A Fey New World (The Godhunter #32) - Amy Sumida Page 0,58
than of evolution,” Odin argued.
“I don't think it's either,” Arach said pensively. “Fire is an element and fey magic, which is what is powering these plants, is elemental. It could be using the heat for energy, as we Fire Fey do. Any type of elemental attack will likely fuel it.”
The muffin machine dinged, startling several of us, and a tray of muffins popped out.
“I'll get it!” Scotaidh said brightly as he hurried over wearing potholders two sizes too big for his little hands. He grabbed the tray, dumped the muffins onto a plate, and handed it to another Imp to start dispensing to the crowd.
“Oh, muffins!” Pan exclaimed.
The Imp went straight to Pan with a wide grin. All chefs like to be appreciated.
“Well, whatever the reason for the rapid growth, the humans quickly learned that dropping bombs on magic land is a bad idea,” Morpheus drawled, then snatched a muffin.
“Military forces guard every site and they're not letting anyone past,” Brahma said. “Even the scientists have been sent away. They're monitoring activity with drones and helicopters.”
“People must be going insane,” I whispered. “What a difference a day can make.”
“The Internet is alight with panic,” Torrent confirmed.
“My Queen!” Scotaidh tapped my arm with a potholder.
“Yes?”
“We can help with Inter Realm panic,” he said. “We can destroy bad things people say.”
“Maybe later,” I said gently. “If we start erasing people's panicked posts right now, they may think there's a government conspiracy going on and panic more. Let them vent.”
“Yes, My Queen,” he said with some disappointment.
“All right,” I gave in. “You may remove the posts that are excessively angry and inflammatory and replace them with peaceful, calming words.”
“Yay!” The Imps cheered and ran off.
“Hey!” I called after them. “How do you turn off the muffin machine?”
“Press the red button!” one of them shouted back.
I started searching for a red button.
“It's not just the plants that are scaring the humans,” Teharon said.
“Don't tell me that more fey animals have come through,” I groaned as I looked up from the muffin machine.
“No, it's not that.”
“My father posted guards around the raths that have opened in Faerie,” Lugh said. “Nothing will be allowed through in either direction.”
“A drone nearly made it through,” Finn said.
“What?! What happened to it?” I went still.
“The feed cut off as soon as it entered the rath so the humans didn't see anything. It tumbled out a few seconds later, completely destroyed.”
“That could have gone worse,” I muttered. “So, if it's not animals coming through, then what is it?”
“Oh, it's animals,” Pan said. “They're just not coming through the rath and they're not fey. At least, they didn't start as fey.”
“The magic is infecting earth animals?” Odin demanded.
Pan nodded.
“Has anyone checked on my family? My friends? How are California and Hawaii?” I asked urgently.
“The MZ in Hawaii hasn't spread much further than the botanical gardens and there isn't one in California,” Morpheus said. “Your people are fine.”
“MZs?” I asked.
“Magical Zones,” Horus said with a grimace. “That's what the humans are calling them. It started online—as every ridiculous term does.”
“So, they've finally figured out that it's magic,” Arach murmured.
“I don't think they have,” Blue said sardonically. “It wasn't the humans in charge who came up with the name.”
“But it will be hard for them to keep denying it,” Eztli said to her husband. “Human scientists may not want to believe it's magic, but the proof is staring them in the face.”
“We need to get down there,” I declared. “I want to take a closer look.”
“Zere's Lexington,” Kirill suggested. “You can observe zere vithout having to go invisible.”
“No, I want to see what the humans are doing too,” I said.
“No, you don't,” Horus made a disgusted face.
“They're fucking like rabbits,” Pan declared grimly.
The fact that Pan used such a somber tone when referring to sex worried me.
“Excuse me?” I blinked at him.
“Oh, sorry.” Pan rolled his eyes. “They're making love like bunnies.”
“I wasn't criticizing your wording,” I huffed. “I was expressing shock. The children aren't here and the situation is dire; use all the fucking profanity you want.”
“Oh. Thanks.” Pan grinned.
“The magic is affecting the humans as it did the Fey,” Arach concluded.
“The good news is that it's prevented a lot of violence,” Morpheus said. “People have formed mobs to attack the encroaching plant life but as soon as they get near, they stop being angry and start getting horny. They run off to find partners—some don't even bother leaving the area. The governments have evacuated areas within a mile of any zone.”