“I’m a little disappointed,” I said. “I was getting used to us sleeping in a dog pile.”
He chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist. “You never have to sleep alone. You know that, right?”
Smiling at him, I nodded. “Yeah, I know. I really don’t mind sleeping alone. It’s nice sometimes.”
“I wouldn’t know,” he said, smirking. I grinned in return.
“I guess I just liked having us all together. Knowing that everyone was there and breathing.”
“Yep, I understand that,” he said.
Tem walked out of his room then. “We can always convert a room into a sleeping nest that fits us all,” he said. “Or build one.”
“I think this house is big enough. I still get lost over a month later,” I said.
They both laughed as Kohara turned me toward the stairs, though we took the lift down two floors. Today was the day that we were heading to The Harem Project. We were going to get a report on what they found and see what they thought was going on. What Silence’s intent was and why. I didn’t know if I was anxious, terrified, or excited. Maybe all three.
It felt as though everyone shared the same mixed emotions that I did. We gathered around the kitchen that morning, sitting close and squished around the table instead of spreading out around the room, as we ate the half a dozen quiches in silence.
This was a big moment for us. We were facing something that was traumatizing and still knowing that we weren’t going to get any closure. All we had were guesses.
After we ate, we piled into three vehicles and followed Kohara.
The relocation portals didn’t tell us where we crossed into. While I knew that signs saying ‘Welcome to Ohio’ would be a dead giveaway and be begging for human attention around the hidden in plain sight portals, it would have been nice to have some indication of what continent we’d just crossed into at least.
Sure, I could ask, but it wasn’t all that important. Just a curiosity as I watched the early morning sun suddenly change to dusk as we crossed through the arch. Being suddenly surrounded by nighttime told me in what direction we traveled at least.
We parked in an underground garage that felt too crowded for the time of day. Though I supposed that most of The Harem Project operations are twenty-four hours, so that meant they were fully staffed regardless of the time of day. Which worked out well since their employees were all over the world.
Joining us were Juniper Daemon, Bryn Savage, and Lazarus Malak. I could tell a demon from a mile away so Juniper was easy to identify. And I already knew Laz was a Nephilim. How could I forget that, when he’d saved two of my husbands’ lives recently. But all I knew about Bryn was that he was amonster. Something dark and terrifying. The darkest of monsters could hide their kind from other supernaturals when they wanted. I didn’t know if it was intentional on Bryn’s part or not, but if I remembered correctly, I thought he was a fouke.
And if that was the case, I’d rather hang out with the demon.
We greeted our friends before heading into the building and following Koh through the hallways. Somehow we managed to squeeze into one elevator, though it was tight with a lot of groping hands. I didn’t mind at all.
“That was closer than I’d like to be with you,” Juniper said as we stepped out, looking at Notus with a bemused smile.
Notus smirked, waggling his eyes. “Sure it is, demon. I felt your hands.”
Juniper rolled his eyes and turned to Koh. Kohara grinned and we followed him down hallways until he opened a conference room door. This one was bigger than the last one I accompanied him to. There were more than a dozen people already there, some I vaguely recognized from that first meeting. We gathered around the table, coming up a few seats short.
No one complained, we just sat on laps. I stifled a laugh when Notus patted his lap for Juniper, giving him a wink and suggestive eyebrow waggle. The demon sighed, shook his head, and urged Arat up. Aratiri happily sat in Notus’s lap, giving him a kissy face before he settled and faced the table. I settled in Nephele’s lap, giving up my chair to one of the others.
“I apologize, Kohara. I didn’t realize you’d be bringing guests with your family,” a man said.
Kohara shrugged. “No worries.”
“Before we begin, I’d like to inquire that you’re well? All of you?” the same man asked.
Kohara nodded, giving him a smile. “We’re fine, Wayne. A bit of a road to get there, but I assure you, we’re healed and good as new. Thank you.”
Wayne nodded. He took a breath and shifted to the screen that covered the wall behind them. The lights dimmed as a projector came on and an image of the nets covered the wall. It was almost frightening how real it looked. As if it were three dimensional and hanging in the middle of the room.
“What we’ve found is that the magic attached to this is very deep, complicated spells. Witch’s magic, of course, which seems to be a major theme in our findings going forward,” Wayne said.
“Witch magic?” Nephele asked, shifting me in his lap. He narrowed his eyes. “Maybe we need to get a Taika on the phone so they can listen in.”
Saar nodded and pulled out his phone. We waited for him to explain before setting it on speaker and shoving it to the center of the table. “I have Lazer on the line. Torin and Veri are with him.”
