I didn’t realize the wolves had surrounded us. They all began to howl, staring up at the horde of dragons racing towards St. Louis. At least it was night. Maybe the Regulars wouldn’t notice.

“This… changes things,” Gunnar said. It didn’t sound judgmental. Just… a fact.

“Thanks to Dirty Gerty, everyone already thinks I’m a power-hungry tyrant,” I said. “It’s about time for some changes. If I have to do this to keep everyone safe from what comes, I will. When it’s over, I’m walking away.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t walk away. King of St. Louis… Sounds catchy.”

Ashley spoke up, assessing the howling wolves. “We’ll see to the pack, although it looks like that’s a bigger problem than I thought.” I turned to look at the giant mass of wolves. Hundreds upon hundreds. Twice as many as before their honeymoon.

“We’ll need a new home…” Gunnar said suggestively.

I sighed. “Send me the bill. I’m going to have to look into raising taxes or something. You can use the five million tents from the garage if you guys need to crash here for a while.” Because this wasn’t the first time I’d had armies living on my lawn. We’d kept all the camping gear, enough for ten freaking circuses. They nodded and left, gathering the wolves.

“What are you going to do, Nate? You seemed pretty focused on something when you returned,” Callie said in a soft voice. I realized we were alone. Everyone had left with Gunnar. Well, I saw Talon not far away, watching over us from a respectful distance. Or maybe just wanting to give me a moment of privacy with Callie. I could see his tail twitching, though, and knew he desperately wanted to talk to me. I didn’t see Carl anywhere.

I nodded to Callie. “I’m going to do what every new king does…”

Callie frowned. “Which is?”

“Invade.”

“You just… took St. Louis. What are you going to invade?” she asked incredulously. A pause, then, “Don’t even think about Kansas City…” she warned, but she was smiling.

I met her eyes, but was unable to smile. “The Fae. Mordred is free, and I think he’s going after Camelot. Merlin. Arthur. But I have something he needs…”

She leaned closer. “The Round Table…”

I smiled at her, then, nodding. I glanced around. “Where’s Roland? And Alucard?”

She waved a hand. “Still in their meeting. I spoke to Roland earlier. They’re fine.”

I nodded, thinking of what else I had to take care of now that I was back home. Pan. I needed to talk to Pan. See how Baba Yaga and Van Helsing were doing. And B. And Falco. And Pandora. And Alex. My mind began to race, anxiety slowly creeping over my shoulders.

Callie tugged me to my feet, not letting go as she led me back to the house. I didn’t fight her, just watched as she tugged me along as if to walk over Talon. “It looks like it’s later…” she said in a soft tone.

I opened my mouth to answer, unable to hide the sudden grin on my face, when I heard shouting. I spun, hands out defensively only to see Carl on his knees before the tiny sapling near the treehouse. He was cursing and chanting to himself. Very, very loudly.

“What is he doing?” Callie asked, still holding my hand.

Talon piped up, suddenly beside us. “That’s what I was waiting to tell you. He’s been sitting there this whole time, muttering to himself. Your mother put some fool notion in his head—”

“Grow, D! GROW!” Carl suddenly crowed, slicing a claw down his forearm and holding the dripping wound over the lone sapling. The thunder grumbled above, much darker and ominous than it had been earlier. Power washed over Carl, buffeting over us like a wind, forcing us back a step. And that tiny sapling erupted like Jack’s beanstalk, racing for the skies as lightning struck the earth three times. Less than a minute later, my vision slowly returned from the flashes, and the ringing in my ears faded somewhat.

And I clearly heard Carl cackling to himself. A giant white tree stood where the sapling had been, scooping up the tree house as it grew so that it now sat fifty feet above the ground, barely halfway up the tree. I thought I saw the door to the treehouse open and then slowly click closed.

White scales covered the bark of the tree, and black leaves filled the branches as if it had stood for a hundred years. It had a very pale glow. I shook my head in disbelief.

“Behold Carl’s glorious mighty D!” the Elder bellowed, throwing out his arms and spinning in a slow circle.

“Fucking Carl,” I breathed in disbelief.

“I thought it was a joke. Your mother truly is a master of the D…” Talon whispered.

Callie muffled a cough, but I didn’t turn to look at her.

My house rumbled faintly behind me and I knew things had just gotten a whole lot weirder.

* * *

Nate Temple will return in Summer 2018… Turn the page to read the first chapter of UNCHAINED - Book 1 in the Amazon Bestselling Feathers and Fire Series - and find out more about the mysterious Kansas City wizard, Callie Penrose… Or pick up your copy