king takes over, I'm kicking you in the balls with all eighty years' worth of things I owe you for."

"Awww, that's so cute you think they won't be protecting me anymore."

I snuck glances at Butcher and he was watching them banter as if it were a foreign concept. 

"I've got shit to do if you're planning on standing around all day running your mouths," he finally said.

"What, do you have to go sharpen your knives so you can threaten all the other pregnant women you have locked up in Hotel Hell?" My voice couldn't have been sweeter.

He  threw me his blank look. "Your kid's going to hate life if you're going to keep bringing up every little thing he's done wrong and harp on it forever."

My mouth dropped open at the audacity of the man. Then I realized that this man wasn't protected by the fae the same way Burr was...was he? It was worth testing out the theory. So I smiled my special smile at him.

"Oh, shit," Harmony muttered.

"Here we go," Daisy groaned.

Drawing back my foot to ensure Butcher never fathered another child again, before I could follow through, he pointed a finger at me.

"Stop. You can remember every insignificant detail of your stay with us, but you can't remember that you can't hurt me? You're getting too round and unbalanced to keep pulling that shit anyway."

Silence suddenly reigned.

"What did you say?" my voice was low and deadly.

"Basically, I said I didn't want you to even try kicking me because gravity's not working in your favor right now, and you're going to land on your ass."

Hatch unwisely began laughing, even when Harmony elbowed him in the ribs.

"Bro, word of advice: you can think that shit, but you never, ever say it."

At that, Harmony tapped her cheek and Hatch's head snapped to the side.

"Sweetheart, I didn't say I ever had those thoughts. I'm just trying to help out Butcher, here."

Grabbing her hands before she could tap anyplace else on her body, Hatch drew her close. "You know I think you're even more magnificent when you're pregnant."

Harmony's face softened a bit, and she let Hatch swoop in for a kiss.

"Are we going to start?" Butcher asked, impatience dripping from each word. Maybe he wasn't used to being around people who didn't share his love of torture.