Sam had given the firm’s coven time off to recuperate. I later found out that the vials of the potion they’d made that night had been effective against one of the magickal weapons Rand had encountered. The weapon had been used against one of the water fae. Rand had poured one vial over the fae’s injury and thrown the other vial at the man wielding the gun. When it broke over the gun, he’d said it sizzled and popped as if it were short circuiting. He had handed two vials back to us on the way back, so we still had three left. Somehow, I had a feeling they might come in handy at some point, so I saved them and asked Sam to have the coven make up more when they were back to work.
Surprisingly, Sam had opted to work from home since the rescue. She’d been getting daily updates from the PIs she’d sent to Michigan, but neither team had anything of note to report so far.
Danai and Sebastian continued to check on the children daily. I offered to go with them, but she assured me the children were already comfortable with herself and ‘the big cat.’ She worried that too many people too soon would only add to the trauma they’d already endured. In the meantime, I’d kept myself busy with projects in the lab—and Rand—while I waited to hear from Jeremy. The crow shifter still hadn’t returned any of my calls or voicemails. I was beginning to worry, so I’d asked Clyde and Dutch to go check on him since they were heading into town on shifter business anyway. Since they’d already planned on being absent for the meeting by the river, I didn’t feel guilty about sending them on the errand.
Before I could dwell further on any of that, there was a telltale splash. Several heads popped up from the brackish river, pulling our attention to the water. I glanced back at Rasta, hovering next to her mother, and then the other twelve pixies who had taken part in rescuing the children. Rather than perching in the trees on either side, as the flights who’d accompanied us the first time we met the water fae in this spot had, they sat across the roof of the Gator, their little chests puffed out proudly, and their wings fluttering in anticipation.
Olen emerged from the water, as he had before. This time, however, Arella was at his side. Dorn, his arm completely healed, walked out next, along with two males I hadn’t seen before only a few steps behind him. Clothing appeared on the three water fae between one blink and the next. This time, the king and queen wore robes that definitely looked like something befitting royalty. I tried not to think about the casual pants and blouse I wore. The two males had emerged from the water in swim trunks and it took me a moment to realize they must be shifters. Even though their animal forms weren’t visible to my Sight, I could still sense that’s what they were when I tried. Their bodies shielded a smaller form, who peeked out from behind them to catch my eyes and I smiled. Kylen. After Danai had healed the bruising on his face on the trip back, he’d watched me most of the way home with those large, cobalt eyes, but he’d remained close to the other two children, holding their hands until they finally awakened. Once Arella and Tess had managed to clean all three children up, Sebastian laid by the boy’s side until he relaxed enough to close his eyes.
“Roxanne,” Olen said solemnly, inclining his head. Arella followed his lead, going a step further to curtsey after greeting me.
I put a hand up. “Oh, please don’t do that. We’re all just friends here. Danai says the children are doing much better and I see Dorn’s arm healed well. If it would be acceptable, I, well, we,” I spread my arms to indicate everyone with me, “brought them something. The children, that is, not Dorn. Unless, of course, he wants to play with them, too.”
Rand had already gone to retrieve the large plastic tub in the back of the Gator. Gloria, Sarah, and Michael had made a special trip into town to pick up water toys of all kinds for the kids, to help make up for the ones that had been discarded. We’d checked each one over for trackers or anything that didn’t look right, but since they were purchased from one of the local big box stores, they’d all been clean. I pulled a Nerf foam water toy out of the box, watching Kylen’s face light up as I did so. Arella held out her hand to him and he darted out from behind the two shifters, stopping by her side. She put her hands on his shoulders, her fingers tapping a rapid rhythm. He looked up at her, then at the toy, then at me. I smiled as I knelt down and held it out. Slowly, he strode over to me.
Tilting his head up to meet my eyes, he gave a stilted “Thank you,” as he accepted the toy. He started to turn away, then whirled and launched himself at me, his arms wrapping tightly around my neck. I held him just as tightly, my nose buried in the auburn curls that were only a couple shades darker than his aunt’s. He smelled like the sea and freshly cut grass.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered.
He finally released me and went to stand next to Arella. I couldn’t help but smile as
