Once we were finished, we were left with a decision. At least Arach and I were. Did we go back to Faerie the normal route and miss a few days with our children, go back with our rings and get there ahead of Lugh and the others, or go to the God Realm to tell my other husbands what was happening and then use our rings to return to Faerie? In the end, we didn't choose any of those but instead went with a fourth option. Or rather, an amended option. We'd go back to Faerie via our rings, buying ourselves three more days to look into things, then when time caught up again, I would return to the God Realm with my ring or Arach and I would both trace there through the Aether—if he was still needed. We were hoping that we could stop this by then.
“We'll send a carriage for you,” Arach promised Lugh and the others.
“Good luck,” Lugh said. “Maybe we'll be met with the news that you've fixed everything.”
I didn't say anything. I had hope but also doubts. More doubts than hope, to be honest. How could I not? We had no idea how to remove the faerie magic from Earth. Plus, hope and me have a sketchy past. So, I held my tongue and just nodded at Lugh before Arach and I headed home.
The great thing about our rings was that we could pick the place we returned to. If you used a Ring of Remembrance in a single realm to journey to the past, you'd end up exactly where you started, just further back in time. But when you used them as Arach and I did, you got a bit more leeway. The magic needed further direction, which gave us the opportunity to instruct it however we wished. So, instead of returning to the End of the Road, we reformed in our bedroom inside Castle Aithinne, saving ourselves a trip. We arrived a few minutes after we had left the realm, which was a few hours after we'd left Aithinne (the kingdoms are vast and the trip to the Great Tree isn't a short one). We had beat our carriage home but our sons and Isleen would have been waiting and wondering where Arach was for the last few hours.
Which made finding them our priority.
We hurried downstairs—no parent likes worrying their kids—and headed outside. We were nearly to the backdoor of the castle when Arach grabbed me around the waist and pushed me up against the wall. His mouth covered mine and his hands went to the zipper of my jeans. He had them undone and his hand down my panties in seconds.
“Arach!” I tore my mouth away from his to shout.
Arach jerked as if I'd slapped him. His shoulders went tense and his jaw clenched. He closed his eyes and released a slow breath. When he opened his eyes again, the scales that had started to spread down his cheeks withdrew back to his temples.
“I'm sorry, A Thaisce,” Arach whispered. “Lust hit me suddenly and I wasn't prepared. I've got it under control now.”
“It's okay.” I zipped up my pants. “But damn, Arach, we've got to stop this.”
“Yes, my Queen,” Isleen said as she walked up. “Things are getting... unstable. We need to determine what this is and fix it as soon as possible.”
“Where's the wayfarer?” Arach asked. “Hasn't he arrived yet?”
“Only a few hours have passed,” I reminded him.
“He should be here shortly,” Isleen said.
“Alaric helped us find all of the open paths to Faerie,” I informed Isleen as I headed out to find my sons. “There shouldn't be any more but we can send the wayfarer into the kingdom with a few Red Caps as an escort, just to make sure.”
“I'll see to it,” Isleen offered. “The Princes are fine; I checked on them a few minutes ago. Thankfully, most of our copulating courtiers are keeping to the castle.”
“Copulating courtiers in the castle.” I chuckled, then went sober at Isleen's grim expression. “Sorry.”
“Vervain and I need to find the origin of all of this.” Arach waved his hand vaguely.
“The origin?” Isleen asked.
“We're working on a theory that all of the changes in Faerie have caused a buildup of magic that eventually exploded,” I explained. “We need to find the point of origin—the place where the magic condensed and expanded.”
“How will you do that?”
“I'm going to try to speak to Faerie again.” I made a face to express how much faith I had in that effort. Then I called out to my sons, “Boys, were home!”
Rian and Brevyn waved at us from their perches atop a jungle gym, then went back to playing. So much for being missed. I grimaced; just watching the display of their endless energy made me exhausted but at least I wasn't in Roarke's position. He'd separated himself from his wife—every couple had separated—and was sprawled on the grass with his stare fixed firmly on the children. I suppose that was one way to stop thinking about sex. For the randy Cat-Sidhe, it must have been even more difficult. He glanced at me, and I saw the strain lining his face. I gave him a sympathetic smile and he blew me a raspberry.
“Well, at least the children haven't noticed beyond thinking the adults are acting weird.” I shook my head at Roarke.
“Let's hope they continue to be so oblivious,” Arach said.
“Faerie?” I asked out loud. “Faerie, can you hear me?” I finally resorted to shouting in my mind, Faerie!
What?! she shrieked back.
“We've just got back from the Human Realm,” I said with a nod to Arach to let him know that she'd responded. “We had to close several new raths to this realm and catch some animals who had wandered through.”
Uh-huh.
“Are you listening?” I snapped.
Yes, I'm listening, she huffed. What do you want, Vervain? I'm a little busy.
“I want to know if you've noticed any magical explosions recently,” I said. “It would have happened right before you became so distracted.”
Explosions? There have been all sorts of—
“A release of magical energy,” I cut her off. “Something powerful.” I waited for an answer but none came. “Faerie!”
What? Oh, yes. Magical release, her voice dropped into a purr.
“Did one happen?” I prompted.
Ummm... yes, I believe so.
“Where?” I demanded.
It was... somewhere... it was...
“Where?!”
You don't have to be so bitchy about it, she grumbled.
“Damn it, Faerie! Focus! Your realm is seeping into another. We have to stop it. Now, where did you sense the release?”
Sheesh, relax. It was, um, oh, yes! It was in the center of the Forgetful Forest.
“At the Castle of Eight?” I asked in surprise.