“Nothing — yet. But Empath is currently staying with us and believes her to be a threat to his person, hence the reason why she’s banned from setting foot here.”

“𝘛𝘵. Don’t even think about it.”

Being in Gabby Kinney’s body? Talk about feeling hideous. The only 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 upside was the nigh invulnerability that comes from having a healing factor.

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?”

“You’re proud of a lot of people these days, Empath included.” Canting her head to the side, Esme’s brows begin to inch together with curiosity. “How long should we expect him to be staying with us?”

“Okay, ew.” Shuddering with complete and utter disgust, Esme makes an icked out expression. “Spare me the obsession, Quentin. It’s bad enough you’ve already been there and done that with Sophie and Phoebe.”

“Which are?”

“Or, worse, both.” A Frost should be cold like ice, not soft like snow. “Then perhaps you should tell the Quiet Council the truth about his involvement.”

“And here I thought being a Cuckoo could be confusing at times.”

“Does this mean that my dear sister has 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 seen sense and dumped you, then?” If so, perhaps Esme will reconsider disowning her for being dimwitted enough to dote over and date Quentin Quire in the first place.

“Oh, thank God!” Esme exclaims, a sigh of relief accompanying the outburst. “I mean, really, it’s about damn time.”

“Happy to hear it.” Especially the bit about his claws. Being skewered by a Wolverine an experience she isn’t keen to repeat, ever, even with the resurrection protocols in place. “I suppose you’ll be wanting an invitation, then?”

Now, just what should she do with herself today?

“That depends. Do you have business here?” Esme’s home is hardly a tourist attraction, after all.

“Would you be willing to wait a little while longer?” Considering that visitors are currently restricted due to the current circumstances surrounding Empath.

Putting Homo inferior in their place is always fun.

“Something on your mind?”

“Splendid. Then expect a telepathic call as soon as I can accommodate your request.”

“Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha, yes.”

“And here I thought you would’ve rather liked him. I mean, considering you’re both cut from the same creepy cloth. The only difference is, Manuel is an attractive aristocrat.”