“Oh, I didn’t want this at all. No, not at all,” Mayor Jordan said, turning a glance at McCluskey. “In the short time you’ve been here, your organization has been a boost to our economy and your gifts and grants have benefited the city and colleges greatly. We should rethink this, Senator.”

The look he gave her was that of incredulous betrayal followed by a flash of rage that was quickly hidden behind his professional mask.

“Well, regardless of what you decide, I think I’m done,” Declan said. “I have too much to do now for school anyway. But I’ll come visit my aunt and Darci whenever the hell I want and if anyone bothers them in any way, I’ll straighten it out. That, by the way, is a warning, not a threat.”

McCluskey bristled at his words but Chris noted that Schulz and Chief Park went a little tense.

“No, young man, that sounds like a full-on threat, doesn’t it, Chief?” McCluskey asked.

“Correction, Senator. If Father were making a threat, he would be specific about what he might do to anyone who harmed his family. His options are vast. He might choose to direct lightning from the sky or burn things to the ground. Now, I, on the other hand, would probably talk about releasing the contents of personal hard drives, email accounts, internet surfing histories, or even the existence of a Dark Web account or two. To start.”

Now it was McCluskey who had gone tense, but he kept his mouth shut, even if his lips flattened out into a thin line.

“Ah, Declan, you said you’d been asked to leave another city? Which one?” Mayor Jordan asked, clearly desperate to change topics.

“Idiria. It’s on Fairie,” the young witch said like it was no big deal.

“Fairie? Didn’t this demon escape to there?” Jordan asked, clearly alarmed.

“Yes, she came here from Fairie. The Summer Court sent her and that’s where she went back to. Idiria is further north, in the Middle Realm.”

“And they exiled you?” she asked, clearly uncertain of where to go with the conversation.

“Heavens no,” Stacia snorted. “He owns it. They can’t throw him out. They were just scared like you all are.”

“Owns it?” McCluskey asked. “The whole city?”

“No. The whole Middle Realm. That’s why the Summer Queen wants him. That, plus he kicked her ass last time they got into it,” Stacia said, scooping up mashed potatoes with a spoon.

“We. We kicked her ass. It was a team effort,” Declan said, then got a mouthful of potatoes from his girlfriend, which shut him up.

“Father, I’ve been meaning to ask—when you feel up to it, could you open a portal for me? I want to send a few things to the Summer Court,” Omega asked.