Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

eighty-eight.

When we got back to her office, the energy was completely different. Zane and Jacques were talking loudly with one another, and I could smell the alcohol before I even entered. Val and Steph looked like they had an interesting conversation as when I walked in, she blushed immediately.

"Everybody okay in here?" Sebastian asked, picking up on the vibe too. Jacques jumped out of his seat and rushed towards us, throwing his arms around Sebastian, nearly knocking him over.

"Benny! Why did you take so long!?"

"Uh, Jacques... It's only been an hour." Sebastian said, trying to get him to stand up straight. "Are you... How much did you drink!?"

"A lot," Zane said, smirking.

"And how much exactly is a lot?" I asked.

"Ehhhh?" Zane said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh hell..." I said, trying to stifle a laugh. "Jacques, I wanted to extend the invitation to you two to join our clan. The kid needs a family, and the for the time being you cannot go back to France. Or anywhere for that matter," I added watching Jacques fawn all over Sebastian.

"So, you want us to stay!?" Jacques said, loudly. "You love us, don't you!?"

"Jacques! You need to chill!" Sebastian said, holding him. "Let's go, we need to talk about this," he said, motioning to how he could hardly stand, "and about considering joining Liz's clan. I'm really sorry about this guys..." he said, turning towards us. "I really didn't think he'd get this drunk. We'll just go talk about this outside..."

"You can use Gavin's office if you'd like. It's right across the hall," Steph said. Sebastian nodded as he struggled to get Jacques steady enough to walk. Zane was now on his knees, crawling towards me, reaching his hands towards my belly.

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly, kissing it.

"That's fine, Sebastian. I think we need to have our own talk," I said, grabbing Zane's hands.

"You know where we'll be if you need us. Again, I'm really sorry. I'm sure Jacques was being his usual self and had a hand in that," he said pointing to Zane who was now resting his head against my belly.

"I'm sure Zane didn't help with that either," I said pointing to Jacques.

"Men..." Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. "Let's go, Jacques. We're going to have that talk..." I heard Jacques continue to whisper to him in French, trying to seduce him and Sebastian clearly was not amused. Steph helped me get Zane on the couch so we could all talk. He leaned back and took a deep breath.

"Zane, don't you dare fall asleep!" Val said, smacking his arm.

"I'm not, I'm not!"

"Zane!" I said, as I watched his eyes close slowly. I chuckled. "What the fuck?" I looked at Val who looked like she was about ready to slap him. "Where did they even go?"

"The bar down the street..." Steph said. "I'm kind of glad we didn't go with them."

"No, but if you didn't hear them giggling like a couple of schoolgirls, we might not have known they didn't remember how to get back!" Val said. I rolled my eyes, and laughed, just picturing it. "How did your talk with Sebastian go?"

"It went well. He actually even stood up for me."

"What do you mean?"

"This old lady just came up to me and touched me. Like who the fuck thinks that's okay!?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Sebastian might have scared the hell out of her, but whatever. I think having a clan might be good for him though – they can't go back to their old one in France until this whole thing is over."