2

Some Days Ago…

I gave everyone the week of finals to think long and hard about what I'd declared. And I blew through my exams.

I was way beyond what my dad had planned for my power training given the extra jumps I'd had. I'd changed up what he'd been planning for New Magical Development II. I actually did what he wanted for the final and added something of my own.

I used the magic he'd taught me and turned it into a locator. Now any fairy could go to an area and use the compass thingy I'd invented and it would lead them right to the nearest fae dog. No more of them being lost.

"You are a miracle, Daughter," he praised as he tested it out and we found a stray in Alaska. "Truly worthy of being the granddaughter of the gods." He kissed my hair, and we coaxed the beaten down fae dog to safety.

I coasted through the rest and there was now a class at Artemis that I'd wanted, History of Councils. So I took it all as a win.

A huge fucking win.

And I was ready to get the fuck off of campus.

"One semester left," Izzy whispered as we loaded the last of everything to head home. "Then we move into your swank castle." A giggle slipped out. "That still sounds so weird to say given where we started, boo."

"You have no idea." I couldn't agree more, but I was still scared to even consider living in Faerie full-time with my connection to that damn planet.

I cleansed all of Friday and was surprised when I stopped for a real lunch break to find Stefanie and Colton waiting for me. I gave a kiss to Lucca to thank him for keeping track of me and we all sat down.

"I'm going to accept your very kind offer," she told me right away as we settled into our food. "I'm not ready to retire, and—my mission for Faerie and to help you isn't over. And I believe in this change. My injury has also made me see—I don't want to end up like Cluym and Geiger where they almost lost everything. I don't know if we'll work but—"

I bit back a smile when Colton snorted. Now that I knew about them, I felt a bit foolish that I hadn't caught it sooner. Colton watched her the way Hudson did me.

And others had made comments as well that they felt stupid. Then again, we all had too much going on and distracting us.

Fair enough.

"There are some changes I think smart, and most of the commanders agree—the few grumps still are digging in their heels but ignore them. I think at least one will retire." She nodded when I couldn't hide my shock. "None want to retire while we're still in crisis, Your Highness, but I think a handful—the problems will go when we're past that. We don't need so many commanders."

And I'd promoted two. Fair. Yeah, I was all for cutting the dead weight.

"I'm open to hearing ideas. I really am," I assured her.

I was glad that she came to see me separately and I could have this moment with her alone to feel confident that this was what she really wanted. She seemed in a good headspace even. She could put her wings away even if she wasn't fully healed up and able to use magic yet—she was healing. All around.

And she didn't seem hopeless. There was a future for her.

I shot Colton a relieved look and saw he felt the same.

The next morning, we had the meeting before I was going to wake fairies. I wasn't pushing the gas today, but doing about half of that. Hopefully.

Construction and more were going even better, and now that I had dealt with my own shit that people would have to live in slums for a bit while we fixed Faerie, we could get them home. But with my promise, they wouldn't have to be there for long or a lot were staying with others.

People were motivated with the hope though, and we were flying through everything.

Honestly, we were going to eat through next year's budget before spring if we kept up this pace.

Good.

"We have a few changes," Onas said to start the meeting. "First, we want my position to be under Stefanie but sort of adjacent. Meaning I don't report to her, but I'm still in the Faerie Guardians."

I nodded as I looked at the hierarchy tree that was up on the screen. It was as he said. Shael and Morgan would be directly under Stefanie, but Onas was sort of off to the side and also directly under me as well. I was about to ask why, but then it hit me. "She's still in charge of transfers and personnel that way."

"Yes, exactly that, Your Highness," he said, his tone impressed. "Some are just not suited to be police and vice versa. This will keep everything with less red tape still. Also, cross training—logistics."

"Smart," I accepted, nodding for him to continue. The only other change was for Hudson to have a captain assigned to him directly as an aide, one who would report to Stefanie and Onas as well. They wanted a direct path should Theripolis ever need to be locked down or the castle under attack—that sort of thing.

People seemed shocked when I immediately looked at Hudson.

But I was glad when he gave me a look of love.

"I think it's potentially a good idea," he told me after a moment. "But not a rotating door like your details have been. Also, they would need some training with Trigger. Trigger is a vault , and that needs to be the standard to be near the future queen. And train with the head of the Silva clan. They're the same."

"We agree and were thinking three captains trained in case of time off and whatnot," Iolas said. "Plus, I will be as well as I agree with your father, and I want to be the commander liaison as your godsfather." He held up his hands in surrender when we both looked at him.

"He used to be a vault with Meira," Lageos defended. "He'll get his head out of his ass. He promised." He sighed when I looked at him like I doubted it. "He's been much better, Tamsin. It's hard when he was there when you were born and changed your first diapers, Daughter. I know it seems forever ago for you but for us…"

"I'm open to a trial basis," I conceded, being a softy. I sighed when Hudson snorted. He'd fully known I would cave.

I was glad everyone seemed to agree that Shael and Morgan were the two commanders to be ranked right under Stefanie with Shael as the most senior. From there, they had set up an organization chart. Everyone was on board with like eighty percent of it all. We agreed on the wide structure and who should be in charge of this and that.

It was also maybe the most productive meeting I'd ever had. Neldor had some really great insights into the police structure and changes he wanted to implement after researching how different human countries had their systems. A few he liked the way they rotated shifts and areas to keep from corruption and burnout.

I completely agreed with all of it. They had other charts and everything already made up and names written on magnetic strips. They set up the first dozen that I knew in the highest positions, but the rest they were going handle on their own since they knew the players better.

"And people have to agree," I interjected, shaking my head when they frowned. "No, this isn't—people get bitter. We don't want to make changes for the future of Faerie and snowball resentment. You all are getting the choice; so do they. We announce this across the board and explain it all before we start offering—this should be an honor for these roles, not punishment."

"She's right," Stefanie agreed. "We do this better and with better accountability . People are also scared because we're combining the realms. This will help. This is the plan, and then we will have it all outlined for how to transfer—all of it. Plus , the bonus of the elite teams and royal security forces. Which we all agree should have different uniforms."

"Embellishments on the uniforms," Shael corrected. "Make it clear they're still Guardians and we're all fighting for the same thing, but with visible distinction so no one is slipping through."

"Smart," several of us agreed.

Next came having the captains join us since all of the commanders were in agreement and they knew the people even better. Their recommendations would be everything, especially since no private enlist could be part of my security soon.

Another half an hour and there was something irking me that I needed to make sure was handled.

"I think it should be made a rule and exceedingly clear that any fairy on the royal security forces cannot be involved with anyone in the royal family or those they guard," I said firmly… While staring down Dalyor. The man had walked right in and made it clear he was going for that assignment, and more than that, at the top.

At my side always.

Oh, and he was sure Hudson would be all for it.

Yeah, he maybe shouldn't count his chickens before he caught them.

"I fully agree," Neldor drawled.

Dalyor looked to Hudson for help, but my dragon wisely didn't give it. He kept his focus on what he was looking at. "I think it's smart. Whatever you want, Tams."

Yeah, Dalyor was an idiot for thinking Hudson would help him after the disaster "guest appearance" in my damn bed that no one checked with me first. Idiots.

And I'd made it clear since then that I wasn't a fan of how Dalyor had behaved before or since and that I wasn't interested. He kept acting like I was saying for now and wanted to stay in my orbit.

But I wasn't. I was saying no. Clearly saying no.

That didn't change because he was hot.

It just made him a douche for not listening. Honestly, I didn't really even find him attractive anymore for how he behaved like my answer meant try again later . I hated that shit.

And the world had progressed from thinking that was acceptable. The civilized people at least.

"Many of us agree, so it's clear this isn't a chance for something or rumors to circulate, especially since it was your idea," Iolas said. "Also, because they will be the security who guard your aides and more. You have aides without mates or are available. We don't want people who are trying to climb in rank by climbing in beds."

Exactly . Glad we all agreed.

More was set up and a really great foundation was laid out before we ended the meeting to go wake more fairies. Then I left to fuel up… And I tried to reward my dragon for handling something so big that I'd needed to.

I gave him a heated kiss and he pulled away and sat me on the counter, smirking when I simply stared at him with confusion.

"If you're joining instead of lurking, I'm directing, and there's a lot of stress I want to take out on her, so know I'm going to push hard," he said.

"I can agree to that," Neldor said as he walked into the kitchen with more food, acting like he hadn't been busted and just had been joining us.

"Fine, then bring our mate up to my room. I'm going to start the shower," Hudson ordered before jogging off.

"Do I get a vote?" I called after him.

Neldor simply raised an eyebrow as he put the food away in the fridge. "I'm sure you can stop it at any time—but do you want to, baby doll?"

No. No, I didn't.

But I wasn't going to just be easy for them either. I let out a bit of a huff and teleported up to Hudson's bathroom. He raised an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him and started undressing. I left my clothes in a pile to collect later and throw in my hamper before strutting towards the shower… And closing the door in his face.

"Cold, shorty," he chuckled.

I snorted. "Says the man who pulled away from my kisses and outsourced giving me attention. I wanted to give you attention because today was awesome and it's something huge handled. Fine, that's fine."

"I want my reward to be involved in this," he tried.

I let it go because I heard the slight shake in his voice. They were all worried about my chemistry with Neldor after we caused a fucking earthquake having sex.

And we hadn't had sex since like they had reason to be worried. More like I was a bit miffed that Neldor thought we just would, and—too much was going on.

Stefanie got hurt.

I had an uncle .

Finals.

Yeah, too much. I hadn't even had sex much with anyone.

How did that happen when I had five men in my life?

A portal opened and Neldor came right through and started taking off his clothes. I simply snorted at his presumptive behavior. Fine, he'd gotten permission—or an invitation from Hudson—but it just felt off.

Maybe I was just raw.

Yeah, that was probably more it. I was… Part of me still heard him in my head saying being with me was easy.

I flinched when he joined me in the shower, my mind in the past.

"What's going on, baby doll?" he asked without touching me, his breath warm on my neck. "I thought you were playing and being sassy. This feels like more."

It did. "I don't know. I'm just raw with everything going on." I wasn't sure what else to say.

"Did I do something wrong?" he hedged. He sighed when I shook my head.

Hudson snorted. "Well, you're not doing something right. Get the fuck out of my shower and away from my mate if you're going to sigh like she's the problem. River thought something was up here, but I thought he was just jealous."

"He is," Neldor muttered, but not in an argumentative way, more just he didn't want to ignore it.

"Get out," he growled. "She's covering herself."

Shit, I was.

Actually, I was covering from both of them. The moment I realized that, I teleported to my bathroom and turned on my own shower. I put up a barrier so they couldn't come into my room and took a long shower to think about what I was feeling. Something was going on with me and with them.

Then it hit me, and I felt… Petty? Childish?

I wasn't sure, but it seemed valid, but also like—I felt a bit like a woman in a movie looking for a fight. When I realized that, I finished the shower and threw my hair up in a towel and put on my robe. Then I took down the barrier knowing they were both waiting outside of my room and walked right past them.

I went to my study and clicked on the custom-order light that Lucca had ordered that said "Time-Out: I'm Upset!" I cleared my throat when they both stared at me. "I just don't know if I'm valid. I would like to talk to Julian before explaining. Please."

They were quiet a moment before Neldor replied. "I think I want to know why him. Why are you talking to him about whatever is going on with us before—"

"He's working the most on his communication with the therapist," Hudson put together. "It's not about you guys being mated, right?"

My head shot up and my eyes went wide. "No, not at all, beastie. I would never—" Relief hit me when he nodded. "I thought Katrina, but she has some fancy date with Taeral. Plus, she would meddle more and…" I licked my lips. "I might be being petty or taking this further than—making it more than it should be? I just want to check."

"Okay, anything you need, shorty," he agreed. "Can I have a kiss first?" He sucked in a harsh breath. "Okay, so it's bad enough that you don't want to have kisses right now."

"No, I don't," I admitted, sounding confused to my own ears. "Sorry." I blinked back tears before teleporting away. I had wanted such a nice night, and I was messing it all up.

Like always.

I retrieved my stuff and my phone before going to my room. I texted Julian that I needed him and more food.

He said he had already received a text from Hudson, and if I gave him ten minutes to finish up what he was working on, then he was all mine. And he was starving too, so whatever I wanted was great.

Awesome.

I just wasn't sure what I was in the mood for I was so turned all around. Julian loved Chinese food though, and there was a place that Taeral said he was going to take Katrina too because she loved family-owned places. This wasn't a greasy little hole-in-the-wall, but a good quality place with some fusion flare, and the reviews were legit.

Perfect.

I asked Ara and of course she knew. She said she'd handle it, and I hurried to get ready.

It was after the dinner rush on the East Coast, but the kitchen would still be busy with delivery and take-out orders, so they wouldn't care much about their dining room. I sat in a booth waiting for Julian while my security and some other Guardians took other tables. It was pretty standard now just to have more bodies when I ate out like that.

It wasn't even to be nosy or jerks. It was just more protection and deterrence from supes who might be rude even if they couldn't see me with the glamour. They had figured out my detail, and when a bunch of powerful fairies gathered, it was normally to guard me.

Duh.

Maybe supes weren't always idiots. Well, the Underground wasn't, and I'd come up against other monsters that were too smart.

Hopefully, that was in the past. Or at least the amount of them was.

That sounded nice.