Eva was intrigued. She had just met the twins; they wouldn't have been her first choice. "How are they more powerful than older witches?"
Etain shrugged. "I'm no expert, but I think because they are twins, their abilities are magnified between them if they cast a spell together."
Magnus slowly began to smile. "Eva, I think that is the best suggestion we have had on the subject." He turned to Adriel. "Do you think they are up for it? We can have Micah or Emlyn Blackwood show them how it is done."
"I believe they are capable, and it would keep them out of trouble," Adriel said, a faint smile on his lips.
"Thank the Gods!" Declan breathed.
"Who are the twins?" Meryn asked.
Eva couldn't help but smile. "You're going to love them, Meryn. I just met them before coming here. They are young, but full of energy, and they love pranks."
Meryn gave a sad smile. "Reminds me of Keelan."
"Now that we know what we want to do, my next question is where?" Beth asked, changing the subject.
"We can't create the houses in the Grand Hall; we'd be effectively creating a choke point for future incoming refugees," Meryn pointed out.
"What if they were done in the back of the hall?" Beth suggested.
Meryn shook her head. "At a certain point, we'd be right back to the original problem of too many people near the entrance." She turned and looked at Magnus. "According to the maps I scanned, the Founding Families have kept most of their people situated close to the transport tunnel. What if we went deeper into the earth? We could probably get the Founding Families to agree if we point out that we're expanding their level for future growth, and it won't cost them anything. People love free shit."
"I know my people would feel better if they could have some sense of normalcy. Having a place to return to that gives them privacy to relax would help enormously," Stefan added.
"Well said, Stefan. I wish the youngsters here acted with half your sense of responsibility. I have vampires twice your age who are not as mature." Stefan smiled at the praise.
Magnus looked down the table. "Meryn, you are a genius. That is exactly what we will do. Extra housing never hurt any city." He gave Beth a sly look. "Maybe the two of you should stay in Noctem Falls. I think I have gotten more accomplished in the couple days with you two here than I have in the past six months on my own."
"No thank you, Uncle. As soon as we're done here, we're heading back to Lycaonia. I've finally gotten my closet set up the way I like it," Beth replied.
Magnus pouted. "None of my secretaries compare to you."
Beth patted his arm. "You mean they don't spoil you the way I do."
"Exactly! I actually have to ask for my coffee."
"I'm sure you'll find one eventually that will last longer than a year." Beth looked down the table at Meryn. "Meryn, did you get a response back from Amelia?"
Meryn looked up, both cheeks were pouched full of pudding. She held up a finger and finished her bite. "Yup. Queen Aleksandra gave the okay. She was very impressed with my improvised method of getting Wi-Fi throughout the city. She will be implementing something like it on a larger scale for Éire Danu."
Etain rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. I can't wait to get started."
Meryn scraped her bowl with her spoon. "Magnus has already given me a large workroom here on Level One. Sebastian said that all the equipment arrived this afternoon, so as soon as you get the portals in place, I'll set up the communications hub, and we'll have city-wide Wi-Fi by tomorrow afternoon."
Meryn continued to scrap her bowl, clanking her spoon against the porcelain. Magnus frowned. "Sebastian, give that child more pudding; it is obvious she is still hungry."
Before coming to Noctem Falls, Eva had heard rumors about Magnus Rioux. He was known to be fair but demanding. Everyone knew he doted on his niece, but she didn't think many knew that he had a soft spot for young people.
"I have to know, Meryn, how did you manage to get Wi-Fi here in the city in less than two days, when city engineers have been trying different methods for years with no results," Magnus asked, looking impressed.
"It was easy, but probably because I'm used to asking questions when I want to know something. When we went through the portal coming here, I stuck my hand through and pulled it back before coming through completely. That means that once the portal is open, matter can pass through it in either direction."
"I asked Etain and the queen, via my big sister-cousin, a few questions and found out that portals can be created to remain open. It's not a current practice because it would present a security issue. But what I need the portals open for wouldn't create any gaps in security. Tomorrow, Etain will pop around the city placing dime sized fixed portals all over the place, all of them feeding back into the communications hub I'll set up using the equipment Sebastian got for me. Then he will place undetectable portals on the two closest cell towers in the region. The portals would simply act like tiny windows, allowing the Wi-Fi and cell signals to pass through to the communication hub and from there all throughout the city. I just had to get permission from the queen to open that many portals. What's even better is that knowing how these tiny portals work, I can network on a much larger scale. Muwahaha!"
Eva joined in the round of applause Meryn received at the end of her explanation. "Meryn, that's amazing work."