“I want to alert people to who I think is most important—not me, but my future wife and her children.”
“Significant others don’t usually get that sort of high-level treatment.” Daisy crossed her arms over her chest. “They’ll think she’s the most important because you want to protect your assets. You have what everyone else wants, and you’ve affixed your mark to it. Na-na-na-na-na. That sort of thing.”
Kieran’s eyebrows shot up. “Zorn said you’d soaked up all his and Amber’s teachings like a sponge. He was right.” He sighed. “That is partially true, yes. Only partially because other Demigod’s partners aren’t in danger. They have protection…which Lexi won’t have until the judgment committee approves my mark on her. They could call that meeting tomorrow, or they could wait until the end of the week, I can’t say.
“In the meantime, I intend to keep the best together to combat the assault that is sure to come. Everyone at this Summit knows my name. What I bring to the table, out of the gate, is unprecedented. I have two rare magics on my crew, neither of them from Poseidon’s lineage, which give us representation from the three most powerful gods. I’ve battled and beaten two established Demigods. My team brought the giant down from the mountain, something many others tried and failed to do, and found a Lightning Rod the world had presumed dead. We travel with two magical cats with strange though extremely potent abilities. Most importantly, I found a Soul Stealer off the street and sizzled my mark across her body. I’ve turned heads without officially establishing myself, and everyone will want to see what my staff can do. Mordecai’s right—they will come at you.”
“Finally! The truth.” Daisy threw up her hands. “How long have I been asking questions to get you to admit all that, and you’ve been all ‘Oh, I’m Demigod Kieran the Magnificent, everything will be fine, I’ve got everything covered, want to shake hands with my colossal ego?’”
“Everything will be fine,” he said, a smile wrestling with his lips, “everything is covered, thanks for the new nickname, and don’t bother getting up—my ego can reach you from here.”
Mordecai huffed out a laugh that melted away quickly as he looked out the window. The landscape was changing, from white, sandy beaches pounded by sparkling surf to rocky ground and a few small, shedlike structures.
“This isn’t anything like I thought it’d be,” he said.
“Because they decided to keep the details from Lexi and everyone knows you have a big mouth,” Daisy said with a smirk.
Fair point.
We passed the first large building, a structure similar to a warehouse. Soon we were winding through more of them, some alive with activity—suitcases being emptied from other limos and staff rushing into the large front entrances. “At least if the shit hits the fan, we know where to find a few limos,” I said. “How many people can say they’ve been in a limo chase?”
“I bet Bria has.” Daisy bent over her phone.
“It’ll be okay, Lexi,” Mordecai said, and I could hear the urgency in his voice. “We always come out ahead when we stick together. Always.”
His eyes implored me to see the truth in that statement. To be at ease so he could be at ease. He didn’t have Daisy’s iron resolve, her instinct for individual survival. He worried more about his family—his pack. He felt everyone’s distress as though it were his own, and he worked to make everyone comfortable. He’d be an excellent leader someday, especially if he followed Kieran’s example.
“It’ll be fine,” I mumbled to myself as the limo slowed and turned into a small driveway.
“Yup, I figured.” Daisy lowered her phone as she peered out the window. “She’s been in a limo chase. She said there are different rules for limo chases than regular car chases. It is essential to be drinking champagne through the danger, apparently. Maybe a little cheese and crackers or caviar, depending on who has stocked the refreshment area.”
“Sure, yeah, only logical,” I mumbled. “We’ll remember that.”
“We’re in closer than I expected.” Kieran pulled up a map on his phone. “I should have zero status going into this Summit. I have no established political ties. We should have been relegated to the outskirts of the living area, with the smallest, least luxurious accommodations. This is…”
From the few specifics I’d been told, the living area was a collection of individual buildings (clearly huge warehouses) that surrounded the hub of the Magical Summit in a crescent. The Summit itself was held in a large business park pressed up against a wide beach, with conference rooms, lounges, nooks and crannies for small gatherings, restaurants and eateries, and places for servants to gather supplies.
The challenges between the teams took place in three areas, ranked from easiest to hardest—the wooded paths outside the Summit, a few inner courtyards designed for public challenges, and a maze of halls for private duels. A team’s success, or lack thereof, reflected on their leader.
I had two goals in this place—give Kieran a leg up and protect my kids. If I needed to meander through those halls, yanking out some souls, so be it.
Come at me, bro.
“What’d you just say?” Kieran and the kids were all looking at me funny, and I suspected I’d said that last bit out loud. My face heated, and thankfully, the limo stopped and the driver came around to open the door.
“Nothing.”
Bria and the cats met us as we were climbing out of the limo. The guys were still exiting behind her.
“So this is interesting,” she said, and lifted her hand to indicate the large warehouse-looking structure with two wings off the back and Lord knew what else. Bria turned and pointed the way we’d come. “We should be way back there.”
“I know.” Kieran walked toward the front entrance confidently, but I could sense his unease. We’d just shown up and already things weren’t going as expected.
I straightened my formfitting beige suit jacket and smoothed my gray slacks. It didn’t make sense—when I chose plain beige items, I was told I looked frumpy or unfashionable. When Daisy chose them, they looked perfect on me and “accentuated my natural wild beauty.” I honestly didn’t see the difference, though I had to admit, the ensemble she’d put together made me more comfortable than anything I’d worn under Aubri’s guidance. Other than the quality, which was beyond fine, it reminded me of something I might have worn in the dual-society zone. That life had been a constant struggle, but it had made me me.
“It might be because Magnus put Alexis under his protection,” Amber said as she walked up behind us, Henry at her side.
“Or it might be because of the highly desirable staff members you possess.” Henry looked out at the street as though expecting an enemy any moment. “If they’d positioned us at the periphery of the living area, without any nosy neighbors, someone might have tried to make a grab. We have a reputation for fighting back and winning—no one wants the Summit to devolve into a war.”
We entered the front doors into a plush environment I wasn’t expecting but probably should’ve, given the nature of Demigods. A foyer led off into two rooms and a hall down the way, one room a grand entertaining area decorated with an appalling amount of gold and silver, the other a cozier setting without the bling and bells and whistles. The furniture was just as fine and clearly well made, but it was upholstered in earth tones and looked like it might actually be comfortable.