Twenty-Four
Tate pulled his pickup to a stop just before the lake shore. Sanctuary Loch stretched out like a bright blue mirror, reflecting the sky above. Beautiful. He could make a home here with Arwen, when they returned from the fae realm.
In fact, he could see the perfect house now – one of the prefabricated ones that had been built and brought in, sitting on a little rise that overlooked the lake.
It was two storeys tall, with a small balcony on the upper floor.
The whole upper floor was a parents' retreat, with bedroom, ensuite and sitting area, with all the children's bedrooms and living areas on the ground floor below.
A house where he could knot Arwen every night, as she screamed his name in delight, and they could watch the sun rise over the lake in the morning, before their children awoke.
And there would be children, no matter what Arwen said about the infertility of fae.
She was only half fae, and she was all wolf shifter.
Knotting her once while she was in her fertile time was pretty much guaranteed to result in a pregnancy.
A hundred times while she'd been in heat...
it was no wonder he could scent the changes in her already.
Arwen was already carrying his child, just as Sienna was carrying Shaw's.
Their children would grow up together, just as Shaw and Tate had. It was fate.
Arwen slid out of the car, her bare feet touching the earth.
The grass leaned in, like it wanted to touch her.
"This is Hea Sanctuary. My father told me about this place.
The one place supernatural people could all be ourselves.
Where is the power station? He said it would be amazing. His most brilliant creation."
"It hasn't been built yet. Eirwen Engineering has the contract to supply the batteries for it, but no one seems to know where they are. I don't suppose you might?"
Arwen hung her head. "I'm sorry, Tate, I don't. I wasn't supposed to work in Father's business until after I graduated.
He had a whole branch built for me, but it was to be a surprise.
A graduation gift. Only...I left school before the term ended, so I never got to graduate.
After my father died, I guess I inherited it anyway.
I'll dig into the company records and find them for you.
Someone will know where your batteries are.
This place is too important not to be built.
And for that, the water must be pure. Like that fae waterfall. "
She marched down to the lake, and dipped her foot in the water. A silvery ripple started, gaining both height and width as it arced away from her. A wave that disobeyed the laws of physics. But it answered to the magic of his mate, so he supposed that would have to do instead.
Waves crashed on the other side of the lake, before reflecting back, little more than ripples once more, as they returned to kiss Arwen's toes with a cloud of bubbles. She laughed and wiped her wet foot on the grass.
"Purification is complete. Your lake, and all the water sources leading into it, have been cleansed of that hateful taint. Your sanctuary will live up to its name once more, now the water is safe to drink."
Now it was Tate's turn for his mouth to hang open. "You remediated an entire water system? That's...well, I'd say impossible, but that's without magic, and you do seem to have a fair bit of that. Fae magic. What's next?"
If it was up to him, he'd take her straight to Ylva, who could confirm the pregnancy and check Arwen's health. Arwen said her heart had healed, but a second opinion wouldn't hurt.
"Now, we go after the mushroom thief. Someone stole that fae ring, and I want it back."