Samuel's Pride: Hawk Part 6

"You're s.h.i.+tting me." He laughed and told her he was not. "Is there hidden treasure? Maybe a bank job that has never been recovered? That would be fun, to be the one to find it after all these years. It has been years, right?"

"Yes, since the thirties." Hawk closed his eyes as he continued. "There was treasure that only he and I could appreciate. Stories that he told me that were humorous and quite unbelievable at times. But they were good ones. I'm thinking of using the desk and writing his stories. Not for the money or fame, if there would be any, but for the pure enjoyment of having them written down for others to enjoy."

It had only been a half-baked plan until recently. He'd actually thought about it again when a private investigation firm had contacted him a few months ago about his family and the fact that he'd been declared dead.

Apparently his grandmother on his mother's side had left him a great deal of money, as well as the house that his parents had been living in. And just last week, after he'd found that they'd hired Vega again to find him and bring him to them, he'd made arrangements to have them removed from his house and his life. Forever. The lawyer was all for the idea, in fact had asked if he could do it immediately. Hawk had told him to go for it.

But the story idea had surfaced again then, and he wanted to do it. He'd even talked it over with Awnia when she'd seen the desk in his building. But now that he'd told someone else, he thought harder about it.

"I think that's a wonderful-"

He opened his eyes when she didn't finish. The street in front of them, his street, was lined with cruisers and fire trucks. All he could think about was Awnia and that she'd gotten too hot. As soon as the car slowed, he was out and s.h.i.+fting even as he grabbed up the medallion and held it in his hand as he went. Hawk was in the air before Clar even got out of the car.

Samuel was talking to Awnia when he landed near them. At his nod, Awnia turned to him, and he felt relief. He had no idea what had happened and really didn't care so long as she was all right. As she made her way to him, he took off to the sky again, watching that she could follow him.

It wasn't me. He heard her as he led her deeper into the woods. I mean, it was sort of me, but I didn't burn anything up. The building was a hazard anyway.

Which building? And so you know, as soon as I get you out here far enough, I'm going to f.u.c.k you. She paused, then moved forward again. What happened?

I went out to the barn, the one on the back of the property. Deacon said it might be a good place to hide if someone came for me. You know, a place that I could cool off. But all I did was turn on the light and walked around. It was perfect by the way, steel roof, but the electrical was messy. She moved a few more steps in. Are you really going to f.u.c.k me?

He landed in front of her and s.h.i.+fted. As soon as he did, Hawk pulled her into his arms and kissed her, putting as much of his need into it as he could. Tearing at both of their clothing, he held her to his c.o.c.k, rocking into her even as her clothing started to fall to the ground. When her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were naked, he took the right one into his mouth and suckled it hard. Hawk moaned out her name when she wrapped her hand around his c.o.c.k.

"I want to taste you." He nodded and turned so that his back was against the closest tree. But instead of tasting him, she took another step back and stared at him. His c.o.c.k ached now to be inside of her, either her p.u.s.s.y or her mouth. At this point he didn't care. "I've never had a man come down my throat before. Will you? Come down my throat, I mean?"

"Yes. Gladly." She nodded and bent at the waist. Her tongue on his c.o.c.k nearly had him come all over her. "I'd like for you to turn around and show me that pretty a.s.s like that first." Awnia turned for him and bent again. Christ, she looked delicious.

"Like this?" He nodded and moved up behind her. She was just too irresistible to leave alone. "I can't suck your c.o.c.k if you're going to f.u.c.k me. And I want to suck you, Hawk. I think I need it more than I need to breathe."

Fisting his c.o.c.k, Hawk slid it over her juices that flowed from her to her creamy thighs. Even as she moved back against him, he moved in and out of her with his crown. Using his free hand, Hawk moved to her p.u.s.s.y and soaked his fingers with her cream, then moved it along the tight pucker of her a.s.s. He'd never wanted to f.u.c.k a woman there, but her he did.

"To think that this little hole is all mine too." He moved his finger into her as he slid deeper into her with his c.o.c.k. "You're so hot. I wonder why you never scorch me when I'm inside of you."

She stood and turned then. His c.o.c.k was wet with her juices as he stepped back from her. He could see by the look in her face that she was afraid, and he nearly told her he was kidding, but she took another step back and spoke. Her face told him that she was upset, and he tried to think what he'd done or said to do it.

"Did he give it to you? Vinnie did, didn't he?" He knew what she was talking about the moment she asked. "Where is it?"

Hawk held out his hand and showed her the medallion. He was almost afraid she was going to ask for it back, but she s.h.i.+ed away from it. He closed his fingers around it as she started pacing. He was afraid now. Unsure what it meant for him to have it, and more afraid that she was going to tell him he had no right to still have it. More so than he'd been when he'd thought that she'd been hurt earlier.

"It's a part of me. That thing you hold is a small part of me. I gave it to Vinnie a long...a very long time ago, when he thought he was my mate. It didn't work." He looked at it again. This time he really looked at it by raising it to the sun and looking directly through the stone.

"It moves." She nodded but said nothing else. "What happened to Vinnie? I'm a.s.suming that something he was supposed to do with this didn't work, and it hurt him somehow. That's the reason you're so afraid for me to see if I'm your mate, isn't it? You don't want me hurt."

"The witch told me how it would work by telling me this poem. 'The wearer is true. The mate is forever. The heart knows what no one else can know.' I thought that I was in love with Vinnie and him me. I know that he loves me, but not...." She turned to him. "We thought he was supposed to wear it. I have no idea why we thought something so mundane would work, but as soon as he put it around his neck, it began to burn into his body. Not just his body, but his heart. It was trying to burn out his heart. I think because it wasn't true to mine. Not that he didn't love me, but that he didn't love me in the right way."

"It won't burn me, Awnia. I'm your mate." She shook her head, and he nodded. "I am. You have to believe me. If I have to prove it to you, I will, but I love you, truly and forever."

"I won't have you die to find out. You will, too, if you try to claim me with that. You'll die and I'll be alone." He reached for her again, this time not thinking about her naked body next to his, but the simple and profound need to just hold her. "I love you. I can't believe how much I do, but I love you."

"And I love you. We'll figure this out. I promise."

Chapter 8.

Frederick looked over at his wife, Bambi, as they were going down the highway. She'd been on that blasted phone since they'd left or, to be truthful, since they'd been evicted. He needed some answers from her, and was tempted to just knock the phone out of her hand to get her attention. Finally, she put it down.

"That was Mr. Pruitt. That dreadful man said that he will be giving us his bill soon. He no longer needs our business. To think how much we've paid him already. Well, we will not pay it. He was to complete the job and he has not." Frederick looked away from her. This was her fault anyway, the doctors had said so. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, you're b.i.t.c.hing about money again. It matters little if he sends us a bill or not, we've not the funds to pay him." Frederick glared at her. "Your mother really f.u.c.ked us over this time. I thought you said it would all work out. So far as I can see, nothing at the moment is working out. Except for that thing of yours." He still to this day would not acknowledge he had a son. Especially not the one he'd been given at the hospital. He, that thing, belonged solely to her.

Frederick had been informed...that was what the little insurance lawyer had said. "You're informed that there will be no more funds coming from the estate as of ten days ago." So far as he knew there was plenty of money for them, and said as much to him. The man, Howard something, had handed him a thick envelope and smiled. He should have known with a smile like that he'd be up to no good. This had been just yesterday morning, and then that eviction b.i.t.c.h had shown up today. But in hindsight he knew that he should have made arrangements for things to be put aside the moment the lawyer had left them.

"You have a son by the name of Russel Hawkmen?" Frederick remembered looking around to see if anyone had heard Howard say his name aloud. "We had a firm look into some reports that we had about him. And you and your wife. You lied to us, Mr. Hawkmen. He is not dead as you have claimed. And that, sir, is insurance fraud."

Frederick had known that was going to come back and bite them in the a.s.s. He'd told Bambi when they'd hatched this plan that there were just too many things that could go wrong. And the fact that they knew where he was and what he was up to notwithstanding, it was still a lie that was going to bring them down. The thing was alive and well.

"Mr. Russel Hawkmen called our office two days ago, and we are making sure that he is aware of the estate and its contents that his grandmother left him when she pa.s.sed nine years ago. He is not happy to know that he was declared dead by you. A paper filed with your name on it is now in the hands of the law firm that is looking into other allegations. You and your wife have been living off his kind generosity for all this time, and he has said that he'd like you to stop." He asked him why, what business it was of anyone's what he and his wife had done? "I'm pretty sure, sir, as you should know, that lying about inheritance is a crime. And as it is his money and his property that you are living in, he can pretty much tell you whatever he wants. And what he wants is you two gone. As of right now."

As soon as the lawyer had been seated in the living room with strict orders to the staff not to let him out of their sight, Frederick had gone to find Bambi. She, of course, wasn't home, and he'd had to resort to asking the staff where she was. The maid that he'd caught eating a big breakfast in the kitchen had no idea where she was. Nor for that matter, how to contact her. He'd had to wait for the cook so he could ask her.

The new cook and butler were nothing like the last staff had been. They had, at least, had meals done on time. This crew was mouthy and lazy. He hated the way his food always tasted like they'd microwaved it rather than cooked it.

Frowning as the car carried them further down the highway, Frederick realized how off track he'd gotten while thinking about the attorney and the eviction woman, and where she'd gotten off kicking him out of his house.

"Where is my wife?" Frederick had asked the cook, who looked at him, then at the man standing next to her. "My wife. The woman who hired you. Where is she?"

"I believe that Mrs. Hawkmen has gone to the hairdresser, sir." The butler had the nerve to look down his nose at him. "Sir, there is a matter of our wages. Our checks have bounced and the bank is saying that you no longer have access to the account, so our checks are void. Also, we have just been informed by mail that you are no longer our employer. I do believe we have a contract. We will be expecting you to honor your agreement with us."

Frederick had left them standing there. His wife was missing, and that jack wipe had had the nerve to talk to him about his contract? It had taken Frederick nearly three hours to chase her down. When she came in the door to the house, she'd been p.i.s.sed. Her credit cards, she'd told him, had been canceled. He was glad that he'd finally told the lawyer that he'd have to make an appointment to see him, and shown him to the door before she'd gotten home.

"And that stupid b.i.t.c.h at the store took them from me and cut them up right there where everyone could see her. The nerve of them. I'm going to sue." He told her that the woman had every right to do it, according to the lawyer. "What lawyer? Ours would never do such a thing, and if it is someone in their firm, I want them fired."

So Frederick had spent the next two hours explaining to her what had happened and why. Now here they were on the road. He had no idea how they'd even gotten this car, much less how they were ever going to live this c.r.a.p down once it was fixed. If it ever got fixed. He looked over at Bambi when his thoughts were making him somewhat ill.

"What do we hope to accomplish by going to see him?" Frederick had no idea when they left where they were even going, and now he thought this was as harebrained as anything that she'd come up with so far. "I mean, I doubt very much he's going to welcome us with open arms. Not that I'd let that thing touch me."

"And why not? We're his parents, and I'm pretty sure that trumps him being upset with us. Besides, we've called off Mr. Pruitt, haven't we? And it's not like he could live there now anyway. I mean, they put locks on all the doors." He wanted to point out that Mr. Pruitt had called himself off, and that the locks were there because he and she had been physically removed as of that morning, but she hated it when he pointed out the flaws in her logic. This car they were using was a rental, which they'd promised the driver their son would pay for, and it wasn't even a good one at that. "Besides, like I said, we're his parents, no matter how badly he's messed up our lives. He'll have to fix this for us. He owes us for bringing him up."

Again there was a flaw in her thinking, but he had learned long ago not to argue points with her. Not when she was so sure she was right. Instead, Frederick looked out the window and thought about what they'd had to leave behind.

Money was not all of it, but a great deal. He'd grown quite accustomed to being wealthy and all the comforts it afforded him. Trips to wherever he wanted to go, and whatever he'd wanted to buy once he got there. Clothing from the best places that were fitted to him, not from a rack, was a luxury that he was very upset to let go. There was the fact that he'd never lifted a finger to do a thing around the house either. Not that he noticed when someone cleaned up after him, but he didn't have to do it, so that was perfect. He'd had not just a closet of clothing, but a wall devoted to shoes. Another to watches, something he'd learned to appreciate more than he had the money. Well, not quite true. The money had afforded him the ability to buy them, but he loved having all the jewels.

Late in his life, he'd discovered his love for watches. Old, new, he didn't care, so long as it was expensive and looked good on him. He supposed having several hundred of them just lying in boxes in drawers was sort of stupid and a waste of money, but he'd had it to spend and he liked them. Now those, too, were being inventoried by some person that wouldn't know their value. Touching what was his, what he'd worked hard to acquire, and things that he had loved even more than his wife.

"He'll take us back into his lives once I have a word or two with him. Then we'll get this silly thing taken care of with the money, and it'll be just like we never left." Frederick didn't think it would be that easy. And to be frank about it, he really wasn't pleased that they'd have to beg their...he hated to use the word...but have to beg their son to reconsider what he was doing to them. The f.u.c.king little p.r.i.c.k should be happy they didn't hire a man to kill him again. A blot like him should have been drowned at birth, not allowed to live among decent people.

"I think we should just have him killed." There, he'd said it again. When Bambi didn't say anything, he looked at her. "I told you just after we were given the news that you'd had a defective child that we should have taken him on that trip with us. A small boy falling off the side of the boat wouldn't have been that hard to believe. And we'd be living off him, not the other way around."

"Well, it's a moot point now. We don't have the money to pay anyone, and the boat, like the plane, is now off limits to us." He nodded. His boat had been taken too. His lovely Desire in the Sand. "But as soon as we sit him down and talk this over, we'll have it all back."

She kept saying that. He wasn't sure if she was saying it to convince herself or him, but he really didn't care so long as they were back in their home. Frederick was, if this worked out the way Bambi was saying, going to hire someone to kill that thing and Bambi, and be done with the whole mess of them. Because, as much as he loved the money, her money, he disliked Bambi.

Mostly, she was stupid, and when she wasn't saying something profoundly dumb-like every time she opened her mouth-she was dressing in a style...Frederick looked over at her...or whatever it was that she wore, that made him ill. She was entirely too old to be wearing a blue and white striped sailor suit with white boots. And today's outfit was only marginally ridiculous compared to the bright yellow dress-the very short micro-dress, she'd called it-which was her costume when she'd first gotten up. It hurt his eyes every time he'd looked at it.

When the police and another little lawyer had shown up this morning, he'd been in his bathrobe and slippers. He was just having his first cup of coffee poured for him, and his warm croissant was sitting on the china he loved with b.u.t.ter slowly melting over it. The butler, whatever the h.e.l.l his name was, had come in while he'd been enjoying his quiet time-before Bambi got up-to inform him he had a visitor.

"Tell them to make an appointment." The man only stood there. Ever since yesterday, the man had been snotty to him, even going so far as to get lippy with him. "Well? Tell them to go away. I'm busy."

"I'm afraid that won't work, Mr. Hawkmen." The girl had breezed into his dining room like she owned it. Then she slapped a blue paper in front of him, spilling his coffee over his napkin. He looked at the man... d.a.m.n it all to h.e.l.l, what was his name? Butler was all he could think of. Anyway, he'd stood there as if he was waiting to find out what she was doing there as well. And he'd had to dismiss him three times before he left the room.

"What is the meaning of this? I'm going to call my lawyer." She moved out of the way, and there he stood in the doorway, holding his briefcase in one hand and his hat in the other. Albert Daniels had looked decidedly nervous. "What the h.e.l.l is going on here, Albert? I thought you told this woman to leave us alone."

"The insurance company has located your son, Frederick. You and the missus are in big trouble, I'm afraid. I was informed yesterday that you were told this. And me too, as a matter of record. I might lose my practice and license over this. Did you know he was alive?" He nodded slowly, trying to think what the h.e.l.l he was supposed to do now. "They're well within their rights to do this, sir. Mr. Hawkmen, your son has all the papers-"

"Never call him my son." He'd stood up then, spilling coffee all over the papers and more on his robe. The little spit of a woman had laughed then, and he'd actually drawn back to hit her.

"Do it. Please do it. Because whatever hole your son puts you in, I'll own that too." He'd put his hand down, but it had burned to hit her. "Mr. Hawkmen, it gives me great pleasure to tell you that you are being evicted. As of right now. This gentleman here will escort you to the bedroom to dress. You will only take what you need to cover yourself for the day. No jewelry, no money, and certainly no luggage. Your wife will be watched as well. So if I were you, I'd try really hard not to steal the silverware."

"I have to have some money to live on until you're fired." She'd only laughed at him. "You can't possibly think that I'm leaving this house with nothing. This is my home. My things are here."

"Not any more, they're not. They belong, as does everything else you have been using here, to your son." He growled at her, and he knew she'd called the thing his son on purpose.

Frederick turned to Bambi when she shook him, bringing him out of his musing. He was glad for it, he supposed, but he still disliked this entire mess.

"Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?" He had to admit to her that he'd not been. "Why do I even bother when you're not even...? I was asking you if you could hug that person. It might go a long way to getting on his good side."

"Touch him?" He had to suppress the urge to gag. "I will no more touch him than I would a dead animal on the road. It's bad enough that I have to go and beg to him like a pauper, but I will not touch him. And if you suggest that again, I shall have you leave me along the side of the road and have you come back for me."

"I didn't think so. We'll have to think of something else." He s.h.i.+vered again as he thought of touching that thing.

"How do you even live with yourself knowing that he came from your body? Or worse yet, that he nursed from you?" Frederick looked at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "I've not even had the desire to look at them since we found out what he was. I'd have had them removed. Both of them."

"It's a burden." Bambi leaned back in the seat. "That hospital covered their tracks well. I've been all over those books of theirs to try and figure out whose thing they gave us. Our child is out there, and he might need us. If we could prove it, prove that he's not ours, we'd be able to have all our pretty things back. But according to their records, that thing was the only one born that day. Fat chance. I saw all those other brats that day. Remember that woman down the hall from me? Forever having the father of her brat come in to see her and bring her flowers. I'm glad you never did that."

Again Frederick didn't point out that they'd had numerous blood tests done, and each of them had proven that the thing was theirs. He glanced at his wife of forty years. How could she have done this to them...to him? To bring such a monster into their lives? As for bringing her flowers in the hospital? He'd made sure that she was well cared for, hadn't he? And so far as he'd been concerned, the hospital was for her enjoyment. He'd never intrude on that.

"He's going to have to die." Frederick looked at Bambi when she spoke softly. "That thing, it's going to have to die. If we don't take care of it, it'll come back to haunt us for years, and we just can't have that. What if it...oh Frederick, what if it breeds?"

"Christ." He'd never even considered that. To have more of them in their family? It would be...it would be like having a family of monsters living with them. "You make the arrangements. I'll figure out how we can pay for this."

"He'll pay for it. For his own death, he'll pay." She leaned her head back and smiled. "We should have done this years ago. When he was a child. Like I told you on the boat. No one would have missed him."

Frederick had an overwhelming urge to hit her. That had been his idea. He'd just...d.a.m.n it all to h.e.l.l, he was getting sick of playing second fiddle to her insanity. He supposed that she really wasn't insane so much as she was a backstabbing b.i.t.c.h. Smiling, he thought that suited her and added it to his mental list of names to call her when he was alone. And he was putting her name higher on the list of people he was going to take care of as soon as he was flush again.

Frederick leaned back in his seat as well. They had a long way to go to see that monster of theirs. He had no idea where they were going to stay when they got there. He was hungry and they didn't have a penny between them. He'd barely been able to sc.r.a.pe up enough money to get them each a cup of the most horrid coffee they could afford. But she was right about this. If they could get him to take them back, even for a little while, they could horde some money, have him killed, then live like they'd grown accustomed to all these years. Then for the insurance, he'd have her killed as well.

"First things first," he whispered to himself. "Make the thing believe we're changed. That we want him in our lives."

Yes, he thought, that was a good plan.

"I'm sure that they're on their way." Hawk nodded to his "lawyer." Thor had told him that she could pull this eviction off, and apparently she had. His parents were no longer in his home, and as of right now, things that had belonged to them were being packed up and taken to a local charity. "That mother of yours? She's something else. What the h.e.l.l is wrong with her? And good Christ, Hawk, who the f.u.c.k buys her clothes? A blind kid? I mean really, her closet, when I got a chance to see inside of it, resembled a box of brightly colored crayons that had been melted down and splattered on everything."

"Yeah. When I was younger, before they found out that I was different, I used to not look at her directly. Once she had on a green and purple pinstriped blouse with a large dotted skirt. Mother thought she was the height of fas.h.i.+on. As for me? She seems to think that having me as a son is some sort of black mark against her. And me being a monster-her words, not mine-is something that should and will be stricken from her life." Thor grinned, and he had a feeling she was thinking of something diabolical. "What is going on in that mind of yours?"

"Nothing. Well, plenty, but not much I'd share with you. What are your plans for the house? Because, I have to tell you, that sucker is decked out in the most rich and famous things. I used the toilet and there was so much gold in it that I had to put on my shades. And s.h.i.+t, did you know that a whole wall in that room is a f.u.c.king fountain that is full of fish? Does she f.u.c.king fish while she's s.h.i.+tting? Pick out the one for her dinner while she's wiping her hoo-ha?"

"You know, you have the most delicate way of putting things. And I have no idea what that room looks like. Or any other room in that house, other than the few rooms I was in. And by now, I'm sure that they've been sandblasted and redone several times." He handed her a thick envelope. "What can you tell me about these?"

She thumbed through the pictures that had come to him that morning. They were mostly blurred, taken from a phone some years ago, before the technology really caught up with the times. Hawk knew when she came across the ones of Awnia.

"When?" He told her five months ago. "This guy, is he the one that you were telling me about? This...Pruitt person?"

"Yes. I think that my tormentor and hers are the same person. She refers to him as Hatter." The doorway was darkened and they both looked up. Awnia stood there as if she wasn't sure she'd be welcomed. Before he could say for her to come in, Thor stood up.

"I've not had the pleasure yet. I'm Tania, but the only person who calls me that is Kaleb, and only during s.e.x. Call me Thor." Awnia blushed deeply but came into the room. "If you need to not touch me, tell me now. I tend to feel people up so I can have a connection."

"I'm sorry, but if you touch me without permission, it'll end badly for you. I'm a sun G.o.ddess, and even if the name didn't imply it, I'm sort of hot." Thor nodded and put out her hand. "I'll have a connection to you as well. I mean, more than likely stronger than yours to me."

"I'm good with that." The two of them touched, and he could see the moment that Thor realized she might have bitten off more than she could chew. When she pulled back and sat there for several minutes, Hawk laughed.

"You're speechless." She grinned at him. "I think I'll have to write this down, Thor is speechless about something. I'd alert the media, but I think that they'd need a few days to confirm it. You are never without a nasty comment or something snarky to say."

"f.u.c.k off." Thor looked at Awnia as she continued. "He hurt you. That guy, Hatter, he hurt you more than you've ever told anyone. I'd say you got in a few good punches too, but what I don't understand is why you didn't just kill him right off?"

"I couldn't. I was taught that to kill, to cause harm, would come back on me. I knew that what he was doing was diabolical, but he was also, at one time, a human. And to our kind, they are to be treated with some sort of respect." Thor snorted. "I agree. You need to earn it before you get it. I'm leaning in that direction the next time I see him. And he'll continue until he's dead or I am." Awnia looked at Hawk, but he knew she was speaking to both of them. "I've heard from Yve. She said that my mother has escaped from her cell in a way that has made it difficult for the guard to find her. I'm thinking she's moved into something, like another object, to escape and is here now. It is said that she has a servant that answers only to her...Rysdan. She would have a.s.sisted her."

When Halmar entered the room, both Thor and he stood up. The man had never made them do this, it was just that his stance, his whole persona, made you want to bow before him. He frowned at them as he kissed Awnia on the forehead.

"I've just left home." He sat down on the couch and looked at them. "Would you mind terribly if I stayed here for a while? Just until this thing with Temptress is finished. She can be something of a c.u.n.t, and if I'm here, I might be able to help you with her. If nothing else, I might be able to a.s.sist in telling you her faults. She has a great many of those."

"I don't care, but you'll have to clear it with Awnia. It's her house too." Hawk waited for her to say that it wasn't her home but his, but she only nodded. Last night had proven a great deal of fun, having her bend to his will. "When we have things in the proper order here, I'd like to have a word or two with you, sir. It's about this magic that I seemed to have inherited. This morning I nearly severed my arm when I reached for a screwdriver."

"Sure, sure. You'll get more and more of it as time goes on. I think it has to do with the way you and Awnia touch all the time." There was a bit of anger there, but not much. Hawk wanted to tell him they did more than touch, but was reasonably sure he knew. Halmar looked around the room before continuing. "I might be persuaded to make some improvements too. I noticed that the faeries are moving things about, changing things to suit the room and the people in it. They do that with me as well. Not allowed in the bedroom, however, I noticed. That proved a little dangerous at my home when I kept stubbing my blasted toe on a chair. It would be in one place when I went to the bathroom, and a different place when I returned. Do you put down rules as well? To keep guests safe?"

"The bedrooms are off limits so long as they are occupied. If you'd like for them to play in your room while here, you'll have to tell them. Or tell Margo. She's in charge of them, so to speak." Halmar nodded, and he looked at Thor, who was still looking over the pictures.

"This one here, who is this?" She handed it to him, then to Awnia. Leaving the couch, Halmar pulled a chair over and looked as well. "I swear I've seen him before. It'll come to me."

The man she'd pointed to was standing with a group of other men. His father was there, as well as his mother, but they were both facing the camera, while this man wasn't. He was looking back at the building that was behind them all. Hawk had no clue who he was.

"I know him." Halmar smiled. "His name eludes me at the moment, but he's a G.o.d. A little higher in the work detail than I am, but we did know each other for a time. I think he might be friends still with that faerie of Vinnie's.... Yve might know him. Good guy. Works hard, as I remember. There are a lot of us G.o.ds here on this earth that have day jobs. It's sort of boring having it all, all the time."