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“I’ve had similar thoughts. Nathan has taught you well. I’ve asked three Masters-of-States to contact the Master of Arkansas for an explanation of why the entire coterie — vampires, flock, and security — are missing. Also, whether he gave the okay for the attempted takeover of my territory to stage in Arkansas before crossing the state line into Missouri.”
“Mom and I talked a little about the skinner thing, back when it happened. I can’t believe Apollonius hasn’t caught whoever’s doing it yet. I kind of had the idea that if he went after someone, they were quickly found and handled.”
“That’s usually the case, certainly. He didn’t say so outright, but I believe Apollonius is of the opinion the culprits are based in another realm, and only coming here long enough to procure supplies and work their magic.”
“So, the magic has to be done here?” Nick asked.
“It seems to me, it would be easier to do it on a planet with more magic, but the selkie skins were apparently made in this realm, even though most of them are now in Faerie. So, whoever is attempting to reproduce the original magic is likely keeping to whatever ancient instructions they have access to.”
Gavin sighed and reached for his phone. “Queenie tells me the Amakhosi is being insistent upon speaking to me right away. I’ll put him on speaker phone.”
When Nathan answered, Gavin told him, “You have me, Nick, and Lauren. What can we do for you?”
“I wanted to be certain Ambrose and Ellania are still shadowing Lauren, and that she’s in for the morning.”
“When she goes out, they will, but I plan to ask her to work from the coterie house for at least a couple of days.” Lauren glared at him, and he told Nathan, “But this is Lauren we’re talking about. Perhaps you’ll have better luck convincing her to be reasonable until we can be assured of the security situation?”
“That has not been the case, historically. Nick, is everything okay on your end?”
“It is, your Majesty. Gavin has graciously provided rooms in his mansion for the rest of the pride, and I’ve been invited to stay in Lauren’s suite.”
“Excellent. Gavin, I know I’ve offered before, but I want to say again that Drake Security is available to handle Lauren’s security. A four-hour notice will be appreciated, but we can have someone there quicker, if need be. I understand why you need to be seen as protecting your own, but the offer is there.”
Gavin tilted his head and spoke towards the phone, resting on the table. “And you’ll rip my lungs from my body just before removing my heart if anything happens to her. No need to repeat the threat.”
“I thought not. Lauren? Anything you need from me?”
“I love you too, Nathan.”
“And I love and adore you. Take care of yourself and your friends. Anything new I need to be aware of?”
“I don’t think so. Ambrose, Mordecai, and Aaron have been working with me and my riders, but it’s mostly about learning control, and…” She considered how to explain it. “Not so much muscle memory as reflexes, I guess.”
“Excellent. I’ll be in Arkansas in the coming days, checking in on the prides in the northeast corner. I’ll be in touch about stopping in for a quick visit.”
He clicked off without saying goodbye, and Nick said, “You know this is going to create questions. I realize it’s a touchy situation, but should we discuss how this works with the three of us?”
Lauren looked at her hands and wished Nick had kept his mouth shut.
“As things stand now,” Gavin said, “we have three interpersonal relationships – you and I, you and Lauren, and Lauren and myself. The hope is that we will eventually also have a relationship where the three of us are comfortable as a unit, but that doesn’t have to happen. There are no rumors of you being bisexual, so there won’t likely be sex between the two of us, but that doesn’t preclude a certain level of intimacy.”
Lauren wasn’t certain that was entirely true. Male lions sometimes used sex to dominate other male lions, and she knew Nick had fucked at least two male lions, over the years. She’d never heard of Nick having sex with a male human, though, so she supposed it was true enough. However, there was another undercurrent, another meaning, to what Gavin was saying, and she decided if they were going to put it all out there, they may as well put itallout there.
“Look,” she told Nick, “back with those bears in the stupid coffeeshop, I waspissedat Gavin for messing up what I thought was the perfect chance for me to try out a threesome, and yeah, he probably saved me from myself, but the point is, I’m still curious about it. I’m not saying we need to do that, but that’s what Gavin’s alluding to, I think — three of us intimate without the two of you being intimate with each other.”
“No, there’s some intimacy in sharing a woman,” Gavin said. “It won’t happen tonight, probably not this week or even this month, but it’s my hope Nick and I can discuss it at some point and at least weigh the pros and cons of giving you this experience.”
“Once our security situation is resolved, we’ll have that talk,” Nick said. “Meanwhile, I have to agree with Gavin and Nathan about you working from here for at least the next couple of days.”
Lauren shook her head. “Once the shows start back, with an extra one every day, there’s no way I can handle everything that’s going to go wrong from here.”
“Will you at least agree to staying within a few feet of Ambrose, so he can flash you to safety if the building is attacked?” Gavin asked.
“Would you let someone flash you away from a battle?” Lauren asked. “Those are my people! I’m not their Master, but I’m their boss. I’m responsible for them. So no, if there’s a battle, I’m not going any-fucking-where.”
Gavin and Nick looked at each other, and Lauren realized they were looking for support from each other.
Well, it seemed maybe there was a way to bring them together, after all.
