A Fey New World (The Godhunter #32) - Amy Sumida Page 0,34

and it was your expression—part horrified and part aroused—that snapped me out of it,” I cut him off. “You have no reason to apologize. Even under the sway of powerful magic, you held onto enough yourself to know you were doing something wrong. That's impressive, Austin, especially for a human.”

“It doesn't feel impressive, but thank you,” he muttered. “I don't s'pose you got some whiskey handy?”

“Yeah, I think I have something fit for human consumption in the kitchen,” I said as I herded our group into the dining hall. “And I could use a drink too.”

“But what about Pan?” Horus demanded. “We can't just sit here and wait for him to come to his senses. That will never happen; that fool has no sense.”

“It will wear off soon, I'm sure,” Odin said as he pat Horus on the shoulder. “He only had two bites.”

“Is that normal for fey apples?” Viper asked. “I mean, do they normally affect someone's magic when eaten?”

“No,” Arach said firmly. “They do not.”

“The magic is functioning under its own laws now,” Mallien murmured, obviously shaken. His long, dark hair was wild around his shoulders and his eyes had lost their glamour, revealing their true color—fiery orange.

“That apple was pure fey magic,” Lugh concluded.

“Pure magic.” I stopped and looked back at Odin. “If this gets out, if gods find out that faerie apples can increase their power, they'll be swarming every apple tree that appears.”

“We need to get back there and ward that land,” Odin said urgently.

“Not while Pan is romping all over it,” Azrael crossed his arms and refused.

“But we can't leave him there alone,” Horus argued. “What if a god senses all of that magic and investigates? Pan is vulnerable and you left him there without any protection!”

“Pan's going to be real upset about having no protection with all of those Nymphs,” Finn said to Morpheus and they chuckled together.

“One more joke, swan-boy, and I will roast you with sunlight and serve you on a silver platter,” Horus snarled at Finn as his single, golden eye flared.

Finn gulped

“Anyone who gets close to Pan will likely be drawn into the orgy before they can hurt him,” Trevor pointed out. “They'll be fine.”

“No, Horus is right.” Odin rubbed at his clean-shaven chin. “We need to put a ward around them as soon as possible. Wards conceal and keep people out, not hold them in. At least, not generally. We can set the ward and they'll still be able to leave once they're... finished.”

“So, who's going to go back and set the ward?” I asked in a tone that clearly said it wouldn't be me.

Finn and Morpheus raised their hands.

Chapter Twenty-One

Mr. T and Tsohaonai went back to ward the faerie land and kept far enough away that they weren't affected by the lust magic. They refused to speak about what they'd seen after they returned—no matter how much Finn and Morpheus begged—but their haunted expressions said it all. While they were gone, I contacted a real estate agent in Lexington and made an offer on the Wilson property. I figured that the situation was partially my fault and therefore my responsibility.

Then the God Squad started brainstorming. We argued well past midnight but finally gave up for the evening when we failed to find a viable solution. The gods went home and our visiting faeries were shown to guest rooms. Pan and Thor still hadn't returned when I finally went to bed.

In the morning, I woke up surrounded by men who had passed out on our massive bed around me instead of climbing the stairs to their tower rooms. I extricated myself from the man-pile and started my morning routine.

Since my husbands were so tired, I got dressed, then went up the tower stairs to wake the children. After they were clothed, we went down to the master bedroom and crept out to the elevator, giggling to each other as we passed the bed full of sleeping men who were making all of the sounds that sleeping men make and a few that sleeping animals make as well. We made a pit stop at Samantha and Fallon's apartment to sneak in and grab Zariel. I left a note for Zariel's parents so they wouldn't panic when they woke up to find their daughter missing and then the gaggle of kids and I giggled our way out of there as well.

We headed down to the kitchen holding hands, our conspiratorial glee compelling us to swing our arms as well. If