“Long, but the leaves got more colorful the further north we came,” Chris said, handing Wulf to Declan.

“Ajik?” the tiny boy asked, eyes gleaming as he held onto Declan. Cora spun around in Toni’s arms at the word. “Ajik?” she repeated, staring at Declan.

With a laugh, Declan turned his right palm up and formed a ball of blue lighting, just about the size of a billiard ball. Then its crackling, snapping arcs became smooth and silvery like a spinning orb of liquid mercury. The round shape lengthened out into a teardrop, then a tendril of silver that stretched forth a frond to tickle Wulf’s nose. At his giggle, the tendril snapped back like it was scared, becoming an orb once more. The mirrored surface expanded and the ball grew to orange-sized, then grapefruit-sized, and finally melon-sized, the silver turning to rainbow colors before it burst apart silently into droplets of individual colors that evaporated instantly into nothingness.

“Mor’, mor’, mor’,” a pair of little voices chorused.

“Now, now, let’s get everyone inside before Uncle Declan does more magic,” Toni said, sounding closer to forty than fourteen. Putting action to her words, she carried Cora inside, where a pack of young witches immediately crowded around the cute toddler. Declan followed a pace or two behind, not that distance mattered as he too was instantly swarmed, or rather, Wulf was. Within seconds, he was relieved of his burden by Erika, and oddly, it was her own twin, Britta, who now held Cora.

The rest of the party came indoors: Chris, Gina, Deckert and about half his people, and, of course, Awasos, who was himself the center of attention by the weres in the building’s foyer.

Relieved of the twins, Declan followed Chris and Gina into Gina’s office, where he gave them both an update on the state of the demon situation as he knew it.

“You think this demon came over, fully incarnate, from Fairie?” Gina asked.

“We closed a portal in Florida that has obvious ties to Fairie,” Chris said.

“Likely Summer,” Declan said. Gina raised an eyebrow in question. “It was guarded by Tinks and Summer goblins.”

“Wait, Florida? Do you think… Walt Disney?” Gina asked.

“Sure, why not? It was an older portal,” Declan said.

“The point is,” Chris said, waving the Disney bit aside, “that we tracked this thing up the East Coast.”

“And it did something to Toni’s necklace?” Gina asked, voice firming as she said her daughter’s name.

“And killed your family dentist,” Chris said, nodding.

“Why?”

“Remove a source of information. Nika would have been able to gather a lot of intel from poor Dr. Reynolds,” Chris said.

“Why so bloody? Why not an accident?” Gina asked.

“She might be just indulging her demonic nature,” Declan answered.

“Or throwing out a challenge,” Chris said.