“Go on now, go!” I pointed at the palace.
“Mama!” Dominic flew into my arms.
“Damn it,” I muttered as I cuddled him. I could never resist an armful of Dominic.
Sebastian used my distraction to dive-bomb his uncle.
Austin ducked and let out another string of southern expletives starting with, “Hell's bells,” and ending with, “That knee-baby is more trouble than a greased hog in church.”
“Sebastian, no!” Azrael shot into the air after our naughty son. “I just said, not ten minutes ago, that you weren't to do that!”
“You told Dom no, not me!” Sebastian giggled and flew back toward the palace, shouting, “Hell's bells! Hell's bells! Hell's bells!”
I looked down at Austin.
He grimaced up at me. “So, I'll just walk back then?”
“And think about what you did wrong while you do,” I said primly, then flew after my husband and son, Dominic cradled in my arms.
Austin muttered behind me, “A rooster one day, a feather duster the next.”
Chapter Four
“How'd I get faerie magic?” Austin asked as he trudged up the veranda steps.
“We've been discussing that,” I said with a wave at my husbands, Samantha, Fallon, and a few of the Intare. “I transformed you while I was under the influence of a magic apple, and that must have transferred some Wild Magic to you. We just can't figure out why the magic would stay with you when it was only temporary for me.”
“The babies got it permanently,” Viper said.
“But that was when the Wild Magic was running rampant through the world.”
“Hold on, that's an interesting theory,” Odin said. “Conception is an act of creation. It creates life.”
“I didn't create life.”
“No, but you recreated it. You transformed Austin with magic. Perhaps that process is similar to conception in that it puts cells in a vulnerable state. And while his cells were vulnerable, you poured magic into them.”
“And part of that magic was wild.” I nodded. “That makes sense. I gave the Wild Magic a way to dig in and make itself permanent.”
“Permanent? Oh, dem apples!” Austin exclaimed, then plopped down on the floor since there were no open chairs. “Will their mayhem never cease?”
“That depends on how many Jerry's minion stole,” Trevor said with a look at Az.
Jerry, aka the Christian God Jehovah, had somehow managed to sneak one of his Angels into the Golden Citadel—our palace on the Fey lands of Earth that guarded the Elemental Well and an orchard of apples full of Wild Magic—and that Angel had stolen an unknown amount of apples. One bite of a fey apple can give a person Wild Magic and, depending on who they are, it could also enhance their innate magic. Jerry had already used the stolen apples to turn nine sacred squadrons of Angels into superangels and sent them to attack the Golden Citadel. That's a lot of bites, so we were hoping he had used up his supply.
“One problem at a time,” I said. “Austin, you'll need to be very careful until we figure out exactly what the Wild Magic has done to you. You could have a touch of Air or full doses of all five of the elements.”
“A touch of air,” he snickered. “You sure we ain't talking about farts again?”
The Intare, who were basically a bunch of supernatural frat boys, chuckled at that. Austin may not be as handsome as the other Intare men, but he was close, with his postcard-cowboy looks, and his personality fit right in.
“We never were.” I rolled my eyes. “I don't think you should go to work until we know what we're dealing with.”
“I guess I can take some emergency leave,” Austin said. “They weren't too happy when I took those days off after I was changed, but I reckon if I tell them I've been infected with Wild Magic, they'll—”
“No!” Azrael and I said together.
“Ah'ite, don't get your tail up. I won't tell them about the apples.”
