Page 4 of My Haven (Bewitched and Bewildered #16)

“Well tell her not to! Meryn! We’ll wait for you, I swear. Just calm down,” he ordered.

She began to breathe heavy into the phone. “Ryuu, I think I need my tea.”

“Godsdammit! We’re heading to the Nu estate to get things set up for you. We’re fine. You hear me Meryn, we’re not doing anything,” he swore.

“Pinky promise?” she asked, trying to sound weak.

“Pinky promise!”

“Okay, see you soon.” She tapped to end the call and then went back to her laptop. “Auntie, didn’t you say Mikel Appleblossom Jeans had returned?” she asked in her normal voice.

The queen blinked, then shook her head. “Yes, he has been visiting Zoe.”

Kendrick stared down at her, then narrowed his eyes. “Have you ever done that to me?”

She thought for a second, then shrugged. “Probably.”

Anne smiled. “Don’t worry hun, she uses her powers for good… mostly.”

Meryn looked to Darian. “Do you have Bryok’s number?”

Darian nodded. “I’ve been working with him and Dav in organizing the Old Guard.”

“Ask him if he wants to join Alpha and babysit Cedric Ri’Emere when he joins Gamma.”

Darian grinned. “Doing it now.”

She looked up to see Kendrick still staring at her. She snapped her fingers in his face. “Lucius Mandrake has been in éire Danu a while as witch elder, douchebag, or no?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Aiden!” she yelled.

Her mate immediately popped back in the room. “Yes?”

“Is Dad still on the line?”

“Yes.”

“Can you ask him to ask Lucius Mandrake if he would like to take over as witch elder in Lycaonia?”

“You heard?” he asked, speaking into his phone. “He said, he’s calling him now on his office phone.”

“Pip, can you call Zoe and see if she’s with her brother?”

“Roger!” Pip said, putting down her shirt and pulling out his phone. Seconds later, Pip was talking. “Hey Zoe! I’m fine, how are you? Is your brother with you, by chance? He is?” Pip walked over to Meryn and put the phone down on speaker.

“Hey Flamethrower!”

“Hey Menace!”

“I take it your brother is listening in.”

Zoe laughed. “He is now.”

“Hello Mr. Appleblossom Jeans, can you take over as witch elder in éire Danu?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yup.”

“Aren’t there supposed to be proper channels for this?” he asked.

“Probably, but that shit takes too long and I’m about to head to Storm Keep. I need support at council level.”

“What about Lucius?”

“I’m moving him to act as Elder in Lycaonia.”

“That’s actually a damn good move.”

“I know.”

“That leaves a vacancy in Storm Keep. Technically, I was a unit leader for Sigma.”

“Fuck, I’ll work on that, but for the record, yes or no for you?”

“I’m in,” he replied.

“You’ll live in éire Danu of course, but be on standby to come to Storm Keep,” she advised.

“I was already planning on going,” he said, darkly.

“Cool. Catch you later.”

She handed the phone back to Pip. “Can you get Heath?”

He brightened. “Yes.” He took the phone and started calling.

“Basil! Cedric!” Meryn yelled.

After a minute or two Pip walked over. “I have him, sorry it took so long, I had to call Leon to find him,” Pip said, apologizing as he laid his phone down again.

“Meryn, has your blood sugar improved?” Heath asked.

“Of course you would know,” she groused.

“You’re our princess, and our Commander’s mate, every medically trained unit warrior has been keeping tabs on you. Now, what has you calling?” he asked, in a teasing manner.

“I know éire Danu has this transition thing going on, where unit warriors phase out after serving there, but I need you somewhere else.”

“Meryn, tell me where you need me,” was his simple reply.

Meryn looked around the room. “This is why the éire Danu warriors are favorites.”

Heath’s chuckle had her attention going back to him. “I need you to back fill Mikel Appleblossom as unit leader of Sigma in Storm Keep, so he can become Elder in éire Danu.”

“Which puts another warrior you know in Storm Keep. When are you leaving?”

“Fucking loving you right now.”

“I know. When?”

“Next hour or so. Shit’s happening.”

“Doesn’t give me a lot of time to get your snacks organized, but I’ll do my best. See you in Storm Keep,” he promised and hung up.

“Meryn!” she heard her name being called from the hall seconds before Basil and Cedric flung themselves in the room. “Are you okay? Is it the baby?” Basil asked.

“Nope. Good news boys, you’ve been promoted. Basil you’re to report to Balder Ri’Ilindra of Upsilon in éire Danu. Cedric, you’re just moving across the way, you’re reporting to Sascha of Gamma.”

Basil swayed and Cedric steadied him. “Are we in trouble?” Cedric asked.

Meryn blinked. “You’re getting promoted to full unit warrior, why would you think you’re in trouble?”

Basil looked down at the floor. “Because we have to leave here.”

Meryn felt that one sentence down in her soul. She held up her hands and Pip and Kendrick helped her stand. She walked over and pulled both of them into a hug. “You may be warriors now, but don’t forget you started as my boys.”

Basil wiped his sleeve across his eyes. “Yes, Meryn.”

Cedric placed his fist at his heart and bowed. “As my princess, commands.”

Meryn refused to let her tears fall as she smiled. “Good, now git! We have trouble to stir up.”

“Yes, ma’am!” they yelled and ran from the room.

She turned to Pip, and he immediately came to her for hugs.

At first it had been Noah and Jaxon. Then the cadets moved in and wanted to learn from her too. Not to the extent that Noah and Jaxon had, but they were always there to help. They were hers too.

She reached for her phone. “Sascha, I’m sending you Cedric, if anything happens to him, you’ll be getting a Prince Albert for electroshock purposes.”

Sascha gasped so hard he choked. She hung up.

Pip frowned. “What’s a Prince Albert?”

Meryn turned to him. “A metal rod piercing, under the head of the penis.”

Pip’s eyes widened. “Wow.”

Her next call was to Balder. “Your Highness, I hear you’re shaking us up,” he said, when he answered his phone.

“Balder, I…” she struggled for a second. “I’m sending you one of my boys for Upsilon. His name is Basil Barberry and he’s…” She didn’t want to call him young; he was way older than her, he was just…

“We’re getting a new baby brother?” Balder asked, smoothly.

“Yes. He’s very special and has been trained with Noah and Jaxon on how to act as a sixth warrior.”

“I’ll commandeer the kitchen for his welcome party. Heath has already stolen some of our prepared snacks for you, but we’ll do fresh for our newest warrior,” he said, his voice full of warmth.

“Thank you,” she said, simply.

“Uh, Your Highness. Our Unit Commander knows about all this, right?” Balder asked.

“He will,” she said, smiling.

“He’ll be fine, each assignment was well thought out and works to our advantage,” her uncle complimented.

“Good, good. If you need us, for anything, you have only to call,” he said.

“I will.”

She began to feel light-headed, and Ryuu was at her side. “I need to sit down for a second. Let Aiden know I reassigned stuff the way we had discussed,” she said, feeling around for her chair.

Amelia steered her to the recliner. “Good job, baby- sister cousin.”

Meryn grinned. “It’s what I do.”