“What's priv-villages?” Dominic asked.
“Privileges are things you like to do,” I said. “Like playing outside. Or flying.”
The twins gaped at me. To take away their right to fly would be like taking away their right to speak.
“That's right,” Odin said. “You will be punished. We don't have time for such measures now. But in the future, we will.” He narrowed his eyes at the kids.
Lesya and Vero grabbed their fathers' legs while Sebastian and Dominic rushed to me. I chuckled as I smoothed their dark hair back. They were handsome boys, with those black locks grown out to their shoulders and bright green eyes. The adult suits added to their adorableness, but I was their mother, and Icould look beyond their cute faces.
“You get a pass this time,” I said to them. “But only this time. Now, come on. Let's go.” I picked up Sebastian so whoever helped didn't have to deal with the trouble twin.
Re, who'd been hanging back and watching the drama from the kitchenette table, set down his wineglass and came over to pick up Dominic. He slid his golden stare at Odin to say, “I think you'd better give them some space, Krampus. I'll take Dom.”
Odin—who some say influenced the Santa myth (but definitely not Krampus) grimaced when Dom clung to Re's metallic neck, but said, “I don't care who takes them as long as we get downstairs in five minutes.”
With those words, we herded the children to the elevator. We had to split up into two groups, but we made it down within Odin's five minute time limit. And then we were off to Lexington, Texas and the only Fey land on Earth.
Chapter Two
I know I mentioned how expensive the tickets to the fundraiser were, but to give you more clarity, the President of the United States could not afford to attend. No politicians could. Or if they could, I think they were ignored. Azrael didn't want to deal with politics at the party. After the world leaders visited Faerie, we'd both had enough of them.
And there he was, in his Faerie God finery—leather and leaves mostly. Whatever Az wore, he looked magnificent, and I meant that to include his multiple guises—Angel, Faerie God, or Death, he was delicious. So, I had to pause a moment to appreciate the sight of him standing among the humans, dwarfing them with his height and bulk, much of that in his wings. He nodded, his impressive rack catching the light. Rack as in antlers. He had golden ones growing out of his head. Gold shone in his wings too—faerie dust sparkling in the black feathers.
As if he could sense us, the Faerie God's bright green eyes—the ones our sons had inherited (in his other form they were pale blue)—shifted our way. His face creased in a big grin, and he excused himself. The humans he'd been speaking to watched him go, then saw where he was headed and gaped at us.
This was the first public appearance of the Faerie God's sons. Not their first time in the citadel, mind you. We'd brought them down many times before along with Vero and Lesya, so they could play with the Wild Fey kids and explore the vast magical land beneath the citadel. But this was their firstappearance with the human public. It was a big deal. On top of Sebastian and Dominic being Azrael's children, they had wings—always a hit with humans, and then there were their siblings. We had explained my relationship with Azrael and my other husbands to the world, but I don't think everyone truly grasped what our family was like. Now, they'd see it in person. At least, these very wealthy individuals would.
Trevor and Kirill drew our children closer when we became the center of attention. But people weren't staring at Vero or Lesya. As magical as they were, it didn't show as it did with the twins. They could pass for human. Not so much with Dominic and Sebastian. At least not when their wings were out. So every stare was on them.
“Daddy!” Dominic cried.
“Poky Daddy!” Sebastian said.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. With Azrael's multiple forms, our boys had nicknamed the ones they saw the least. His normal form was Daddy, but his Death guise was Bone Daddy (my favorite), and the Faerie God was Poky Daddy because of the antlers. I was a little surprised at how easily they accepted that their father had three bodies. But then again, they'd been raised in the God Realm around a bunch of werelions, their uncles were some of the most powerful gods in existence, and their father was the Angel of Death and the Faerie God. Not to mention they could do a partial shift by banishing their wings. In light of it all, Az shapeshifting into other forms was nothing. They had even giggled the first time they saw him transform.
“My boys!” Azrael declared and gathered them up from Re and me. With one hooked over each elbow, he curled his wings around them and kissed their cheeks. “You look so handsome in your suits.”
“Good, because it wasn't easy to get them into those things,” I muttered.
The boys giggled.
“Fly!” Sebastian said as he tried to climb Azrael's shoulder.
“Not right now, Sebastian,” Az said and wrestled him back down. Az was an expert in dealing with our sons. But then, he'd once been a winged child. “There are a lot of people who want to meet you.”
The Wild Fey kids were in attendance as well, all dressed up in fancy duds—as my newest lion, Captain Austin Wright, would say. Cowboy Cop was there as well, wandering through the crowd as a representative of the local police department. Mainly, he just wanted to attend the fancy shindig. The kids were chaperoned by their parents or nannies and were already pulling at their collars and frills. It was the reason we decided to bring our children to the party. Not to keep them from disrobing—more common with children than you might think—but as a sort of all's-fair gesture. If they had to get gawked at, then so did our kids.
And this was the safest environment in which to introduce them to the world. Inside the Golden Citadel, Azrael reigned supreme. He could shift the structure and use it to combat any invaders. If one of the humans got out of line, he would see to it that they snapped back in place. There were no photographs allowed inside the citadel, so that ensured that pictures of the kids wouldn't be circling the Internet or the news stations. The Press had been informed of the event but weren't allowed to attend. There was probably a horde of them at the gate, but all they'd get would be pictures of the guests leaving.
This is what the humans had paid the big bucks for—an exclusive look at the Faerie God's home and an introduction to his family. They had already been given a limited tour of thecitadel, accompanied by Az and his citadel guards. Although Azrael hadn't been born a faerie, he was still the one bound to the Wild Magic that had invaded Earth and was the only one who could control it. I guess that technically made him a faerie. Whatever he was, he was in charge, and the High King of Faerie supported him by sending Fey soldiers to help Azrael guard the Golden Citadel. It was more about protecting the Elemental Well in the subterranean level of the citadel than Az, but still, it was nice of King Cian.
“Are we going to make the rounds, then?” I asked.
“No. That could get confusing. I might not make it to everyone,” Az said, his arm clamped around Sebastian to still his wriggling. “Instead, we've got a meeting room set up just off the ballroom.” He waved toward a door nearby. “I'll take you in and then make the announcement that we're ready for them to line up.”
I snickered.
“What?”
