My Guardian (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 6) (15 page)

Both Stefan and Meryn turned to the prince, grinning. "Thanks!" they said together.

Aiden clapped the young wolf on the shoulder. "Let me tell you about how humans age. I am not a dirty old man."

"Forget that, I want to hear about what happened seven hundred years ago," Meryn interjected.

Bethy sighed. "Meryn! Social cues remember. This isn't a topic for discussion at dinner."

"Why?"

Bethy looked around the room as if asking for help answering the question.

The prince raised an eyebrow at his niece. "Well Bethy, aren't you going to answer her?"

Gavriel took pity on his mate and answered for her. "Meryn, I know that you have been obsessed with paranormal history, but it is a bit different when the events being discussed personally affect the people in the room."

"Yeah, but if Stefan is right, a lot of shifters were killed, and according to Magnus, vampires were hunted down. Why isn't any of that in the history books?" Meryn asked, crossing her arms.

Bethy frowned. "It is, isn't it?"

Meryn shook her head. "Nope. I read up on Noctem Falls, and it didn't mention any of this."

Bethy pulled out her phone. Seconds later, she handed it to Meryn. "There."

Meryn used her finger to scroll and read. "In the summer of 1315, a skirmish broke out between the vampires of Noctem Falls and a local wolf pack. Reason unknown." She turned to Stefan. "How many shifters were killed?"

Stefan turned to his father for the answer. Demetrio rubbed the back of his neck. "The entire western pack was decimated. We buried three hundred and twenty nine pack members. The remaining wolves had to join our pack; there weren't enough members left to sustain themselves."

Meryn pivoted and stared at Magnus. "Well?"

"Two hundred and four," the prince answered, frowning.

Meryn handed Bethy back her phone. "Skirmish, my fucking ass. More like pitched battles, why isn't this in the history books?"

Magnus looked a bit shocked. "I had no idea it was not there. Demetrio?"

The older wolf looked just as surprised. "This is news to me as well."

"Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is ready." Sebastian's booming voice had more than one person jumping. The unsettling news about past events had everyone preoccupied.

Magnus walked over to Meryn and offered her his arm. "Aiden, if you would allow me to escort your beguiling mate to dinner?"

Aiden smiled and bowed to Magnus, extending him the honor. Slowly, everyone made their way to the dining room.

*****

Once everyone was seated, Sebastian and Ryuu walked around and served dinner. Eva was nervous about her jeans until she saw Meryn in the same Ghostbusters tee shirt she had on earlier.

"No, thank you, Sebastian, I'm not really feeling like beef stroganoff tonight." Meryn held her hands over her plate to avoid being served.

"
Denka
, are you unwell?" Ryuu asked.

"I'm not feeling nauseous if that's what you mean; it's just that nothing looks good to me right now. All I really want is some more of Sebastian's magic pudding."

"Meryn, you can't live off pudding," Aiden said, a worried expression on his face.

"I can't help it."

"I will go get her some right away. I have heard more than one woman say that when they carried, if they denied their cravings, nothing else tasted right." Sebastian passed the large serving bowl to Ryuu.

Adora nodded. "It's true. When I carried Stefan, I went an entire month living off venison stew. It was years before I was able to eat it again."

"Thank you, Sebastian," Meryn said, looking relieved. Sebastian headed toward the kitchen as Ryuu began to serve everyone's dinner.

Magnus turned to Demetrio. "How are people settling in?"

The older wolf gave a terse smile. "I think it would be easier on everyone if we knew an exact date of when we could head home. We were still getting arguments against coming here last night at the city's estate. The attack this morning has really spooked a lot of people. I think in the back of everyone's minds, we didn't really believe we'd be attacked."

Adriel looked down the table to Magnus. "Sire, we need to think about where these people will go. We have already received more than was projected, and your announcement was only sent out yesterday. We simply do not have any plans in place to house this many people."

Beth turned to her uncle. "He's right. Just organizing trips to the bathroom became a logistical nightmare this morning. More tunnel escorts are desperately needed along with semi-permanent living quarters. They can't stay in the Grand Hall forever."
 

"I do not think any of us were prepared for this many people, this soon," Magnus admitted.

Sebastian returned with a large bowl of pudding for Meryn. She picked up her spoon and dug in.

Eva liked the pudding, but she was a shifter; she needed more than sugar and milk to keep her satisfied, and Sebastian's beef stroganoff was the best she had ever had.
 

Gavriel twirled the noodles on his fork. "For the time being, we could set up temporary housing in the Grand Hall. We could send someone to the city for tents and more cots."

Eva thought back to the Unit Level. The small houses looked like they had been carved directly out of the stone walls. "Do we have anyone who can create houses similar to the ones on the unit level?" she asked.

Etain nodded. "I bet the twins could do it, if shown how. What they lack in knowledge, they more than make up for with power."

Eva was intrigued. She had just met the twins; they wouldn't have been her first choice. "How are they more powerful than older witches?"

Etain shrugged. "I'm no expert, but I think because they are twins, their abilities are magnified between them if they cast a spell together."

Magnus slowly began to smile. "Eva, I think that is the best suggestion we have had on the subject." He turned to Adriel. "Do you think they are up for it? We can have Micah or Emlyn Blackwood show them how it is done."

"I believe they are capable, and it would keep them out of trouble," Adriel said, a faint smile on his lips.

"Thank the Gods!" Declan breathed.

"Who are the twins?" Meryn asked.

Eva couldn't help but smile. "You're going to love them, Meryn. I just met them before coming here. They are young, but full of energy, and they love pranks."

Meryn gave a sad smile. "Reminds me of Keelan."

"Now that we know what we want to do, my next question is where?" Beth asked, changing the subject.

"We can't create the houses in the Grand Hall; we'd be effectively creating a choke point for future incoming refugees," Meryn pointed out.

"What if they were done in the back of the hall?" Beth suggested.

Meryn shook her head. "At a certain point, we'd be right back to the original problem of too many people near the entrance." She turned and looked at Magnus. "According to the maps I scanned, the Founding Families have kept most of their people situated close to the transport tunnel. What if we went deeper into the earth? We could probably get the Founding Families to agree if we point out that we're expanding their level for future growth, and it won't cost them anything. People love free shit."

"I know my people would feel better if they could have some sense of normalcy. Having a place to return to that gives them privacy to relax would help enormously," Stefan added.

"Well said, Stefan. I wish the youngsters here acted with half your sense of responsibility. I have vampires twice your age who are not as mature." Stefan smiled at the praise.

Magnus looked down the table. "Meryn, you are a genius. That is exactly what we will do. Extra housing never hurt any city." He gave Beth a sly look. "Maybe the two of you should stay in Noctem Falls. I think I have gotten more accomplished in the couple days with you two here than I have in the past six months on my own."

"No thank you, Uncle. As soon as we're done here, we're heading back to Lycaonia. I've finally gotten my closet set up the way I like it," Beth replied.

Magnus pouted. "None of my secretaries compare to you."

Beth patted his arm. "You mean they don't spoil you the way I do."

"Exactly! I actually have to ask for my coffee."

"I'm sure you'll find one eventually that will last longer than a year." Beth looked down the table at Meryn. "Meryn, did you get a response back from Amelia?"

Meryn looked up, both cheeks were pouched full of pudding. She held up a finger and finished her bite. "Yup. Queen Aleksandra gave the okay. She was very impressed with my improvised method of getting Wi-Fi throughout the city. She will be implementing something like it on a larger scale for Éire Danu."

Etain rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. I can't wait to get started."

Meryn scraped her bowl with her spoon. "Magnus has already given me a large workroom here on Level One. Sebastian said that all the equipment arrived this afternoon, so as soon as you get the portals in place, I'll set up the communications hub, and we'll have city-wide Wi-Fi by tomorrow afternoon."

Meryn continued to scrap her bowl, clanking her spoon against the porcelain. Magnus frowned. "Sebastian, give that child more pudding; it is obvious she is still hungry."

Before coming to Noctem Falls, Eva had heard rumors about Magnus Rioux. He was known to be fair but demanding. Everyone knew he doted on his niece, but she didn't think many knew that he had a soft spot for young people.

"I have to know, Meryn, how did you manage to get Wi-Fi here in the city in less than two days, when city engineers have been trying different methods for years with no results," Magnus asked, looking impressed.

"It was easy, but probably because I'm used to asking questions when I want to know something. When we went through the portal coming here, I stuck my hand through and pulled it back before coming through completely. That means that once the portal is open, matter can pass through it in either direction."
 

"I asked Etain and the queen, via my big sister-cousin, a few questions and found out that portals can be created to remain open. It's not a current practice because it would present a security issue. But what I need the portals open for wouldn't create any gaps in security. Tomorrow, Etain will pop around the city placing dime sized fixed portals all over the place, all of them feeding back into the communications hub I'll set up using the equipment Sebastian got for me. Then he will place undetectable portals on the two closest cell towers in the region. The portals would simply act like tiny windows, allowing the Wi-Fi and cell signals to pass through to the communication hub and from there all throughout the city. I just had to get permission from the queen to open that many portals. What's even better is that knowing how these tiny portals work, I can network on a much larger scale. Muwahaha!"

Eva joined in the round of applause Meryn received at the end of her explanation. "Meryn, that's amazing work."

Meryn, looking embarrassed at the praise, concentrated on her pudding. "Thanks. I just hate being without the internet. I have to be able to look stuff up and access my files any time I want to."

Magnus held up a hand. "You are telling me, as of tomorrow afternoon, the entire city will have Wi-Fi?"

Meryn looked up. "Yeah. I mean you already had the service run to the city or we wouldn't have the Ethernet wires; that was the hard part. I'm just setting up a wireless network using some high-tech routers. I'll post the network name and general Wi-Fi password on all the levels so people can start using it. There's actually very little set up to be done once the portals are in place."

"Meryn, I feel like I should reward you somehow. Is there anything you would like for solving one of my longest standing complaints?" Magnus offered.

"Do you have one of those vaults Gavriel told me about? Do you have gold coins piled up like in
DuckTales
?" Meryn asked looking excited.

Magnus frowned, looking confused. "I do not know what
DuckTales
are, but yes, we do have a Rioux vault. As long as it is not a family heirloom, you are welcome to take something for your reward."

"Awesome! I get to go treasure hunting. I can't wait."
 

Eva thought Meryn looked like a kid the night before Christmas; she was practically bouncing in her chair.

Beth turned to Gavriel. "Did you want to check on the Ambrosios vault while we're here?"

Beside her, Eva felt Adriel stiffen.

Gavriel shook his head. "There is only one thing I would be interested in retrieving, and the last time I checked, it was not there. I have very little use for treasure; I have everything I need by my side." He raised her hand and kissed it gently.

A faint buzzing had everyone checking their phones.

Aiden held his up and shook it. "It's mine." He glanced down and handed it to Meryn. "I can't deal with him anymore, have fun."

Meryn's face lit up. "Is it Sascha again?"

Aiden grunted and took a huge bite of noodles.
 

Meryn's fingers tapped away on the phone. Giggling, she set the phone down and looked around the table. "Ever since Aiden put Colton in charge, Gamma's unit leader, Sascha Baberiov, has been texting Aiden non-stop."

Gavriel chuckled. "What did this last one threaten?"

"He said he was going to tie Colton to the bell towers and use him for knife throwing practice."
 

"What did you advise?" Gavriel asked Meryn.

"To make sure Rheia was on stand-by with bandages."

Aiden groaned. "I won't have any units in Lycaonia when we get back."

Aiden's phone buzzed, Meryn picked it up and began laughing so hard that Aiden plucked the phone from her hand. He looked down, started cussing, and stood. He was already dialing when he walked from the room.

Beth's eyes were huge. "Meryn, what happened?"

"Rheia texted a picture of Colton running after Sascha; he had three small knives sticking out of him."

"Oh dear," Beth murmured.

Gavriel turned his head away as his chest shook with laughter. At that moment, he reminded Eva so much of Adriel it was eerie. She would get to the bottom of this Ambrosios name mystery if it was the last thing she did.