Page 30

B y the time Lachlan and Apollo returned to the lounge room, Valentine was already working on casting protection wards over the windows and doors.

He had a slightly manic gleam in his eyes, and Lachlan didn't know if he should be concerned.

The fact that he was only wearing a fluffy robe with his wet hair sticking up in weird directions didn't help him look less crazy.

"Okay, Val?" Lachlan asked cautiously.

"I've ordered us some clothes to be delivered," he said, his hands moving in a complicated pattern. Red and silver sigils lit up over the windows and doors, and a muffling effect settled over the rooms. Lachlan wriggled a finger in his ears to make them pop, but it didn't help.

"He's blocking out traffic noise," Apollo explained.

He was wearing one of Lachlan's spare T-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts, his robe on over the top but open.

He looked a little calmer, but Lachlan could feel the anxiety radiating off him.

He blamed himself for the attack, and Lachlan didn't know how to help convince him it wasn't his fault.

Lachlan had years of dealing with sudden attacks and people trying to kill him. He had to remind himself that this was a new experience for the Greatdrakes boys.

"I've ordered food too," Valentine said. He went to the little kitchen and pulled out a handful of mini alcohol bottles from the fridge. He tossed two bottles at Apollo and one at Lachlan.

"Thanks, Val," Apollo said, opening the little vodka and downing it. "Fuck, I hate these alchemists."

"We need to talk to Cosimo first. I don't want to ambush him with this while the whole family is on the call." Valentine was pacing and sipping from a little bottle like he couldn't hold in his energy. "Lachie, do the computer thing."

Lachlan sighed and went to get his laptop. Thankfully the screen hadn't been damaged. He hooked it up to the hotel TV, and they rang Cosimo. He answered, and he looked in worse shape than Valentine.

"Boys! Thank the fucking gods. What the fuck is happening? I've just been on a call with the French police because the apartment has burned down," he said, eyes frantic with worry.

"We are okay, Dad. We just got to safety ourselves. Sorry, you had to find out that way about the apartment," Apollo said, not looking at the screen. "I know it meant a lot to you because…because of mom."

"I couldn't give a damn about the apartment! I thought you were all dead!" Cosimo shouted. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Please tell me you are all uninjured?"

"We are okay, Dad. We got out of there before they firebombed it," Valentine replied, still pacing.

"How?"

Apollo smiled sheepishly. "The tunnels."

"God fucking damn it! I told you never to go in there!" Cosimo was usually the calm one.

Lachlan had never seen him yell so much in all the time he had known him.

"It was a calculated risk, Cosimo. I had a map of the catacombs, and we were fine. Dirty and out of reception but fine. They had the building surrounded, including the rooftops," Lachlan said, trying to calm everyone down.

Their father's anger was only making Apollo and Valentine stress out more.

Cosimo ran his hands over his face irritably. "From the top, please. What the hell happened?"

Lachlan took the lead because Apollo had shut up tight, and Valentine was too busy drinking and muttering. He answered the door when the room service arrived with food and bags of clothes. Apollo took one of the slender fries from his plate and nibbled it.

Lachlan sat down beside him and put his arm around him, not caring what Cosimo thought.

"Those damn alchemists. Maybe you should have blown their building up, Valentine," Cosimo growled when they had finished telling him of the attack. Cosimo's eyes were usually gray like Valentine's, but now they were glowing a deep purple color. His dragon was definitely rising.

"Easy, Cosimo. Your dragon is getting agitated," Lachlan tried to warn him.

"Don't lecture me about my dragon, Lachlan Ironwood," Cosimo snarled. He pulled back as if he had shocked himself. "I'm… I'm sorry. Forgive me, Lachie."

"It's okay. I'm sorry we made you so upset. I just need one Greatdrakes clear-headed right now. Shifting because you're angry is only going to ruin your nice house," Lachlan said with a nervous laugh.

Cosimo rubbed at his eyes and took some breaths. "I'm fine. Apollo, look at me, please."

Apollo lifted his head, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Yes, Dad?"

"I love you. This is not your fault," Cosimo said, his voice soft.

"Yes, we had good memories in that apartment, and those aren't gone.

We can rebuild it, but I can't rebuild you boys.

Understand? I'm not upset or angry that they destroyed it.

I'm furious that they tried to kill both my sons and a man who I count as family.

Hug him tighter, Lachlan, because I can't."

"Yes, sir," Lachlan replied and wrapped his other arm around Apollo. He put his head into Lachlan's neck and held onto him.

"Good," Cosimo said with a firm nod. "Can we get the others in on this call now? We need a plan. Valentine, stop pacing and tell me what's on your mind."

Valentine glanced up at his father. "Murder. Kill them all. Get the other creatures that they are hurting. Make them wish that they really had disbanded when Catherine died."

"Steady on, dark lord," Apollo sniggered, and Lachlan laughed softly. Someone was feeling better.

A smile ghosted Cosimo's lips. "I don't disagree, Valentine. Let's do it the right way, shall we? Let's send out the SOS to the family group chat and get as many of us in this discussion as we can. Boys? Maybe put some clothes on first."

It took another hour, but eventually, all of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Ironwoods, and Greatdrakes were logged into the call. Apollo had got pants on and had calmed down enough not to be draining the little minis one after the other.

Lachlan had put a bottle of water and a Gatorade in front of Apollo and wouldn't let him have any more alcohol until they were both gone.

He had tried the same tactic with Valentine, who had just laughed in his face and gotten another order of alcohol sent up.

He wasn't drinking them as fast, so Lachlan figured that was about as good as it was going to get.

"Please tell us you have found something on these assholes, Layla," Lachlan said once everyone was online.

His cousin had her blonde hair in a messy bun on top of her head, and she had a slightly crazed gleam in her eyes like she had one too many energy drinks.

"The alchemists might be on a closed system, but their cyber security is lackluster.

I don't know half of the stuff I'm looking at, but I have found multiple properties listed under their shell companies," Layla replied and dug around for a notebook.

"They haven't specified which property is holding the prisoners, but from an initial search, there's only one that is big and remote enough for them to get away with anything without drawing attention.

It's called, ah, Chateau de Mont…something. "

"Chateau de Montceaux?" Valentine demanded, his head snapping up.

Layla looked over her notes. "Yeah, that's the one. How did you know?"

"Chateau de Montceaux was one of Catherine Medici's private residences.

Her favorite, in fact. She could practice alchemy there without the interference of court life.

It's been in various states of ruin for years, apart from a large house.

And I mean a ruin. A few walls here and some pillars there.

The Sanguis Vitae could have bought it for sentimentality's sake and started to rebuild it.

There are legends amongst magicians that Nostradamus had a secret lab there with her.

It's debatable because there's no evidence she had a lab or that he visited her there.

They were close friends, though, so anything is possible," Valentine said in one long ramble as he began to pace again.

Taranis interrupted. "Take a breath, Val, and for the love of the gods, stop pacing. You are giving me anxiety."

Surprisingly, Valentine did as he was told and sat on a couch. His expression glazed over like he was already lost in some other spiraling thoughts.

"Is he okay?" Lachlan whispered to Apollo.

He nodded. "He's going through his mental inventory about the Chateau. He'll be fine. It just needs to run its course."

The conversation continued without him as Layla brought up some plans that were on the servers she had hacked.

"Lachlan? What do you need to make this attack happen?" Kian asked, his hands steepled in front of him. "If we can stop politics from getting involved, I would appreciate it. According to human laws, I have no authority in that country, and if we all turn up, someone is bound to notice."

"No more dragons. I know Apollo and Valentine need to see this through, but I'm not going to risk any other dragon getting anywhere near these fuckers," Lachlan replied and leaned forward to rest his elbows against his knees.

"I want Ciara at my side because she's my fighting partner, and I know Tor won't let her come on her own. "

"No way in darkest Nifelheim," Tor grumbled, crossing his big arms.

Ciara only grinned at her little brother. "I'm looking forward to meeting these alchemists."

Lachlan grinned back. He would feel a thousand times better to have her with him.

"I also want Killian and Bron. Kill has shadow magic that we can use and will be able to calm any fae that might be held captive.

Same with Tor and any shifters. They will trust people like them.

Bron knows how to make the most of getting into a facility this size without being seen, so the risk of political complications will be lowered significantly. "

Apollo cleared his throat. "I'm going to need someone to raid my lab at home. I want to brew up some surprises to use."

"What about you, Val? What do you need?" Taranis prompted.

Valentine shook himself. "I need to write to Caelan and ask them to help me perfect a spell I've been working on. I will be able to use it to take out the building in Paris. I will also need their ideas on a portal spell to get me to the Chateau."

"Who the fuck is Caelan?" Bayn asked, a frown on his face.

"A friend of Valentine's back in my court. I'll tell you about them later," Taranis replied, glaring at Bayn.

Killian covered his mouth to hide a grin. Bayn just looked confused.

What the hell was that about? Lachlan shook his head. It didn't matter. They had bigger things to worry about.

Kian cleared his throat. "Are you sure you only want four of us?"

"I really don't want to risk more. If you are worried, we could always have backups on standby, but between the seven of us, we should be able to deal with them. Kill is his own army," Lachlan said.

Killian grinned. "Aw, thanks, little brother. He is right, though. They might be blood mages, but they are still human, and they do die so easily."

"Don't give him a bigger head than he already has, Lachie," Bron said with a roll of her eyes.

"When can you four get here?" Lachlan asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.

Apollo was fading beside him, and they all needed to sleep after the day they had.

"I can send Ciara and Tor with the plane to get Killian and Bron," Arne said, looking at Apollo. "They can get what you need from your lab and safely get it across the borders. How explosive is it?"

"Very explosive," Apollo said, perking up. "As long as they don't mix by accident, it'll be fine on a plane. I'm pretty sure."

Arne rubbed at his forehead. "We will get someone to ward them just in case."

"Better make them good ones," Apollo said, his usual mischievous grin finally coming back. "Because I'm going to show them just how good of an alchemist I really am."