“Well, for now, they need to eat their dinner and get ready for bed,” Tanya said, moving across the room so fast, she seemed to disappear and reappear. She snatched Wulf out of his father’s hand, swinging the delighted little boy in a circle as she danced out of the room. Chris looked at his daughter and found her frowning. Imperiously, she pointed one hand for him to follow the other two. “You truly are your mother’s daughter.” Then he swooped and swung her like a toy plane, jetting out of the playroom.

The family of four was all in the hallway together when the audio system spoke again.

“Tanya, there is an incoming call from someone purporting to be an assistant to an Elder.”

“Must be Grandmother,” Tanya said, handing Wulf to her husband.

“No, I believe the Elder in question is named Mausya.”

Tanya shared a frown with Chris before turning back toward the living room to take the call.

Thirty minutes later, she appeared in the doorway to the twins’ bedroom, standing silently as Chris read a story about a family of bears going on a mountain vacation where everything went wrong. The fact that all three of them were leaning against a furry bear mountain of their own was ironic enough to make Tanya’s serious expression slip into an affectionate smile. The story finished and she swooped in to claim Cora for bed tucking while Chris handled Wulf. Awasos shrank from ginormous bear to merely huge wolf and gave each twin a lick before trotting off toward the kitchen.

“What’s up,” Chris asked, carefully shutting the door as they exited the twins’ room.

Tanya frowned. “I don’t know. The Elders are calling me to Europe… to Paris. Elders, as in Tzao and Mausya. It has something to do with Grandmother. She called after Mausya and demanded I back her, but wouldn’t tell me what I was to back her on.”

“Lydia?” he asked.

She nodded. “She’s reaching out to her network of Coven sources, but it looks like I have to go to Europe. Omega is filing new flight plans. Mother is coming as well.”

“We’ll go with you then,” he said.

“No, you’ll go deal with that demon bitch before she does whatever she’s here to do. Nika will help, and I understand Stacia and Holly are coming back to Maine today with their new recruit, that deputy that got bit when Steclan was dealing with the rogues and the witch up there.”

“Twins with you?” he asked.

“No, you. You have a babysitter who lives in a guarded facility, surrounded by werewolves and witches, wearing your God Tear necklace. Me, I’ll have all kinds of vampire factions who might do something stupid like try to kidnap the twins.”

His face hardened to stone and she could just about see his purple eyes glow as he considered anyone kidnapping his children.