“What is Elijah doing here?” Santanos asks mildly.
“He’s here as the representative of the gods who figured out what the fuck is happening, specifically Harmonia, his grandmother. What is your entourage doing here?” Darcy questions with a hint of annoyance.
“I don’t go anywhere without my bodyguards, and Edovard is my mate. He goes where I go for the simple joy of his company.”
Edovard leans down and hugs Santanos from behind. “I love being with you.”
“That’s so sweet. I’m glad your mate can join us like this,” I say, resting an arm around Darcy. “It’s nice to see that.”
Darcy shoots me a look that makes me think he might not agree, and Bellamy walks over, hugging Edovard around the waist when the giant man releases Santanos. “Hello, baby brother.”
Edovard smiles happily at the nickname. He’s such a loving guy. I bet those are the best hugs. “Hey, can I get one of those over here?” I ask, opening my arm that isn’t on Darcy.
Edovard lights up with happiness and trundles over to me, giant that he is. He stops in our personal space, looking down at Darcy. “Is it ok if I hug your mate? You can have a hug, too, if you want?”
Darcy shakes his head, stepping out from under my arm. “No, thank you, big guy. I’m good with Elijah.”
Edovard smiles softly. “Yeah, you are,” he agrees, then pulls me into a gentle hug full of the warmth of familial love. Edovard must exude it from his pores, he’s so comforting.
“You ready for a planning sesh for how to save the world?” I ask him as he steps back.
He glances back at Santanos, who nods. “I guess that’s what we’re doing. Not on the sidewalk, though, right?” he asks, glancing up at the sky. It’s a clear blue day, so I’m not sure why he’s worried.
“We’re going to meet with the council,” Santanos assures him, soothing a hand up the big man’s back.
Edovard perks up. “Grandpa D!”
Darcy grumbles beside me. “Bellamy,” he says, gesturing to the building across the courtyard.
Bellamy grimaces, but he dutifully starts walking toward the office building that houses all the minions of good.
“Darcy fucking Hellspinner, what the fuck has taken you so fucking long to get here?”
We all turn at the smooth tenor with the voice of an angel, and my entire being goes from curious to elated at the speed of light.
Before me, sitting in a chair hovering about three feet off the ground, looking down at Darcy from his hover-chair throne, is a dude with long ash blond hair pulled into a smooth queue at the base of his neck, wearing a dark blue suit with a yellow shirt and gold tie. His steel gray eyes stare down at Darcy without even acknowledging the rest of us.
“I don’t know you,” Darcy tells the man, examining him from head to toe. “Who the fuck are you?”
The man scowls at him. “Furion Steelhorse. Right now, I’m the Avatar of Neutrality’s right hand, at least according to my ancestors and the magic that inhabited you.” He jerks his hand at the building across the street from us. “I’ve been holding down the fort, waiting for you to show up. Chaos is fine, but you lost ninety percent of your dispatchers and more than half of the advocates. There’s a lot of clean up and hiring to do with the Depot before we can begin sending out the Reapers again. Plus we’re moving that operation to this building and that generates even more chaos.”
The look on Darcy’s face and the tremble in his body tells me that whatever is happening with Furion, he’s not in the right headspace for it, so I step up. He’s protected me from danger more than once. I think I should take up some of the slack.
“I’m Elijah,” I introduce myself, waving to make sure Furion’s eyes are on me. “Is that a hover chair?”
Furion narrows his eyes at me. “Yes. It is. Do you mind? I’m trying to talk to Darcy.”
I smile and step directly between him and Darcy. “You’re full of really helpful information, and I appreciate that, but you’re also interrupting a save-the-world meeting between the Avatars. Whatever the Depot is, whatever is happening there, is going to have to be in chaos for a little longer, because if we don’t fix the universe-destroying evil happening right now, there won’t be any chaos to fix.
“You seem like a really competent second in command for my mate, and we’re going to have to lean on your competence for a while longer. I promise, Darcy will be back as soon as the world isn’t in imminent danger of getting eaten.”
Furion stares at me for three long seconds, then he blows out a frustrated breath. “Yes, fine. I’ll continue to hold down the fort, but I refuse to listen to any complaints about the reorganization of the Depot. I am a wedding planner by trade. I know the skills overlap, but I wasn’t expecting to do all the initial work alone.”
“You’re doing an incredible job, Furion. Thank you for having my man’s back while he’s taking care of this other thing.” I completely understand getting overwhelmed when you’re thrown into a job you didn’t exactly sign up for. “You’re a cool dude. I like your chair.”
Furion gives me a sour look. “I’d prefer for my legs to work,” he deadpans, then he and his chair fly off, heading over the cars in the street to the building that is apparently Darcy’s new office space.
I turn to my mate, offering him my hand again. “You got a great right hand man there. Little high strung, but competent. You ready to go?”
