“Or how much he values his life,” Charlie said darkly. “Salvatore will kill Lorenzo if he turns on him. He knowswe’llkill him if he doesn’t talk.”
“It might not come to that,” Max added. “The Elvish treasury is endless. We can give Lorenzo a more comfortable life than Salvatore can, and even better, we can hide him.”
This sounded like a fairly solid plan. I was pretty confident it would work.
“There are wards set up all around the strip club, not to mention there are magical alarms placed in every major city around the world by The Mission to locate demigods. You’ll have to portal outside city limits, then drive in to make sure they don’t know you’re coming,” Max informed us. “You can’t portal in or out of the club— there are wards there preventing access or departure once you’re inside.”
“Road trip!” Chancey shouted.
Charlie ruffled Oberi’s ears. “I’m sorry, boy, but you can’t come with us this time. You’re too recognizable for a Familiar, and a strip club is no place for a dog.”
I disagree, but point taken, Oberi said. She changed into a phoenix.I will make use of my magic in the healing quarters where I am most needed, until you return. Be safe and well.
She flew out the open door, and Kallie stood. “Everybody pack up. We’re leaving immediately.”
“We should visit my uncle first,” Marcus said as he stood up. “He’s staying in a penthouse in the city. He’s an Alchemist, and he has a potion we can use to disguise ourselves.”
“We could just use illusions,” Kallie suggested.
“This potion is stronger, because I’ve infused my demigod magic into it,” Marcus assured us. “I’ve been working on it with my Uncle Grant for a few weeks now, experimenting. It’ll last even if there are wards or spells set up meant to break deception magic.”
“Wow, Marcus. Nobody’s ever pulled off a potion like that before,” I said in surprise.
“Yeah, well, I decided it was time to start putting my demigod powers to good use,” he said with a shrug.
Treatment really had to be helping him. He was finally going after his full potential.
“That sounds great. You did some awesome work, Marcus,” Kallie said, and I nearly fell out of my chair at her compliment. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll stay here and work on the final details of the plan with the rest of the team,” Charlie said. “You guys go on ahead.”
Danny flung an arm around Charlie’s shoulders. “So who wants to play stripper, pal, me or you? I’ll give you a lap dance to test it out.”
Charlie scowled. I was interested on what exactly was in this potion, so I decided to go with Marcus and Kallie. We had a driver take us to Marcus’ aunt and uncle’s penthouse in the city.
“I don’t think anyone’s home,” Marcus said as he opened the door. “They’ve been very busy lately?—”
He stopped mid-sentence as we walked in. The place was a mess. There were empty bottles of alcohol everywhere, along with take-out boxes and party favors. A bag of chips looked like it’d exploded all over the baby grand piano in the corner. A framed photograph of Marcus’ Uncle Grant carrying his Aunt Talia on his back was lying cracked on the floor. On a shelf, a collection of potion bottles had been knocked over, though thankfully none had been shattered.
My father, along with King Ethan, were sprawled out on the floor. Sleeping, I might add. King Ethan was in his wolf form. Daddy was literally cuddling him, holding on to the shifter for dear life and burying his head in the wolf’s fur as he slept.
A guy I supposed must be Marcus’ uncle stood at the stove, flipping pancakes. He didn’t look anything like Marcus, with darker skin and black hair that stood straight up. He wore an apron and appeared positively chipper when we entered. “Hola, sobrino!Nice to see you, Marcus! I wasn’t expecting you, but I’ll put on some extra bacon.”
He seemed like the only one who didn’t have a hangover, though there was a cauldron on the table full of something that looked suspiciously like alcohol. It looked like something he’d been brewing himself.
“Uh, no need. We’re not hungry,” Marcus replied as he took in the aftermath of what looked like a freaking frat party.
Lucas stumbled in from the next room, looking hungover as all hell. “Hey, kids,” he slurred. “What’s happening?”
“Dad, what the hell?” Marcus gestured to the mess.
“It’s a very long story,” Lucas moaned, holding his head.
“We’d love to hear it,” Kallie said, nudging her dad with her shoe. He let out a growl in his sleep and turned over, effectively smushing my dad. Daddy startled awake and shoved Ethan off of him, who rolled over the other way and kept on sleeping.
Daddy blinked sleep from his eyes, realized he was on the floor, and groaned as he pulled himself onto the couch. “Oh, dear ancestors.”
“You lecturedmeabout acting like a teenager, but obviously you four got carried away,” I indicated, crossing my arms.
