He’d hoped to be in a much more impressive stance than leaned back in his chair with a napkin tucked into his collar when Dani saw his “seat of power” for the first time. But Jillian and Bael had brought by lunch and he wasn’t about to say no to Jillian’s grilled cheese sandwiches. She couldn’t cook much, but her grilled cheese was a work of carb-y art.

Dani strode into the office with purpose, and Zed’s feet dropped off his desk. He straightened in his chair as Dani skidded to a halt.

“Wow, you certainly have a lot of pictures of yourself,” she noted.

Zed’s only response was to grin. He’d devoted his office to all things awesome: pictures of Zed on his Harley, pictures of Zed fishing bare-handed, pictures of Zed’s maman, pictures of Zed with Bael and Jillian. He’d even crafted his own desk out of a huge live oak that had been struck by lightning out by his maman’s house. He carved the repeating pattern of Germanic runes into the face of the desk and its drawers with his own claws. He’d once even tried to refer to himself as “Zed Oakendesk” after watching The Hobbit one too many times. But Bael had vetoed his suggestion, based on some Draconian prohibition against grown men picking their own nicknames.

Shaking off her brief distraction, Dani turned to Zed. “You’ve got a problem.”

“You know, my mechanic uses the same tone of voice when he tells me I’ve got an oil leak.”

“Well, it’s an interesting comparison because that’s exactly what’s going on,” she said.

Bael swallowed the last of the sandwich and raised his hand. “I don’t follow.”

Jillian set aside her lunch plate and sat at attention, in full League supervisor mode. “What’s going on, Dani?”

“The rift is wider since the last time I saw it, since just a few days ago,” Dani said. “Someone has been pulling at it. Like when you worry a loose string on a sweater? I thought maybe I was imagining things, but it’s becoming less stable as I work with it, not more. If this continues, the birth rates you’re seeing of magique in human families? Think double or triple. Same with the adult humans suddenly sprouting antlers and previously unknown mojo. The born magique will experience big spikes in their talents, which sounds pretty good at first, except that eventually, they’ll start spiraling out of control like Carrie at the prom and even people born with those powers won’t be able to handle them. I am, of course, speculating, and not basing this on any sort of math like Dr. Aspern could apply.”

Zed growled softly, making Dani’s brows rise.