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Everyone was silent a few moments, and Lauren said, “No, I don’t think it will. If Gavin and I are an item, then you’re his…” She blew out a breath. “Kind of like his mother-in-law, which is all kinds of wrong, but it means you’re family, right? You can be part of his security since I’m his and you’re mine.”
“She’s right,” Ellania said, looking at Lauren’s mother. “You should stay out of things if he squares off against Medved one-on-one, but otherwise, there are no issues with you as part of his fighting force so long as he’s clearly in charge. The general.”
“Do you know where they were headed?”
“I do not. He doesn’t know me. Doesn’t trust me for anything other than keeping Lauren safe, which he knows Mordecai tasked me with doing, and he trusts Mordecai to keep Lauren safe.”
“If I take us to them, they’ll probably shoot first and ask questions later,” her mom noted.
“They’ve probably left all cellphones behind, so no one can track them,” Lauren said. “If you get us into Branson, I can probably telepath with him.”
Her mom nodded, said, “Your office,” and the trees around them turned to static for a half-second before Lauren’s office formed around them.
Lauren looked around, made sure they were alone, closed her eyes and sent her thoughts toward Gavin.Mom popped us into my office. The two of us and Ellania would like to join you once you’re somewhere safe.
I don’t trust Ellania enough to share my location with her.
Understood. My place is by your side, and as your kind-of mother-in-law, sort of, it’s fine for my mom to fight with us. Mom can bring us to you, but you need to know we’re coming so we don’t get shot.
Chapter 15
Gavin’s predecessor had made sure no one could pop into the underground caverns, so he had to send Queenie aboveground to give Kirsten someone to focus on and go to. She was in wolf form because she’d needed tochangeand heal the last of her damage. She could scent better in this form, so he had her patrol around the cave entrance to make sure no one was close.
They were a mile and a half underground, which meant by the time she ran up, sniffed a route that took her a quarter mile out from the entrance, was waiting for them at the fifteen-minute mark, and another twenty minutes for them to get back to Gavin, he’d had time to feed again. He was using a massive outlay of energy, and he needed to be certain he was fully charged at all times so he could handle another potential attack.
The difficulty of the path in and out was one of the reasons this cavern was so secure — easier for a wolf on four legs than a human on two, but difficult in any form. He’d put a saddlebag on Queenie holding two caving helmets with mounted lights, and he could see and hear what Queenie saw, so he knew Lauren’s calf was bothering her based on her limp. He also knew she wasn’t likely to voluntarily leave and see a doctor.
He was a little surprised Kirsten hadn’t insisted, though.
This cave system drew air in, which meant he could scent people coming towards him before they arrived.
When Lauren finally rounded the corner, she scanned the room, found Gavin, and ran to him. He opened his arms for her as she neared, and then he wasn’t just holding her, he was being held by her, in turn. His chest felt odd. Full. It took him a few moments to analyze what he felt and try to put words to it. Happy? Relieved? Fulfilled? Odd, how much that final word fit the feeling — full of love. Filled with love.
But not just love. Filled with good feelings. Happy feelings. His love was back in his arms, and it meant more than he’d understood it could. He’d watched Kendra and Eric, seen the changes in the other vampire, and he’d thought he grasped how important Eric was to her, but he hadn’t had a clue.
Gavin had been dangerous before, but now? He’d end the world if something happened to Lauren. The streets would run with blood.
Kirsten switched her headlamp off and stood before them, observing her daughter in Gavin’s arms. He tensed, but did nothing to end the hug. Lauren belonged to him now. Her mother was going to have to deal with it.
“My daughter loves you,” Kirsten told him. “She’s mine, you’re hers. That makes you one of mine.”
Gavin tilted his head. “For most people, while they’re in my territory, it would be important for you to be one of mine, rather than the other way around. You’re one of the few people who are above those rules. Mother Nature is a force of her own.” He rubbed Lauren’s back. Kissed the top of her head. “But you can’t fight my battles for me. I have to be seen as decisively winning.”
“Yes, of course. The stronger you are, the safer my daughter is. I’ll do whatever is necessary to shore you up from behind the scenes, so long as you have a chance of winning.”
Which meant she wasn’t going to let him or Lauren be killed, even if she had to step in and win the battle for him. He didn’t argue with her, in part because he didn’t think it would do any good, but also because he couldn’t argue with her logic.
“Does this mean Lauren and I have your blessing?”
He felt all his people go preternaturally still. It was a dangerous question, not just because she was Mother Nature personified and Gavin had been fucking her daughter, but because legally, the answer changed how much she could fight for him, and in what ways. He was a bastard for pushing the issue now, and everyone knew it, but he figured it was his best chance of getting Kirsten’s sanction for Gavin to stay in her daughter’s life.
Kirsten took a few moments to decide how to answer. “What I see right now? Lauren in your arms, the energy passing between the two of you? You’re a unit, and the love flowing between you is real. This is new, and it’s going to take me a while longer to trust it, so let’s just say you have my temporary blessing. Does that work?”
“It does.” He looked around the room. “Introductions of many of my top security people will have to wait. The eagles and hawks are in another room, feeding in their animal forms. You already know Queenie, who’s still digesting a meal and needs some time before she shifts back to her two-legged form. Most of the wolves and other predatory mammals are in yet another room, either feeding or digesting, as well.
Still, there were two dozen vampires and a dozen of his security people in human form, and he made certain everyone knew Kirsten was Lauren’s mother, and that they understood exactly who she was — lover to an old god and the Amakhosi, bound to a wolf alpha, leader of the Wild Hunt, and Queen of another realm, which gave her the title of The Harlequin.
“Will the younger vampires know to come here when they rise?” Lauren asked, after introductions were complete.
