“Yeah but”—she waved a hand in the air—“you’re more this big, goofy . . .”
“Sexy,”I added.
“. . . dork,”she finished.
I laughed, tugging Teddy’s hand to bring her closer to me. “We’re making the youngling uncomfortable,” I whispered, noting the way Kieren stared at his boots.
She swatted my shoulder. “You’re making all of them uncomfortable.”
“My apologies, Kieren,”I said, addressing Javier’s young friend. “What were you going to say before Teddy stripped me of my title?”
“I swear, Elias,” Teddy warned.
The fire in her eyes made me want to toss everyone out of our home and take her to our bedroom.
“I’ve never tried to contact someone in a different realm, but I think I might be able to with Teddy’s help. She’s familiar with Brenton’s magic and should be able to guide my magic to him.”
“Great.”Teddy clapped her hands.“What do you need me to do?”
“Can you ask if Alastor will allow me into his mind?”Kieren asked.“I feel bad not including him.”
Teddy beamed at him and quickly asked her cousin the question.
I couldn’t help the way that earlier pride grew in thefriends Javier had chosen. Where so many humans refused the fae’s offered friendship, Javier had been open to it. Like the other fae, his friends had been raised to fear mages and the creatures outside our borders. Yet, Kieren was worried about not including Alastor.
And where several fae saw those who couldn’t speak aloud but only through their minds—the way Kieren did—as a disability, each of his friends had embraced him without prejudice.
Kieren opened the connection of his mind-speak magic to everyone in the room, including the girls.
“I can channel my magic to Teddy,”Alastor offered.“It might help strengthen your reach so that you may contact Brenton.”
“Should we sit together?”Teddy asked.
Everyone turned to me.“You’re in charge here, Kieren. Tell us what you need from us.”
Kieren tipped his head down, but I saw the timid smile that graced his face.“Sitting together would be good. The closer Alastor is, the easier it’ll be to send Teddy his magic. Why don’t we sit on the floor?”He pointed at an open space in front of the fireplace.
The three of them sat in a circle, with Teddy reaching for Alastor’s hand to better absorb his magic.
“I feel like we’re about to do a séance,”she said.
Javier huffed out a laugh.
“What’s a séance?” Jasmine asked aloud.
“Something that’ll give you nightmares,” Javier answered.
Juanita grabbed my arm. “They’re not going to do the say-whatever Teddy said, are they?”
I scooped down to pick her up. “No,pequeñita.”
“I’m going to shut off the connection with everyone but Teddy and Alastor,”Kieren said.“Is that okay?”
When he looked at me for a reply, I nodded.
A charged, rousing energy swirled around the room with sparks from Teddy’s peach magic, Alastor’s green threads, and Kieren’s orange. Teddy’s grin told me when they made contact with Brenton. Kieren jolted at something said, making the magic flicker. He drew his brows together in concentration, and that steady stream of sparks continued. After several beats of silence, Teddy turned to me.
“I told him about the soldier who was going to take y’all to the compounds,” Teddy said. “He and Finley will head back to the meeting point so you can get them tomorrow. We should also try to reach Hayden and Ximena. Do you want me to tell him anything else?”
