8. Summoning a Niece

"And why am I not surprised that you two had a hand in this?!" I heard my uncle shout the moment we all entered because, clearly, they hadn't yet noticed that they could now add a few more witnesses to the heated discussion we had just walked in on. This reprimand was clearly aimed at Pip and his sister, Sophia. But then when I looked at all three of them, I found that, like me, they appeared just as they had that day. Like none of us had ever left.

It was still Christmas, hence the place looking like a grotto had thrown up all over the place.

As for my aunt, she was still wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved, black top, and looked exactly the same as she had done when I ran into her arms when making it back to the temple. And from the looks of things, barely any time had gone by at all since stepping through that door into Niniane's prison arena. Which made me realize that where I had just come from, time must have worked differently there. It seemed like this conversation had only just started after my uncle had left me in the Temple. Oh, and clearly this was after the husbands had replaced relief and loving affection for hurt and frustration.

That solace that the men in the room had experienced back in the temple had worn off, and been replaced with anger. Even Adam, who I had never once seen raise his voice to anyone, was standing there glaring at his mischievous wife, with his arms folded and looking as if he was seconds away from losing his shit.

"Aww come on, Snuckums, don't be like that," Pip said, trying to bat her lashes up at him, making him growl down at her,

"Don't you snuckems me, Winifred, I am as furious at you as our King is with all of you," he replied sternly, making her sulk with her bottom lip now pushed out.

And in the few moments we had until they realized we were here, I looked to find Sophia's husband, Zagan, looking just the same… furious at his wife. One, who unlike my Aunt and crazy friend Pip, was maintaining a neutral stance on all of this. She merely remained silent, with only her arms crossed and looking as if purposely ignoring her husband's furious stare. In fact, the only two missing were Amelia and Lucius, making me wonder if they were somewhere else hashing this out, just like these six were.

"And what did you want us to do, just let our daughter go alone?" my aunty Keira shouted back, now with her own arms folded and totally unphased by her husband's intimidating presence. It was at this point that Jared decided to clear his throat, making all heads turn to us.

"Jared!" My aunt shouted first.

"Oh goodie, the HellBeasts have arrived… oooh, and who is the new eye can…" At this Adam quickly covered Pip's mouth and growled a warning down in her ear,

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you, lollipop."

I tried not to laugh and did a better job at it than Orth. He had to cough to hide his own before shooting a worried look at Adam who, in turn, cast him a warning glare. But then from what I had heard about Adam, then this wasn't surprising because pretty much all Supernatural life had a reason to be afraid of Adam, and if they weren't, then they were fools.

"Mi mas ing ooo ay ye andy," Pip murmured behind his hand, making Sophia astound me as she must have understood every muffled word, because she commented,

"Yeah, I am not sure calling him eye dandy was any better, Pip."

Pip pulled Adam's hand back and answered,

"Well at least I am back to Lollipop and not Winifred." Then she winked at her friend, making me once again try not to giggle.

"How did this happen? Ella told us that you were taken," my uncle asked, now getting back to business and ignoring the camaraderie. At this, Jared walked closer to shake my uncle's hand because, clearly, there were no hard feelings between the two. Although they must have resolved the fact that Jared kidnapped me and escaped his prison sometime after I had gone missing. Especially considering my uncle had shown up outside my trailer to help convince me that Jared hadn't been lying.

"That is why we are here, and no offence, but I am afraid all marital disputes are going have to wait," Jared replied, which had a positive effect on half the room at least.

"Thank the Gods,"Sophia muttered at the same time Pip said,

"All Hail the mother tree." As for my aunt, she added,

"What they said." Making my uncle scowl her way before warning,

"This conversation is far from over, troublesome little wife of mine." To which she rolled her eyes and muttered wryly,

"Oh goodie." However, Jared ignored this and got right to it.

"Alright, so here is the short version, a Summoner named Niniane openly attacked the club, then opened up a portal and pulled me through. Orth and Marcus got Ella out with the view she would get her arse here and stay safe…" At this he paused to look at me, and it was very much the same pissed off look the other men in the room were giving their significant others. "…Something she didn't do, but instead met the rest of these time traveling rebel misfits…"

"Hey!" my aunt shouted at the same time Sophia also interjected,

"Excuse me?!"

"Ooo, I like that… The titty time traveling rebel misfits, has a great ring to it."

"Oh sure, not long winded at all," Sophia commented dryly, making my aunt comment,

"Why does everything have to come with titties at the beginning?"

"Well, I think I can answer that one," Marcus piped up, stepping forward, making Orth grab a fist full of his jacket at his back before tugging him back while warning,

"Not today, you won't."

"Yeah, okay, so anyway, back to more important shit and back to Ella doing stupid…"

"Hey, I saved your ass, you ungrat…!" I never got to finish as clearly all the men in the room had read the same macho supernatural boyfriend handbook and Jared covered my mouth by banding his arm around my head and pulling me close. Something my uncle not only allowed but also looked slightly amused by… the traitor. Even my ‘what the hell, Uncle?' glare did nothing.

"She went back in time to when I first got turned, then skipped forward thirty years, the why and how, I have yet to discover." At this I flinched, and I couldn't help my fearful gaze shooting to my uncle. Someone who clearly didn't feel any need to keep this part between us.

"Ah yes, well it was unfortunate to hear that I might have had a hand in that," my uncle admitted freely, despite looking guilty and making me shout a muffled,

"Mmmit ave!?" To which he gave me a gentle look in return.

"It seems as if I let my niece down. She came to ask for aid and I failed to do such as my focus at the time was using the fountain to gain my Chosen in her steed, which meant they switched places in time," my uncle explained, making Jared visibly grit his teeth as my aunt walked over to her husband and tucked her arm in his as a show of support. It was clear he was struggling in his decision, even if it hadn't really been him directly that had done it.

As for Jared, he digested this particular piece of information, now removing his hand and granting me a tender look before admitting without taking his eyes off me,

"I cannot blame you, Dom, not when I think everyone in this room faced with the choice of gaining their Chosen sooner and ensuring her safety would do the same, despite the unfortunate position of potentially hurting another in return." I swallowed hard at that, because I knew what he was saying. That he would have done the same and, in all honesty, I didn't know how I felt about that.

"I appreciate your candor, but given the circumstances, I am not sure I would be so quick to offer such forgiveness had it been done to Keira." I watched as my aunt squeezed his arm at this, prompting him to look down at her with the same tenderness Jared had granted me.

"Perhaps it is easy to say with her now standing by my side and knowing that whatever happened is in the past, to which I confess, I still know very little about… only that it brought us to now. For without her intervention, I would either be dead, still rotting away in a prison cell, or currently mourning the death of my brother and best friend… she saved us all, Dom." My uncle's shock was obvious to see.

"How… how is this possible?" At this my aunt scoffed and said,

"Because us Williams' women are kick ass, that's why." This naturally made me smile, especially as my uncle grinned, before Jared dropped an even bigger bombshell on them.

"Or it has to do with the fact that your niece is now a Summoner."

"What?!" my Aunt shouted.

"Whoa, now that's bitchin'," Pip said, whereas Sophia's comment was aimed at my aunt,

"Yeah, not sure that's in your family gene pool, Kaz." Something she ignored in favor of asking much more important questions, because in the thirty years of being with my uncle, she knew a lot more of his world than I did.

"How… how did this happen?"

"Okay, well in a nutshell, the only way I could get back was to steal that bitch's book, something Marcus helped me with."

"Er, say what now?" Marcus replied, quickly adding action to his next statement when Jared shot him an evil glare.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Technically, it wasn't me, remember?"

"Nope, but it was your idea to waltz," I replied with a wink. Jared growled before exchanging his glare for one of promised death, making me quickly hug him before he could storm over there. Then I told him,

"Joking, jeez…" Then while I did this, I looked to Marcus and Orth and mouthed,

‘Totally not joking.' Making Orth grin, and as for Marcus, his face said it all… bewilderment. But then Jared pulled back and mouthed his own reprimand back down at me, making me want to bite my lip.

‘Behave.'

"Okay, can we all go back to the part where my niece is now a Summoner, please?" my aunt said, because, obviously, her concern for me was growing.

"To be honest, I'm not sure how it happened, only when I was on that stage and saw her book just floating there, I just kind of acted out of instinct," I admitted, making my uncle look deep in thought, something Jared didn't seem to miss.

"Something to add here, Dom?" he asked, calling him out on his reaction.

"Not at the moment, but I might know someone who can shed more light on this development."

"Yeah, and it's not a development I want to develop further, so whoever it is, I suggest getting his arse here as soon as possible," Jared gritted out. He was getting more frustrated as the minutes passed by without answers. My uncle didn't answer this with anything other than with a nod.

"On another note, does anyone want to explain the male model with glorious hair?" my aunt said, giving him a little wave and making my uncle growl possessively down at her.

"This is Asher, he is a friend and a newly appointed member of my council. He helped us fight against the horde of souls in the arena," Jared offered, making Asher nod in acknowledgement.

"The Summoner Games, that is where this Niniane had you fight?" my uncle asked.

"Like I said, there is a lot for us still to discuss," Jared answered, and I would have been an idiot to miss exactly what that meant. Jared wanted to talk to my uncle privately because there was clearly a lot more to this story than Jared was ready to tell a room full of people.

"In the meantime, why don't I show you to some guest rooms? I think we could all do with some rest after the day's events," my aunt said helpfully.

"Ha, try weeks, Toots." At this Sophia shot Pip a look and combined this silent warning by cutting her hand across her neck.

"Not helping, Pip," my aunt pointed out a little too late.

"Weeks!" This wasn't just shouted by Jared, but by my uncle as well, whereas Adam growled it and Zagan, Sophia's husband, tagged her behind her neck, yanked her tight against him and whispered something I couldn't hear down at her. Whatever it was, neither man looked happy, and I could only imagine what Amelia was going through right now with her possessive Vampire.

Of course, I remembered how she sobbed into his arms when I first made it back, seeing her heartbreak that at the time had seemed to mirror my own. So, I had no clue what had happened during her time in the past. But whatever it was, it looked just as turbulent as mine had.

"A room would be…" I started to say, when Jared quickly spoke for me,

"I am afraid we will have to decline," he said interrupting me, making my aunt and myself frown. However, just as she opened her mouth to argue, my uncle turned to face her and said something I couldn't hear before turning back to Jared.

"But of course, there will be cars at your disposal out the front of the building ready and waiting for you." Then he jerked a head to Zagan, who was quickly on the phone after first nodding in silent reply to his king. I frowned up at Jared, about to question why he wouldn't stay here or where he was planning on taking me. But then I saw his strained expression, telling me that I was best to question this when we were alone. Which clearly would be sooner rather than later.

"Thank you. We will return in a few days, I suggest you call a meeting for the Table of Kings." My uncle nodded at this and told him,

"It will be done, for we have much more to discuss."

But then Jared looked to me and I couldn't help but shiver when he said sternly…

"Yes… yes we do."