Danners

One of my maternal great aunts also made lutefisk. My parents would jokingly get an invitation from her every every year but I’m grateful to say they declined time after time. The stories of the smell, not to mention the taste, from that side of the family kept me far, far away. I can imagine lye + fish with a jello-like consistency is about as unpleasant as it gets! 🤢

Interesting. If the odor it gave off is any indication, the emporium acquired a chunk of petrified Surströmming. I mean, not really, but wouldn’t that be wild? My first thought was sulfur but it’s highly unlikely the wealthy pay out of the nose to make a room smell like rotten egg. Since it was sold to the store, it could be anything . . . except it made the psychic nauseous and dulled the werewolf’s preternaturally acute senses enough that security guards and a salesman could surprise him. The salesman is another key factor here. From the vicious expression on his face and the special wooden weapon in his hands — a signature weapon, one might say, indicative of an old shifter tribe and capable of hurting a werewolf — he was either a human with knowledge of shifters or someone with shifter blood of his own. None of this bodes well for Cassandra. More and more I’m convinced she sent Ryder to the city to die. Or at least under false pretenses. Maybe she saw what was happening with the emporium’s supplier and named Theodore as the young alpha’s mate (instead of Danny) in order to force a confrontation that would lead to him uncovering whatever this plot is. I don’t know; it’s all pretty shady. Funny enough, I bet Ryder being a fugitive will only make Kitty Kat more jealous of Danny. A handsome stud and a bad boy?! One more reason for Danny to keep his housemate sharing his bed — er, his bedmate sharing his house — uh, I mean . . . You know what I mean!

Oh no, Frank!

Marcus owes them all an apology and a wave goodbye as a taxi drives his traitorous ass to the airport. If there was any justice in this world, the punching bag would beat him. Stick a gigantic plug in his rear, choke him out, singe his flesh, and beat 👏 his 👏 ass. Ahem. It may not be a quiet morning but at least it’s peaceful. Relatively. The boys are on the mend, Solomon included, and Marie and the house will keep them safe until they’re ready to defend themselves. Hearing my grandpa singing through Alex was a little weird though. Hehe.

Jasmine seems aptly named: sweet but often cloyingly so. I like her, oddly enough. She strikes me as a woman whose bubbly personality masks a reasonably sharp mind but makes it difficult to take her seriously. After all, baking requires precision and attentiveness. While a big part of me wants their relationship to be a ruse for Cedric and Riley’s sake, I think even as Cyril’s girlfriend she’d be an ally. If Cyril is indeed using her, I hope she sticks a metal whisk where the sun doesn’t shine.

Self-preservation and self-sabotage go hand in hand and no one embodies that better than Brandon. He and Tyler’s history feeds into that terribly, so their future is bound to be . . . tempestuous.

Oh crap, Tyler is the dead guy’s son. Meeting Matt certainly opened a can of worms for Tyler’s family and one his parents wanted to keep shelved . . . maybe forever. Steer him away from the school library and any copy of their senior yearbook ‘cause there’s probably a memorial page for a young man with very familiar angular features. To be honest, STW does seem like a legal nightmare. It’s probably a good thing the practicing attorney isn’t responsible for starting it. (My money’s on their dead friend.) Declan sorta confuses me in the opposite way Brandon does. It isn’t Tyler flaking that has him pissed; he knows something and needs distance to process whatever it is. It’s more like he’s trying to shield Tyler from his reaction or, like, keep his distance until he figures out how to react? Meanwhile Brandon’s creating distance to cover for what he doesn’t know, which is how Tyler really feels. And he went right for the jugular. Yes, Tyler was out of line basically slut shaming him but wow, writing off Tyler giving him his virginity that way was vicious. Whatever’s coming next chapter has me equal parts excited and aghast.

If Elton John was there when Jacques said “we didn’t start the fire,” I suspect he would’ve reached out and slapped Cecile with a sweet and succinct “bitch!” Jacques’ devotion to Alex humbles us. After all this, what’s keeping him on his feet is the surety he’ll get to hold his lover again — on their terms — undoing the torture and indignity inflicted upon them. He really is a great guy, and if anyone can resist the lure of darker magic, it’s him. And Alex, not to be outdone, was equally focused on his lover. Even his injuries couldn’t keep him from seeking to comfort and support Jacques. If Lucien unleashed something dark, it’s because he was alone. The boys — together — give me hope they won’t make the same mistake.

Seems like Jack is more of a Cassandra than Cassandra, a seer whose dire predictions always come true but who was cursed/fated to never be believed. If his cards are showing the truth, could it be that Teddy is standing in the way of Ryder claiming his true mate? Also, if that mate is Danny, why do I see Theodore waltzing in to a certain high-end shop and taking an interest in him after smelling Ryder on him? (Heh, and another instance of a wolf ignoring our alley Kat in favor of Danny. Hehe.) Ryder’s clairvoyant, on the other hand, was either mistaken or didn’t tell the truth when she relayed her prophecy to him. And, considering Ryder himself described her as so half-mad most of the time you couldn’t get the truth out of her, the probability of her leading the Alpha astray is very high. But why? Hopefully the incense turns out to be patchouli. If you know, you know. EDIT: As a Danny who is also a Libra, I have to ask: where the hell is my Ryder?!

Gabe, stand up for your man! Your possibly demi-human, mystically scentless man whose pheromones seem to entice everyone but you, who may be his mate. Ray giving off a scent that’s attractive to everyone, including vampires, but is completely underwhelming to Gabriel — seems like a curse to me. Or maybe a blessing if Gabe is the only person who can keep him at arm’s length.

In Gabe’s defense, Ray does seem to invite calamity and wanders into danger heedlessly. Right now, even though he’s only a danger to himself, at some point there’s bound to be collateral damage — if there hasn’t been already.

Aw, Gabriel is really a sheep in wolf’s clothing, only not half as soft or fluffy. And humping Ray returned his ability to quickly shift forms! He better protect his human — not that I’m convinced Ray is entirely human — or the naive little guy may find himself at the center of a were-orgy. (There’s a joke in there about red rockets and a fireworks display.) At least the pack has a vested interest in protecting Ray now, even if they don’t believe he returned a vampire to life. Or maybe they will now. Also, and lastly, your comedic timing is spectacular. If I’d been reading this in the living room and chortled the way I did, I would’ve given my housemates a heart attack. Keep up the good work!

Yes, Kellen, do enlighten us about Dust’s boy-pu — er, curse-breaking. I hope it comes in handy. Wait, that’s still a dirty double entendres. And again! I do hope the ritual room is cleaner than the SI’s mouth. I can see a magical bomb like the one they’re investigating leaving the space “radioactive,” so to speak, and I doubt any of them would appreciate Dust shrinking into a chronological boy pu — damn it!

. . . but was it a nice dick print? If June doesn’t believe them, let Cal give in to his blue balls and seduce Victor. Set him up and set him up. Vienna may be my hero. Ingrid Moore may be Jonah’s but mine is definitely his aunt. There’s nothing more satisfying than putting entitled blowhards in their place.

Ray’s got a little magic in him, huh? Maybe he’ll have more in him if Brynjar turns out to be his caveman.

I’m surprised Will doesn’t have dirt on Victor they can use, having been his unwilling patsy all this time. Then again, Victor would know who the information came from and shift his focus. Besides which, he seems like the kind of conniver who’d make sure others would also share the blame for anything he did, if not take the fall entirely. June’s his weak link. (Actually, I suspect Will is his weak link for their inevitable past drug-to-sexual favor exchange, but that destruction is mutually assured.) if she’s half the mean girl everyone thinks, and Victor is half as closeted as he seems, there are bound to be plenty of opportunities to convince her to turn on him. Or set her up and wait for Victor to refuse to help, and presto! Whatever their tactics, let the games begin.

You’re giving me all these wonderful little puzzle pieces and the anticipation of putting them together is everything. Gianna seems like a fun character and I hope we see them again. Then there’s my campy namesake. It’s a good thing the faux Durham didn’t steal his identity or I’d take it personally. Hehe. Also, I love that the karma for Kellan’s mouth took the form of a yammering bureaucrat!

Well, that started out rough but you’re a master at building tension to the breaking point. The fiery crescendo sang, and Jacques connected with Alex in a way that transcended flesh. The Cardinal’s melting chastity cage (ouch!) may have been the highlight for me but the boys’ relief is what really spoke to me at the end. Their bond. Their feelings. Their freedom. And that handjob …

His goading of a clearly imbalanced Marc reminded me why I neither trust nor like Anduin. It also struck me as offhandedly cruel to his little brother, given the fate of the real Remy and how guilty our protagonist feels over it. Some people just can’t let wounds heal and insist on reopening them for entertainment or out of spite. (My grandmother, rest her soul, was a pro at cataloging your wounds and using them to win arguments.) Cain is Anduin’s polar opposite and I’m glad Remy and the boys have him to steady them. Hopefully Marc’s pride won’t get in the way and he’ll let his friend help in a way Remy can’t. He can offer objectivity. Ole Danica is trying to track down her son, I see. That’ll be a crossover for the record books and a reunion I sure don’t want to miss. While I’m not into lady parts (snicker), I can appreciate the tenderness Keira showed Remy. Like he said, it isn’t often a slave is treated like a lover instead of a means to an end. It’s good to be reminded your needs matter, especially with men like Anduin in residence.

Oh, Ryder, you already found your mate. And it looks like what they say is true: Kats and dogs just don’t get along.

It seems like each family hit by the spell-bomb were almost uniformly affected in a seemingly chaotic way. It’s like the total ages of the family members were bundled together and then randomly redistributed, the years added to those made older by stripping the maturity of those made younger. I don’t know if that makes sense on paper but it does in my head. The Stevensons’ antimagic could’ve been the real test: could it defend against a magical attack of this magnitude? If this was the work of sorcerous terrorists, they’d definitely be interested in knowing how their magic could be foiled. As for the basement: they don’t necessarily need the building blueprints. They can pull the old train station plans along with the city street and sewer layouts. Identify points of egress and narrow down where prohibitionists would have run their contraband. Use existing tunnels and negative space to locate the (probably forgotten) back door if there is one. Are they hiring? And yes, Dust, climb up onto Kellan’s lap and wiggle. He’s already declared he’ll be in and out as quickly as possible and you clearly don’t want that. Give him a personal reason to stick around (and inside) you.

Chapter by chapter, this story continues to get more and more delightful! I couldn’t stop giggling.

My heart breaks for Marc and more so for Michael, who didn’t deserve this at all. If that betrayal wasn’t enough, their supposed friend wasn’t given the ghost of a chance to pack his bags and skip town, to disappear. The brutality of his past paints a graphic picture of why he’s suffering so much in the present. It shows how cutthroat the gangs were and the homophobia drilled into Marc. Oddly enough, Marc’s hesitance and clear guilt do give me hope for him. He doesn’t have to be the product of his environment anymore. Maybe, in some way, he can lay his memory of Michael to rest and try to become the kind of man his best friend deserved.

When it rains, it pours here at Harlaney House. Sad stories rolling out like thunder. Marc’s guilt is eating him alive and the self-loathing only makes it harder to come to terms with. Remy has his work cut out for him but, if anyone can get through to him, it’s Remy. He understands those feelings intimately and, more importantly, he wants to help. Maybe this will be good for the boys. No, I know it will. Both have wounds Anduin’s arrival has torn open and this conversation was the first step toward healing them. Remy’s scars haven’t healed and I suspect that has something to do with him remaining under his Mistresses. Harlaney House is where he needs to be and it’s also where he belongs because he can help the others. In my opinion anyway. I feel bad for Anduin but mostly because I can’t trust that this story wasn’t embellished or concocted to gain his brother’s sympathy. I feel bad that I would suspect him of lying about something so personal and traumatic. I want to believe him but . . .

We aren’t greedy, you’re just in high demand. 😘 The bad dragon.