“True.”
Torrent waited a second to see if anyone else was going to protest, then said, “There's an opening on Thursday.”
“My day.” Thor grinned.
Horus rolled his eyes.
“Take it, Torr,” I said. “Reserve it under whatever name you want, but call the event . . . Preserving the Wild.”
Azrael winced. “That's awful.”
“Naw, it's perfect,” Austin said. “They have events with names like that all the time in Lexington.”
“Fine, but I thought I was hosting the event?” Azrael asked.
“You'll be the guest of honor,” I said. “We don't want the hotel coming to us to pay for the damages.”
“Or giving you bad press,” Odin said. “You've got enough of that as it is.”
“We could spin the battle as an attack from one of those anti-Fey groups,” Teharon suggested.
“Oh, I like that,” I said. “Two birds, one battle.”
“All right. It's booked. There's a website up for the event and posts all over social media to promote it,” Torrent said. “Perhaps we can do some advertising around Lexington too?”
“But the website will show it's sold out, right?” Azrael asked.
“Yes. Katila will know where to find you and when you'll be there. I've even put pictures of you and Vervain on the site so that he knows she'll be there too. But no one will be able to purchase tickets.”
“Good work, Torrent,” Odin said.
“Thanks.” Torr beamed at Odin. He was still getting over some daddy issues, and he tended to take praise like a puppy.
“But is Katila going to see all zat?” Kirill asked.
“He will if he's looking,” Az said. “And I think he'll be looking.” He turned toward me, and all my husbands turned with him.
“What?” I asked.
“You're staying in the God Realm until the event,” Odin said.
“Yeah, all right.”
Their eyes went wide.
“I can be reasonable.”
They grimaced.
“Oh, whatever.”
Chapter Forty-One
There were no more thefts in the days leading up to the event. Nothing went missing and turned up in an odd place either. No tricks of any kind. It looked as if Katila was done playing games. I should have been relieved by that. I was not. I hadn't been out of my territory since we returned from the Golden Citadel, and I wasn't the only one pulling a shut-in. My lions stayed put too. No one wanted to accidentally lead Katila into our den.
The night of the event arrived and with Lexington seven hours behind Pride Palace, I was able to put my kids to bed before I had to get ready. I wore a gown I created from a pebble using territory magic. I made a lot of my fancier clothes that way, but it especially came in handy for times like this, when I wanted some unusual adjustments made to an outfit that had to look couture. The dress was cut low in the back so I could summon my wings if necessary and the skirt was a tear-away situation affixed with Velcro. I had some yoga pants on beneath and my heels were low enough to fight in. But you'd never know I was dressed for war.
I checked out my reflection in my dressing room mirror. It was one of those tri-fold numbers with two additional panels hinged onto the center so that you could gawk at yourself fromevery angle. It helped me to make sure I didn't have anything sticking out that shouldn't be. I'd gone with black. I didn't want to stand out, and black was always a good choice.
