“I absolutely did, but now I have to go out there and face our friends with no panties and a wet nether region.”
“I think that makes you the naughty one, not me.” He helped me down, then picked up the trays.
“You make me naughty.”
“Good.” He kissed my cheek and went to the kitchen's swinging door, turning at the last moment to back out and wink at me.
I smoothed my dress and hair before following.
“You all right, Vervain?” Torrent asked as I resumed my seat. “You look a bit flushed.”
“Just the heat from the coffee,” I said as Trevor smirked. “I had to start a fresh pot.”
“Uh-huh.” Re narrowed his eyes at Trevor. “Are you sure that's all you started in there?”
Before either Trevor or I could respond, Azrael's voice came from the foyer, “Vervain!”
I ran out of the dining hall and directly into the foyer. Everyone else followed me, but we all pulled up short when we saw the doorway of the tracing room. A dragon head was poking through it on a long, sinuous neck, green scales glinting in the chandelier light.
Recovering a second later, I hurried over to the dragon. “Salem?”
“Hi, V!” Salem, the Dragon of Shehaquim—a pure dragon, not a Dragon-Sidhe or a shapeshifter—grinned at me, showing off his impressive teeth. “Uh, Az told me I should stay with you guys for a while, but I can't fit through your tracing wall.”
“He's half in the Aether,” Azrael said as he ducked under Salem's neck and joined me. “We need you to widen the room temporarily.”
“Especially the tracing wall,” Salem said.
“Oh!” I rushed forward, summoning my territory magic as I went.
The land responded instantly, pushing magic up into Pride Palace and sending it where I directed it. First, I widened the doorway so I could get a good look at the tracing wall on the opposite end of the small room. It was all dragon. Once I got a view, if not precisely a good look, I enlarged the room by pushing the side wall out into the foyer. I took it right up to the front doors. The entry would look unbalanced but that wasn't a big deal. Then I quickly backed out of the dragon's way.
“Phew!” Salem popped through the tracing wall, out of the new larger doorway (with a door much too small for it hanging open), and stopped in the two-story high space before the main stairs. “That felt weird. I don't think I like leaving my butt hanging in the Aether.”
“It wasn't just hanging there, it was pure energy,” I said. “Half of you was physical and half wasn't.”
“That explains the butt tingles.” He grinned. Then he saw Luke. “Hey, Lucifer!”
“Hello, Salem.”
“What's going on in here?” Samantha asked as she came inside with the other mothers, including Holly.
They all stopped short when they saw Salem.
“Hello, Salem,” Holly said. “Lovely to see you.”
“Hello, Mrs. Morningstar. Nice to see you too.”
“Oh, stop. You know you can call me Holly.”
“Yeah, nice to see you. It's been a while. But what are you doing here, Salem?” Hekate asked as she bounced her daughter on her hip.
Baby Astie was in a dress that matched her mother's—black lace with spider web details. At least Katie hadn't painted Astie's nails black yet. She had threatened to do it the last time I'd seen them but the expression on Horus's face told me she'd be in for a fight.
“Oh, babies!” Salem declared and lowered his face to sniff Astie. “So many babies!”
Asteriana giggled and patted Salem's nose.
Raedra, however, who'd never met Salem, backed away with Ariana held close.
