surprise, nearly knocking down the witches surrounding them.
Reece spun around wildly, his sides heaving, ears pinned to his skull, his lips curled back in a violent snarl. When he realized no one was attacking him, he stumbled back and plopped down on his butt, head hung low in confusion.
Reece made felines sounds, little yowls, growls, and grunts like he was trying to speak, but clearly, it was a language only the cats understood.
Abel shifted back to human form, reaching out to ruffle Reece's ears, giving the fur under his chin a tug. “I don't even know where to start, buddy, but I think it's fair to say we won. You missed some shit, but we'll hash it out later, okay? I need you to shift so we know all your junk is in the right place.”
Reece went from lion to man almost instantly, his hands going straight for his groin with a look of abject horror creasing his face. “What happened to my junk? Why wouldn't it be in the right place? I feel weird, man! I feel seriously weird! Last thing I remember was feeling like my balls were getting sucked up my asshole and out my eyeballs!”
Ivy enjoyed the show, the two naked shifters quite a sight to see, but Uriah's big hand came up and clamped over her eyes with a territorial growl, depriving her of the show.
“As much as I enjoy looking at naked dudes and their assorted junk, can we go home now? I feel like I downed a case of tequila, skipped the drunken fun, and went straight to a hangover,” Callie groaned piteously.
Ivy peeked through Uriah's fingers in time to see Kerrigan nod, and she didn't seem much better off than Callie. “Definitely. Someone remind me why didn't we bring a car? It's a long-ass walk back to the house.”
“Please,” Ilex said. “Let my warriors help you.”
“That's not...” Rowena made it as far as her hands and knees before slumping back down to her hip, wrinkling her nose in irritation. “That would be most appreciated. When I'm not seeing triple, you and I are going to have a long talk about using my Brownies as spies.”
“Of course,” Ilex murmured, standing up in a graceful push. “One moment. Before we go, there is something I must do.”
Uriah peeled his hand away so Ivy could watch her brother march across the meadow toward the huge, ugly tree in the middle of her beautiful meadow. Ivy wasn't sure what she thought Ilex was going to do, taken completely by surprised when he took a wide stance and pissed on the trunk with his middle finger extended high over his head.
“You know,” Juliet started, lifting her hand to shade her eyes against the sunshine. “I think I like your brother.”
Callie started to laugh, Juliet joined her, and before long the entire group was cackling with relief. It had been a close call. Too close, but everything turned out all right in the end.
Well, almost everything.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“He has regained no memories of you at all?” Her brother's guilt-laden question tore at her heart.
They were going on nearly three weeks after the showdown in the meadow. Three weeks since her father nearly succeeded in killing the big bear currently splashing in the river, fishing for his afternoon snack.
Ivy sat on the mossy bank, chin in hand, resting on her updrawn knees beside Ilex. “Not a one. It's like the last two years never happened.”
“Ivy, I am so terribly sorry. I didn't know—”
Ivy shushed her big brother, leaning sideways to rest her head on his shoulder, glad when he lifted his arm to curl around her. She felt safe, complete in the strangest way. A twin thing, probably.
After that day in the meadow, Ilex and a handful of his loyal warriors helped get everyone back to the coven house. A large portion of the Fae stayed back to guard what they were now referring to as The Bastard Tree, because apparently, despite having been decapitated and put inside a tree, Donnatar was technically still alive.
He was just a head in there, but over time his body would regenerate, and his powers would grow strong enough to bust out of his prison and return to the world. Ilex assured her it wouldn't happen in her lifetime or even her grandchildren's lifetime, but he wasn't taking any chances.
Ilex had briefly gone back to what had been his home to ensure the land was healing—which it was—and to make sure the people living