The Vigilante & The Dragon - Book 1 of the Guardians Saga [COMPLETED]

Breakfast with the Brothers Ch. 4.1

When Alex came back into the bedroom, Gabe was alone, sitting on the edge of the bed. She tried to take a graceful seat next to him, but landed with a thump instead.

"Sorry about that," Gabe said. "It's my job to apologize for Rile. My unwelcome job."

Cale walked into the room. When Alex evaluated him with a wary glance, Gabe explained, "This is my brother Cale, who is known for his wisdom. The rude one was my brother Rile. If he's not offending you at the moment, you can tell him by the red tint to his golden hide.

"Please don't confuse us." Cale grinned. "I do not need to be blamed for anything Rile does, thank you very much. I came to tell you that breakfast is ready."

"I like the green tint to your golden hide," Alex said and frowned when Cale's eyes widened in shock. "I'm not teasing you," Alex said and was glad when he relaxed. She stood and was grateful for legs that didn't wobble. She made a mental note to ask Gabe later what was wrong with liking green.

Cale bowed and lavishly gestured for Alex to precede him out.

"No princess jokes," she said as she passed Cale.

"Good morning, Princess," Rile said when Alex entered the kitchenette. He sat at a battered linoleum table.

"The princess who saved your brother." She took the seat farthest from Rile.

The chairs were mismatched with their vinyl cushion tears taped shut, but they were clean. Cale placed a plate with sausages and a stack of pancakes in front of her. Four glasses of orange juice were already poured in mismatched glasses and there was a folded copy of The Times-Picayune weekend edition on the table.

"You can cook?" she asked.

I expected to be served beignets.

Cale walked to the kitchen counter and held up a carton. "The pancakes are stored in this container. I pour it onto the pan on the iron circles of fire and they cook."

"You should taste the green slime he learned to make," Rile said.

Alex grimaced and inspected her food closely for any taint of green.

"Tell us, Warrior Princess, how you saved our brother." Rile jerked his head at Gabe.

"It was a joint effort," Gabe replied. "We helped each other."

"I thought I'd even the odds." Alex shrugged and looked down at her
plate.

No signs of green slime.

"I took out one, he took out one. That sort of thing," she said.

"What sort of thing? What happened next?" Rile shoveled the pancakes into his mouth, but at least he chewed with his mouth closed.

"I grabbed Gabe and flew off. It seemed logical at the time."

"How did you counteract the poison?"  Cale asked.

"I saw the tranquilizer guns and darts.  I counteracted the symptoms of sedation," Alex took a bite of sausage to forestall more questions.

"How?" Rile stopped shoveling food to fix Alex with his gaze.

Alex blushed, but steeled herself, and said, "You've seen it already. I used a low energy discharge.  See?" She let her fingers spark briefly. "I used in on Gabe, and it helped. That and keeping him warm." 

They probably already know that I slept next to him to warm him. Terrific. Was that better or worse than climbing into their group bed? Doubly terrific.