15. Arthur

Chapter 15

Arthur

" I can't thank you enough, Master Arthur. We appreciate that you opened your coven up to us. I know it couldn't be an easy decision, considering the circumstances."

I looked at the warlocks in front of me. There ended up being only five that needed a place to call home for a while. Not that I minded. We had initially been preparing for closer to a dozen. Then Father had said three, but in all honesty, five wasn't a number I was going to balk at.

"It truly isn't much of an issue. I am more than happy to help the council in this situation. Your predicament happens to be a unique case, but we all need a bit of help every now and then." There was a knock on the door, and I had never been so happy for an interruption. "Ah, Balthazar. Please come in," I said and gestured for him to enter the office.

"Sorry I'm a bit behind, Master. Kid issues. Specifically, Mason was determined he was going to use Grant's paints for the walls. Then Maddox wanted to join, then Murdock. Luckily, Mathias is still too young."

"Ah, yes. I completely understand," I told him. I refocused on our newest visitors. "This is Balthazar. He's my head of security, and he has so graciously volunteered to show you all to your suites. He will also answer any questions you might have with regards to safety in the coven. We take it quite seriously, and I want all of you to feel completely at ease while you are here. I have an open-door policy when it comes to my office, and everyone is welcome to come to me with questions or concerns. If I'm in a meeting that requires discretion, I will most likely not be here at the coven house." I had only been in two or three of those, and in every instance, I'd been away from the coven.

"Thank you again, Master Arthur," Dominic said again. "We sincerely appreciate your hospitality. We understand that because of our situation, not many are willing to accept the possible risks that could come with us."

I shook my head. "Nonsense. Every one of us is entitled to safety and the choice of whether or not to stay or go. Obviously you will need to remain here or in another protected space until the council has said it is safe for you to leave, but please don't feel as if Amherst isn't welcoming. If you ever do, please bring the issue to my attention."

"We will," Dominic said. Several others nodded in agreement. There were a few more thank-yous before they all left the office with Balthazar. I'd struggled with the decision of welcoming them more than I should have. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about this situation beyond the entire mafia family thing that had me questioning the logic of housing some of them. But after several discussions with Patrick, I knew I'd made the correct choice.

I'd meant it when I had just told them that everyone was entitled to feeling safe and having a secure place to rest. Before I'd discovered Patrick was my One, I'd traveled extensively and had encountered many different types of people. Some were amazing; others not so much. But in all of my travels, I'd never encountered someone that was nearly as evil as the Gallo cousins appeared to be. I'd met a lot of people, some certainly morally gray. But those two took first prize for being truly evil and vicious. This was after knowing about those that the council was dealing with regarding the trafficking rings.

Needing to let Father know that Dominic and the others had arrived safely, I picked up my cell phone from my desk, typed out a quick message, and sent it to him. His reply was almost immediate, and he thanked me for letting him know they had arrived safely.

There was another knock on the door, and this time, it was Fenwick who poked his head in. "Do you have a moment, Master Arthur?"

"I do," I said and set my phone back on my desk. It vibrated with another message, but I ignored it when Fenwick entered, followed by another person I'd not yet met. He was with Fenwick though, so that meant he was someone who could be trusted.

"Dante here was sent by the council. He's going to be here for extra security," Fenwick told me.

My gaze moved from Fenwick to Dante, and when it did, I realized he was a hellhound. "You're a hellhound."

"Yes. I just joined the council, and this is my first real assignment. I'm pretty sure they're still testing my abilities and making sure they can trust me."

My phone vibrated again, and I glanced at it, noticing a message from Father. I held up my finger before picking up the phone.

Father: We assigned Dante to the coven for some extra security. The Gallo cousins haven't been seen or heard from, but I understand that you are concerned for the safety of the coven. Everyone that has accepted members from the Venice coven are getting an enforcer for a bit of extra precaution.

"Yes," I said. I stared at the message before shaking my head and placing my phone back on the desk. "Apparently, my father was letting me know of your impending arrival." I stood and held out my hand. "Welcome to the Amherst coven, Dante. I hope you don't have a whole lot to do here because if you do, that means my coven is in danger."

Fenwick grinned, and Dante nodded slowly as he shook my hand. "Yes, Master Arthur. I agree with that. I hope I can offer reassurance instead of not. This might be my first assignment for the council, but I'm no stranger to dangerous situations."

I nodded. "I'm sure not." I looked toward Fenwick. "Could you show Dante to a suite?"

"Of course," Fenwick said. "Anywhere in particular?"

"I think it's probably best if he's near the others. If there does end up being an issue, having him closest to those from Venice seems most logical."

"Will do."

Dante gave me a curt nod, then left with Fenwick. This morning was turning out to be a bit more than expected. I picked the phone back up and replied to Father.

Me: Thank you for the heads-up. Dante is here. He's settling into a suite now, like the others are. I'll keep you updated if anything happens.

Father read the message almost immediately, but then when no reply came, I tossed the phone back onto the desk.

"You seem frustrated. Is something wrong?"

I grinned.

"No, my love. Everything is how it should be. The Amherst coven is now five more warlocks and one hellhound larger in numbers."

"A hellhound?"

I chuckled. "Yes. He's here for extra protection. Every place that accepted members from Venice is getting a bit of extra protection for the time being. I'm not sure how long he will be here, but he's here for at least a week or two. Most likely longer."

I didn't know how the rotations for enforcers worked. I knew of the council, obviously, and the mission, but I didn't have the inside scoop on the inner workings. It was Father's thing, as was his right as the created warlock. I was more than happy with my position here at Amherst.

"Well, that might not be a bad thing, right?"

"Not at all. How is your morning going? Enjoying your time with Alistair and River?"

It might have been wrong of me, but when I knew the newest members were going to arrive, Patrick and I agreed that he and Edric would head out to Montana for the day, if not a couple of days.

"It's been amazing. Edric is loving spending time with everyone out here. It's only a temporary solution, but he's happy at the moment."

I loved Edric, but he was an eight-year-old child. He couldn't dictate where we lived, and we were going to have to find a solution to whatever was going on with our youngest son. I'd put out some feelers for a professional to talk to, but so far, we'd not heard anything. There had to be someone somewhere; we simply hadn't been able to locate them as of yet. We would, though, because having a child who was so moody simply because he was upset with having no siblings in the house with him wasn't acceptable. Had we spoiled him too much? Possibly. But I was sure it was a bit more than just that.

"Give it another day or two, and I'll reach out to Father again and see if he has any additional information about someone that might be able to help us. He's incredibly busy at the moment, and I know getting these coven members situated and secured is his top priority at the moment."

"There's no rush," Patrick said. "I know that sounds terrible to say, but he's happy at the moment, and it's not as if he's violent. Just…moody. We have to figure out how to get him to talk to us. And, well, maybe be able to tell us what is going on because every time we ask him, he can't answer. He's eight. We're recognizing there is an issue; we just have to figure out how to communicate on his level."

None of that was incorrect. All those centuries ago, Patrick and I had first talked about family and how many children we wanted. We had been hoping for four or five, leaning more toward five. Fate had decided we were to have three, and we were happy with that. When Patrick had become pregnant with Edric, we were both elated and wondered if we were going to be like many others and have a second set of children. It seemed as if not, though, as Patrick had only had a few fertile periods since he'd had Edric, and he'd not caught. We'd accepted that, but our son seemed to be struggling with that fact. We couldn't figure out why though.

"What exciting plans do you have for today?" I asked Patrick.

"Well, the kids are all going up to Treasure Ridge in a couple of hours after they finish their schooling for the day. Konrad, Egon, and I think Chin? I'm trying to remember who the third one was." I grinned at my One. He was so adorable. "Anyway, they're going to shift and take turns taking the children for a flight. Then the plan is for them to play in the snow village that someone made for the kids back behind the council building. I was told it was by the childcare center."

I chuckled and shook my head. "It's no wonder that Edric is moody when he's here at home. When he's there, he gets flights on dragons and snow villages," I said. I wanted Edric to have a well-rounded childhood. There were already things that he couldn't do simply because of who he was, but perhaps we were overcompensating because of that.

"Yes, but we have to worry about humans where we live. We can't have dragons flying around. We could probably do a few snow houses, but from the sounds of it, this one is an entire village, and there are multiple structures."

I chuckled. That definitely sounded like the warlocks from the council. I knew that there were several fox shifters there, and with how playful they were in their shifted forms, I was certain that the village wasn't erected just for the children who belonged to those in the council.

"Arthur, do you have a moment?"

I looked up and nodded at the sound of Costas's voice.

"I'll check back in with you in a bit, my love. I'm having a meeting with Costas."

"Tell him hello for me."

"I will. Have fun out there."

"Patrick says to tell you hello," I said as Costas came in and sat down.

"Is he having fun in Montana?"

"Seems to be. What's on your mind?"

"I've been pondering your issue with regards to Edric."

"The joys of parenting. I'm wondering if we're spoiling him too much since it seems as if he's going to be our last."

Costas shrugged. "I'm not sure you can spoil a child too much. He's loved, he knows this, but he also sees the other children in the coven have siblings at home."

"We've established that. Edric has mentioned several times that he wants a sibling to play with once everyone else has to go back to their own quarters for the evening." I sighed. "It's not that Patrick and I don't want more children. It's simply not happened since Edric," I said, giving Costas a look that I hoped he understood.

"Yes. That happens. It's possible that stress is a contributing factor, or perhaps it's simply time and the two of you are to have four wonderful children. But whether or not the two of you welcome more offspring into your lives wasn't why I came to talk. I was remembering my last trip to Treasure Ridge and had an idea since Edric was currently there with Patrick."

"I am all ears. Any and all suggestions are welcome." We were out of ideas, so perhaps Costas had something that could work in our favor.

"The council's psychologist. The first one. Dr. Bennett. He's a gargoyle, very well respected in his field."

I shook my head. "I don't believe I've met him."

"Possibly not. You have always remained here. The point is Dr. Bennett is older, older than I am. He's been around quite some time. It's possible that he could be of assistance. He's not necessarily a pediatric psychologist, but maybe he knows of someone if he cannot assist with Edric?"

I was a bit surprised that Father hadn't suggested this. "That's wonderful news. Do you happen to have his number? I cannot get away at the moment—not with the new members having just arrived."

"I do." Costas leaned forward and slid a piece of paper across the desk toward me. "I was anticipating you asking. Dr. Bennett is mated to Dr. Braun. Both are psychologists. Dr. Swift has also joined their practice. Dr. Swift is also mated, but I believe his mate was a teacher in the council's school. Between the three of them, I would think they might be able to provide some insight for you. Hopefully."

I took the piece of paper and placed it beside my phone. "Thank you, Costas. This is most helpful. I hope that, if nothing else, they might have some suggestions for us."

"They do amazing work for the omegas and alphas that the council have been rescuing. Dr. Braun is an omega, and he seems to have a way with some of the more traumatized omegas. Not that Edric is traumatized, but it's possible that Edric might relate to him a bit more."

"No, I didn't think you were implying that at all. Again, I really appreciate the connection. I'll give them a call as soon as I have a moment."

Costas nodded and stood. "I hope you find a solution soon."

I did as well. "Thanks again, Costas. I appreciate it more than I can say." With another nod, Costas left. I sat there, pondering everything that was going on. We'd not really had issues with our first three. They weren't overly close together in age. Not like Balthazar's or even Grantham's children. But they weren't spaced incredibly far apart either.

"You're thinking too much," a feminine voice said suddenly. I grinned as I shook my head. I knew that voice. It was the same one that had sent me to Patrick all those centuries ago. She'd visited me a few times since, but it had been quite some time since the goddess had gifted me with a visit.

"Is that not the duty of a coven master?" I asked out loud. She'd not yet appeared, and at times, she didn't.

"It is, yes. But stressing over something that will remedy itself isn't productive."

That grabbed my attention. "And what is it that I'm stressing over exactly? Because if something is going to fix itself, I'm all for not dwelling on it."

There was melodic laughter in the room. "You should visit your family in Montana. Costas and Balthazar are more than capable of watching over the coven. Dante will provide any extra protection, not that you are going to need it."

I nodded slowly. "I would love nothing more than to join my One and our youngest for some downtime in Montana, but there is a great deal going on here."

"True. There will always be many things to deal with. That is why you have a trusted circle that can watch over things for you while you tend to family. They are important as well."

"Yes," I said. I took several moments to contemplate what she was saying. That was how she worked: always telling what needed to be done without saying exactly what we should do. "I'll go see them, especially since you are insistent that I need to. Is there any particular thing I should look for once I get there?"

There was more laughter. "You'll know. It will become apparent shortly after you arrive. Enjoy your time with your One, Arthur. You have both earned it."

"I will." I waited for several minutes before realizing that she was gone. Apparently, I was going to Montana, and whatever issue I was dwelling on was going to resolve itself.

I grabbed my phone and the piece of paper that Costas had just given me and stood. After sliding both into my pocket, I rounded the desk and went in search of the warlock who had just left my office minutes ago. He wasn't far. His office was just down the hallway from mine, and that's where I found him.

"News?" he asked when I stood in his doorway.

"Possibly, but not how you would expect," I told him. "I'm apparently to go to Montana." I shrugged. "Could you watch after the coven for me for a day or two? I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to be in Montana, but I was told I needed to go see Patrick."

Costas seemed concerned. "Is something wrong?"

I shrugged again. "I don't believe so. I just had a visit from the goddess, and she told me to go to Montana. The last time she sent me someplace, it was to find Patrick in Zürich. It appears she's always sending me to my One. I'm going to listen once more and head to him and see what is happening, if anything."

Costas grinned. "Enjoy your time. I will most certainly watch over the coven for you. If you need anything while you're gone, you know you only need to reach out."

I nodded. "Thanks, Costas. See you in a day or two."

I turned, and as I was walking down the hallway toward our quarters, I reached out to Patrick. "My love? How about I join you and Edric for a day or two?"

There was an excited squeak through our bond. That alone was answer enough. My family needed me in Montana, so that's where I was going to go.