Kaja tell her mother-in-law she would have to reprogram the vacubots due to Daniela’s shedding while in her wolf form. I’d been touched by how she’d held her daughter for the longest time.
I felt the loss in my soul in that moment, thought about what it would mean to have my mother’s arms around me.
“They’re not that much bigger,” Dante argued with a frown.
“Maybe they’re bigger than yours.” Taggart seemed determined to put his two cents in. “Mine are right at that size. I’m probably closer to our primal selves. Adam, did you get the cord? I can’t have my Charlie falling off.”
And we were bringing Mrs. Taggart with us despite the fact that she was still unconscious.
“You will all find out exactly how much damage my fangs can do if anyone attempts to harm my consort,” Marcus announced. “And that includes the kings of the Seelie.”
Taggart held up his hands, conceding. “Dude, I’m not coming between you and your consort. I’ve got my own, though I have to admit Summer is incredibly bright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a brighter consort, but all that light comes with a shit ton of baggage. I’m going to see you safely to Tír na nÓg and let my Charlie share her findings with the court. That’s it. If I don’t have to fire a shot, I’ll consider it a win.”
“Sure you will,” Adam said under his breath.
Taggart shook his head. “No, man. I’ve fired enough shots today and dealt with way too many bodies. Well, Thea’s going to have to deal with the mess Levi made and she’s not going to be happy about it. Dude’s leftovers were all over the place. It’s cool. I left her a note.”
“How are we going to get through the gate?” Marcus asked. “Mr. Dellacourt was worried that we wouldn’t be allowed through the gate that leads straight to Tír na nÓg.”
“The Tír na nÓg gate is on the other side of the state. It would be difficult to get there before it closes,” Taggart explained. “It’s also much more closely guarded since it leads to a populated place, and we have contracts with the Seelies about how we can move on and off the plane. The one we used yesterday is far less guarded because only morons who think they want to find out what nature is like use it. What they usually find is that nature likes to eat them.”
“Also, our company took the contract to guard this gate two years ago,” Adam pointed out as he looked down at his tablet. “So we’ll be waved through no questions asked. However, we should go because the gate opens soon. I’m calculating a course that will avoid most of the more dangerous places.”
“Summer has lived there for months,” Marcus pointed out.
“Yeah, I kind of picked it because no one goes there anymore,” I replied. “The village we stay in is perfectly secure with Erna’s wards in place. Kelsey and my father should be safe there. Dean knows his way around, and he won’t let them stay in the forest at night.”
“We’ll switch to our new hoverbikes.” Taggart pulled gloves over his hands. He was dressed for the sun, though it would be going down on the Refugee plane soon. “They’re fast. We’ll move through the dangerous nature plane and spend some sleep time on a safe plane I know. We should be in Tír na nÓg in thirty-six standard hours. Unless Dellacourt here wants to contact his cousins and have them work some diplomatic mojo.”
“I might have been able to do that if Summer here didn’t have five different warrants out for her arrest.” Dante ran a hand over his hair in a gesture of obvious frustration. “It’s why I didn’t go to her in the first place. If any of those civilizations find out she’s on Tír na nÓg, the fight for who gets her will be on.”
Sometimes it sucks to be popular.
“Or we could find the door back to my home plane and I will take Summer and her problems with me,” Marcus offered. “I will collect my friends and we will bother the outer planes no more.”
“No can do.” Taggart had crossed his muscular arms over his chest and looked like he was ready to physically block Marcus should he try to take off. “According to what Charlie’s found, that would simply take the convergences to the inner planes. Most of our scientists believe our planes are dependent on the inner