Mihalis nodded. "I know, it has possibilities, and with what we want to do with Bartertown, it made it obvious to even the djevels that I was building an empire."

  Sawyer grinned. "You could hamstring the lot of them by having power-plays as you try to bring that other 'rogue' prince to heal! You could let him have a few wins here and there, turn the DEZ into a civil war zone, and bleed all of them!"

  Mihalis stopped and looked at Sawyer. "Damn! That's genius !"

  "Course it is, Kid! Your old godfather didn't get to be where he was by bein' a slow one!" Sawyer said and laughed, Mihalis joining him.

  "And here I was, worried about what taking their oath might do to me! When I should've been thinking right from the start about what I was going to do to them !"

  "Ah, you're young yet, Mihalis; that's why your ole pal Uncle Sawyer is here to guide ya'! Now, let's get to plottin' how yer' gonna play this. Those djevels, they got expectations, anna' we gotta be sure yer hittin' all of 'em."

  Mihalis nodded. "Especially what they need to do differently because that's how I managed to become a big, bad prince even the lions are afraid of."

  "Yup," Sawyer agreed, "but we need to make those hard for them to learn, so we can stretch out the con as long as yer dad and the First need ya' to.

  "Now, let's hash out the basic con, then once we got the outline done, we'll invite yer father, Cali, and Estrella down to help put the polish on it."

  Mihalis nodded and pulled his chair up close to the desk, as Sawyer got out his pen, and they started making notes, putting their heads together and working out the overall plan and plot of what they were going to do.

  It was after lunchtime when his father, Cali, Estrella, and Roxy showed up at Sawyer's. Mike made sure to meet them in the hallway before bringing them into Sawyer's office.

  "Mike, what's so important that we needed to come down here now?" Sean asked as he hugged his son, who then hugged his mother, then Roxy, then Estrella.

  "Well, it's like this. Sawyer and I have been working out how I'm going to handle Ennakoida, as well as the rest of the djevels in the DEZ."

  Sean sighed. "You told him?"

  "Course I told him, Dad! I'm dealing with evil, vicious djevels, and I not only want them to think I'm one of them, I want them to believe it. So who else am I going to sit down with to plan it all out?

  "Oh, I don't know, maybe me, the First, your mother ? Those folks?" Sean frowned, looking Mihalis in the eye.

  "Please, my husband," Cali said, putting a hand on Sean's arm. "While the First, you, and even I may know a thing or two about deceiving people, no one is going to understand it as well as Sawyer . Most especially when it comes to dealing with a race so vile, cunning, and nasty that they give House Uunregarten fair competition."

  "She's right," Roxy said from Sean's other side. "Besides, Mike is going to be the one doing this, so it's only fair that he decides who's advice he's going to seek."

  "How much did you tell him?" Sean asked, trying not to frown.

  "Just what I knew before we talked the other night about this. I didn't bring up any of the ideas or suggestions the First or his wives or children mentioned because I didn't want to prejudice any of Sawyer's ideas."

  "Fine, let's go talk to him."

  "Cali! Roxy! Estrella! Sean!" Sawyer said, coming around from the back of his desk to greet them all. "Sorry if you're a little miffed that your son came to me with this, but honestly? You're all way too honest for a job like this!"

  "The First, honest?" Roxy said, looking back at Estrella.

  "Dad is not a good liar, and deceit is not one of his better skills," Estrella said with a laugh. "He's never really had to learn; he just beats, kills, or threatens!"

  "She has a point," Sean said. He turned to Mihalis. "So does this mean you've decided to take Ennakoida's oath?"

  Mihalis shook his head. "Not yet. I need to take Hengity's first, and make sure I understand a few things before I can make that decision. But I need to be prepared. Once Ennakoida finds out I'm taking oaths, I'm sure he's going to be looking to be first."

  "You got that right," Estrella said, nodding. "First lord to a prince is a pretty prestigious and important position among djevels."

  "Great! Now that we got that all settled," Sawyer said, going back around his desk, "grab a seat and park yer butts! We got some things to go over, and Estrella is probably the only one who can help us with some of this."

  "How so?"

  "If Mihalis here takes the oath, that means there's gonna be two princes in the DEZ, right?"

  "Well, yeah."

  "What are two princes in a place that small with no kings around gonna do?"

  Estrella grinned toothily. "Fight for control."

  "Wait, is that wise?" Roxy asked.

  "Course it is!" Sawyer said with a grin of his own. "If we have two princes vying for power, all their attention is focused inside the zone, and not outside!

  "So, here's where we're starting from. Mihalis, here, he gets Ennakoida right off the bat, then using the advisor that used to belong to Talt, he pulls in two more. That leaves us with Prince Bratsch, who has Pauke by now, I'm sure. Kova to the south, and Basun and Kontrabas, who are east of that."

  "I'll send out some messengers to those last three," Mihalis said, picking up as Sawyer took a breath. "Kova I'll probably lean on hard, so I can rope him in right away. That'll give me four to Bratsch's one. Unless Bratsch figured out he needs to promote one of his biskops to take over his old job, then it'll be my four to his two."

  "What's to stop him from picking up Basun and Kontrabas?" Sean asked.

  Mihalis smiled. " You ."

  "Huh?"

  "Look, the whole idea is to build contention!" Sawyer laughed. "We want to make it look like you've gotten wind of what's goin' on, so you're gonna be the one stopping Mihalis' people from being able to bring Basun to heel—"

  "Assuming he wants to," Mihalis interrupted.

  "—right, assuming he wants to, and you're also going to be the one stopping Bratsch's people. You might wanna consider sticking that new base between Bratsch and Basun."

  "Which not only puts my people and his in conflict, it puts me and him in conflict!" Mihalis said with a smirk. "And with nothing between us isolating us, I don't think there'll be any problem inciting his people to fight mine, and my people to fight his."

  "Which keeps them focused inside the walls," Sean said, nodding slowly.

  "While making them weaker," Cali said with an evil smile. "Oh, I like this idea."

  "Yeah, me, too," Roxy said, while Estrella nodded.

  "Now the hard parts are gonna be keepin' Basun on the fence, so there's that bone to fight over," Sawyer said.

  "While making sure Bratsch doesn't capitulate to me, if he realizes I can become a king."

  "Can you?" Roxy asked.

  Mihalis shrugged. "I'm sure I can fake it if I can't. Hell, I suspect even after I take oaths, I'm going to be faking being a prince."

  "Well, we're pretty sure Bratsch knows how to become a king," Sean said with a thoughtful look, "so I don't think he'll be capitulating. More likely he'll try to get you to become his prince."

  "What happens once Basun picks a side?" Estrella asked.

  "If he picks Bratsch, I'll eat Kontrabas, promote one of his biskops as my lord, and stick him in power," Mihalis said with an evil grin of his own. "If that doesn't start an open war, nothing will."

  "I was thinking he'll more likely pick your side. You'll be the more powerful prince, and there'll be that base blocking him from Bratsch."

  "Unless he's trying to become a prince as well," Sawyer pointed out.

  Mihalis and Sawyer watched as Sean, Roxy, Cali, and Estrella chewed that over.

  Cali was the first one to speak up. "Is that what you want to happen?"

  Mihalis and Sawyer both shrugged.

  "We're not sure," Mihalis said. "On the one side, another djevel prince, however weak, won't be a good thing."

  "But," Sawyer added, "a three-way fight for leadership could be."

  "I like it," Sean said suddenly with a smile.

  "Yes, I like it, too, my husband," Cali agreed.

  Roxy nodded. "If they're way too wrapped up in what's going on inside the walls, it'll make our job on the outside easier."

  "Have you thought about recruiting lords from Germany or Mongolia?" Estrella asked.

  Mihalis blinked, and Sawyer guffawed.

  "Good one!" Sawyer said, slapping his desk.

  "I take it that's a no?"

  They both shook their heads.

  "I think we need to see how it all plays out here before we try this elsewhere," Roxy said.

  "But we should make sure the two lords inside the German Demon Exclusion Zone find out about this, should we not?" Cali said, still smiling. "I'm sure they have learned about Prince Talt's destruction by now, so if they were to suddenly learn that all this time there was a prince living here whom the lions cannot kill, and who is gathering his power..."

  "Maybe we need to start a rumor that he used to be a king and will be looking for princes once he gets things here under control," Estrella said with a thoughtful look.

  "Why?"

  "Because then they're gonna be fighting each other over who will be the prince!" Estrella said with a snicker.

  Cali clapped her hands together, "Oh! I like that idea!"

  "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here," Sean interrupted. "I don't want to put any more pressure on Mike than we already have. He may still decide he doesn't want to do this, in which case we have a whole nother issue on our hands."

  "What to do about Ennakoida," Mihalis said, nodding.

  "Oh, that's easy; we just assassinate him," Cali said, grinning again, "as well as anyone else who tries to give you their oath."

  "Thus proving we're even more afraid of you!" Estrella said, and then laughing, gave Cali a hug. "That's a good one, sister!"

  Mihalis smiled. As ideas went, it was a good one, and he could see that even Sawyer looked impressed. Just then his phone pinged with the alert he used for Noje, and pulling it out, he read it.

  "What's that?" Sean asked.

  "Noje told me they're about to pull the plug on Værktøj."

  "Værktøj? Who's that?"

  "The biskop we captured for Dr. Ruxton to experiment on. The one I used to find out if I can take their oaths."

  Mihalis typed back, Go for it, and hit send. A moment later, the small trickle of power that wasn't even enough to use for anything just stopped . That was it. Nothing else.

  "Huh, guess that's it."

  "Did you get anything?" His father asked.

  Mihalis shook his head. "He just went away. The connection I had with him is just gone." Mihalis smiled. "Honestly, that's a relief! If I got a flood of memories, or emotions, or any of that every time one of them died, taking Ennakoida's oath wouldn't have been pleasant."

  "So!" Sawyer clapped his hands together, getting their attention. "Let's get back to work on this, iron out the fine details, so we can all go out to dinner, and I can get to know my godson's wives better."

  "Sounds good to me," Sean agreed.

  It was midnight when Mom Daelyn's Osprey dropped them off on the rooftop helipad at their home.

  "Never thought I'd say it about this place," Taeria said with a smile, "but it's good to be home."

  "Not gonna get any arguments from me, girl," Jade said as she helped carry some of the supplies they'd brought back from Minden.

  "I'm surprised we didn't land out there someplace and sneak in via our tunnel," Rika said, heading over to the door that led inside.

  "Then they'd know we had a secret way in and out," Talin said.

  "Good point."

  "Let's get this stuff inside," Mihalis said as Kerrie opened the door, and he started down the stairs. He was carrying two very heavy crates, and was having to watch his step. He and Cinnamon both wanted to set up a better enchanting workshop than the makeshift table they'd been using. As the more advanced work required smelting, casting, and even some metal smithing on a small anvil, the gear was heavy, even for him in his hybrid form.

  "When's the inauguration?" Rika asked.

  "January 20th," Kerrie said.

  "So almost three months from now?"

  "A little less, but yeah. Why?"

  "I think Steve still wants us to go."

  "I told Terri to wait a month or two before asking," Talin said.

  "Thanks. Neither of us wanted to make that decision until we talked to the rest of you."

  "And had a few weeks off," Azure added. "The crowds at those last few rallies were a bit more than we were used to."

  "You know what I'd like to do right now?" Kerrie said.

  "Go to bed?" Taeria giggled.

  "No, go out for a run !"

  "Didn't you do that this morning?"

  "I could go for that!" Jade said.

  "Me, too," Azure agreed.

  "Guess I'm in, too," Rika added.

  "Mike?" Kerrie asked as he set down the boxes by the entrance to their private area.

  "I'd like to, but I'm thinking it's time I took care of something else…" he said and, smiling, turned to look at Taeria.

  If he'd blinked, he would have missed it. He suddenly had an armful of Taeria as she plastered herself up against him.

  "Finally!" she said, and kissed him, rubbing her body against his.

  "Guess I'm next!" Jade laughed and took her box inside.

  "Cait, let's you and me get this stuff put away so Tae can have a little private time," Talin said.

  Gabbing Taeria and moving her into a bridal carry, Mihalis made his way back to their bedroom.

  "I'm finally going to have your kids!" Taeria said, hugging him and kissing him while he carried her over to the bed.

  Smiling down at her as he laid her on the bed, Mihalis shifted back to his dark elf form and invoked his incubus aspect. Taeria was already in hers. Undoing his belt, he let his pants drop to the floor, stepped out of them, kneeled on the bed, and helped Taeria out of hers.

  "I've been looking forward to this as much as you have, Tae," he said and kissed the inside of her thigh as he helped her out of her skirt. Once he had it off of her, he slowly kissed his way up her body. The lack of panties made it clear she'd been hoping for some kind of fun as soon as they landed. The glistening lips of her sex and the scent of her made it quite clear to both him and his lion that she was more than ready for him.

  He used his tongue to slowly lick his way up her body, moving between her legs as he kissed his way up her flat belly—which would soon be rounded from the child he was about to put in her.

  When he got to her chest, he kissed the underside of both of her breasts, then gave each of her nipples a light nip, causing her to draw a sudden breath. Twisting slightly, she reached down between them and got a firm grip on his almost painfully erect cock.

  "I can't wait anymore, Michael. I want you, I want you inside me now, I want your child! I can't wait anymore!"

  Moving the rest of the way up Taeria's body, he covered her as she guided him between the folds of her sex, then thrust slowly until his hips were pressed into hers.

  Raising himself up on his hands, he smiled down at her as she panted heavily beneath him, her wings spread out on the bed, as his own partially unfurled as well.

  "What do you want, my love?" he whispered as her legs wrapped around his hips, holding him tight.

  "Your son, I want your son. I want Mihalis Junior, or Michael Junior, whatever you want to name him."

  "You want a dark elf son?"

  "I want a black lion son," she said as she put her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to kiss him.

  " Oh, yesssss... " his lion purred in his head.

  "Your wish is my command," he told her as he lowered her down onto the bed and slowly made love to his wife. He wasn't going to rush this; he was going to savor it. He could already tell this was going to be so much better than before, because he was starting a family of his own.

  Work/Life Balance

  "That was magical," Kerrie said the next morning as they sat around the table having breakfast, "and I wasn't even the one getting pregnant!"

  "I agree," Caitin said as the others nodded. Well, except for Taeria, who was cuddled up against Mihalis, who looked the proudest any of them could recall him ever looking.

  "This was the last step; we're a real family now," Taeria said in a soft voice. "A year from now, we'll all be raising our children, Michael's children."

  "Well, at least Shaylee has those three new workers to help with the inn," Talin said with a smirk. "Because suddenly I don't think I want to wait that much longer myself. Az, Rik, you two better figure out dates, or you're gonna end up last!"

  "We don't want to be showing if we decide to do Steve's inauguration," Azure replied. "So probably a few weeks from now? Late November?"

  "Maybe I want you to show," Mihalis said with a slight growl to his voice.

  "Umm, sooner works, too!" Azure said, her voice going up in pitch as she suddenly blushed. Rika's eyes widened, and her face went red as well.

  "Ummm…" Rika said, looking at the others, who giggled.

  "Don't forget Beri!" Kerrie said as Beri was putting food on the table.

  "Oh, trust me, I won't," Mihalis said, giving her ass a pat as she came by. "I think I need to spend some more time with Tamerin, as well. Sooner or later, she's definitely giving me a daughter or two."

  "She'd like that, I'm sure," Beri said and rubbed his head as she moved around behind him to serve Taeria next.

  "Somebody looks happy," Harmony said as she and Noje came into the kitchen.

  "Somebody's pregnant," Taeria replied, smiling as she picked food off of Mihalis' plate while Mihalis purred—loudly.

  "Well, congratulations!" Harmony said, coming around and hugging her, followed by Noje, who also hugged her while congratulating her.

  "Where's Cinnamon?" Mihalis asked.

  "I think she's still entertaining Brost."

  Mihalis looked surprised. "Really?"

  "Yeah, after she got rid of that Imp—Irrie, I think his name was? Anyway, she put Brostian in his place—said you'd recommended it—and has been spending most of her nights with him."