Rhys nodded. “Yes. The Hidden feast tonight because of me. They’re happy to return the favor. They will go in tomorrow and bring us back information.”
“We already have intelligence on the building.” Sasha had made sure of it. The big Russian vampire had gone over everything he knew about the Council building now. If Danny and Dev had their way, they would push this heist off forever. “We need to move soon. You said Myrddin already knows about what happened with Rhys today. How?”
“Alexander left for Dallas two nights ago. Earlier, he sent a message to Sasha about a meeting Myrddin called with his closest advisors. Alexander isn’t among them, but he’s close to one of the witches,” Daniel began.
“Does she know about the whole Jack the Ripper thing?” Some women are not smart.
“I think for some women that’s part of his charm, my goddess.” Dev reached out and threaded his fingers through mine. “They enjoy the danger.”
Like I said—dumbasses.
“Anyway, the witch told him they’d heard from some of their spies here in Iceland that someone used a whole lot of Fae magic today,” Danny continued. “Myrddin is worried something has happened here, and he’s specifically concerned that Rhys has gained more power. I think Myrddin’s witches here are experts on you, son. According to Alexander, they claimed to know what your magic feels like.”
“Well, we knew Myrddin studied us.” Rhys was the one pacing now. “What does he think Myrddin’s going to do about it? He shouldn’t be able to track me back here. And the Hidden Ones promised me that a witch might be able to feel their magic, but she can’t touch them unless they allow it. She might track the magic to the field, but everything I did today is now protected by the Hidden Ones.”
“I don’t know what Myrddin can do about it, and that’s what worries me,” Danny admitted. “I don’t like how much he knows about my children. And some of his knowledge came directly from me.”
“You were under thrall,” Lee countered. “Don’t worry about it. All is forgiven. I would be a terrible hypocrite if I didn’t forgive you. I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have when I was under the thrall of that mermaid on Lagoon world.”
“You weren’t under thrall. You were on mushrooms.” Rhys rolled his eyes. “And I know you didn’t know they were psychedelic, but neither did I, and I didn’t end up in a mermaid orgy. Fen didn’t either. Evan was smart enough to hate mushrooms and refuse to eat them.”
“I don’t want to know what happened, do I?” It seemed to me my children had too many adventures.
“Only with Lee,” Rhys replied. “I merely sat in a forest and talked to what I firmly believed at the time was Papa Smurf. He was every bit as wise as one would think. And all Fen wanted was endless belly rubs. He immediately changed to wolf form and spent hours doing that thing where he rubs his back on the floors and his legs flail. He drooled a lot. Lee was the only one who ended up servicing horny mermaids.”
“Ah, yes. I remember a day I spent in a mermaid grotto,” Dev began.
I pointed a finger his way. “No. Absolutely not. This is not going to degrade into a session where you and my son, who was eleven a few days ago, do a top-ten list of supernatural creatures you’ve fucked.”
“It’s way more than ten.” Lee’s mouth shut suddenly and then he grimaced. “Sorry, Mom. So back to the subject. Rhys did a little magic today.”
“Off the charts magic that was felt all the way in Germany,” Danny corrected.
Lee gave his brother a thumbs-up, seemingly happy to get the attention off himself. “I always said you would explode someday.”
“I did not explode,” Rhys argued. “I merely unleashed a bit of my power.”
“He grew flowers all around Shy. It was disgustingly romantic,” Lee said, his nose wrinkling. “Did you even think about it? Like now she’s going to expect that all the time. She’ll want an orange and you’ll have to grow an orange tree for her. You need to learn to lower their expectations, brother. None of my women expect anything from me but an orgasm.”
“Lee!” He had to remember his mother was in the room.
“It’s because you don’t have anything to give them but an orgasm.” Rhys completely ignored me. “All of the blood in your body is constantly in your dick.”
“Boys, can we argue about Lee’s private life another time?” Danny asked. “Though you should know we’re having a long talk, son. A long talk.”
Lee frowned. “I’m not going to like this talk, am I? I would like to point out that I was denied maternal affection at a time when it was so important. Can I be blamed for seeking out love and care?”