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I didn’t know what the exit strategy was, but I trusted my bosses. If I needed to know, they’d have told me, so I walked us all to the living room, stood in the doorway, and told Will, “We need to go downstairs for this — the theater maybe, or your recording studio.”

“Theater is fine,” Will said. “Sounds serious?”

“It is,” Aaron said.

Davy was in jeans without a shirt, and Will was in jeans with a shirt. Both were barefoot, but these men aren’t warriors.

I grabbed Davy’s hand, led the way downstairs, and ushered everyone into the theater, which has recliners all facing the screen. As Mira had said, Silver, Animal, Hailey, and Ghost were already there. Someone paused the video game when we came in, and I assume saved it, since it turned off after a few minutes.

This room wasn’t the best seating arrangement for a conversation, but the theater is mostly soundproofandit’s underground without windows. The recording studio is completely soundproof, but there’s only a few stools and no practical seating.

Panda introduced everyone and sat down, and then Aaron stood in front, so we were his audience, and told my men, “Micca has been lobbying hard to tell you her secret, and thatincludes convincing some high-powered people to call in favors on her behalf. A vote recently happened that quite narrowly gave her approval, but there are people who absolutely don’t want a famous person to know these secrets, and they’ve threatened to kill you and Davy if you’re told.”

Nathan had been sitting on the front row of recliners, and he stood beside Aaron and turned to us. “We didn’t expect this to happen, or we would’ve counseled Micca against campaigning to be able to tell you. Long story short, we need to move everyone to a secure location until we get this resolved.”

Kirsten flashed into the room as Nathan was saying this, and both Davy and Will squeezed my hands.

“She’s a friend,” I told them, but I didn’t try to explain because I assumed the vampires would make them forget they saw someone teleport.

“How many people are going?” Kirsten asked Aaron and Nathan.

“The two of us, Venom and Josef, four band members plus Davy, Micca, Ghost, and Collosa,” Nathan told her.

He put a finger up for each person as he spoke, and he made it to all ten fingers and then went to two fingers.

She looked at me. “Is there a one-piece sofa that will hold a dozen people? Not a sectional deal, something that’s all one piece.”

“There’s a daybed down here, all one piece and pretty big,” I told her.

She nodded. “Show me.”

I walked her out of the theater to the big game room and pointed to the daybed just outside the practice room. She nodded, held a finger up, and disappeared. Nathan had followed us out, and he shrugged. “She does that when she’s in a hurry. Probably making sure she has a place big enough to take the bed, checking in with whatever security she has in place, makingsure it’s night so the vampires don’t get fried if she’s taking us somewhere outside, or that windows are covered if it’s daytime. Let’s bring everyone out and get them on it.”

* * * *

Will

I wanted to tell everyone never mind, that Micca can keep her secrets if they’re this big of a deal, but something told me this wasn’t just going to go away because I saidnever mind.

I pay Drake Security handsomely to keep me safe, and since Aaron seemed to know the secret, I was assuming he wouldn’t be pushing for me to know unless he felt it important enough to risk my safety.

Also, I have to admit my curiosity was at an all-time high. Having someone appear to teleport in and out upped it even more. It had to be some kind of advanced tech. Right? Drake Security is involved in lots of military stuff, who knows what they have access to that us civilians don’t have a clue about.

But questions could come later. You don’t stop the people keeping you safe during a crisis. Once everyone is in a safe space,thenyou can ask questions.

Nathan pulled the bed away from the wall as if it were plastic instead of cast iron, and we easily got everyone on it, five people on one row, five on another, with Micca in Nathan’s lap and Davy in the lap of the man they called Venom. Nathan merely said, “Electronics,” as he put his cellphone and watch on a table, and most everyone else followed suit.

I didn’t, and Aaron told me, “Anything electronic will likely be fried. Best to leave it here.”

I turned my phone and watch off before settling them on the table, and was happy when Davy did the same without me having to tell him. Silver and Animal did as well, and I assumedthat was everyone. Micca had done so immediately when Nathan said to, but he’s her boss.

And then the redheaded woman was back, as if she teleported in, and she kind of floated up and then down to stand in a tiny space mostly in the center of the daybed. “Everyone take a breath and hold it. This’ll only take a few seconds. I’ll count down from five.”

No one else was freaking out. They all seemed to take it in stride that this woman could just appear and disappear. I had to assume explanations would be forthcoming. Aaron, Nathan, and their people had always done an excellent job of keeping Mythic Beast safe. I had to believe they were doing the same now.

She counted down, and I held my breath when she got toone. The walls around us faded to nothing, and then fabric walls formed around us until we were in a huge white tent. It was night, but lots of candles were lit all around us. Real candles, not the kind I’d used in the playroom. I hadn’t turned them off, so the batteries would probably be dead in them all when we returned.

“Welcome to Alfheim,” the redheaded woman said as she floated up and then down to the ground.