Chaos only sniffed haughtily when Sascha smiled at him—not showing an ounce of his usual chaotic charm—and Cooper nudged him discreetly.
“Yes, puppy?” Chaos asked loudly.
Cooper ignored the muffled coughs of the others at the nickname. “Sascha’s cool,” he whispered.
Chaos scowled, but he lowered his voice to match Cooper’s. “If your cousin is socool, why were you so lonely? He’s not doing his job as your kin.”
“His job isn’t to—” Cooper broke off when he saw both Kai and Eric eyeing him, Eric not even trying to hide his look of sympathy. Right. There was inhuman hearing at this table.
Cooper shook his head. “Never mind.”
Ivan cleared his throat, gathering their communal attention, and started talking about what to expect next. The family’s lieutenants and their main men, about thirty men in total, would all be here for the meeting. Ivan already had Sergei in the kitchen, bound and subdued and “only missing a little blood.”
Kai had given Ivan a bloodthirsty grin at that last bit, and Cooper eyed the demon with new wariness. He seemed so gentle with Sascha, but he clearly wasn’t opposed to the sort of violence this kind of meeting entailed.
Cooper’s belly was churning already with the news that Sergei was here. Cooper had played his own part in that terrifying man’s downfall, and he wasn’t looking forward to facing him.
Not that Cooper would have to deal with Sergei directly. The plan was for the demons to transform at the right moment, making a show of paranormal force in Ivan’s favor. Demonstrating in whatever way necessary that the family was not to be fucked with.
That was the gist of it, at least. Cooper only half listened—paying too close attention to any of it would only make his anxiety worse. He wasn’t going to be doing much of anything, anyway. Just standing there in solidarity while their paranormal counterparts did their thing. Trying not to get shot while he was at it.
He let out a harsh breath at the thought of guns firing around him, and Nix nudged him gently. “You okay, cutie?”
Cooper glanced up, realizing belatedly that Ivan had finished his speech and was now conferring quietly with Eric and Wolfe. Kai and Chaos were in a weird stare-off, Kai grimacing and Chaos grinning way too gleefully.
“Yeah,” Cooper told Nix quietly. “Just nerves.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Nix reassured him. “I’ll be protecting you and Ivan during the…turmoil.”
Cooper glanced at him in surprise. He hadn’t realized it wouldn’t be only Chaos watching his back. He worked up the nerve to give Nix a small smile and then glanced around again. Everyone was occupied.
“Hey, Nix,” he whispered.
“Yes?” Nix whispered back, leaning in conspiratorially.
“Male demons can’t…impregnate human men, right? No…no hatchlings? That’s not a real thing, right?”
Nix was silent for a long moment, and then he burst into delighted laughter, looking over Cooper’s head to Chaos. “Bracchus,” he chastised, although he sounded fond. “What trouble have you been getting into?”
“Don’t you think we’d make adorable hatchlings though?” Chaos asked, his dimple flashing.
Cooper rolled his eyes. Of course Chaos had heard Cooper’s question.
Eavesdropping little imp.
Whatever Nix’s thoughts might have been on their hypothetical adorable hatchlings was lost in the shuffle as Jace and Tag and Ivan’s driver, Oleg, came in, indicating to Ivan that they were all set to go.
Nix leaned in one last time. “Don’t worry,puppy. He’s just teasing you.”
“I figured.” That didn’t stop Cooper’s cheeks from feeling like they were on literal fire though. Why had he even asked? He’d already known Chaos was only messing with him.
“You’re…okay though?” Nix asked, almost too softly for Cooper to hear. “Chaos can be hard to manage.”
Cooper frowned, his immense embarrassment momentarily forgotten. “That’s the thing though,” he mused, pushing his glasses up and giving Nix a sidelong glance. “I don’t try to manage him.” At Nix’s questioning look, Cooper explained, “If you let Chaos be who he is—if you don’t try to control him—he appreciates it. He pays attention to where the boundaries are. He manages himself.”
As Nix seemed to process his words, Cooper wondered if he was about to be told off. Nix had known Chaos much, much longer than Cooper had. What right did Cooper have to tell him how Chaos’s mind worked? But at the same time…Cooper just didn’t like that phrasehard to managewhen it came to Chaos. Like he was an unruly child and not a fully grown demon with centuries of life experience.
He’d had to saysomething.
