It had been a long morning, the various women of the house demanding that I make Carl stop his research into the D. Hiding my smirk had been hard, but the ridiculousness of it all had helped curb the last of my bad attitude.

Tory had swung by, demanding to know where Alucard was. In careful terms, I told her I didn’t want to get slapped again and that was that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her the truth, but that I didn’t want to bring back my dark mood. Also, I wasn’t sure where she fit into White Fang’s big plan. I didn’t want to tell her anything that would make her stick her nose into something that could get her killed. Or anything that would make her demand answers from the dragons – which might put her and the Reds in danger.

On that note, she had followed up with, “Where are the Reds? Or Yahn? I keep missing them…” her motherly glare was in constant motion, as if searching the room behind me to discover them hiding. When I didn’t immediately answer, she looked back up at me.

I smiled as I said, “Welcome to being a mother to teenaged girls.”

She didn’t find it as humorous as I did, judging by the slap to my cheek. I was only thankful she hadn’t used her full strength. Luckily, my wounds from the previous night hadn’t remained upon leaving or she might have accidentally killed me.

Before she could leave, I grabbed her arm. She spun, slapping my hand away. “I have to find them, Nate. I don’t have time for you to pester me.”

I almost lost my temper at that. “Are you kidding me?” I whispered.

That caught her attention. She seemed to deflate, taking a deep breath. “Sorry.”

I nodded slowly, glad that I didn’t have to point out her double standard. “I saw them hanging out on their sunning rock in the Solarium. In plain sight. They’re just being teenagers. Taking advantage of your… work for Raego.”

Her face clouded over. “I am not working for Raego.”

I waved a hand. “Whatever. The Council, then.” She huffed, folding her arms beneath her breasts. When it was obvious she wasn’t going to offer anything up, I pressed her. “Find what you were looking for? This thief?”

She just folded her arms, looking tired and frustrated, but not willing to answer me.

I sighed. Worth a shot. “You’ll figure it out. Just a reminder, but I’m leaving tonight and might be gone for a few days.”

Her eyes took on a hungry shine. “Fae. That sounds so much easier than St. Louis.”

I grunted, arching a brow. “Right.” Fae would be easier than St. Louis. And Hell.

She smiled at my look. “I know. I’m being irrational.”

I nodded carefully, placing an arm over her shoulders as I led her down the hallway, sensing that she needed to burn off some energy. “Let’s go find the teens.” Tory began to talk conversationally. Hearing nothing of value, I listened absently as I let my eyes trail over the halls, smiling in memory at some, cringing in horror at others. Memories of breaking something or getting into trouble about some prank Gunnar and I had thought we could get away with. Some of these spots in the hallways were where Dean or my parents had finally pinned us down to chastise us for our recklessness. And little things like that stuck in a kid’s mind. Now, it was funny, but that instinctive clench was still there. Kind of like parents could still say your name in that tone and you might flinch, even though you were a grown adult now.

My smile withered away as I remembered that if all went well, I would be seeing my parents soon. Not in the best of locales, but that I would get to see their faces again. Or souls.

I sensed Tory staring at me. “Sorry. Thinking about Fae. What were you saying?”

She studied me critically for a few seconds before repeating herself. “The Council and Raego disappear often. When I ask them about it later, they shrug it off and tell me to stop worrying about their daily planners and find the thief. But if I can’t ever question the suspects, how do they expect me to find the thief? Last night, for example? I couldn’t find any of them. Then Alucard mentioned that he was going to the Fight Club, so I figured I would at least accompany him. But he was as closed off as I’ve ever seen. And who do I find? The fucking dragons. All hanging out like a family dinner, but no one had informed me about it!”

I nodded, not giving any advice.

We walked in silence. “I know what you’re doing. I appreciate it, but it also pisses me off.”

I smiled, not turning to face her. “Oh?”

She shoved me with her hip. “Thanks for not letting me lean on you. Even when it bugs you as much as it does me.” She let out a sigh, shaking her head. Then she stopped in the hall. I turned to look at her and she had her hands on her hips. “I completely forgot with all the stupid dragon stuff. Why the hell did you fight Alucard and Raego last night? And that part at the end?”

I considered telling her the truth, but saw way too many problems with that. She was working with the dragons, and I wanted as few as possible knowing about the Candy Skulls. But she needed to know not to talk about it, too. “Remember those things we saw on our way to visit Raego after the wedding?”

She noted my vague description and nodded. Then she froze, her eyes shooting wide. “Oh, shit! You tried Shadow Walk—”

I held up a hand, cutting her off. “Yeah. Instinctive. I forgot about the dangers. They almost got to me. I felt like I was there for a minute or more, but Achilles said it was like any other time I Shadow Walked – a fraction of a second. I was dazed and my opponents pounced.” I tried to let her know with my eyes that the fight wasn’t important. “We mustn’t talk about those things we saw. Not to anyone. I’m actually on my way to find Callie to tell her the same. There are some… dangers in sharing the information, apparently. So just keep your trap shut. You women and your gossip—”

She began tapping her feet, giving me the mom look and I grinned. “Just kidding. But I am serious about speaking of… them. Don’t. I’ll take care of it. I’m on it.” I wasn’t on it. Not at all. But she had plenty on her plate at the moment.

“Fine. I won’t tell. To be honest, with the dragon stuff, and the Reds hiding from me, what… we saw completely slipped my mind.”

I held up my hands in a there you go gesture. “Keep it that way.” I held out my arm for her to rejoin me and she finally did. We made our way to the front of the house. A thought hit me and I stumbled. Tory frowned at me, a concerned look on her face.

What if… I didn’t make it back from Hell? What if White Fang did something to put Tory and the Reds in danger. Her students…

I checked that we were alone before continuing on, speaking quietly. “Keep an eye on everything while I’m gone. There are… things going on in town, and I think the dragons are just the tip of it. I don’t want to scare you, but someone is stirring up trouble. Chateau Falco will always be a safe place for you guys if things go badly while I’m gone.”

To emphasize this, the house rumbled all around us – but much stronger than normal. It cut off abruptly as if interrupted. Tory glanced up at the ceiling warily. “What’s up with her lately? She’s more… vocal. But less vocal at times, too.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t about to tell her. Oh, yeah. My house is just pregnant.

“Maybe she caught a bug or something.”

Tory gave me a look, but I didn’t let her break my resolve. “If you need anything from me, ask fast. I’ll be leaving tonight.”

She thought about that. “I better not. It’s not just that I don’t want to, but that I want to abide by the terms the dragons gave me. A verbal contract. Even though they read the fine print much more closely than I did.”

I chuckled. “They wrote the fine print.”

She grunted. “What’s so important about going to Fae again? If it’s just another recharge, you might not be gone that long. But if it was something big, you would have asked us for backup.”

I was silent for a time. “Maybe you’re wrong about both points…” I felt her watching me and felt bad for lying. But I did it anyway. “I never know how much time will pass while I’m over there. So a recharge could take days. I’d rather you be warned ahead of time than be wondering what happened to me if I was gone longer than anticipated.”

She sighed. “Otherwise we’d be checking up on you every hour.”

I gave her a very serious look. “No. You promised.”

She swore under her breath. “I know. We won’t ever go there without you. Just a figure of speech. But… what about the other thing? You said I might be wrong on both points.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to always ask for your help.” I felt her shoulders tensing, ready to berate me for being so stubbornly stupid, but she saw me smiling at her with a raised eyebrow. She blinked. Once. Twice. Then it hit her.

“Just like we’ve been doing to you…”

I snapped my fingers. “Bingo. My problems are not always your problems.”

We walked on in silence, nearing the front door. She squeezed my side in a brief hug before detaching and turning to look up at me. She looked… scared. “I know things are crazy right now, Nate, but don’t do anything stupid. Even if your friends are doing exactly what I’m warning you not to do right now.” She smiled guiltily as she said that. “But… I think it’s just growing pains. We’ve been through hell lately, and I think everyone is just trying to tighten up their boots, take a breath, and check their foundations. See who they are without you. So that they have a better sense of self-understanding the next time something goes down. To understand what they can handle on their own, and what might require… assistance.”

I smiled, nodding. “I know. It sucks, but I get it.”

“Right. Well, stop being so emotional about it. It’s disgusting.”

I rolled my eyes and turned as if to walk away. “Take care, Tory. You’ll do well.”

“Damn right.”

When I glanced back, she was gone.

Likely to burn down my Solarium when she caught them cuddling with Yahn.