Page 4 of Midnight in the Garden of Okay and Meh
We were, and after placing our orders and reminding the server to make sure nothing poisonous to dogs was put on Jim’s burger, we settled in for a chat.
Everything was peaceful until our dinners came, and May turned to Allie and asked, “Did you ever figure out the problem with your thanes? The ones that you thought would turn out to be a threat?”
“Oh, the thanes!” Allie glanced at Christian, whose lips twisted.
“Unfortunately, that problem still besets us,” Christian said in a somewhat grudging tone.
“I’m surprised to hear that,” Karma said. “Considering how effective you and your nephew were against the imp attack at the airport. I’ve never seen anyone wield a sword like Finch and you.”
One of Christian’s shoulders twitched. “Unfortunately, Finch and his Beloved have, inadvertently, made the situation somewhat worse.”
“Finch and Tatiana—that’s his wife; they met a few months ago and fell hard for each other—now run one of the sections of the underworld.” Allie gestured with a fork full of pasta. “We’re going to visit them in two months, once they have their area set up. Evidently, even in the afterlife there’s a lot of red tape to get things functioning smoothly. The end result, though, is that Finch can’t leave his spot without a lot of fuss and bother.”
Adam looked more than a little surprised. “Finch is running one of the Hours? The underworld Hours?”
“Yes,” Christian said, his jaw working for a few seconds. “It’s not ideal, but since he says he is perfectly content to continue the role as lord of the Hour in recognition of his part in the freeing of the thane, then we are happy for him.”
“Finch and Tatiana are ridiculously in love,” Allie added with a smile at her husband. “When we video chatted last week, they kept making googly eyes at each other. It was so romantic. Although it did drive home the point that it’s been ages since Christian googly-eyed me.”
“I am a Dark One! I never googled you!” he protested, his brows together.
I gave a mental snicker at the fact that evidently male vampires were just as touchy about things as dragons.
“That term has a different meaning now,” Allie told him with a wink, and what I assumed was a grope to his leg, since he gave her a long, slow look in response.
“One of these thanes is out of the underworld?” Baltic asked, immediately capturing my attention. I noticed both Drake and Gabriel giving him the same consideration, mostly due to the fact that Baltic—despite his protestations—had experience with beings that missed the rest of us. He turned to Ysolde. “Did you not tell me that they tried to destroy Abaddon?”
“Yes,” she answered, then made a helpless gesture. “But I only know what Allie told us on our ‘mates and more’ group chat. Why? Is something wrong? I mean, other than the obvious fact that the vampires don’t want him out of the underworld?”
Baltic took a big swig of dragon’s blood. “If you consider having a formerly imprisoned demigod with vengeance on his mind now released into the mortal world wrong, then yes. It is a problem I would not relish having to deal with.” He gave a little nod toward Christian. “You’re going to have a hell of a time putting him back.”
“I am well aware of that fact,” Christian said, and for a moment, he, too, wore Drake’s patented martyred expression. I wondered if it was something males learned at some point in their lives, and made a mental note to ask Drake later. “The Moravian Council has been holding nearly daily meetings to discuss our options.”
“So far, we have none,” Allie said, leaning into Christian. “Finch is researching like crazy from the records in his Hour, but has come up with little more than it is going to take an act of god to get Owain back into the custody of the underworld.”
“Oooh,” Ysolde said, squaring her shoulders as she set down her fork. “Do I sense a problem needing to be solved by the collective power of mates and friends?”
“A problem!” I said, also sitting up straighter as I exchanged glances with the ladies.
“We can do it,” May said, pulling out a small notebook and a pen. “After all, look how well we did with finding Charity for the First Dragon. I’ll take notes, shall I? Can we get specific details on this Owain thane person?”
“I don’t think I know what’s going on,” Karma said, glancing around the table.
“Neither do I, but I think we’re about to become a mastermind,” Allie said, and pushed her nearly empty plate back. “And I, for one, would welcome any suggestions.”
“Beloved, our friends here mean well, but they are not au courant with details of Dark Ones—” Christian protested, but was cut off.
“Yes, but collectively, mates are helpful,” Ysolde told him. “And we have a bonus of having the wyverns here, and they know lots of ways to fight people. Baltic’s killed many people in a variety of ways, so I’m sure he’d have something helpful to offer—”
“Mate,” Baltic said on a long sigh. “As the Dark One says, we have no experience with their kind.”
Ysolde held on to a smile as she said, “Which means squat, since they are now our friends, and we are interested in our friends and want to help them. Brainstorm! That’s the word I was thinking of. Let’s brainstorm some ideas, shall we?”
“If it’s anything to do with Abaddon, then you’re going to need someone really powerful,” May said slowly, her gaze on Gabriel, who, after a moment’s thought, nodded.
“Demon-lord sort of powerful,” he said.
“Magoth?” I asked them. “I know he isn’t a demon lord anymore, but he knows that world better than anyone. Certainly better than me. I was a prince of Abaddon for only a few months.”
