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Mordecai cradled her cheek a few seconds and then put his hand on his thigh. “They kept six shapeshifters. Two civets, three horses, and a mongoose. I teleported the rest to just outside the Branson coterie’s gates — Ambrose and Ellania are making sure they are safe while they enter. I’d feel better if you stayed here a few days. Gavin is welcome as well, though I assume he’ll want to return. Nick is also welcome to stay at Homewood.”
“My agreement with my King is that I will stay out of his territory,” Nick said. “Also, my people will want to see me, so I should return to Branson.”
“I’m in contact with Queenie,” Gavin said. “She’s more than capable of overseeing reintegration. I can stay until morning. I’d prefer to go home before dawn, and not bed down here tomorrow.”
Nathan and Kirsten stepped into the room, and Nathan told Nick, “You’re welcome at Homewood as a guest of Lauren’s. It could complicate things for you to be seen around town, but you aren’t going to do anything to fuck with the hierarchy by staying here.”
Lauren took a step forward and hugged Mordecai, and the old god wrapped his arms around her. Lauren’s mom had told her that Mordecai viewed Lauren as one of his daughters — more than a mere stepdaughter.
She hugged him for several long moments and then walked to Nathan and hugged him as well. Finally, she stood on her own and told the two larger-than-life men, “Thank you both for making Nick and Gavin feel welcome, but my home is in Branson now, and I should return with them.” She looked at her mom. “I love you, mom. Xaephan wasterrifiedwhen he saw me in that cage. I’m standing here unharmed because he was afraid of what you’d do to his son if anything happened to me.”
“I was in favor of cutting his son’s right arm off with a stainless-steel knife and sending it to his Lordship, but your mom was strongly against doing so.” Nathan shrugged and looked from the redhead by his side to Lauren. “It would’ve grown back. I wasn’t advocating the use of silver.”
“Lauren wasn’t injured,” Lauren’s mom told Nathan. “If she had been, then whatever was done to her would’ve been done to Killian, and more, ten times over at a minimum.”
“And the subject in question has no doubts of that,” Mordecai told them, “which is indeed why our Lauren is with us and safe.” He pulled Lauren into another hug. “Ellania and Ambrose will remain available to you, but I beseech you to remain inside the coterie house until we find a resolution. The person who snatched you can do so again just as easily, and he’ll know not to tell the denizens of Hell he has you, if he manages to grab you again.”
“Or at least those obligated to tell X,” Nathan agreed. “Ambrose and Gavin both have homes even the old gods can’t just pop into unannounced. We’d all breathe easier if you were in one of those places or here.”
Lauren’s mom crossed her arms, uncrossed them, put them on her hips, and crossed them over her chest again. “I couldn’t find you, Lauren. Even Mordecai couldn’t find you. I tried to flash to you and you weren’t there. Weren’tanywhere. Please don’t put yourself in a place so they can take you again.”
Her mom was so strong, so badass — and yet her eyes were red and her voice shaky. Lauren moved out of Mordecai’s arms and into her mom’s. “I’m sorry you were scared and worried. I wish I could promise to stay put, and I will for today and tomorrow unless something happens that makes me feel as if I can’t hide behind someone else’s walls, but…” she drew out of her mom’s arms and met her gaze. “Youdon’t hide behind walls and let other people fight your battles. I’m your daughter, mom. Do you really expect me to?”
Her mom rolled her eyes and pulled her into another hug. “Yes, I absolutely expect you to.”
Lauren laughed, because her mom knew what she was saying and understood, though she didn’t like it.
“I love you too, mom. I’ll stay in touch, and you do the same.” She looked at Nathan and Mordecai. “Ya’ll aren’t as bad about keeping secrets as you used to be, but sometimes you still do. I’ll be pissed at you both if you’re holding stuff back I should know.”
“There isn’t much to hold back,” Nathan told her. “I’ll see to it you have the Drake report, though, in case there’s something we neglected to tell you.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter 31
Nick wasn’t used to being flashed from city to city, and he wasn’t fond of the process, but he had to admit it simplified travel a great deal.
They landed just outside the gate, and a guard drove them the rest of the way in an SUV. No one spoke during the short drive, and the instant they were back in the coterie house, Lauren told them she needed a bath, and walked away from her men without another word.
Nick told Gavin, “I’d like to check in with the members of my pride. Thank you, again, for giving us refuge.”
“Most of the Vampire Masters I’ve lived under have had a…” He rolled his eyes. “I started to say pet favorite alpha, but that sends the wrong message. The point, though, is that it’s hard to hide your favorite. Abbott and Randall clearly got along well, and worked hard to be seen as cohesive — the two most powerful groups in a city working in tandem to keep the city at peace. The wolves here are a more powerful group than the lions because of their sheer numbers, but once it gets out that you and I are in love with the same woman and not in competition, but in a threesome, you’ll be seen as my favorite.”
“But not your pet.” It wouldn’t do for Nick’s temper to take hold, so he held onto it.
“No. Not that.”
Nick forced himself to think politically instead of emotionally, and saw where the vampire was going with this.
“You’re saying you’ll need to do something to appease the wolves?”
“You and your people are here; the wolves are not. Mostly because I don’t have room to house them, but also because I don’t trust them enough to allow them entry. It was easier to vet your people, since there are only a handful.”
Ah. Nick understood why they were having this conversation while Lauren was taking a bath. Their girl wouldn’t appreciate a conversation where people were discussed as one would the chess pieces on a board, not to mention the fact they were planning for her safety.
“You can’t vet Ellania, but you can’t exactly send her back to Ambrose’s place.”
Gavin smiled. “Your king has taught you well. Do you absolutely trust Mordecai?”
