Chapter Five #3
Hunter moved quickly to stand on the other side of his mate. If Kendrick divulged who he was, she would most definitely go down again. “She met both the current and former rulers of the fae and found out that Darian is king and Meryn is a princess,” he explained.
“Unky Brennus said I could go back whenever I wanted and that he would help kill my fake uncle,” Keran announced brightly.
Hunter could have hugged the boy. That distraction was exactly what was needed.
“Uncle Bren wants to kill your fake uncle?” Meryn asked.
“Yup,” Keran confirmed.
“Dude, game on!” Meryn said, reaching for her laptop.
“Meryn…” Aiden groaned. “We can’t just kill people here.”
“Why not?”
“Because unlike back home, Dad isn’t the Elder here, you don’t have Magnus to indulge you or your aunt to back you up,” Aiden reminded her.
“It’s only murder if they find the body, until that point, it’s just a missing person,” Meryn said, tapping away.
His mother began to growl lowly. “Why does their fake uncle need to die?”
Nicol sniffled. “He’s a bad man who hurt us.”
His Dad cracked his knuckles. “And technically there’s only a missing person if someone reports it.”
Nicol walked over and reached for his dad’s hand. “No claws.”
His dad shot him a look. “That bad?” he asked, scooping Nicol up.
He nodded. “Yeah.” He swung over to look at Meryn. “Hey Shortstuff, can you find out if their parents left them money?”
Meryn looked up, frowning. “Yeah, but I’ll their names to get started.”
Kiera dug around in her purse for a pen and paper. “Here are their names.”
Meryn took the paper and tucked into her pocket. “You think the fake asshole took the money?”
Keran laughed.
“We’re not sure. But as Cord pointed out, most paranormals have some kind of account set up for their children, especially as we are longer lived. Even a small amount of money can grow over time, of which we have plenty of,” Hunter explained.
Meryn blinked. “Oh yeah.” She turned to her mate. “We need an account set up for our jellerbean.”
Aiden smiled. “Mother and father did that the night you confirmed you were pregnant. In fact, everyone you know has probably contributed to it by now. It should be enough for any and all kids we have.”
“Dude!”
“What?”
“You didn’t think to tell me?”
“I forgot you wouldn’t know.”
Hunter looked over at his mate, and she was giving him a pointed look. “We really do forget to tell you ladies things,” he repeated.
Meryn began squinting at her laptop. “Speaking of fake people, Thad wants to set up a meeting with me for this week.”
Aiden straightened. “Absolutely not.”
Caiden walked over to the table. “What does he want?”
Meryn looked from one to the other. “I was creating the shutdown protocols for if their human contracts reveal anything, remember?”
“You’re still doing that, after everything?” Caiden asked.
Meryn shrugged. “This is this and that was that. No matter what shit is going on in Storm Keep, we need the humans to stay ignorant. I’m not going to let our world implode because the witches got greedy.”
“Can you terminate the contracts and delete any evidence they have?” Kendrick asked, walking over to the table.
“I could, but that may prompt action on the humans’ part.
I’m simply going to delete any contract offers from the Witches’ Council, so it looks like there’s a shortage of witches available for work.
Over time, the less this ‘resource’ is used, hopefully the fewer people who know, then I can delete without fear of retribution. ”
“So, why does Thad want a meeting?” Aiden asked.
She grinned. “I’m getting a reward. They like me.”
“You’re easy to like Princess Auntie,” Keran said. “That’s why I told Unky Brennus to let you kill my fake uncle, to keep you happy.”
Meryn smiled at Keran. “Do you like computers?”
Kiera shook her head. “Why does everyone want to recruit my brother?”
“Because he’s a smart cookie,” Meryn answered.
“Me too?” Nicol asked.
Meryn looked to Nicol and her eyes became slightly unfocused. “Buttercups.”
Aiden walked over to stand behind her and began to rub her back. “And?”
“Buttercups and wind. A spring field.” Meryn shook her head. “I think she’ll be an air witch.”
Kendrick stared down at the small woman. “You can guess elemental powers now?”
Meryn shrugged. “You ask me like I know how this shit works.”
Kendrick exhaled loudly through his nostrils, then walked over to Nicol, who hid her face in his dad’s neck.
Hunter went to step forward, but Kendrick waved him off. “Kids love me.” He said it in such a deadpan voice, that when he looked at Nicol and stuck his tongue out, she giggled. “You’re not bad.”
“I try not to be, but sometimes people test the limits of my patience. May I place my hand on your shoulder to see if shortie is right?”
“I’m not a fucking shortie Kendrick!” Meryn exclaimed and threw a roll at him.
He moved his head and dodged the roll. “Technically you are, but I’ll explain that in a moment.”
Her mouth dropped open.
Kendrick waited for Nicol’s response.
She nodded, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. A moment later he turned and glared at Meryn. “Air magic.”
Meryn crossed her arms. “Told you. Now, explain how I’m a shortie.”