by Alanea Alder
Broderick chuckled. "I know the feeling, but let me tell you. Nothing in the world is better than the sweet hugs and kisses from your daughter."
Bethy blushed. "Oh, Daddy."
Aiden's face softened. "Maybe a little girl wouldn't be so bad."
Meryn rubbed her belly. "She can be a Doctor Who watching, hacker ninja!"
Aiden scowled. "No, she won't. She'll be delicate and demure."
Meryn looked confused. "You have met me, right?"
Gavriel swirled his wine in his glass. "She has got you there, Aiden."
Aiden leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Fine, we'll have a boy."
Meryn shrugged. "Then he'll be a Doctor Who watching, hacker ninja."
"No hacker ninja stuff."
"Too late."
Aiden froze. "What do you mean?"
"I've been putting headphones on my belly and playing lectures about coding and early Doctor Who episodes." She patted her belly. "Meryn two-point-oh likes it."
Aiden's face was priceless.
"I am sure it will be fine, Commander," Grant said trying to cheer Aiden up.
Aiden grunted and dug into his roast. The man seemed to be trying to devour his worries along with his dinner.
"You can't really count on little girls being demure." Micah waved his fork. "Little Bethy practically grew up around the units. She may have learned politics from Prince Magnus, but she learned how to throw a punch from Adriel."
Adriel smiled at the memory. Bethy had been such a tiny little thing.
Gavriel turned to his mate. "Speaking of which, what did he mean when he called you his little valentine?"
Bethy's eyes widened; she scowled at Adriel then looked up at her mate. "Caught that one, did you?"
Gavriel raised an eyebrow. "I do not miss anything when it pertains to you. Story?"
"When I was little, four I think..." She turned to him for confirmation. Adriel nodded and she continued. "...Papa was explaining the history of Valentine's Day and how it was observed. Since Adriel was the one that looked after me the most outside my family, I wanted him to be my Valentine. I drew a heart on a piece of paper and had Tarak escort me to the Unit Level. I walked right up to him in front of all six units and asked him to be my Valentine." She smiled. "He graciously accepted, and not once did he make me feel unwanted or as if I were a bother. He's a true gentleman."
"She was adorable; how could I say no?" Adriel set his glass down.
Declan laughed. "We were all jealous. Every year after that we competed to see if we could be Bethy's valentine; she usually chose one of her fathers, her uncle, or Adriel though."
Bethy giggled. "You all made me feel so special competing that way. You made every suitor that approached me later in life seem dull in comparison."
Caspian leaned back in his chair and gave him a thumbs up. Adriel winked. Of course, her fathers had been ecstatic when she showed little interest in dating while she lived here.
Bethy shook her head at her father's antics. "Adriel would escort me to social functions so I didn't have to go alone. He kept the more ardent suitors at bay."
"You mean like that douchebag, Jourdain?" Meryn asked.
Bethy frowned at Meryn down the length of the table. "What do you know about him?"
Meryn pushed her roast around her plate. "I saw your reaction to him in Lycaonia. I almost had Kendrick convinced to kill him, but you know, 'politics' got in the way. Evidently, he's like an important douchebag here."
Magnus's face darkened. "Did he do anything?"
Bethy reached over and patted his arm. "No, Unky, he didn't; he was just his normal obnoxious self."
"I still want to kill him. He upsets you." Meryn took a huge bite of mashed potatoes.
Declan growled. "Join the club. I've been dying to get my claws into him for decades."
"I will pretend I did not hear any of this; plan away." Magnus said and continued eating his dinner.
"What's his deal anyway? I mean I knew all vampires except Gavriel were douchebags, but he takes the cake." Everyone turned to stare at her. "What?"
Bethy cleared her throat and pointed around the room.
Meryn looked around. "Oh. Unit warriors are excluded since Bishop, Christoff, Drake, Griffin, and Malcolm are my peeps. And y'all are nice, practically normal, so you don't count as vampires."
Declan turned his head, his shoulders shaking; he was laughing so hard.
Magnus winced. "Thank you, I think."
Etain turned to collapse against Declan, both of them laughing uncontrollably.
"Are you quite finished?" Adriel asked.
That set them off further.
Across the table, Micah had his face buried in his hand. "The rumor is true! She called René Evreux a douchebag!"
Meryn huffed. "He deserved it. Jerk."
Magnus turned to his niece. "I see what you mean about being needed in Lycaonia."
Declan, who had just started to regain his composure, lost it again. He simply sat back in his chair and laughed loudly.
Adriel pinched the skin between his eyebrows. "Declan, really."
Declan bumped Adriel's shoulder with his own. "Aren't you glad you're a warrior 'peep'; that makes you normal."
Adriel looked at Meryn. "Do you prefer shifters because you are mated to one?" he asked curiously.
She shook her head. "I think that shifters are more fun, but I don't think that's because I'm mated to Aiden. If anything, Colton helped foster that idea. He plays with me in wolf form."
Declan smiled wide. "Seriously? Like stick fetch?"
Meryn shook her head. "No, we use a ball."
Declan simply slumped to one side laughing. "I can't take it anymore, please stop." He wrapped his arms around his stomach. "It hurts."
Etain smiled slyly. "Ask him what animal his is Meryn."
Meryn's eyes lit up. "What kind?"
Declan sat up grinning. "I'm a lion."
Meryn's eyes got huge. "Like Mufasa!"
Etain chuckled regally.
Declan swatted at him. "Not funny." He turned to Aiden. "You have no idea how good it is to have you here, sir."
"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba!" Meryn sang.
Micah pointed at Declan, laughing wordlessly.
Declan shook his head while smiling. "I happen to like that movie."
Meryn gave him a thumbs up. "It kicked ass."
Adriel looked around the table shocked. He could not remember the last time his men were so open and jovial. He turned to his prince. Magnus was smiling, Broderick was teasing his daughter about her charge, and Caspian watched enraptured.
"She does that back home, too. She somehow brings people closer together, and the funny thing is, she doesn't even try. She does it naturally," Aiden said quietly.
"What an amazing gift." Adriel looked at the small human in a new light.
When everyone's laughter quieted down, Meryn turned to Magnus, a serious expression on her face. "Will you tell me how you poop now?"
CHAPTER FOUR
It took another couple minutes for the men to catch their breath. Finally, Grant, the more stoic one of the Eta Unit, cleared his throat and smiled at Meryn.
"Ready for a history lesson?"
Meryn nodded eagerly. She pushed her plate to one side and propped her chin up on her hands listening intently.
"Once upon a time..." Micah teased.
Grant ignored him. "Before the Great War, each paranormal city technically existed. But nowhere on the scale and level of organization that we have now. After the war, with the extended help of the other paranormal races, each city began to take shape. The fae moved their entire city to a parallel plane of existence, never wanting the threat of invasion again. Lycaonia did the exact opposite; they opened their borders to all paranormals. The first elected Shifter Elder, Aaron McKenzie, declared that he wouldn't have made it home if not for the help of the enemy and that henceforth, Lycaonia would be home to any paranormal that needed a plac
e to rest."
Meryn grinned. "I heard about him."
Gavriel coughed.
Adriel eyed the two as Grant kept going. "The witches built a regal castle, then a magnificent city to go around it. Their council concentrated on the education of their younger generation as many older witches had been wiped out. The vampires wanted to avoid humans altogether, so they decided to build their city below ground, in the sheer rock face of a deep canyon. With the aid of their old allies from Storm Keep, they used magic to make life below ground every bit as welcoming and convenient as living above ground.
"The witches and the vampire ruling classes came together and designed the city. Each Founding Family and respective Noble Families would receive their own level. Using earth magic, pipes were run for water and waste management. They used fire magic and crystals to create the glow lights that you have seen throughout the city. They activate with the touch of a hand."
Meryn frowned. "Where does the poop go?"
Grant smiled. "The waste is plumbed through the pipes down into a waste reservoir. Once the waste level reaches a certain height, a spell is activated and it disappears."
"Where is the reservoir?"
"Beneath the city in what is called the Pits. Waste removal, irrigation, and garbage disposal is all routed below the city and then obliterated," Grant explained.
"What if someone, I don't know, accidentally falls in? What then?"
Grant's nose twitched at the idea of falling into refuse. "There are safeguards in place; the spell will not activate if a living being is detected."
"Really?" This time Declan asked.
Grant gave his friend a sour look. "You really did not pay attention at all during the tour they gave us after we first arrived, did you?"
Declan winced. "I had other things on my mind."
Etain chuckled. "Like the two lovely vampire ladies that wanted to meet a lion shifter, if my memory serves me correctly."
Declan gave Etain a wide grin. "That would be an affirmative."
Meryn rolled her eyes. "Men!" She turned back to Grant. "Continue, please."
Grant nodded. "The vampires, like the witches and the shifters, made a deal with the fae queen. In exchange for the use of their portals, the respective cities would gift the fae with not only the land for the portal, but also all the land surrounding the portal for a one hundred mile radius. There the fae would be responsible for all traffic through the portals. They maintain a portal in each of the pillar cities, and only fae can activate them.
"In more recent years, Magnus arranged for a second portal from the fae queen. It opens to a large commercial building in Albuquerque. The building acts as a hotel, parking garage, and postal service for the city. Vampires call to the fae stationed in the city, they open the portal, and escort the vampires through. There they can shop, visit restaurants, pick up mail, do any business, and then return to the city. It was a major coup for Magnus and cemented his position as Elder until he passes it on."
Magnus shrugged. "Aleksandra is an amazing woman. Negotiations with her were delightful, unlike meetings with the Founding Families here. They make me want to stab myself in the eye with my stylus."
Meryn tapped her lips with her finger. "I haven't met her yet, but it's on my Things to Do list."
Etain shook his head. "Meryn, you can't just go visit my queen; it's extremely hard to get an invitation to Éire Danu."
Meryn grinned. "I've already been invited. Twice in fact."
Etain dropped his fork. "What?"
"She's cool peeps." She turned her attention back to Grant. "What about food? Is it all brought in via the city portal? What did they do before that?"
Etain looked at Aiden. "What?"
Aiden spread both hands in front of him. "Queen Aleksandra adores Meryn; she even paid for our city square to be rebuilt so Meryn wouldn't get in trouble for that tiny incident regarding her glue bomb."
Etain shook his head. "What?!" He turned back to Meryn, a new look of admiration and respect in his eyes. "I will be guided by my queen. On her behalf, I feel I must offer my assistance to you while you are here in the city. I will let my fellow fae warriors know that you are to be treated like royalty."
Magnus leaned forward, curiosity plain as day on his face. "That is a fairly dramatic reaction to such a small incident. I would love to know how you interpreted your queen's actions based on so few facts."
Etain took a deep breath. "My queen cares very little for the affairs of those outside of Éire Danu." He turned quickly to Meryn. "Not that she thinks little of humans or any other race. But only vampires come close to our longevity. The reason why the fae live on a different plane is because of the heartache and sorrow we were experiencing in losing our human friends. As a people, we were becoming withdrawn and depressed. By keeping us separate, my queen keeps us safe." He turned back to Magnus. "For her to reach out, by extending an invitation, and offering assistance, my queen is telling her people, all her people, that Meryn is a human who will be worth the great heartache my queen will experience when Meryn passes from this world. That alone tells me how my queen views Meryn. As a son of Éire Danu, I can do no less than offer my utmost respect, assistance, and protection." He placed a fist over his heart and bowed in his chair.
Adriel stared at Etain in shock. He had never seen Etain give that level of reverence to anyone, himself included. As his unit leader, Etain respected him and his orders. Magnus, as the prince of the vampires, was respected for his royal line. Adriel knew that Etain would listen and follow orders from either of them, but at that moment, he saw the difference. Etain would follow their orders, but he would die for Meryn McKenzie.
Magnus stared down the length of the table, his eyes locked on the tiny human who was oblivious to what Etain had revealed. She simply gave him a thumbs up and turned back to Grant for the rest of her story.
Grant gulped visibly. He picked up his water glass with a slightly trembling hand that confirmed to Adriel that Grant also realized the significance of Etain's declaration. He took a sip and shot Magnus a nervous look and continued. "To answer your question Meryn, most of the food for the city is raised and grown here on different levels. Each level being responsible for different types of foods. Level Five raises livestock, everything from cows and chickens to duck and quail. Level Four grows hay and grain. Level Three grows fruits in different climate controlled sections and Level Two grows almost every vegetable known to man. Spices and other major products like sugar, coffee, and tea are imported through the portal."
"But... but... how? Don't you need the sun?" Meryn stuttered.
The men laughed. Micah leaned in. "Remind me to show you Noctem Falls' gardens. It took the witches years to perfect the spells needed to create artificial sunlight. They used the earth witches to bring forth and arrange the needed stones and then stored the spells in the geodes and crystals in the walls and ceilings."
Magnus sat back. "We are looking to expand into medicinal plants. So many valuable resources are being lost to deforestation. I have been working with my counterparts overseas and in the Amazon to bring many of their endangered plants here. I want to donate space here on Level One for the endeavor."
"And for that, I will be eternally grateful." Broderick lifted his glass to his brother-in-law.
Meryn snapped her fingers. "That's right! You make the super vitamins."
Broderick nodded bashfully. "Something like that. Not many of the vampires are willing to take them, but all results show that when they feed from a shifter that has been taking the vitamins, the volume of blood required goes down." He looked at Gavriel. "My conversations with Dr. Adam McKenzie were most enlightening. We didn't have any results from a vampire going through transition, so your feedback helped enormously."
Adriel's eyes narrowed at Broderick's revelation. He looked at Bethy. "You were there for his transition?"
Bethy looked anywhere but at him as she nodded.
"It had to be his Fifth Millennial, I mean l
ook at the size of him," Tarak whispered harshly.
Adriel felt his stomach clench and rubbed it absently. "Only you."
Broderick nodded in sympathy. "I said the same thing."
"Oh, really!" Bethy protested.
Caspian gave his daughter an exasperated look. "We know you do not cause these things, but darling, even you have to admit, only you would find your vampire mate during one of his major transitions."
Declan eyed Gavriel up and down. "What'd you look like before?"
Gavriel thought for a moment. "About Adriel's size, though leaner. After my transition, none of my clothes fit. Some of my original tailors are not even alive anymore. It has been a struggle to find quality garments."
"I will add you to the list," Sebastian offered.
The relief on Gavriel's face was almost comical. "I was going to ask later in private. Beth has sung your praises for months."
Sebastian looked down at Bethy with a look of adoration on his face. "Just for that you get extra dessert."
Bethy clapped her hands together excitedly. "I can't wait!"
Magnus chuckled. "As if you would not give her as many seconds as she wanted anyway. You have always spoiled her rotten."
Caspian, Broderick, Sebastian, and Adriel turned as one to stare at Magnus. Adriel spoke first. "Sire, I believe the saying is, pot meet kettle."
Caspian laughed. "Well said."
Magnus looked offended. "I am her uncle, it is my gods given right to spoil my niece."
"Because she is beautiful, like you," Caspian teased. Magnus nodded.
"Because she's a genius, like you," Broderick continued wryly. Magnus nodded again.
"Because she was the most adorable thing you had ever seen, and she stole your heart and wits the second you laid eyes on her," Adriel concluded.
Magnus looked at his brothers and the warriors around the table. "As if she did not toddle around the Unit Level and collect your hearts when she was a baby."
Adriel, Declan, Etain, Grant, and Micah all grinned. Adriel admitted to himself wryly that Magnus was right.
"She was all white blonde hair and huge blue eyes," Declan recalled, smiling.
