Beth stood from her chair. "I'm fine, but I could close my eyes for a bit."
Gavriel and Colton exchanged looks and herded their mates toward the door. Vivi and Etain walked with them as far as the entrance to Magnus' quarters. Etain held her back when she went to follow.
"Hal should already be there."
"Where?"
Etain led her past the transport tunnel to the other side of the level. Vivi felt an odd sense of familiarity as Etain walked her up to a dingy looking wooden door. The poor thing had seen better days.
Vivi looked up at him. "Do we knock?"
Etain chuckled. "Welcome home Vivian DuCoeur."
Vivi frowned. "You mean Vivian Vi'Aerlin," she stopped sentence. "Home?"
The door creaked open and Hal filled the doorway. He had a handkerchief wrapped around his head and was wearing a full-length apron. "About time you two showed up. I was about to be carried off by spiders. Sebastian was able to unlock the quarters for us and added me to the hand sensor so I could get started. He said he would swing by and get the two of you added later."
"These are the DuCoeur quarters?" Vivi asked. No wonder she kept wanting to turn right coming off the transport tunnel on Level One. How many times had she been carried down that hallway as a baby?
Etain nodded. "Hal and I figured you would choose this one over the DuSang home."
There was a loud bang before a billow of dust emerged from the open door across from theirs. Moments later, Adriel, Eva, Pavil and Bree ran out coughing.
Vivi stared at the four. "The Ambrosios quarters I assume?"
Etain nodded as he watched his fastidious unit leader pull cobwebs out of his hair. Without looking away he pointed to the left. "The DuSang quarters are next door." His eyes began to dance with mirth as Adriel spun in circles trying to get something off his back. Finally, the unit leader shed his jacket and threw it on the floor shuddering.
"Problems sir?" Etain asked jovially.
Adriel froze and looked up. When he saw the three of them his cheeks flushed. "There are an indecent amount of spiders in there."
Vivi pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Kendrick can I borrow you for a moment?"
"Sure. Where are you?"
"Come out of the lab and head toward the transport tunnel. Walk past the Rioux quarters and head right."
"Got it. Be right there."
Bree picked up Adriel's jacket and popped it out before folding it carefully.
Kendrick walked up to them waving the dust away from his face. "You rang Princess?"
Vivi jerked her thumb towards the open door of the DuCoeur living area. "Is there a spell that will get rid of dust bunnies and spiders." She paused and thought about it. "And maybe fix any damage due to neglect or age?"
Kendrick rolled up his sleeves. "My secret specialty. Having raised Keelan, I quickly mastered a myriad of mundane cleaning spells. The little devil could attract every spec of mud and grime within a five-mile radius. Give me about twenty minutes." He walked inside past a disgusted looking Hal, who threw his dust rag on the floor.
Adriel looked no less disgruntled. Etain was laughing his ass off, pointing at his unit leader. "Wait until I tell Declan about your spider dance."
Eva began to crack up. "Spider dance!" Adriel gave them both a frosty look, but his mouth twitched as he fought a smile.
Vivi turned to Hal. "Sorry about that."
Hal looked over at the others and shrugged. "At least I wasn't the only one who forgot that we could ask the witches to help."
Vivi nudged Etain. "How will we set it up the way we want if the city is locked down? It's not like we can go shopping."
Eva turned to Adriel. "You remember when the pack was getting set up in their new houses, how the vendors all donated items? What if we let it be known we're moving in and looking for new stuff. I bet some of the older vampires would appreciate some of this antique, gold junk better than me. We could do a swap."