Ryuu held out his hand, and Felix flew to him. "Why?" he asked.
Felix stood on Ryuu's large palm. "She too far away."
Ryuu looked at Aiden. "I'm waking her." With that decree, he spun and headed toward the bedrooms.
Aiden, Brennus, Kendrick, Amelia, and Thane were hot on his heels.
The boys stood, looking torn. They looked from the direction of Meryn and Aiden’s rooms to their laptops and back.
"Boys, go see what's going on with Meryn. She still needs to review the locations and to be honest, the only thing Ari and I are good for right now is a shower and dinner," Brie suggested.
"Right. Good idea. Come on, Pip, Neil," Nigel said, and all th
ree boys quickly beelined it toward Meryn's room.
Ari snagged a croissant and stood. "We'll swing by tomorrow to catch up," he promised.
The queen nodded absently, distracted by her worry over her niece. "Of course."
Brie hated every step they took, trudging their back to the Lionhart estate for what seemed like the billionth time. "I hate this walk now," she growled.
"How about this?" He started when they reached the Lionhart front gate. "You head up for your shower, and I'll have Leo arrange for dinner to be delivered to our rooms. We'll eat and turn in early," he suggested.
"If I wasn't head over heels in love with you before," she said, tilting her head back.
"I know, I know," he said, smiling before kissing her softly.
Once inside, she went upstairs, and he headed for the kitchen. She was nearly done when he made it up to their room. After his shower, he turned on the television to the Discovery Channel to watch How Things are Made and they waited for dinner.
To her delight, Leo surprised them with a huge selection of finger foods and appetizers. When he offered her a choice between three types of beer she thought she'd cry.
She snuggled in close to Ari as they split a platter of nachos, mozzarella sticks, chicken wings, and sliders. The food was savory, the beer was cold, and Ari was spoiling her at every turn.
When they turned in for the night, and Ari once again pulled her into the curve of his body, she couldn't imagine a more perfect evening than the one they just enjoyed. None of the magical splendors of Éire Danu could come close to eating bar food with Ari on the floor of their room watching television. Her beautiful mate made even the most simple things treasures to be enjoyed, and she could no longer live without him.
Chapter Eighteen
Meryn blinked then looked around. The room was familiar with its stark white marble and glass.
"Hello again," a deep voice greeted her.
Meryn spun around and growled. "I better not be dying again. That shit hurt." Damn, he was just as beautiful as she remembered.
He shook his head. "There is no need for that method this time. When you called out before, stating that you wanted to meet me, the path was created. You, in essence, invited me in. Now, I can speak to you like this whenever I wish, especially on nights where you've thought of me."
"Can I uninvite you?"
He nodded. "You could, but, then we wouldn't be able to chat," he smiled slyly. "And something tells me you're too curious to do that."
She sighed then glanced around the room. "You got any chairs?"
The man waved his hand, and the room was suddenly completely furnished. "Please, make yourself comfortable."
Meryn hesitated. "Is this another, 'oh by the way, bad shit is happening but by all means park your butt on my insanely expensive leather couch' kinda thing?"
"No, as I said before, I don't believe I will be killing you."
Meryn walked over and climbed up on the cream leather loveseat. At first it was cold, but soon her body heat had it quite comfortable. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"