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"They&039;ll be here tomorrow afternoon"

No one in the room seemed surprised that the Gale faary-bound flight with less than twelve hours&039; notice Given how on Lords had considered them, Graham knew the older Gale women were powerful, but they were clearly ined

"They&039;ll be bringing Katie with them," Allie added

Thirteen seats, Grahalanced over at Roland-who looked ad, "Katie&039;s closer than I a just behind her right shoulder, Graham watched the ing Katie for David" Her tone suggested that whatever was going on-and he wasn&039;t positive he wanted it explained-was not open to discussion

Not that Charlie didn&039;t try

"But"

"David will be anchoring the first circle"

Roland let out a long sigh that suggested he&039;d expected as much

Charlie shook her head, the mute denial as much of a denial as she could evidently ht not I ht" Allie pushed a hand back through the hair that had worked its way out of her braid "But if he does, it means at least one of the aunties will have to stay"

"Oh, sweetie, now I&039;m really sorry"

Allie cracked the first s up the phone "So you won&039;t be abandoning me when this is all over?"

"If the Wood stays clear" Her head cocked, Graha to a call no one else in the roo to do, but if you&039;re staying, I&039;ll base here with you" She glanced past Allie to flash an exceedingly s smile at Graham "With you two"

"So it&039;s like that, is it?" Michael&039;s brows rose, and his expression had enough of a warning in it that Graha into fists

"No," Allie told hi her shoulder into Graham&039;s "No one&039;sit slow this time"

"Shouldn&039;t be a this time," Roland pointed out

"Shouldn&039;t be a half-Huon Prince in the bathroom," Charlie re to that-it&039;s a little early to make plans for after, don&039;t you think? If his ht not survive"

"Joe"

When Joe looked over at her, Allie gestured that he should smack Roland on the back of the head

The leprechaun sank back into the sofa cushions "I couldn&039;t"

"I&039;ve got it" Stretching out a long aret to him

Graham could just barely ree, wrestling like that, using the physical to defuse tensions rising over over He couldn&039;t remember what, exactly, but this was the clearest memory of the time before the fire he&039;d had in years

He wanted to bla to do with the way his life had been manipulated to create the man the sorcerer required, but he suspected he&039;d been a willing participant in dividing his life into the years before and after the fire What thirteen year old wouldn&039;t have wanted to stop hurting so badly?

"Hey! If the little guy is going to eat the bigger one, I should get to eat the leprechaun!"

Jack&039;s voice drew Graham out of the smoke-filled corners in his head, and Michael&039;s roar of laughter banished the flaainst Roland&039;s hold "You wish you were going to be eating uy?"

"Bitehand and pinning it beside the other "Say uncle"

Dih"

Jack frowned as the two disengaged and dragged the heavily "So no one&039;s being eaten?"

"Not tonight Or rather thisat her watch "I aht, so at the risk of doing Allie&039;s job and sounding like the grown-up, it&039;s ti the street, Allie leaned back against Charlie&039;s warmth as her cousin wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on Allie&039;s shoulder "Well, what?" she asked just as quietly, aware of Michael and Roland and Joe asleep on the sofa beds behind the a teenage Dragon Prince his space-and David had stayed in the loft

"Well, you and Grahagage, in some ways, it had been more like a first time than their first time had been "No choices until all this is over"

"Sure you don&039;t want to get him locked down before the aunties toss in their twenty-four cents&039; worth? They&039;re going to want you all the way into second circle before Mommy dearest shows up"

"I want hih to worry about without interfering instrands of hair along Allie&039;s neck "Yeah, like that&039;s ever stopped theet close to hiets soed just enough for Charlie to feel theyou can do over the phone" She knew Auntie Jane wouldn&039;t agree Auntie Meredith, Auntie Gwen, and Auntie Carrandmother-had called Roland and Charlie&039;s mother and two of Charlie&039;s sisters had called her Both phones were now buried inside bags of frozen peas in the freezer Katie had sent a brief and profane text e Someone had to have called David

A faray now the sky had begun to lighten Charlie&039;s arhtened

"There&039;s been a flyby about every fortythere in the dark, and I could feel the-or ot up to see if I was is but I wasn&039;t Obviously Can you?"

"Feel theether to look at Roland, the light spilling in fro on his back, one hand tucked up under his chin, a silvered line of drool rolling toward the pillow

"Maybe," Allie allowed She thought of the anger and the burning and the vast weight of personality she&039;d touched "Maybe not"

"So, Grahaet involved"

"He&039;s going to have to He can&039;t run because the Dragon Lords will take him out He can&039;t stay hidden because she&039;ll find him no et to Jack before shethat ht after she arrives"

"You think she&039;ll have that moment?"

"Hoould I know?"

"You have to have more info than we do, sweetie Or you&039;d never have called in the aunties"

"I keep forgetting you&039;re smarter than you look"

"I&039;d kind of have to be"

"She&039;s" Allie took a deep breath and watched it fog theas she exhaled "Ree? Scarier than that"

"Wow Okay, you think Adauard over Jack?"

"I think" Allie went over everything she knew about Adaon Lords, which was less than she knew about their sister " I think they&039;re easily bored and angling for a front row seat"

"So, Graham&039;s ex-boss" The words were the same, but the tone had becoon, that&039;s iets his trousers rower not a shower"

Allie rolled her eyes "He was in a very expensive suit; probably tailor made Plus, he had burn scars"

"Ouch"

"No, Katie&039;ll be staying here, but I&039;ve booked six roo fancy hotel by the convention center?" Joe tried not to look relieved as he wiped down the glass countertop It wasn&039;t a significantly successful attempt

"That&039;s the one It has a spa; they&039;ll be thrilled The aunties are big on getting what they feel they&039;re entitled to" Allie took a deep breath as a minibus pulled up in front of the store "Case in point; I had to talk them down from a fleet of airport limos" She suspected they hadn&039;t actually wanted the li to wrest some control of the situation from Auntie Jane, but that hadn&039;t shortened the phone call-proving that the cell service along the 401, all the way from Darsden East into Pearson International Airport in Toronto, was excellent

Joe nodded toward the rental "Good thing Michael had a license for driving that rig, then"

"He didn&039;t He had Charlie"

"And she&039;s the driver?"

"No She&039;s the Gale girl" Right on cue, Charlie jumped out and beckoned fro herup over her shoulder, Allie took a deep breath "Wish me luck"

"Aren&039;t they on your side?"

"Remember Gran?" she threw over her shoulder as she headed for the door "Multiply her by twelve"

"Breathe," Michael suggested "The plane&039;s on the ground It&039;s too late to change your en wouldn&039;t help

Allie took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tried unsuccessfully to ignore the o way A man in a cheap suit with a sample case at his feetto talk into his cell phone, keeping his voice low and unobtrusive Three sed on the floor at theirwo theh construction had put a not inconsiderable ripple in the traffic flow, things see smoothly without horns or profanity

It was creepy

"Allie"

"I hear the at once made a lot of noise Especially since at least two of the to admit it Allie braced herself and then, as the aunties appeared froe pickup, closed her hand around Michael&039;s aranization, right?"

"Oh, yeah They run the local group Actually, they pretty hed "I&039; colors"

Each of the aunties wore purple And a red hat Many different shades of purple Many different kinds of hats Four of theht at the Darsden East dollar store, spray painted red and individually decorated The aunties quite enjoyed being crafty

Auntie Gwen, at fifty-eight, the youngest by about six years, looked vaguely annoyed by the attention they were getting The other eleven were reveling in it

"It&039;s a good thing you didn&039;t ask the his other ar&039;s blowing up"

"Alysha Catherine!" The volu chatter lowered considerably as Auntie Jane stopped an aret a chance to hear what she had to say "Still teetering on the edge, are you?" Dark eyes narrowed "Were you one of your cousins, I&039;d assu for our approval As you aren&039;t and as you are, in point of fact, becorand with your youngwith hi, we&039;re in theit slow"

"Gale girls don&039;tup loose ends, and you&039;re taking it slowly" Auntie Jane had been the terror of the Lennox and Addington County school board, teaching grade seven and eight English at every school in the district until she retired soe The aunties considered governuidelines With Allie put in her place, she turned to Michael and sniffed, "Talked to your young man yet?"

Allie felt the muscles in his forearm tense under her hand "No, Auntie Jane"

"And why not?"

"It&039;s not We aren&039;t"

Nudging him into silence, Allie took half a step forward The old wo at Michael "I don&039;t think that&039;s any of your business, Auntie Jane"

The silence in the terminal was so cole a lip gloss through security without placing it first into a clear, one-liter plastic bag The sound of a red Styrofoa from the brim of Auntie Christie&039;s hat was impossibly loud

"You don&039;t think that&039;s any of my business?" Auntie Jane repeated slowly

"No, I don&039;t," Allie told her "For what it&039;s worth, I don&039;t think it&039;s any of my business either It&039;s between Michael and Brian"

Auntie Jane stared at her for a long moment-didn&039;t quite tip her head to the side so she could bring each eye to bear independently, but it was close Then she glanced over at Michael Then she sht, then And you&039;re both too old now to give ?"

Michaeloff hih to come to his rescue if affection turned out to be a trap It didn&039;t sees, the other aunties moved in, and, fro mass topped off in an embarrassment of scarlet feathers

Allie backed up to find Katie standing draped in canvas tote bags stuffed full of neck pillows filled with buckwheat and flaxseed

"I hate you so hed

"You knoouldn&039;t have called in a full circle if it hadn&039;t been the end of the world"

Katie snorted "I&039;d have bet seriousthe end of the world"

"So how did you get roped into this?" Allie asked, taking a couple of the bags as the aunties, singly and collectively, offered advice to every single person who&039;d been with theauntlet of red and purple in an attempt to leave the airport

"Officially, because I&039;m self-employed and can take off at a moment&039;s notice Unofficially," she continued when Allie snorted because a first circle could have swept up as much of the family as they felt they required, "I suspect I&039; man you&039;ve found"

"Coirl he&039;s met"

"Charlie"

"Please" Katie flashed a se handlers He blushed and ran the loaded cart into a pillar "The aunties want to be sure he&039;s serious, they want to make sure the attraction isn&039;t part of the sorcerer&039;s plot, and they figure I&039;h like you to confuse him"

"It isn&039;t like that"

"Good"

"It&039;s" She wanted to say terrifying but was afraid Katie would misunderstand " real"

"Well, duh" Katie stopped, holding Allie back, keeping theets to sit next to Michael in the bus argument "It&039;s second-circle real, even I can feel thatYou&039;re all connected to things" She said connected like it was a dirty word "I don&039;t get why you&039;d choose that, frankly"

Allie could feel herself blush and hoped none of the aunties would turn and see her "You&039;ll understand when you " Auntie Jane patted at the ar "You didn&039;t tell hi squished under Allie&039;s shoe She didn&039;t look down "No, of course not!"

"No of course not about it," Auntie Bea growled, picking the crimson brim of her hat up off the ruins of the desk They hadn&039;t been able to keep the blast entirely contained within the workrooe, closer to Allie "You did keep him hidden from us Don&039;t even try to deny it"

"I didn&039;t tell you where he was," Allie adround "But I had my reasons"

"Your reasons"

"Leave it, Bea," Auntie Jane cut her off "No one thinks clearly while they&039;re changing"

"That wasn&039;t" Auntie Jane&039;s expression clamped Allie&039;s teeth shut on the protest Let the aunties believe what they wanted They would anyway, and it wasn&039;t like she&039;d done David any good

"He&039;s definitely made a run for it" Auntie Christie backed out of the destroyed closet, dusting ash off her hands "But when the workshop ihly"

"It could be years before we find hiain," Auntie Kay muttered "Years"

"Don&039;t be so defeatist," Auntie Jane told her gri as his son&039;s alive, anyone can find hiic" Auntie Meredith spat the words on the pile of dust that had been a bookcase

"I didn&039;t say we&039;d use blood o far as long as anyone else can He&039;ll reer?" Allie asked

Auntie Jane turned dark eyes on her "How much of that blast did you absorb, Alysha? Of course the boy is in danger" Muttering under her breath, she stalked out through the newsroo someone taller," the very scary old woman with the dark eyes sniffed as the dozen aunties circled Graha him away fro hi up the rear of the pack, and didn&039;t feel particularly reassured by her reassuring nod or her mouthed: Auntie Jane It had been her idea he et it over with before they were distracted by the coon Lord sorcerer When Auntie Jane ignored his outstretched hand, he let it fall back to his side "I get that a lot"

"We&039;ll have to see e can do about having those hex marks removed while we&039;re here"

"Thank you, ma&039;am I&039;d appreciate that" Allie&039;d suspected one of the glyphs had so together, that&039;s likely what&039;s helping you to reertips down the center of his chest "But if you want these off, we&039;re going to need a little help"

A slightly taller woray hair cropped short, eyes as dark, frowned at hilasses "So you used to work for a sorcerer?"

"Yes, inning?"

"When Ikilled by a basilisk"

"How?" His confusion hed and said, "How did you save his considered, he decided to let her for rifle with me, and I blew its head off"

"Quite the shot," the shortest of the aunties said thoughtfully "Blowing the head off abasilisk" Shortest, Graham realized, was a relative terht and none of them were less than five four

"He could have taken that ht out of your head," another auntie declared, dark eyes wide, her knitting unraveling slightly with the force of the gesture "Left you with a big blank space you probably wouldn&039;t have even noticed, boys being boys and all You hat, thirteen?" She stuffed a fewoff her shoulder "Can&039;t think why he didn&039;t"

"He didn&039;t because he saw young Grahaht It was a phenos his kind attract For pity&039;s sake, Muriel, use what&039;s left of your brains before they atrophy entirely"

One of the first lessons he&039;d learned was not to look the Fey in the eyes-e; some of theh, as he stared as fearlessly as he was able into Jane Gale&039;s eyes, he had to admit he wasn&039;t one hundred percent convinced of that Ninety percent, tops He suspected that final ten percent would be chewing at hi moment, she snorted and allowed him to look away "I don&039;t actually care why you went to work for him," she said "You were a child, so I doubt it was your idea anyway He very likely set himself up so that he was there when you needed him, so that he was the only one there, in all likelihood What I&039;ry bastard with delusions of grandeur so faithfully for so long, you decided to jump ship and throith a family determined to destroy him and everyone like him It can&039;t possibly have been because of Alysha&039;s physical attractions"

"It could have been," Allie muttered

"Because if that&039;s all it was," a round, apple-cheeked auntie continued, cheerfully ignoring Allie&039;s protest "We wouldn&039;t want you First time there was a crisis, you&039;d be just as likely to run off with young Katie here Her breasts are larger"

"Very subtle, Auntie Kay!"

"Well, they are, dear"

Without the extremes of Charlie&039;s hair color, it was easier to see the family resemblance between Allie and her cousin Katie Given that Katie was currently beating her head against Allie&039;s shoulder, it was a little hard to pick out specific details, but she didn&039;t seeolden sprinkle of freckles

"Well, boy?"

It took Grahaht

Why had he walked away from thirteen years with Stanley Kalynchuk? He hadn&039;t known the eon Lord was Kalynchuk&039;s son when he&039;d refused to pull the trigger, so he hadn&039;t exactly been struck by a sudden ethical objection That had coer when Allie&039;d made it clear she didn&039;t want him to She hadn&039;t asked hi more than his name, but he&039;d chosen

Son of bitch

He&039;d chosen

"So it&039;s like that, is it?" Auntie Jane&039;s voice pulled him out of his head, and he realized none of the old woest of theh she are of his group designation-stood between hi

"As Mr Spock said, in as undeniably the best of the movies"

"Kay has a Ricardo Montalban fixation," one of the older aunties interrupted

"Lovelypecs May his soul be at peace" She frowned "Where was I?"

Graham wanted to kiss the corner of Allie&039;sa shed, waving a knitting needle

" outweigh the needs of the one Of course Had you killed the boy, ouldn&039;t have needed to co what you kno" Auntie Jane said with a glance around the circle and in a tone that suggested interrupting would prove fatal " given the choice again, would you choose differently?"

Graha choose like that before his realization And there was that ten percent uncertainty again The store was so quiet he could hear the soft whisper of Allie breathing He could see the faint dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and the ht earlobe He could sel, Allie s wrapped around his hips

And given that there were twelve older wo at least thirty-six separate scents between theain," he said, "I wouldn&039;t do anything differently"

Allie raised a brow

"She was talking specifically about last night," he reminded her

"She is the cat&039;s mother, Graham Buchanan," Auntie Jane snorted "Reo talk to David Do not wear hied toward the back door "Until we know exactly when the Queen is eet him to the point where he can be in the same room as his sister Vera, Meredith, and Faith, take Michael, find a grocery store, get supplies I very ether decent meals from whatever Catherine has left behind Oh, and you&039;d best find a hardware store as well, there&039;s no point in leaving it to the last minute" If Michael&039;d had any objections, he had no chance to voice theet out from behind that counter This is not the ti The rest of you, upstairs, let&039;s get that Dragon Princeling sorted before we have to start supper"

And just like that, they were gone

Well, not exactly gone; he could hear the on the stairs and in the courtyard and out on the sidewalk, but the store practically echoed with their absence

Allie took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she closed the distance between them, slid her arms around Graham&039;s waist, and rested her head on his shoulder "That could have gone worse," she ad across her lower back

And all at once, the store was full of aunties again-down the stairs, in froh the front door Barely daring to breathe, Allie lifted her head and aze She couldn&039;t see a demarcation between pupil and iris She could barely see any whites

Auntie Jane&039;s lips curled into the second scariest smile Allie had ever seen

"Well, well, well," she said

Then the aunties were gone again

"Okay, that eird" Katie&039;s voice pulled Allie out of the circle of Grahah she kept her hand in his "Any ideas?"

Allie shook her head "I was going to ask you"

"Not a clue But hey, still third circle, what do I know Hi, I&039;rin in Graham&039;s direction "Just so you know, if you were just fooling around with Allie, I&039;d be open to joining in because, seriously, those are a pair of fine looking shoulders and er, but since you clearly aren&039;t just fooling around, it&039;s nice tointerference for that poor kid"

It took Allie a on Prince

"He should be" Allie turned to Graha a little stunned

"Charlie&039;s there, too," he told the Jack how to download Torchwood"

"She&039;s probably teaching hial but more likely to piss off Auntie Jane"

"Either way," Katie sighed, "we need to get up there"

"Rol can hold them for a few minutes"

"Roland?" Grahaeeky lawyer in the sweater vest," Allie told hi the store for Joe "When a Gale boy turns on the chared to keep the girly shriek down to a single syllable since she&039;d half expected Joe to fade in behind the counter-and there he was "Are you okay?"

His cheeks were flushed, and his lower lip was full and red like he&039;d been biting it "Your Auntie Gwen kept groping ed "Didn&039;t seelanced over at her cousin who responded with the universal eye roll of how the hell should I know? "If you tell her to stop, she will But you have to tell her flat out"

"Yeah, well" Joe shrugged again

"Are you?" Allie waved a hand, indicating the store, the counter, and the possibility of selling another yoyo

"Oh, I&039;e of the counter with both hands, and Allie suspected it would take all three of theether to break his hold

As they passed thebody of a white Dragon Lord being pecked to pieces by crows Allie&039;s reflection suddenly became a feminized version of the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz When she spread her arms, just to see ould happen, the crows fleay

"Not exactly subtle," Katie pointed out "And why isn&039;t Grahaan to fade Allie touched her fingertips to the glass "Stop it," she said quietly, and Graham&039;s clothes returned Plus a parka, a toque, snowauntleted ski mitts "Thank you How did you know the hed "Gran&039;s mirror" The "duh" remained unspoken but present "And if I hadn&039;t already known you were crossing, that would have given it away" She started up the stairs "Second circle is so possessive it&039;s a bit creepy"

"I&039;m not"

"Allie, you&039;ve written ain And, I&039; back, she stuck her head around the corner into the lower hall "You&039;ve been here a week If that&039;s not possessive, I don&039;t knohat is"

"Preemptive"

"Potato, potahto, Allie-cat"

When Katie waved and disappeared, Allie returned her attention to thethe frame "I won&039;t let the his hair with a bare hand while watching his reflection poke at the hat with a mitten tip " that&039;s Jack?" he finished as Allie shot him a look that said, Don&039;t underoing to say, "Are you sure you can?" and was ie

"If it&039;s possible to prevent it, I&039;d rather the aunties didn&039;t eat any of the Dragon Lords alive"

"Are they likely to?"