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“How do you get them to grow down here?” I was fascinated with this place already. I let go of Eddie’s hand and entered the nest.
“We have several helpful gnomes who aid in the gardens. Because we are in the Under, we have had to adapt our techniques. The gnomes have lived on this plane for centuries and chose not to leave when the other Fae did. When we immigrated from Europe, they chose to come with us,” Rufus explained. “They do good work, though these spectacular blooms come from another creature.”
“My brother was here a couple of weeks ago,” a familiar voice said.
“Rhys’s sexual frustration totally helps plants grow,” another finished. “They bloom because he can’t.”
Evangeline Donovan-Quinn leaned against a wall that likely led farther into the nest, and my son was right beside her. Naturally he was the one who’d thrown his friend under the bus, but I suspected that was all a part of this group’s love language.
“The Green Man has been kind to us,” Rufus acknowledged. “He has helped grow the crops that feed our guests. He gives us the beauty that nature usually reserves for those who live above. We are so grateful to him.”
“You have been more than kind to us, Rufus. The primals have shown us hospitality we could not have expected from anyone, and we are so grateful and humbled by your compassion,” the queen’s daughter said.
Rufus’s head bowed. “We are honored to do you service, bright one.”
Evan was a companion, and I’d heard that she glowed as brightly as her mother did now that she was almost an adult by human standards. The way she presented herself was more mature than most almost eighteen-year-olds I knew. I had a few questions, though. I was going to follow Evan’s lead and be as polite as I possibly could when I asked questions that might be sensitive. “Rufus, I hope you will forgive my ignorance about your culture, and please take anything I ask as a genuine request for knowledge.”
“Of course. You should feel free to ask anything you like. I assure you we are an open society,” Rufus replied. “We have to be. I assume you are going to ask the obvious question. Why are companions safe here when we are vampires who are known for being closer to our savage selves than others?”
“There is nothing savage about the primals,” Evan insisted.
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, Princess,” Rufus countered. “Our outer appearance is but a hint at our inner selves. They call us primal for a reason. When a primal first rises, we change in a way other vampires do not. We regress to our earliest form, a combination of demon, human, and bat. Our instincts are primal as well, but we are gifted with intelligence, and through discipline and knowledge and faith, we can tame the inner beast and become our truest self. The companions are safe because we honor them. We honor the light they bring, the uniqueness in each one. As we honor the life brought by all creatures.”
“Is it true you don’t drink the blood of humans?” I’d heard they were considered vegetarians by other vampires.
“We feed off our animal brethren, but even there we honor the sacrifice all creatures make for the world to keep moving.” Rufus began to walk toward Evangeline and Fen. “You found your rooms satisfactory?”
Fen’s nose wrinkled. “No. I usually get the big room, but apparently my mother and father require privacy.” He grinned our way. “I’m joking. Please, please remember the privacy part. I’m young and do not need to know why Mom is so calm right now.” He turned back to Rufus. “Yes, our rooms are perfect, as always.”
I frowned my son’s way. “Our?”
Evan huffed. “It’s okay. We have a wing and our own bedrooms. You can tell my papa my virginity is intact and will remain so while we’re here. Fenrir is referring to the fact that the boys usually stay in the largest and most luxurious of the guest rooms. It has one large bed, but Fen, Rhys, and Lee have shared a bed many times.”
“I usually change into wolf form and sleep at the end,” Fen explained as though it was a totally normal thing to do. “But I have to make Lee take a long shower before bed because he’s got the stinkiest feet. I don’t know why. Rhys’s are perfectly normal. Lee hit fifteen and yuck. Rhys always smells like flowers and nice shit, and Lee smells like dea… Huh. I should have known, shouldn’t I?”
A short, low growl came from Trent, an obvious warning.
Fen went a bit pink. “Should have known that those human hormones kick in and make a dude smell nasty.”
Evan sent Fen a pointed look and a shake of her head. “Because you always smell so nice. Come along. I think your mom needs to call mine and let her know I’m alive and well and perfectly virginal.”
Evan and her papa were already clashing, but I didn’t think she should bring her mom into that. I knew the queen. “I doubt your mother cares, but you’re right. I need to let her know we made it okay and that we’ve already had an unwelcome visitor. Rufus, how does security work down here because I have a friend who seems to be having trouble with boundaries, and by friend I mean one of Myrddin’s leather-clad enforcers.”
Rufus straightened to his full height, and his shoulders went back as though prepared for a threat. “One of the Profane?”
“It’s what they call Myrddin’s three enforcers,” Trent explained. “The Profane are the three witches Myrddin shares his power with. Liv, Calliope, and Shera. Casey will update you on all three and yes, Rufus, it was Olivia Carey. She has a former connection with Kelsey, but we believe the contact was purely mental and allowed by the Nex Apparatus. When Liv attempted to probe deeper, Kelsey shoved her out. She’s likely nursing a headache right now.”
Rufus seemed to relax. “We are warded against magic in the Under. Obviously there are Council records of us, but one of our protections is the very nature of the Under. Long ago we embedded wards in the earth around us. There are only two routes in and out, so sending in an army would only allow us to quickly disperse of the invading force at the bottleneck they would find. We’re near a ley line and physical entrances to both the Hell plane and a secret route to the Unseelie plane. Both are heavily warded, which offers us more protection. Anyone attempting to transport directly into the nest risks being detected by many wards, and some of them tend to eradicate whatever is being transported, though there are exceptions to that. There are some beings who are immune to such wards. The prophets, for example.”
So Gray could get in and out. That was good to know. I had to hope he would hear the news I was home and come for a visit. If he wasn’t hanging with Lucifer, of course.
“I am allowed to teleport in and out, but only with people who are acknowledged by the wards, which is why I brought you to closest place outside the nest,” Eddie explained. “Now that you are here and Rufus is satisfied we have verified your identity, the security team will give you clearance and I will be able to teleport you should the need arise.”
So we were safe here. “How about someone show me to a mirror, I catch the queen up, and then we can get to work.” My stomach growled. “I mean, you know, after some food.”
“We are prepared for you,” Rufus assured me. “After all, we’ve been feeding Fenrir since he was but a boy. Even then he was a walking, talking gut.”
At least they were used to wolves.
