Page 63 of God Touched

"Good idea. I'm starving," Imogen said, sitting down and going straight for the coffee pot.

"I can't imagine why," Elise replied with an innocent flutter of her lashes. Imogen flipped her off, making her gasp in outrage and Kian grin.

"You said you have found a way into Annwn?" Arawan asked, jumping straight to it. Imogen had started filling his plate without even realizing it. She scowled in confusion. She was fussing over him.

Goddamn it.

Bron was staring at her with an infuriating smile on her face. The others might not realize how out of character Imogen was acting, but her older sister did.

"Imogen mentioned obsidian gates last night, and it bugged me because I felt like I had seen something similar before," Killian said, leaning back in his chair. "When the fae were first cursed, I spent years tracking down every set of gates and weak points in Faerie, trying to find a way back into the human world. I found a weak spot that had two black obsidian monoliths. They were carved with glyphs I had never seen before. The whole place gave me the creeps so badly, I left and never dared attempt to see where they led."

"It sounds similar to the ones I kept finding myself at," Imogen replied, trying to recall more details. "I wasn't creeped out, though. I wanted to go through them."

"All the same, it's still worth investigating to confirm whether or not they lead to Annwn." Arawan steepled his fingers. "I will have to figure out a way to get to my weapons once I get into Annwn. I can't face Hafgan without protection. He's too skilled and too vicious. If I confront him with nothing on, he'll just strike me down."

Imogen's whole body filled with ice, but before she could snap, Kian put down his coffee.

"My brothers and I discussed that this morning too. We might not be able to follow you into Annwn to assist you in battle, but we can offer you something that can help," Kian said, and Bayn and Killian both nodded at him. "Our father had magical armor that we would like you to use. It is in Killian's castle in Faerie, so you will need to collect it before going to the black gate."

"What kind of magical armor?" Imogen asked.

"The unbreakable, impervious to damage kind," Killian replied. "Don't forget our parents were strong enough to keep Morrigan out of Faerie. The sword Bron carries was Father's too. His armor was made from the same meteorite metal the sword is."

"I would be honored to defeat our enemies wearing it," Arawan replied, with a bow of his head.

"So it looks like we are going to Faerie," Imogen said, shooting Arawan a wink. "I've never been, but it sounds fun."

"You still want to do this despite the danger?" Arawan asked, taking her hand.

Imogen's smile widened. "Death himself couldn't stop me."

"Smartass."

"You love my ass."

Arawan raised a brow at her. "Indeed. I'll be punishing it too once this is done."

"If you keep trying to stop me from coming with you, I'm going to fuck you so hard that you—"

"Hey! We are right here," Bron complained, tapping her fork loudly on her plate.

"So?" Imogen and Arawan said at the same time and then snickered.

"Fucking hell, there's two of them now," Killian said and laughed.

* * *

Imogen left the others to work out the logistics of a trip into Faerie and went and called Layla. Her sister picked up after five rings with a mumbled grunt.

"Still asleep, little sis?" Imogen teased.

"Went on a hunt last night. Where the fuck have you been? You think you could call me occasionally."

"Bron didn't tell you? We've had shit going on," Imogen replied. She gave a sleepy Layla a rundown of the last twenty-four hours.

"Goddamn it. You and Bron are the worst with keeping people in the loop." Layla muttered something, and there was a rustle of blankets. "Going into Faerie! For fuck's sake. I feel like you guys get to have all the fun projects."

"I dunno about that. I know how much you like regular camping, let alone a trek into Faerie. You'd hate it."