"D.! What the hell did you do to my armor?!"
I grinned sheepishly. "Man, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Gil grumbled under his breath, his hands pantomiming wringing my neck, but before long, he composed himself, though I could tell he was still mad. "You better explain everything."
"Of course. By the way, did you get my gift?" I asked, hoping to appease his anger.
My diversion had the exact effect I wanted as his eyes lit up. "It arrived a few days ago, and I can't believe you bought that much ale. That many casks will last me a good while."
Good, hope it gets you off my back about the armor at least. I smiled at him. "Glad you liked it, now where’s Wilson? We need to call a meeting."
A whisper behind me alerted me to the rogue’s presence. "I am here."
I turned my head to speak, and Wilson was just over my shoulder, leaning against the railing to the second floor. "I'm glad you made it home safely, old friend," he said.
"As am I. Could you do me a favor and call a meeting? I want to go over everything, and I'd rather not do it more than once."
"Right away," he said, inclining his head and vanishing back into the shadows. Soon as Wilson left, Gil swept me up into a giant bear hug. Which I returned as best I could.
"I missed you too, buddy," I said.
By the time my ribs stopped creaking, Eris had joined us, flanked by Tegen and Cheira. Her face split into a wide grin when she saw Gil. She padded over to him and hugged him.
"Gil! It's good to see you again."
He returned her hug gently, patting her on the back. "It’s good to see you too, little miss."
The Aspect made its displeasure known, writhing up from within my heart to rage wordlessly that another man put his hands on what was ours, but I shut it down. I'm in control, not the other way around.
“Now, why don't you believe that?” it asked.
The deal I’d made with the Aspect was still a mystery, and what it made me give up frightened me. But I'll deal with it as it comes at me—nothing much else I can do.
This whole trip had aged me fifteen years, and I wanted nothing more than a hot bath and twenty uninterrupted hours of sleep, but business came first. Gotta let the others know what I learned. Well, what little I learned, at any rate.
Wilson took care of getting everyone to the guildhall. I sent Eris and the children up to Eris's room while we conducted business. After a week on the road, we all needed a bath. She leaned over and kissed me.
"I'll see you upstairs in a little while."
"Soon as I can," I promised.
I walked the guildhall while Eris went upstairs. It was midday, but the stone hallway was chilly. The soft light of the torches along the wall did little to warm me as I went. Has it always been so cold in here? I put my discomfort out of mind and opened the wooden door, each of the faces of the guild carved into the oak. Alistair won't be back to join us for some time. Should I remove his face for the time being?
No, he'll be back soon enough, and it'll be good to have a reminder that I need to be more careful in the future.
I sat down at the head of the table and waited for everyone to join me, a laboriously long process that took over thirty minutes. Glad to see some things never change. One of the maids came in with several pitchers of ale and glasses. When everyone finally decided to grace me with their arrival, we got down to business.
First things first, I told them about our trip, of the difficulties we faced on the road. More than a few laughed at me when I told them of the fight with Wolf.
"You fought a werewolf by yourself and lived?" Evelyn asked.
I nodded. "I would've died without Eris, but we scraped through by the skin of our teeth."
"Haha, good on you!" Yumiko said, laughing.
Figured the vampire would get a kick out of me slaying a werewolf. And I was right. Her blooded eyes were positively sparkling. I also told them of Darren and the slavers. Of Phineas's betrayal and his revelation. The name of the man who started all of this.
"Magnus?" Wilson asked.
"Yep, why? Does it ring a bell?"
"No, I've never heard it before, what about any of you?" he asked the room. A slew of head shakes, and noes resounded through the room. Course not, looks like I'll have to go the hard way.
"Well, see if you can find anything else out. That's our last shot before I have to resort to the more drastic methods."
Gil looked at me incredulously. "You're not thinking of calling upon her, are you?"
I picked up my glass of ale and drained it. "What other choice do I have? The Alice is the best bet for information."
"Yes, but you know what kind of price she'll ask. Do you really want to be indebted to the fae?" Wilson asked.
"Course not, but I want that bastard, and I'm willing to play her games if that's what it takes."
"Fine, call up the queen of the fairies, but on your head falls the consequences," Evelyn said.
"Thanks for your concern. You're all heart."
She scoffed at me and returned to conversing with Adam. Though I managed to get her attention again when I brought up the fight with Liam and what he could do with magic. Everyone looked rightly shocked at the news. I witnessed it with my
