Torin tapped his chin. “It's not too bad of a choice, Arturo. You already have Guardians.”
“Oh yeah. And there's a cool movie about them, you know, protecting the galaxy,” Silva added.
Romano laughed, even as Dominic groaned. “I swear, she and Romano are like a male and female version of each other.”
Silva looked down and kicked the ground dramatically. “Okay, so obviously we're not going to be guardians but protectors. And that sucks big balls because I had green paint. Hashtag, I wanted to be green. Hashtag, you all wouldn’t let me. Hashtag, it’s not easy being green. Hashta–”
Dominic rushed to interrupt her. “Well, 'portal cities' is an easy addition. Portal City Protectors.”
“Why not? It's simple and straight to the point. PCP for short,” Romano offered.
Arturo nodded. “Then that's what we will be. The Portal City Protectors can be called whenever needed to protect our city. Is this okay? Everybody in agreement?”
Everyone nodded their heads.
“Fine, that is clear. We'll keep the earpieces for the connections. We may need to work out other things in order for us to speed up communication. Kalinda, would you like to contact other Mage Councils and other cities?”
Kalinda nodded. “I'm on it. I can contact them to let them know what to be aware of since we now know that Skuld is moving.”
Zahara shifted forward. “Ya not goin’ t’ get much from N’Orleans.”
Kalinda lifted her brow. “Why?”
“Well, N’Orleans has t’eir own rules, chile. I happen t’ know the group t’ere. Ya let me call t’em an’ I'll let ya know wha’ t’ey say.”
“Sure, Zahara. You can handle New Orleans, but I'll contact the other portal cities we know of. We could get Boulder on because we've already worked with them when it came to the Renegades. Carlo, you still have a connection with New York City.”
Carlo groaned. “I don't necessarily like dealing with vampires, but I can reach out.”
“No problem. We'll get in with Miami, Los Angeles, Norfolk, Seattle, and we might even be able to get in with some islands. Trinidad and Tobago have their group as well, don't they?” Kalinda looked at Zahara.
Zahara nodded. “Yes, but ya prob’ly need me t’ contact t’em as well.”
“Thank you, I'd appreciate that.”
Arturo clapped his hands together. “So we have our orders. We're going to contact other packs and other locations. Kalinda will handle the mages. Zahara will contact any of the witch doctors and those who live on the outskirts and don't like being under the National mage councils or the International Bureau.”
“No pro’lem.”
Arturo looked to Carlo. “Now, back to you.”
But Carlo was seeing the past, seeing what was going on around him and scanning back and forth.
Arturo growled at Carlo. “We’re right here.”
“It’s going to take some getting used to,” Carlo returned with a grimace. “Seeing the past is still hard on me. I’m sort of starting to feel like Verdandi.”
“What?” Arturo scrunched up face, showing he had no idea what Carlo was talking about.
“It’s a lot to explain, so I won’t do it now. Needless to say, I understand that me being in the Chaos Realm will be better for all of us. With me controlling the flow of time and dealing with history, I’ll be able to give you another line of defense from within the Realm. At leastsomeonewill know if Skuld is coming.”
Arturo shook his head. “It’s still difficult learning who you are. I’m going to miss the hell out of you. But I understand where you must be, and mates always come first.”
“Don’t get sentimental on me now, Arturo. It’ll feel a little weird and I’m not used to it. But I do agree it will be better for me to be there. Isadora will have to deal with not being able to punch my balls every time she turns around.”
Arturo sighed and looked over at Nanshe. “Maybe it would be better for us not to tell her if Carlo cannot come back. Will he be able to leave his throne?”
Nanshe shook her head. “To be honest, I’m not sure. I know I can traverse through the Chaos as much as I want to, but Carlo is still getting used to his power. Every time he uses it, the Chaos wants him more. Hopefully, with more practice, he will be able to travel when he wants to. But until he gets good control over his use of portals, it’s better for us to be safe. However, you do have Fae, and with them you were able to travel much easier. We may be able to see if Kallan or Teague can travel when you want to.”
