“Ah, well, we were discussing the fact that Lee’s a latent vampire and wants to transition as soon as possible,” I offered.
“Oh, that’s so mean, Momma.” Lee snorted and downed a slice of ham.
Shy went still for a moment. “Yes, he has feelings about this. Many feelings. I might need to make this coffee Irish.”
Danny leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You are a cruel queen and an even meaner daughter. You eat and talk to our sons. I’m going to get Evan’s care package ready. I’ll meet you outside when they’re ready to go.”
He would bleed for her was what he meant. As he did for all of us. The least I could do was eat so we all kept our strength up. I nodded and picked up a muffin as Danny walked out.
“I’ll make mine Irish, too,” Lee announced. “After all, I’ll only be able to drink for another couple of weeks.”
“You will do nothing of the kind since you’re supposed to be planning a heist with our mother.” Rhys turned to Shy. “And I will not let grandfather drive you to drink.”
“There are many things about this situation that drive me to drink,” Shy admitted. But a little smile curved up her lips as she looked at Rhys. “It’s not all bad though. Harry is happy, though he wants to have a long talk with Daniel.”
I would let that conversation happen since Danny deserved it.
The three of them started talking and joking. Dev sat beside me and for a moment we enjoyed the morning.
* * * *
An hour later I watched as Evan waved and put a hand on Eddie’s small shoulder. Eddie was transporting them to Atlanta. With Eddie included there were five of our group headed off to meet with Trent and the primals. Casey had packed up his laptop and everything he would need to communicate with the base. Fenrir had a backpack over one shoulder and a small cooler in his other hand. I happened to know it contained a whole bunch of sandwiches and a small thermos of blood for Evan’s use. Kelsey had her own backpack, which most importantly contained that book she’d brought back from the outer planes. She’d hugged me and promised to find the weapon we needed to give Lee and Dean their best shot at taking out Myrddin. I’d promised to watch after Dean.
We’d made the decision to keep Dean here because he needed to get to know Lee. Now that we knew Lee had vampiric powers to look forward to, it made even more sense that he could possibly be the one to kill Myrddin. Dean hadn’t argued. They were already talking, Lee telling him about his newfound vampire status as the slight hint of brimstone that accompanied Eddie’s teleportation wafted through the air.
“I don’t like leaving things with Evan like that.” Dev had an arm around my shoulders.
“You’ll have time to make it up to her,” Daniel promised. “They’ll be back in a few days, and it will be good to see Trent again. Maybe go easier on Fenrir. Those two have a lot of obstacles to get through. Don’t be another one.”
“Well, they have obstacles because it will be difficult for them,” Dev argued. “At some point Fen will need to take his throne. It would be far better for all of us if he did. He can control the wolves. Well, for the most part. I don’t know that he can force them to accept Evan as his mate. Any children they have won’t be full-blooded wolves.”
“We don’t know what will happen. Our job as her parents is to give her good advice and support her.” They needed to understand that not accepting Evan’s relationship with Fen wouldn’t break them up. It would break them off from our family, and then they would be alone. “I need to get ready for Neil. He’s supposed to come by this afternoon.”
I couldn’t wait to see my old friend. It wasn’t the first time he’d aged and I hadn’t. Once he’d spent thirty years in Hell while a few days had passed here. I had to hope these years had been far happier than those.
There was a clanging sound and the ground shook slightly. I saw Lee start to run our way, Rhys at his side.
“What is that sound?” Daniel asked.
“It’s the alarm.” Lee had my elbow in his hand, starting to guide me away. “Someone is approaching the base. From the sound of it, a lot of someones. It could be an attack. I have to get you to safety.”
It looked like the war was already beginning.
Chapter Eleven
I pulled against Lee, trying to see what was going on. There were two groups moving. One was headed further into the base and the others were heavily armed and moving the opposite direction.