Chapter Forty-Four

Very little time had passed, so I traced back to the hotel instead of going home. The room wasnt as bad as I expected. There were some overturned furniture and broken vases, but nothing major. A handful of my friends were speaking with Austin and a group of real police officers. I didnt see the Intare impersonators, so I assumed Austin had sent them off before his coworkers could arrive. The hotel manager was there as well, but thankfully, none of the humans noticed my sudden arrival. They were a little busy dealing with the aftermath of a battle.

But my husbands noticed immediately.

“Vervain!” Viper had me in a hug seconds after I arrived.

The others quickly followed.

“Go home, now,” Odin growled after hugging me. “I need you to be safe.”

“I am safe. He let me go,” I said.

“Katila let you go?” Kirill asked.

“No. Hes not the trickster. Another man is working with him. I dont know who he is. But he knows a lot about us. And he says hes doing this to help the human race.”

“What?” Odin scowled. “The human race?”

“I know. Its confusing. Hes the one with the Confusion Magic, by the way.” I touched Kirills fist, locked around the Pasha. “And well done with getting this. The trickster says you should be able to use it.”

“Use it?” Kirill growled, his deep blue eyes glinting with frost. “I dont vant to use it, Vervain. I vant to keep Katila from using it.”

“I know, babe. I didnt mean like that. I meant . . . I dont know what I meant. Im just trying to get out everything I learned before I forget it.” I frowned. “Because I am! Fuck! Im forgetting!”

“Is your wife all right, Faerie God?” the hotel manager asked.

Azrael, whose whole body was tense, likely from holding himself back from running to me, said, “Shes had a shock. Obviously, she needs me. Are we through?”

“Yes, Sir,” Austin drawled. “I think this is clearly an attack on your person and you cannot be held accountable for it. Youve given me enough of a description to start an investigation. Honestly, it sounds as if this is the work of one of those anti-Fey groups. Maybe even those morons who think that faerie was King Arthur.”

“But the hotel!” the manager exclaimed. “Whos going to pay for the damages?”

“These people defended themselves against other people who you let into the hotel,” Austin said.

The hotel manager—what was his name? Daniel? Well, he was in the lions den, so that fit—blinked, trying to follow Austins reasoning, then said, “What?”

“Im sayin youre the one responsible for the damages.”

“You were part of tonights security!”

“I came to oversee things just in case. I was countin on your people to do their jobs. It looks like I shouldnt have. Good thing the Faerie God was smarter than me and brought his own guards. If he hadnt, youd have a lot more than damaged property on your hands. You could have been responsible for the deaths of several people. Im sure the Faerie God would have been fine, but what if his wife had been killed? What then, huh? You should count yourself lucky.”

Oh, Austin was having way too much fun.

The hotel manager paled. Then he stuttered, “I . . . I suppose our insurance will cover this.”

“Good. Glad tah see youre bein reasonable.” Austin tipped his hat. “Why dontcha go start that insurance paperwork? Ill see to it that the guests are safe. Now that Ive got some officers to back me up it shouldnt be a problem.”

“But . . . but you had some officers with you earlier.”

“No, I didnt. You must be confused, Sir.”

“Didnt you?” The manager rubbed at his head. “Oh, what a night.” He staggered off.

Austin said to Azrael, “Sorry about this, Faerie God, Sir. I know you were just trying to do some charitable work here tonight.”

“Thank you,” Azrael said. “I dont hold the Lexington Police responsible for criminals targeting me. You did all you could, Officer. Now, if you dont mind, Im going to see to my wife.”

“Vervain!” Odin shouted and shook me.

“Huh?” I looked back at him. Id been totally engrossed in the conversation between Austin and the hotel manager.

Because I had no idea what they were talking about.

“What are we doing here?” I asked Odin.

“Fuck,” Trevor muttered.

“Shes forgotten it all,” Viper said. “It must be another power of that trickster.”

“A trickster who let her go,” Odin said. “What the fuck is going on?”

“What are you guys talking about?” I asked. Then I looked down. “And what happened to my skirt?”