The reporters who had followed us from the crime scene merged with the ones whom the neighbors were letting camp on their property, for a fee of course, and we were all home. Rhys hit the button that opened the gates in the tall stone wall and in we went. It had become automatic to ignore the shouted questions from the reporters who rushed forward. They stayed off the edge of Maeve's property. I kept waiting for one of them to notice that they never, ever crossed that invisible line, but so far they hadn't.
We were within our rights, and so was Maeve, to prevent trespassing. We were even allowed to use magic to prevent it as long as said magic wasn't harmful. We'd simply reinforced Maeve's own wards, and the reporters stopped every time just like we wanted. It was nice that something was doing just what we wanted.
I'd called Lucy on the ride over, and told her everything Jordan had told us. It helped, but not enough. Julian texted me and told me that his brother was fine and wouldn't have to be held overnight at the hospital. Marshal the EMT wasn't the only one who had started treating shocky psychics more seriously. Marshal had just been the first medical professional to admit why. I appreciated that.
Rhys pulled up in front of the big main house because we'd moved into it from the guest house, giving the guest house over to our newer members. I'd asked Maeve's permission before the move, but again it left me wondering what we'd do when she rightfully wanted her house back. I put the thought away, and concentrated on the more immediate problems like a magical serial killer, and would Barinthus defy me or would he be here for dinner, or...
Then the big double doors opened and Nicca and Biddy were there waving at us. He had his arm across her shoulders and she had hers around his waist. He was just a shade taller than her six feet of sidhe warrior. His long brown hair was in two knee-length braids on either side of his handsome face, but it was the smile in his brown face that made him truly beautiful. Biddy's smile echoed his, though she was pale, her black curls cut short around her face. They both had brown eyes, and the baby probably would, too. She'd just started to show a little, though unless you knew what you were looking for under her shorts and tank top you wouldn't know it was a baby.
Her bare arms and legs were long, and showed muscles moving smooth under her skin as she came around to my side of the car. Nicca got Rhys's door. He was a little less muscled than she was, though not by much, but the easy happiness that they seemed to feel for each other made me happy every time I saw it. They were the first of us to get officially married, and it seemed to agree with both of them.
Biddy didn't get the door for Cathbodua. She had seen where I was and got the back door, which actually meant she was letting Galen out first. "Welcome home, everybody," Biddy said. She glowed not just with the pregnancy, but with love. Whenever I was around them I had hopes that the rest of our sidhe would pair up and it would be the beginning of a lot of happily ever after for a lot of our people.
"Good to be home," Galen said as he scooted out. Nicca got the door on the other side and Sholto scooted out, too. They both put their hands back in for me, and there was that awkward moment when the two men looked across the car at each other. But it was Galen, and most of the time he made things easier, not harder.
He did a little half salute and said, "You're on the side with the house."
Sholto smiled at him, because he was a good king, and good leaders appreciate people who make things easier. "Is that the system you've worked out? Whoever is closest to the house gets to help her out?"
"If she's in the backseat," Galen said, "but if she's in front, then Biddy or Nicca or whoever gets to the passenger side helps her out."
Sholto nodded. "Very logical." He offered me his hand and I took it, letting him help me scoot over the seat. Nicca and Biddy were already at the back to help Uther out. You could fold the seats we were in down, but why make him squirm through when you could just open the back?
Saraid actually took Uther's hand to get out of the back of the SUV. It pleased him that she took his help. She was tall and muscled and trained in both weapon and magic, which meant she didn't need the help, but she'd taken his comfort and now she gave it back to him, by letting him help her.
I could hear the high, excited barking of the dogs inside. That, too, was a happy thing. The faerie hounds had vanished with our magic fading, but when the Goddess returned some of the magic she also returned some of our animals. The first to return were the dogs.
Biddy laughed. "Kitto is trying to keep them still, but they've all missed their masters and mistress."
Rhys was at the door first, and tried to keep the door closed enough so he could slip inside without the furry horde getting past him, but it was a losing battle. They flowed out around him, nine of them, all terriers, staying to mill about his feet. He bent over to touch the heads of the black-and-tan terrier pair, a breed that hadn't existed in centuries but was the founding breed of most of the modern terrier breeds. The rest of them were all white with red markings, the original colors of most faerie animals.
Galen was almost covered in small lapdogs and tall, graceful greyhounds. For whatever reason, he'd gotten more dogs than any other sidhe. The lapdogs capered around his legs, and the greyhounds nuzzled him for petting. He did his best to give them all attention.
Sholto let me have my hands free to greet my own dogs. There were only two dogs for me, but they were slender and lovely. Mungo was taller than the modern standard allowed, but Minnie was within range, though now her belly was swollen tight with puppies. She was due any day, and she would be the first of the dogs to give birth. One of the best dog vets in the area had started making house calls. We had a camera set up and a live feed on the computer. The computer savvy of us had come up with the idea to charge people for watching the birth of the first faerie dogs born in more than three centuries. Apparently, we were having a lot of people sign up for it, some because of the dogs, and some because they hoped to see me and the men on camera with the dogs, but whatever the motive it was surprisingly lucrative, and with this many people to take care of we needed it to be.