by Alanea Alder
Beth grinned back. "I forgot that my child won't be alone like I was growing up."
Serenity looked at Meryn. "What about your own child helping?"
Meryn thought about it for a moment. "I think my kid will be the reason why Beth's kid will get hurt to be honest." Everyone around the table nodded almost in sync with each other agreeing with Meryn.
Ellie stood. "I'm glad we know what that shadow thing is now." She stretched then turned to Laelia and Radclyffe. "If you all are ready, I can introduce you to the children and your other patients."
Serenity stood when her friends did. Laelia turned to her and shook her head. "You spend some time with your mate. Radclyffe and I will run an assessment and update you during our next meeting." She looked around. "When would that be?"
"Dinner," everyone said almost immediately.
Radclyffe looked around. "Everyone eats here for every meal?"
Rheia nodded. "It ended up being easier that way."
Sebastian smiled. "With three squires here, it is actually quite easy to do. Feel free to leave your bags, I will move them to our guest quarters." He looked to Micah. "If it would make it easier, I can set up a room for you and your mate as well.
Micah smiled. "I think that may be a good idea, at least until the virus is cured."
Sebastian turned to Meryn. "And for Master Pip?"
Meryn frowned. "I hadn't thought through that far."
"He can stay with us in our house on the Unit Level," Nigel volunteered. "He's a vampire so he can just go back and forth between levels."
Pip gave a weak smile. "I am still a bit shaky when it comes to flying," he admitted softly.
Neil wrapped an arm around his thin shoulders. "No problem, we can help whenever you need us."
Pip looked up at him confused. "Why?"
Neil smiled at Meryn then looked down at Pip. "Because we're Meryn's brothers and you are too now, so we're going to look after you."
Pip nodded enthusiastically. "I think I am going to like having brothers and a sister."
Meryn shrugged. "It's not so bad."
Serenity raised an eyebrow to Kendrick who shook his head smiling. She thought that if anyone adopted the twins it would have been Kendrick. But from the boys' radiant expressions she knew they had finally found a place to call home, even if it was with a strange human.
Vivi turned to Serenity. "I don't wish to intrude on time with your mate, but before dinner, can you evaluate Prince Magnus? Our third treatment, as you know, is on hold until we can figure out what affected him so negatively. If you could give us half as many clues to work with as you did for Beth's curse, I feel like I would have a direction to move in."
Serenity glanced over to Micah who nodded. "Of course." Serenity smiled at him then turned back to Vivi. "I'll be back in a little bit to help with the prince."
Her words seemed to dismiss everyone as they all stood and began to leave the dining room.
Meryn held Pip's hand and led him past them. "Come on Pip, I get to show you my bat cave."
Pip frowned. "I do not like bats."
Meryn laughed. "You'll see."
Aiden followed behind them. "Don't overwhelm him Meryn," he chided.
Rheia looked at Serenity then winked. "They're all giant marshmallows I swear." She indicated to Pip. "I think Aiden will be more protective of him than Meryn will be." Serenity nodded smiling. She could already see that the huge commander had a protective streak a mile wide.
Laelia kissed her cheek. "See you soon," she promised and squeezed her hands encouragingly. Radclyffe just glared at Micah on the way out.
When they were the last two in the dining room she turned to her mate. "Hello," she said nervously.
Micah simply leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. "There are a lot of rumors about me, most of them aren't true," he whispered. "Just know that I have been waiting for you for a long time and I hope you try to get to know the real me."
When he stepped back his eyes held an element of vulnerability. Feeling daring she stepped into his body and rubbed their noses together. "I'm stubborn and tend to have to put my finger in the socket a few times to learn something, so if you have patience with me I will do everything I can to get to know my mate," she promised.
His face brightened when she used the term mate. "Deal." He took her hand and led the way out of the prince's quarter toward the transport tunnel. "Let's head to Level Six. You can meet some of the wolves and vendors, grab something to eat and even swing by the hospital before we check on Magnus."
Serenity felt a warmth expand in her chest. He noticed that she hadn't had a chance to eat and picked up on her impatience to see the children. "What about us?" she asked.
Micah smiled. "We have the rest of our lives my one and only. Until the threat to the children and prince are gone, I think I can share you." He paused. "Just a bit though," he said seriously.
"Thank you," she said simply.
"Let's go." He pulled her into the tunnel and together they floated up toward Level Six.
CHAPTER THREE
Micah couldn't believe his mate was walking at his side. Not only was she absolutely stunning with her dark brown curls and lavender eyes, her selflessness shined from her soul like a warm sun.
He led her by the hand until they found a table tucked away from the mid-day crowd. "You wait here, I'll grab my favorites for you to try," he suggested. She smiled up at him and nodded.
"Hey Micah, who is that with you?" Marcy asked as he approached her stall. She was one of his favorite vendors. Her specialty was sweet potato fries drizzled in brown sugar and cinnamon. "That beautiful soul is my one and only, my mate," he said proudly.
Around him voices died down. "You finally mated?" Old man Richter asked.
Micah grinned at him. "I sure am."
"Good for you boy. Tell your lady she is welcome here any time," he offered.
"Many thanks," Micah said waving.
Marcy had a shielded expression on her face as she handed over his treat. She leaned in toward him. "Be careful with her Micah, you just broke a lot of hearts."
Micah frowned and looked around. He was shocked to see some of the ladies he knew dabbing at their eyes. He turned back to Marcy. "But they knew I wasn't their mate," he said taking his time reaching for the napkins.
"Which made your kind words all the more special." Marcy shook her head. "Give them a few days to adjust."
He winked at her. "You always take good care of me," he teased.
Even though she was old enough to be his grandmother she blushed before shooing him away. "Go on with you now."
Micah quickly grabbed some crepes and headed back to his mate. She eyed him suspiciously. "You seemed very chummy with that vendor."
He shrugged and sat down across from her. He handed her the sweet treats before murmuring a soundproof spell creating a bubble of privacy around them. "It's not easy being a female in Noctem Falls. It's getting better with Gavriel actively taking a huge role in setting things right. But before Aiden came to visit with his crazy mate and Bethy, the people here romanticized the Victorian Era, including how they sometimes treated women."
Serenity froze holding a fry in front of her. "You're joking right?"
He shook his head. "Everyone was very proper of course and publicly respectful, but I don't think many of the women here heard a kind word behind closed doors." He hummed as he chewed his fries. "So good! Anyway, when I first got here I would wink, flirt and compliment every woman I met. You could see it in their eyes that my silliness gave them just a moment of pride. A unit warrior had called them beautiful. They stood straighter or smiled more. Pretty soon I had a reputation for being a womanizer, but the ladies knew the truth. In all the years I've been here, I've never gone hungry or wanted for anything. Those same ladies would arrange for baskets of food to be delivered to the Unit Level or take in my wash if I was running behind on my home chores. Duties that they normally performed daily, but for the firs
t time, it was something they wanted to do." He looked up at his mate. "I have many friends in the city and about ninety-five percent of them are female."
Serenity's eyes were filled with sympathy. "It's nothing like that in Storm Keep. Women are on a pretty level playing field with men. What matters more than gender are your test scores." She eyed him carefully. "Wait a minute, how are you still here?" She looked him up and down. "You must have tested extremely high."
"You can see my magic?" he asked curiously.
"Sort of. More like a range of color. Yours has amazing depth."
He shrugged. "Like most unit warriors I fudged my test scores so I could come back to the city after testing." He winced then looked at his mate. "And I sort of slept with the proctor's wife."
She started to choke on her crepe. She pounded on her chest before looking up at him. "You what?"
"They weren't mates," he said quickly. "I would never, ever sleep with a mated woman. They had married at her parent's insistence to have more powerful children. I was a weekend delight."
Serenity leaned in. "Which proctor?" she asked her eyes dancing.
He waved a finger back and forth in front of her. "I don't kiss and tell, but needless to say he banished me from Storm Keep for a while."
She frowned. "I may be banished as well."
"Well, you're in good company."
She swirled one of her fries around her plate. "What would I do here Micah? After this virus is cured they won't have a need for a healer."
"Maybe they will. We don't know how long the wolves and kiddos will be here. Plus you could teach healing classes to unit witches, we could always use more healing knowledge amongst the units."
"Kendrick could do that," she started then shook her head. "Never mind."
Micah shuddered. "I respect that man more than any other witch I have met, but I would hate to sit a class with him. His suggestion to Aiden to teach us about childbirth was traumatizing." He shuddered remembering that awful video.
"Gods! He didn't!" Serenity exclaimed before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
Micah stared at her flatly. "It's not funny." His words only seemed to incense her more.
"I had nightmares."
She wrapped her arms around her stomach and toppled to one side on the bench. Her laughter was the only indication he had that she was still breathing.
"Then he had Sebastian serve a stuffed turkey for lunch," he continued.
When he heard a thump he looked under the table grinning. His prestigious mate was on the floor with tears streaming down her face. "Stop, I beg you," she managed to get out waving a hand at him.
He got up and walked around the table to help her up. She was laughing so hard she was practically limp. He held her up by her armpits as she calmed down.
When he looked around he noticed they were getting some strange looks. They must look ridiculous with the soundproof spell still going. He shrugged and the men just nodded their sympathy.
Finally, after a few minutes she took a few deep breaths wiping her eyes and cheeks with her napkin.
He leaned down and kissed her nose. The pure joy in her eyes filled his heart. "I am going to love you until the end of time," he promised softly.
Her mouth opened slightly when she inhaled and he took advantage of her distraction. He wanted to finally get a taste of his mate. He cupped the back of her head and took her lips between his own. He suckled on her plump lower lip groaning at the faint taste of cinnamon and sugar. When he pulled back her creamy cheeks were flushed pink, her lips were swollen and she looked throughly claimed.
Despite the growing problem in his pants he was proud of his work. He knew right then and there he would never get enough of her.
"Please don't break my heart, because I think I'm already falling in love with you," she whispered.
"There will never be anything else in this world I will cherish more than your heart, your love and your trust," he vowed.
He swaggered back over to his seat and sat down. Cursing, he jumped back up, took a deep breath and tried to covertly adjust his pants. Because he was no less affected than she was by their kiss he had almost gelded himself with the zipper.
She gave him a satisfied look. "Let those ladies see what I do to you," she said winking and jerking her head to one side pointing to their captive audience.
Wincing he shook one leg and gingerly sat down again. "Rub it for me later?" he asked leering at her.
She threw her head back and laughed. "Only if you kiss me like that again."
"I fully planned on it," he said in low voice.
When she shuddered at his deeper tone he picked up another fry. He'd have to figure out a way to cover his mate in cinnamon and sugar later. She was now his new favorite treat.
*****
When they wrapped up their snack she stood on shaky legs. Her mate had a way of spinning her world around and making her feel like the most desired woman in the world.
As they walked toward the hospital she caught more than one hateful glare. After hearing her mate's explanation she decided to take a leap of faith. What he said made sense and if he was going to lie, she didn't think he'd confess to sleeping with the proctor's wife.
No, she truly believed her mate just had a heart of gold and enjoyed seeing those around him happy. So, she decided it was her job as his mate to make sure he was happy.
She eyed him carefully as they walked. It didn't look like making him happy would be that big of a chore. He was currently humming and swinging their hands back and forth between them. He was absolutely adorable and not afraid in the least bit to show his affection for her. His declaration earlier by the vendors stalls that he was mated went a long way to easing her fears. She sent up a small prayer of thanks that her mate wasn't a score obsessed bureaucratic suck up from Storm Keep.
When they walked into the hospital she noticed that Laelia and Radclyffe were off to one side with Ellie and Rheia. As they got closer she realized she couldn't hear anything. She waved her hands to get their attention. Radclyffe held up finger and lowered the soundproof spell. She and Micah stepped closer and Micah raised another one.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Ellie looked close to tears. "The antivirals and pain reducers we've been using are no longer working. Thank the gods you arrived when you did. I don't know what we would have done if the children got irate again." Grant massaged her shoulders lovingly.
"The queen did say that was an early symptom. Did it return?" Serenity asked.
Rheia nodded. "We saw last night that the children had a hard time falling asleep. They kept thrashing about complaining of pain. This afternoon they began lashing out at their parents again."
"We're running out of blood from the second batch and we're scared to try any older blood from the third treatment that turned Magnus violent," Vivi continued.
"Why don't we just get the guys to donate again?" Micah suggested. He knew his fellow unit brothers had no problems donating for the children.
"We're afraid that if we continue giving them what we're calling 'younger generation' blood, the virus will adapt and any chance we have at knocking it out completely with the older blood will disappear," Vivi explained looking pale. She ran a hand through her dark red hair. "We're missing something, I just don't know what it could be. We've talked every problem-solving scenario to death."
Marjoram wrapped an arm around Vivi. "Let's head down to the meeting room and go over things again. I've found that new people bring with them fresh perspectives." She nodded to Laelia, Radclyffe and Serenity. "Besides you need to get off your feet missy." Micah lowered the soundproof spell as Marjoram steered Vivi toward the exit.
"That's actually not a bad idea. I'm going to invite Meryn too. I don't know why she wasn't included from the beginning," Rheia added as they all followed behind Marjoram.
Serenity turned to the human doctor. "Does she have medical training?"
Rheia snorted. "Not a lick of it, but
she thinks differently than we do. If anyone can help us figure things out, it would be our menace."
Anne chuckled. "I'll swing by her bat cave and the lab to pick up Meryn, Law and Kendrick. I'll meet you in the meeting room." She waved then jogged toward the tunnel before jumping down.
Serenity nearly stumbled turning to Rheia in a panic. "She's human!" she exclaimed.
Rheia laughed holding up a small stone. "The twins made these for us. Meryn calls them her floaty stones. They allow us to navigate the tunnels without waiting for an escort."
Serenity clutched at her chest. "I think I had a heart attack," she complained.
"Pull on your big girl panties because you're about to experience a brain storming session with someone who creates chaos as naturally as she breathes," Rheia looped her arm through Serenity's.
Serenity looked up at Micah feeling a bit out of her depth. He shrugged. "My delicate little flower is an experience all her own."
"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into," Radclyffe muttered.
"Sounds exciting," Laelia teased.
Serenity followed her colleagues to the tunnel wondering indeed what the afternoon had in store for them.
*****
An hour later Serenity simply stared at the small human who kept spinning in circles in her chair. Everyone around them ignored her and began the meeting, starting at the very beginning for their benefit.
Serenity sat next to her mate around a very impressive looking wooden conference table along with Rheia, Anne, Vivi, Ellie, Marjoram, Kendrick, Law, Laelia, and Radclyffe. Meryn's squire Ryuu stood quietly in the corner watching his charge a soft smile on his lips.
"She'll make herself sick," she warned.
Meryn stopped her spinning. "I do this all the time, it helps me think."
Radclyffe turned to Kendrick. "So, we know that DeLaFontaine is the one who distributed virus?"
Kendrick nodded. "We found a very intricate delivery system built into his cufflink. We can only hypothesize that he took advantage of both the welcome bar-b-que for the wolves and the fair to get to his victims."
