Page 32 of My Haven
“Thank the gods,” Konstantine muttered.
Aiden looked around. “You drive over?”
Zev chuckled. “No sir. Like Lycaonia, Storm Keep was built in a time before cars.”
“Carriages?” Aiden asked.
Caiden reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “No sir, ATVs.”
Aiden grinned. “Let’s go.”
*****
Caiden led the men to their normal parking spots just inside the outer wall in the Lower City. They paid a nice couple every year for the ability to park there. What the couple made from the units had supported their families for generations.
Mikel took point and walked them through the Lower City, up the Market Road to the walled gate separating the Lower Cityand the Inner City. They walked through the gate, and he turned to head west toward the Fire Temple.
Two stooges in Academy Robes stood on either side of the gate protecting the temple. Mikel walked straight toward them. When they saw him approaching, they held up their hands. “Stop. No one is permitted to enter the Fire Temple without the council’s permission,” the one on the right declared with a sneer on his face.
Mikel simply backhanded him, causing the man to land in a heap on the ground. “Your failure to recognize me just shows how lacking the Academy is lately,” he said, standing over the man.
The second one made the mistake of grabbing Mikel’s arm. His former unit brother reared back and punched him. The man howled clutching at his face.
Mikel stepped over the man and pushed at the gate. It swung wide at the touch of his hand. “Gentlemen, I welcome you to the Fire Temple, watch your step, someone left trash just outside.”
Aiden was all smiles as they followed Mikel through the temple grounds.
When they got to the main building Andrei met them at the door. “You do not have the council’s permission to be here!”
Mikel stared, then pointed to the temple’s large, elaborate gardens. “I do not have permission to be in my own home? Since when?”
Andrei sputtered.
Aiden leaned in and rested an elbow on Mikel’s shoulder. “This is the man that abused Zoe on a daily basis and tried to force her into a mating.” Seconds later he had to step back as the air around the witch became superheated.
Andrei held up his hands. “I helped her with her duties!”
Mikel stepped away from them, moving toward Andrei, the man stepped back. “What duties could a barely of age witch possibly have?” he asked.
“We had her run the Temple, since an Appleblossom has always been in charge of the Fire Temple. If you did not want her performing those duties, you shouldn’t have left,” Andrei said, backing up even more.
Caiden blinked and missed Mikel grabbing the arm of the officious man. Andrei began to shriek in pain, trying desperately to pull away. “You have five minutes to clear the temple grounds of any Academy or Witches’ Council personnel. I cannot guarantee their safety or lives after that.”
Andrei collapsed, then struggled to his feet to scramble away from them.
Aiden looked at Mikel. “That was anti-climactic,” he complained.
“Come now, Commander. One, do you really think they’ll listen? And two, do you think that will be the end of it?”
Zev looked at the sprawling building. “You going to invite us in?”
Mikel bowed. “Welcome, to my humble abode. This is the main house, over there is the temple proper.”
Caiden shook his head. “Humble, my ass.”
As they walked through the family estate, Caiden noticed that Mikel’s expression darkened. “Our family’s heirlooms are gone. Paintings are missing. It looks like everything has been stripped bare.”
He stopped, then suddenly turned left. He led them down a hall and stopped at the end. He hesitated, then opened the door. One by one the men filed in.
