We head for the greenhouses, offering a bit of shelter and cover. The weather may be fine, but on the chance that a winged fae comes to check in or Elorie teleports any of her soldiers, we don’t want to be lying out in the open. At least like this, it might give us a leg up so we aren’t blindsided.
“I was thinking about that,” Dorian starts, opening the door. It’s warmer in here, far larger than ones I’ve seen on Earth, with row after row of plants as tall as Luce, overgrowing into one another without tending and spreading over the walkways. “Now that Victor’s been...handled, maybe we should head back and gather some supplies for this place. Check in with Atlas’ friend to see if there’s anyone else with a vendetta that’s been asking about Lucien, things like that.”
The river’s been routed so that a thin stream runs beneath the center of the greenhouses, and it’s likely the only thing that kept the plants thriving. As the sun heated, the water evaporated enough to cling to the glass ceiling and trickle down around the greenhouse. Maybe not ideal, but apparently enough for things to survive.
Definitely not our first time sleeping on the ground, Lucien leans against the wall at the end of an aisle and spreads his legs enough for me to lie down between them, using his thigh as a pillow. “Why bother?” His fingers smooth through my hair, not calling me out on how desperately I need a shower.
Dorian stretches out on his back beside us, folding his arms behind his head. “Because we don’t want to throw away any of our options when we currently have so few of them. The longer we go without returning home, the bigger the issues will be to deal with on that side. Even if no one realized we were abducted and tortured, the fact that our house was incinerated and then Luce and Victor both wind up missing? Their feud isn’t exactly a secret. Add in the fact that Belinda will be losing her shit that Lucien hasn’t checked in with work in so long, and the rumors will be flying about our disappearances.”
He sighs. “We can’t exactly work over here right now. Giving up access to all of that money and the resources it would provide is stupid. We can only keep showing up for so many more years as it is now before we’re going to have to wait until enough time passes that Lucien could pass off being his own son to keep the inheritance going. Immortality poses a lot of complications if we live long enough to have to deal with them. But with everyone over here wanting to kill us, having some things lined up over there is in our best interest in case we need to make a hasty exit at some point; now, or twenty years from now.”
“This is going to be a colossal mess to clean up.” Lucien uses his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, gazing up at the ceiling in a bid for patience and I smile softly at the old habit. We all might have changed, but some things will always stay the same. And the businessman hiding inside of the juggernaut? Too deeply ingrained to be eradicated.
Besides the snacks I’m going to have to start carrying around for when the changelings go on a rampage, I’ll have to tuck a flawed expense report and a red pen in my pocket for Luce if he goes off the rails to bring him back to me.
They carry on around me hashing out semantics, oblivious to my overtired, slap-happy mental pictures. The changelings curl up around us, awkward replicas of myself getting as comfortable as the place allows. One of them ends up snuggling my calf, Raziel dropping a pile of vegetables near Atlas with a pointed look like he’s still convinced the man would die without his help, and I just loose an amused breath at the ridiculousness of it all.
“What about the changelings? Do we really want to risk bringing them human side? It’ll be ten times harder to rein them back in without being able to siphon energy from Faerie.”
Dorian sounds completely confident. “I’ve got a plan for that part. You just get some rest, okay?”
Despite the ominous feeling in my gut that his words inspire, I can’t think of a more enticing idea right about now.
Chapter 14
Dorian
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“Careful!” I quicklysidestep, water sloshing over the rim of the bucket as a small branch falls where I was just standing, leaning against the tree Cambria’s busy climbing.
I bring the pail up to hold it protectively against my chest. “You best be prepared to catch a couple of squirrels or something if you hurt my babies.”
She scoffs, hoisting herself higher. “Can’t believe Loki actually fell for that after watching the other two.”
The three changelings are busy attempting to swim around each other in the too small, metal mop bucket. Lucien and Atlas set off to see just how big of a mess we’re dealing with and get the ball rolling to smooth things out, check in with Jeremy, and have Lucien’s old cards cancelled and new ones issued. But even with the changelings in a relatively harmless state currently, it’d be a hell of a gamble ensuring they stayed that way if we brought them into the city.
