Danny had spent the rest of the previous night with Sasha, the academics, and the Nimhead, as I had taken to calling her. She’d vowed revenge, but she was a head. What was she going to do?
Dev had stayed behind with me. He’d held me while I cried again and let me sleep against his chest. I’d somehow gotten through the night.
I was certain Myrddin had caused lots of problems during those years he and Nim had walked the planes before he’d returned to fuck up our lives. “I suspect going to a music festival was one of his less nefarious adventures.”
“It’s more than a music festival. It’s also a place where you can not bathe for like a week and everyone’s so high they don’t care. Lots of wolves attend those things. So many smells.” Neil sat back down in the comfy chair next to me. Naturally he’d found the snacks and had a whole tray in front of him. “Have I mentioned how much I adore private planes? I’m so happy I have my wealth and privilege back.”
Apparently the last twelve years had sucked because Neil had to take public transportation.
They’d sucked for a lot of reasons.
I missed my dad, but that deep mourning had to wait because I had a job to do. I was doing it sometime today. I intended to be back in Frelsi with the book and Gladys before tomorrow evening.
“I went to a music festival on a faery plane once. I don’t think it was a music festival as much as an orgy where they had musicians playing.” My son sat across the aisle from me.
“Lee, I need you to seriously think about what you say around me.” I did not want to know what my precious son had been doing all these years. There are some things that a mother should never know.
“I was just going to say I understand how it could have happened.” Lee wore all black, and his backpack was filled with the things we would need for the job we were about to do, including the Mantle of Arthur. “Dean seemed pretty freaked out by the idea of being conceived at a giant sex party. Apparently the Vampire plane is actually pretty staid when it comes to sex. Or rather they value their privacy when it comes to their companions. Consorts. That was what he called them. He was pretty freaked out that his mom would have had a three-way with Myrddin and Nim. I tried to ease his mind by telling him you and Papa regularly perform in front of a crowd.”
“That is a sacred fertility ritual,” Dev said with a frown. “Although I will admit I can be a bit of an exhibitionist.”
“Devinshea.” And there were things our son didn’t need to know.
Lee snorted and tried to cover up his laughter. “Anyway, I was glad to have a job for him to do while we’re gone. He doesn’t need to think about that for too long. Also, I think it’s good for his mom that he doesn’t have a way to call her on the Vampire plane because he would be asking some questions. Awkward questions.”
Dean, Rhys, and Shy would be working on a project while we were gone. They would be taking Nim to Lagarfljót Lake in eastern Iceland. It was deep and cold, and according to legend was home to a big-ass serpent that Nim assured me would keep her company over the weeks as her body regenerated.
“We can’t be certain Dean is the child of Myrddin.” Danny was always the logical one. He had to look at all sides of a situation.
I personally knew that the answer that would fuck us over the most was always the correct one. The universe liked to screw with us.
Dev and Danny sat directly across from Neil and me. The jet Dev had purchased was a twelve seater and boasted a kitchen, bathroom, and small bedroom. Dev called it basic comfort and promised a better one when he could find the time to shop.
It was just the five of us and a pilot who’d passed Sasha’s tests. We were running a tight crew this time. We needed to be able to move very quickly once Lee and I finished the job. We wanted to be on our way back to Frelsi before Myrddin realized what we’d done. I had high hopes that he would simply think the wards had finally failed and wouldn’t realize his book had been in the apartment at all.
Though there was a part of me that longed for confrontation.
My hand went to the amulet that lay against my chest. I wished there was some way to get that sucker around Myrddin’s neck and then walk away. “Nim seemed pretty sure.”
“It was a long time ago,” Danny pointed out. “I was unaware Myrddin had ever produced a child.”