“Those are fey flowers,” I said grimly. “A few months ago, one of them was spotted in Ireland and we determined that the magic of Faerie was seeping into the Human Realm.”
“What did you just say?” Aidan asked as he sauntered in, his dark hair in I-just-woke-up disarray.
“Just shut up and listen,” Elian hissed.
Aidan grimaced but slumped over to us silently and stood with his butt a few inches in front of the fireplace, rubbing it as he pouted.
“All of Faerie was searched for the old paths that used to connect the realms,” I went on. “Any open path was closed. They were supposed to be closed permanently.”
“It doesn't look as if they were,” Jake noted.
“No, it doesn't,” I murmured as I stepped closer to the table. I chose a few photographs that looked as if they were taken in different locations. “You saw these flowers in more than one place?”
“Yeah.” Jake looked over the photos I'd collected. “You've got a shot of each.”
“Good.” I passed them to him. “I need you to write down where you took these photos on the back of each one.”
“Yes, Tima.” Jake pulled a pen out of his pocket and started writing.
“I need someone to go to Earth and warn my mother and my human friends.” I looked around.
“I'll go,” Ben offered. “I've been to all of their homes before.”
“Thank you.”
“What do the rest of us do?” Elian asked.
“Nothing for now. I'm going to Faerie to speak with King Cian. I won't know anything concrete until then. But let the rest of the Pride know that Earth is off-limits for now.”
“We've got a few lions out,” Aidan said in a worried tone.
“Call them home,” I said urgently. “And tell everyone what's going on.”
“What about the God Squad?” Aidan asked.
I chewed on my lip. If I called the Squad, they'd want to help but there wasn't anything they could do. Still, I didn't want any of them wandering down to Earth when fey magic was seeping into the realm.
“Call them and tell them what's happening,” I decided. “Tell them to stay out of the Human Realm for now and that I'll get back to them as soon as I know more.”
“That's not going to go over well,” Hamish said.
“No, but there's nothing any of us can do until we know exactly what's happening,” I said. “Make that clear to them.”
“Yes, Tima,” Elian said.
“I wrote down the name of each area and described how to get to them since they don't have addresses,” Jake said as he passed the photos back to me.
“Thank you. I'll be back soon.” I took the photos and headed for the door. “Spread the word and get our lions home.”
“Yes, Tima!” They all said.
Chapter Three
“Tell them to be on high alert and let them know that if things get dangerous, someone will bring them to Pride Palace,” I instructed Ben on his way to the tracing room.
“Yes, Tima.”
“And tell them to pack some things and be ready,” I added urgently. “And to stay home until I tell them it's safe.”
“Yes, Tima.”
I didn't like warning them without any idea of what might happen but with Faerie creeping into the Human Realm, the possibilities were endless and most of them were dangerous.
“Thanks, Ben.” I gave his broad shoulder a pat and hurried into the elevator.
The other lions were still in the dining hall, texting all of their absent brothers and the God Squad. Now, that I'd seen to my family and friends, I could head over to Faerie. I took the elevator back to the sixth floor.
I walked into the bedroom just as Trevor was heading out. He didn't have our son with him. Instead, Vero sat at the kitchen table next to Lesya. My other husbands—Odin, Kirill, Azrael, Re, and Viper—were gathered around the table with the kids. They all looked up from their breakfast beverages and smiled at me. Then they saw my expression.
“What is it?” Odin shot to his feet.
I looked from Odin to the children, whose eyes had gone round with worry. “Nothing.” I grinned at the kids. “What's for breakfast?”
“Uncle Re is making muffins,” Lesya declared as if this were an amazing feat of culinary skill.
Lesya's long, ebony curls were pulled back into a braid that matched her father's. Both of them wore their hair braided for bed and I loved it when they forgot to unbraid it in the morning; it made them look even more alike. And she wasn't the only child who looked a lot like her father. Vero was practically a miniature version of Trevor, right down to his honey eyes.
I inspected the table which displayed a significant lack of muffins and lifted a brow. “Where are these magical muffins?”
“I don't Harry-Potter them into existence.” Re rolled his golden eyes. “They've only just gone into the oven.”
“Since when do you cook?” I asked.
“It's baking, not cooking, and I was getting tired of pancakes,” Re said with a pointed look at Trevor. “So I looked up a video on YouTube.”
Yep, the Egyptian Sun God just admitted to learning to make muffins from a YouTube video. This was generally how my days went.
“The kids love pancakes.” Trevor shrugged.
“Gods cannot live on pancakes alone,” Re announced. “We must have muffins and waffles and scones and more!”
The children laughed and cheered.
“Well, thank you for the effort,” I said. “Odin, could I speak to you for a minute?” I waved a hand toward the dressing room.
“Of course.” Odin gave the other men a look, then followed me into the dressing room, shutting the door behind us. “What's happened?”
The murmur of men and children filtered through the door—the former trying to keep the latter from leaving the table before breakfast arrived.
“Remember that fey flower Lugh saw in Ireland?” I asked.
“Ye-e-s,” Odin drew out the word warily.
“Jake just saw a bunch of them in England.” I showed him the photographs. “I'm going to jump over to Faerie and talk to Arach and the High King.”
“Fey flowers in England?” Odin asked as he looked over the pictures. “But you said the paths were sealed.”