"On it," Travis said and spoke into his comms as they walked towards where the Ospreys were being marshaled.

  "Stell?"

  "Yes, Sean?"

  "Tell Tisha that I have a candidate for the CIA job."

  "Fayette?"

  Sean nodded. "Yup."

  Cali giggled. "I bet her ALS friends will just love finding out."

  Estrella chuckled. "Yeah, no doubt. Why don't you tell her?"

  "Because I'm finally going to read this," Sean said, pulling Keith Henry's notebook. "I want to see what I can learn from it. I'm hoping he was stupid enough to write down the names of the other traitors or possessed we haven't found yet."

  "You know those last two Stewart found?" Cali asked.

  "Yes? What about them?"

  "They were from after we took care of the Onderwereld."

  "You sure…of course you're sure," Sean said, correcting himself. "Damn, well, I guess it's to be expected."

  "How's the book?" Estrella asked, sitting down in the webbed seat next to him several hours later.

  "Boring as hell," Sean said, and looked at Cali, who nodded. Unsurprisingly, she could read demonic, too. Turning the page, he read the next one, talking to Estrella as he did so.

  "He did mention the three at the NSA—he'd recruited all of them, mostly with promises of money and power, and a few special abilities."

  "Abilities? Like what?"

  "I guess you'd call it 'charisma' or a 'charisma spell'. Against weak-willed people, they could pretty much get whatever they wanted. He makes a few comments in here about how one of the analysts was using it to get laid, while the other one was getting people to give him money."

  "Gee, how original." Estrella sighed.

  "The only problem is, trying to figure out the names."

  "Why's that?"

  "Humans don't have demonic names, so I'm having lots of issues trying to translate them."

  "Found it," Cali said and pointed to the page.

  "Found what?" Estrella asked, leaning a little closer.

  "Small Fey? Who the hell is that?" Sean muttered.

  "It's the name of the woman at the CIA," Cali said, then pointed to the next line. "It says here he got her to commit by promising her the power to avenge her 'egg killer'."

  "Wait, what?"

  "Small fey…" Estrella muttered. "Small fey…small…fairy? Small…oh, shit! We better call Steve!"

  "Why?" Sean asked, looking at her.

  "Fayette is old French for small fairy!"

  #

  Card was waiting for Dunlop when she came home. Steve, Terri, Tish, and Finn had gotten everyone together and decided that tomorrow morning would be when they'd hit the CIA, which meant everything had to be in place tonight, so that when Dunlop went on shift, everything could take place.

  This of course meant she had to be infected as soon as she got home from work, so they could get her through the initial acclimation phase of her lycanthropy. Once that was done, Tisha would give her her marching orders, which would mainly be to memorize the code, then when the shit hit the fan at the CIA come lunch time, Card, who would be there to support the magic users, would get the number from her, and text it to Steve, who would start the ball rolling.

  Card had to admit, he had a bit of a vindictive streak; whether that was from having been a prime, or perhaps the reason he'd been picked to be one, he didn't really care. The idea of turning an Anti-Lycan Society supporter into a lycan just made him smile.

  Thankfully, she lived alone; apparently her husband had left her when their son had been arrested. Card figured they didn't quite see eye-to-eye on her ALS agenda. Probably even less so now that their son had died in prison. He listened to the key in the lock and waited until she'd stepped inside and locked the door behind her.

  The moment she opened the closet to hang up her coat, he stepped out of it, grabbed her neck with one hand before she could scream, grabbed her wrist with the other, stretched out her arm, and bit it, immediately infecting her with lycanthropy.

  The effect was both shocking as well as educational. She immediately dropped to the ground and started convulsing, foaming at the mouth, and crying out as her body banged around on the floor like Daryl Hannah had in that Blade Runner movie when she'd been shot. He'd never seen or heard of anything like this before, and as one of the volunteers on Steve's disabled vets rehabilitation teams, he'd infected his fair share of men and women.

  After a minute, she was still thrashing about and convulsing, though it appeared to be slowing down.

  "What the hell is going on in there?" Clifford, one of the other wolves on Card's team, asked over his headset.

  "I think she's allergic to lycanthropy or something," Card said. "She's thrashing around on the floor like a fish. Better get Tisha over here. Something ain't right."

  "How the hell can you be allergic to lycanthropy?" he heard Clifford mutter, then heard the cross talk as he called back to base.

  "Send Tisha here, we got a problem! Card say's she's acting like she's allergic."

  "Oh, she's stopped," Card said as the thrashing stopped, and suddenly there was a female wolf on the floor, who looked up at him and growled.

  Card cuffed her and knocked her over.

  "I'm the boss of you," Card growled back at her, causing her to hunker down in fear, her tail between her legs."

  "What's that, Card?"

  "Whatever it is, she's over it."

  "Yeah, well, Tisha just told me to grab her, and for both of us to get back to base, pronto. Sounds like something's up."

  #

  "Well, will you look at that," Tisha purred as they dragged Fayette into the room. She'd taken one look at Tisha, who was in her full lioness form, and immediately tried to scramble out of the room.

  "Damn! Quit scaring her, Tish!" Card grumbled as he caught Fayette by the scruff of the neck, picked her up off the floor, and carried her into the room.

  "Oh, you don't understand," Tisha said and smiled, all teeth, "she works for the enemy, or used to, at least."

  "What? I thought we pulled ALS's teeth?" Card said, giving the whimpering wolf bitch a shake.

  "Not that enemy! You see, she sold her soul to the djevels; she's a traitor. Apparently getting a good dose of lycanthropy, however, canceled her contract. Sean called just after you bit her. He was worried she'd turn into one of those forræderen djevels."

  Card looked at Fayette, who was trembling in his grip.

  "Is that true?" he asked. When she didn't do anything, he gave her a shake. "Answer me!" he commanded her.

  He thought he saw the head nod just a little bit as she whimpered.

  "So what do we do with her? Kill her?" Card asked with a heavy sigh, causing Fayette to squirm as she desperately tried to get free.

  "Stop that!" Tisha growled, and just like that, Fayette went still.

  "We are not going to kill you," Tisha continued. "We do not kill our children unless they've been very, very bad. And you're not going to be bad anymore, are you, Fay?"

  Card almost laughed at how quickly Fayette nodded her head. He could feel the power Tisha was using, and while she might look like a hot little human gal with nary a thought in her head, in her lion form, she was downright scary.

  "That's right, Fay, you're not going to be a bad girl anymore, because I order you to never betray us, and to always be faithful to me, to all the other lions, and to your alpha. You will do as you're told, and better yet, you will like it! Do you understand?"

  Fayette nodded again, her whimpers getting softer.

  "Let go of her; she's not going anywhere."

  Card set Fayette down carefully on her paws, and she stood there, trembling.

  "That's a good little puppy," Tisha continued, still giving her that toothy grin. "Now, we have a bunch of things you're going to do for us tomorrow at work. Nothing hard, nothing you're incapable of doing. Do well, and you'll be rewarded! You'd like that, wouldn't you? To be rewarded?"

  Card almost laughed as Fayette's tail gave a slight wave.

  "Now, Card and the others are going to take you out for a run. You'll follow their orders, and you'll never try to run away or warn anybody about what's happened to you, understand?"

  Fayette nodded her canine head.

  "Good Girl! And come the morning, when you're able to regain your human form, you're going to tell me all about how you became a traitor, why you became a traitor, and then you're going to list for me every other traitor, djevel, or possessed human you know about, okay?"

  Fayette shivered and nodded again, sinking a little lower to the floor.

  "Oh, don't be so afraid," Tisha said, sitting down. Her smile changed to a much friendlier one as she placed her huge paw on Fayette's head. "Whatever it was that drove you to do such a stupid thing, we'll see if we can find something a lot less stupid that will actually make you happy. That's a promise, Fay. Some day, I hope you realize how bad a mistake we just saved you from; you really do have a soul, and there really is an afterlife."

  Tisha turned to look at Card. "Take her out, let her run a bit, teach her what she needs to know, and take good care of her. Congratulations, Card; it's not every day that you save somebody's soul."

  Card gave Fayette a second look as he remembered when somebody had pretty much saved his soul. She was kinda cute as a human, and to be honest, she wasn't a bad looking wolf, either…actually, she was pretty good-looking as one. Helping her up, he gave her head a rub, and led her out the way they'd come. They were actually using Sapientia's old kennels for this, and being on the outskirts of DC, there was actually a lot of open land to run on.

  As soon as Card and Fayette had left the room, Duncan, Steve, and Terri stepped out of the shadows where they'd been waiting.

  "Are we sure she was a traitor?" Duncan asked.

  "She was one of the people listed in the book Sean liberated," Steve said with a shrug. "The guy from the NSA recruited her about a year and a half ago. She blames us for her son's death."

  Terri snorted. "Her son, who shot Steve."

  "I wonder if we should let her know that her new Alpha is the guy who set him up to take the fall?" Steve asked with a chuckle.

  "Please don't," Tisha said. "That would be cruel, Steve."

  "You don't think she deserves it?" Steve asked, looking down into Tisha's eyes.

  Tisha gave a shake of her lioness head. "Not anymore, I don't. She's made a series of poor choices, one after the other, each worse than the one before, and when I put my paw on her head, I could feel the lingering remains of the horror at what she did when she sold her soul. I don't think she realized what was going to happen to her when she made the deal."

  Steve scowled and thought about that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. They're not about to tell you that no matter what happens, in the end, they're going to destroy your very being."

  "You actually felt that?" Duncan said, looking surprised.

  "Well, duh, we're gods! Of course I felt it!" Tisha said, giving him a leonine smirk.

  "You know, sometimes I prefer it when you play the empty-headed eye-candy. Then I can at least pretend that I know more than you do." Duncan sighed.

  "Oh, I don't know, I kinda enjoy dominating the hell out of the wise, ancient, but still sexy lioness!" Steve said, giving Tisha a leer.

  Up to that moment, Duncan would have sworn nothing could make a lioness blush.

  "Oh, and she makes the cutest little noises in bed when we do, too!" Terri added with a wink, and Tisha covered her face with a paw.

  "And this is why, when your plans for world domination come to fruition, Steve, Sapientia will be on your side."

  "Because he's kinky?" Tisha muttered.

  "No, because he actually made a lioness blush!" Duncan teased and then laughed as Tisha managed to flip him off with a paw.

  "I'm going to pass what I just learned on to Sean and Esti," Tisha grumbled. "Then I expect to be wined and dined for having to put up with the three of you."

  "I'll have Jamie put some steaks on," Duncan said as he turned to leave the room, "as well as the good wine. Not the cheap stuff we drink ourselves."

  Home Again, Home Again…

  Sean walked out the back of the Osprey with one arm around Cali and the other around Estrella. Travis and the rest of his bodyguards followed along behind him. Stewart had turned out to actually be the most experienced with mind magic, so Sean had put him in charge of all the magic users. Some of this was because of his father, and some of it was because of the work he'd done with those four girls.

  Sean had been surprised to discover that Stewart absolutely loathed mind magic and the entire field. The only reason he was doing it now was because Sean had asked for his help, and Stewart had told him, if there was one thing he'd learned from his friends, the other wolves from his old council, it was that you didn't bitch or complain when you got the shit jobs from the boss, you just knuckled down and did them.

  Sean smiled to himself. Stewart was a rare gem. He'd grown into quite the man. Even the wolves who'd tried to kill him admired him now and were his friends. His father, his real father, was proud of him, and from what he'd picked up, his brother and sister were impressed by what he'd become. He'd learned all of Sean's magic tricks and shortcuts, and he could build enchanting machines almost as fast as Sean could. The only tricks Sean hadn't taught him was the silver conversion spell and how to tap into the energy released by the conversion of silver. Sean still did that enchantment on the machines himself.

  He still hadn't decided if he was going to teach his own children that one. Right now, only two people knew how to do it; the First—who didn't have the magical ability to do it—and himself. The number of people who knew it could be done was larger; namely his wives, his mother, and the lions. He was sure Stewart had figured out that Sean had a method of funneling power so he could untar more than one thing at a time; after all, the machines consumed silver in order to run. Anybody who used one could see that. But Stewart was wise enough to know that if Sean hadn't taught it to him by now, it was something he had no intention of sharing, ever.

  The Osprey took off behind him now that they were well clear of it to head back to base, as Sean entered the sprawling complex that was now home. All 'his' wolves lived up here, and there were several shops, hangars, barracks, a mess hall, infirmary, plus some formidable defenses. There were times he missed living at the base, but those times were getting fewer and fewer. At least one day a week now, he didn't even go there, preferring to work from home. The trip was only a few minutes, if he flew in, though the trip through the dwarven tunnels was considerably longer.

  Roxy, Daelyn, Roberta, Peg, and Jolene came out to welcome him home.

  "Finally, you're back!" Jolene said as she hugged him.

  "It's only been like five days!" Sean sighed as he welcomed each of them with a hug and a kiss.

  "Yeah, but all the kids are sick, and that makes it seem a lot longer," Peg grumbled as he kissed her.

  "Well, next time don't have twins!" Sean teased.

  "That was your fault."

  "Don't go blaming me! You had 'em last!" Sean laughed, and Peg suddenly smiled.

  "Oh? Well, come along then, Lion-Boy." Grabbing his hand, Peg dragged him back towards the house, with all the others following. As she led him into the nursery, he looked around; all their children were inside and in bed.

  "They're still sick?" he asked in a soft voice.

  "Yup! And guess who gets to take care of them while his wives take a long and well-deserved break?"

  Sean counted beds. "There's only fourteen aren't Sheila and Deidre's kids in here?"

  "Why, should they be?"

  "Peg, really, if you're that desperate for a night off, ever think maybe Sheila and Deidre could use a break, too?" Sean said. Spinning her around and pointing her at the door, he gave that nice butt of hers a pat. "Check with Sheila," he said, then turned to Cali next, "and please go check with Deidre."

  "What, don't I get a pat, my husband?" Cali teased.

  Sean quickly gave her a swat on the ass, making her squeal.

  "Now, go!" he said, grinning.

  "Yes, Lion-Boy," Cali said, giggling and dancing out of the room.

  "Have fun, dear," Jolene said, then kissed him and left. Roxy was next; she just grinned. Daelyn grinned and gave him a swat on the ass that made him jump. Roberta whispered in his ear as she hugged and kissed him. "If you need any advice, text one of our moms; we're not gonna be answering our phones."

  "Need a break that bad?"

  "When you leave, everything—and I do mean everything—falls to us. Normally, that's not bad, but with the kids sick? Poor Rox has been run ragged. Same for Jo and Dae."

  "Got it."

  "Want me to stay and help?" Estrella asked as Roberta followed the others out. "I mean, I've been with you the last two days, and I only have Pisti to deal with."

  Sean shook his head. "Nah. I'm sure this is gonna suck completely, but they do have a point. I need to spend some serious non-quality time with my kids to get a better understanding of what kind of horror I've unleashed on the world," he said, grinning.

  "Keep that grin on your face, because I can guarantee you, you're gonna need it tonight!" Estrella said with a smirk. "Good luck." She kissed him and left.

  Five minutes later, Deidre came in, looking tired but as sexy as ever, and left her two with him, going up on her toes to kiss him.

  "Thank you, Master; you're my hero!" she said, then left.

  Five minutes after that, a frazzled-looking Sheila showed up with her children and turned them over to him.

  He took a moment to wrap his arms around her and give her a passionate kiss.

  "Just remember, I love you, and I promise to give you as much personal attention as you can stand sometime in the next few days."

  "I can stand a' awful lot, milord," she said with a yawn, sounding a lot more tired than she looked.

  "You'll get it, and next time they're running you down, call me. Or call Roxy, or Peg. You're not in this alone, Sheila. We all love you, especially me and Peg. Now join the others, and have a drink, or whatever it is they're doing."