“All right,” I whispered and eased out of his arms. Then I glanced down. “But—as much as it pains me to say this—you need to put some pants on first.”
Chapter Thirteen
I gave Arach the date and time that I'd left the God Realm—so he could use his ring to go directly there—and then used my ring to go back. It was the shortest trip I'd ever made to Faerie and it left me feeling bereft. The Fire Kingdom was as much my home as Pride Palace was, maybe more so. I had history in Castle Aithinne. My ancestors had walked its halls and roared their way across the sky above it. It was hard enough to be away from it for so long, but to get a glimpse and then immediately leave was torture.
I reformed beside Odin. The pancake I'd left him cooking was just starting to bubble, needing to be flipped. Odin slid a sideways grin at me and handed me the spatula. He opened his mouth to speak but that's when Arach arrived.
My Fey husband has a Ring of Remembrance too. Originally, they'd been made by the long-lived Fey to help them remember their past. A faerie could travel back in time and relive moments of their life. It wasn't about changing the past; a traveler could only interact as they had originally, experiencing everything more as a spectator than a participant. It was like living inside a play with your lines already scripted. But I'd discovered that if I went to a realm and a time that I hadn't experienced, I could act freely. I just had to be careful that I didn't overlap my visits.
Arach used his ring far less than I and didn't have to worry about consequences as much. He could pop over to the God Realm whenever I needed him and return to Faerie moments after he left. We didn't even have to worry about someone watching our sons. Although, that wasn't an issue anyway. Rian and Brevyn had a herd of nannies. It takes a village where those boys are concerned. Or an entire castle, rather.
“Oh,” Odin said instead of whatever had been on the tip of his tongue. “I see. So, Faerie didn't help?”
“We must acquire this destiny tablet to heal our wife,” Arach announced.
“Faerie said the same thing that Al did,” I added as I flipped the pancake. “Sit down, Arach. We won't be going to war right this second.”
Arach sniffed the air like a hungry dog and his stare zeroed in on the stack of pancakes, set on a plate near the stove. “Pancakes? I love pancakes.”
“I know. You ate nearly as much as Rian did when you were here last.” I chuckled. “Coffee is ready too if you want a cup.”
Arach made a rumble of interest as he prowled toward the carafe. “I suppose we should fuel ourselves first.”
“What's the Dragon doing here?” Trevor asked as he came down the stairs on my right, just a few feet away from the stove.
“Mama!” Vero leaned out of his father's arms toward me, forcing Trevor to shift his grip.
“No, baby. Stay with your daddy. Mama's making breakfast.” I kissed Vero's pudgy cheek, the scent of wolf musk and moonlight shimmering over me.
I've never liked the scent of babies. I thought there was something wrong with me. My friends would all wax poetic about the smell of a baby, but I thought they smelled gross. I assumed that I wasn't meant to be a mother. Then I caught a whiff of a faerie child and everything clicked. I wasn't meant to be a mother of human babies. Magical babies smelled amazing to me; those were the kind of children I was meant to have.
“Pancakes,” Vero whispered eagerly as he settled back against his father, his stare focusing on the food.
I went back to cooking with another laugh; it's funny how food can have such an effect on people. Even Trevor made a happy growl of anticipation as he took our son to his high chair and started strapping him in.
“Vervain has spoken to both Alaric and Faerie this morning,” Odin answered Trevor's question.
“And what did they have to say?” Azrael came down the stairs on the far side of the room, looking sleep-tousled and sexy in only a pair of jeans.
“Hold on a moment.” Odin cocked his head. “I hear the others coming, and it would be better if we didn't have to repeat all of this.”
Az and Trevor exchanged greetings with Arach while they fixed their coffee. By the time they were done, Re, Viper, Kirill, and Lesya had joined us. I finished frying several stacks of pancakes while the men set the table and fixed drinks for the children. Then, when we were all seated with plates of food before us, Odin and I quickly summed up what had happened.
“So, we aren't going to see the Fates?” Viper asked.
“Not today,” Odin said with a look my way. “I don't think they'd have anything helpful to add.”
“All right; we go after the Tablet.” Azrael nodded. “It'll be easier with Al as our lookout and this time, we'll have the element of surprise on our side.”
“We may need more than that,” Odin muttered. “I've been looking into this god. Marduk's got a lot of power under his belt, one of his magics is actually magic.”
“The God of Magic, eh?” Viper lifted a brow. “That's a nice catch-all.”
“Yes, it is.” Odin smirked. “As a god of Magic myself, I understand better than most what kind of leeway that gives him. But the point is; Marduk has a lot of tricks up his sleeves, and he's an opportunist. When Tiamat
