I snatched my pants up my legs as Drace stuck her head in the door. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her face was pointed up towards the ceiling. "Is she ready?""Get the fuck out of here, Drace!" Tag snarled at her. I chuckled. "She's in the shower. She'll be out when she's out. Don't pester her. Now seriously, leave.""Fine. I'm going, I'm going. Bunch of killjoys. You guys still have to talk to the Elders by the way. Seems they want some kind of new council to be formed?" She shut the door before I could open my mouth to comment. I looked at my brothers. "What the fuck?"They both shrugged as they pulled their clothes back on. "I'm taking a shower. I'll be out in ten minutes," Tove said. He strode to the door, went through. Tag soon followed after him. I didn't want to interrupt Stretch in her shower. I knew how much she liked them. So I just cleaned up as best as I could and threw a shirt on. Walking out my door to the living room, I saw that Drace hadn't been lying.

"Let's go kill us a Merlin," the stranger goddess said as she laid her hand against my chest. Okay, fine, she has a name. Kiema Sova. But I wasn't planning on getting accustomed to using it. She didn't even know who Merlin was. What kind of goddess was she supposed to even be that she didn't recognize the greatest druid in the entire world?The world around me shifted and slid to the side as her fingers touched the skin of my chest. I blinked when I found myself standing back in the living room of my home with my men. Thane, Tagan, and Toven stood around me in a loose circle as Ari-my grandmother and goddess-smiled. "Bring her back," Tagan demanded. I smiled. "I'm fine, Grumpy." He yanked me into his arms, a low, continuous growl pushing from his chest. His triplet brothers, Thane and Toven, edged in front of me. I could see the fine muscles of their shoulders twitching while their hands clenched and relaxed."What the fuck was that?" Thane demanded of the new people st

Once most of the group had left, I sat in the chair Stretch had vacated and pulled her down into my lap. I swore I could feel her discomfort while they'd been here. It felt like fire ants under my skin. Not reaching for her, comforting her, defending her, had been a struggle. One I wasn't eager to repeat. She curled her long legs up as she cuddled against me. "I don't like them," she whispered.I smiled, kissed her hair. "Then once this is all done, you don't ever have to talk to them again."She sank into me. "Good.""Goddess Hollyn, we would still like to discuss an alliance with you," Esmerelda said. Stretch sighed, pushed herself up from my lap. "Of course, Elder. As I mentioned previously, we would be honored to have you fight beside us." She looked at the other elders. "But as for the rest of you, this is not a fight you need to be in. There is no guarantee that we will win. If your thunder has depleted numbers, this could prove disastrous."The other elders smiled.

As if greedy fingers tore at my clothes, I was sucked into the wall. Into the Veil. An explosion of memory ripped through my consciousness. I saw myself standing in the Veil not even a handful of days ago. Three gods, a bubbling cauldron, and the inanimate body of Patrick dumped in the pot like he was a cinnamon stick in a mulled cider. Keep going, cheeks. Keep going, Grumpy called out mentally.I forced myself to ignore the memories, to put one foot in front of the other. What had felt like someone ripping and pulling at me before, now felt like I was trying to force my way through a mostly frozen lake. Complete with shivers and shudders. Just when I thought I couldn't take another step, I pushed through some kind of barrier and fell through to the forest floor of the Valley. Jeremiah and Lukas kept their grips on me as my knees gave out. They helped haul me back up as we walked far enough into the Valley to allow the rest of our group to join us. As soon as I felt the

Hols' hand clenched in mine so tightly I feared for my ability to ever surf a keyboard again. Damn, she's strong. I tried to wiggle my fingers as I fought to see beyond the trees. Once I squatted down, I squeezed her fingers. Sweet sacred stars. "What the fuck?" I blinked, hoping the images seared into my brain would change. That it was just a really realistic movie or a special effects reel. Another high piercing scream tore through the air. I shuddered. Squeezed my eyes closed for a long five seconds. I took a deep breath. Forcing my eyes open, I watched as robed and hooded figures cut down the missing people of the Village. Men had been hacked into pieces. Arms and legs looked like a child knocked over a Lincoln Log building set.The women though...the women had been tortured. Slices had been cut away. Strips of flesh littered the ground like the molted skin of a snake. Lumps, that on closer inspection turned out to be breasts, dotted the ground like mushrooms. "What t