"You said you wanted to speak with us," Chad's voice came through the door.

  "Not. Now!" Sean growled.

  "It's important, we need to start…"

  "Is the world ending?" Sean interrupted.

  "No, but…"

  "If I come out there, someone is going to die. Go Away! Find Max and make Claudia a grandmother or something! Whatever it is, it can wait!"

  Sean wasn't sure exactly where it came from, but a knife handle suddenly appeared on this side of the door, which meant there was probably several inches of blade sticking out the other side.

  "Umm, I think I'll come back…" Chad muttered from the other side of the door.

  Giving his head a shake, Sean lowered his head to kiss Cali's nipple, then taking it lightly between his teeth, he gave it a tug, causing her to shiver, her hands coming up to grab his head, tugging him further up.

  Kissing his way further up her body, Sean captured her lips with his own as he let his body press down against hers. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close, and with the other he stroked the side of her face.

  "My darling, sweet, lovely, and delightfully deadly wife," Sean whispered between kisses. "How may I please you tonight?"

  Cali wrapped her legs around him and gave him a light slap on the butt. "I think I have an idea or two, my lion-boy husband!"

  Sean smiled, "I'm sure you do!"

  Morning Light

  The sound of the first explosion tumbled Sean out of bed almost immediately. When he heard the second one, he could tell it was off in the distance, but just how far he wasn't sure.

  Grabbing his pants, he ran out the door, noticing that only Cali, who had just sat up in bed, wide-awake, and Peg were still in bed.

  "Hey! Put some clothes on!" Roxy said, pointing at him as he slid to a stop in the dining room just as another explosion went off, followed by a string of smaller ones.

  "Can't you hear that?" Sean said, struggling to put his pants on.

  "What did you girls do to him last night?" Chad asked, looking up from the table and laughing.

  "What didn't we do?" Daelyn snickered.

  "What's with all that racket?" Cali asked, padding into the room barefoot, but at least she was wearing panties.

  "Why isn't anyone doing anything?" Sean asked, looking around.

  "It's an old American tradition," Roxy said, looking at Sean and grinning. "We call it 'the Fourth of July', and we celebrate it with lots of fireworks."

  Sean paused, balanced on one foot, the other was halfway down the leg of the pants he was trying to put on.

  "What day is today?" Sean asked, blinking

  "The fourth of July. You know, the day that follows the third?" Chad said, snickering.

  "I'm going back to bed," Sean grumbled and then found himself hopping on one foot as the pants he was trying to get into refused to cooperate.

  Roxy came over, grabbed his shoulders, and steered him towards the table, as he continued to hop on one foot until he finally got it down to the floor.

  "Sit down, put your pants on, and eat some breakfast. Chad and your uncle are both here, and you did want to talk to both of them, as I recall?"

  Sean's stomach growled then, reminding him that last night had been a long and physical, as well as enjoyable, evening.

  "Yeah, food," Sean agreed and finished putting his pants on as Daelyn and Jolene fetched him several plates of food that Cali attacked with obvious gusto, going so far as to push him out of the way to get at it first, which made Sean sigh and all the other girls laugh.

  "Nice to see I'm not the only one that happens too," Chad said with a chuckle. "Max will go so far as to bring me food, then after I have a bite, she sits in my lap and eats the rest of it."

  "Since Roxy and Peg told the others about it, none of them are afraid to get between me and my food," Sean grumbled. "So I sit here, slowly starving to death, as they all get to eat their fill."

  "Hush, I'm pregnant, of course I eat first!" Cali giggled between bites.

  Sean suddenly smiled and just rested his head on top of Cali's, looking around at the others. Jolene was definitely starting to show, and even Roxy was starting to look a little thick around the waist.

  "Somebody just completely forgot that he was hungry!" Daelyn giggled.

  Peg dragged herself in then and, yawning, plopped down at the table beside Sean, spearing a few sausages off of his plate with a claw as she was still in her hybrid form. Apparently getting furry was easier than getting dressed this morning.

  "Did somebody forget what day it is today?" Peg asked with another yawn.

  "In my defense," Sean said while blushing, "yesterday was a bit of an unpleasant surprise."

  "Oak and Roxy told me all about what happened yesterday. Imagine if they'd attacked today instead?" Chad said. "No one would have noticed."

  "Yeah, but their real goal was to kill the president, not me," Sean said and smiled as Roberta and Daelyn brought him more food, making him realize once again just how lucky he was. They really did enjoy doing these little things that made his inner lion want to roll over and purr.

  "I still don't know how they expected to get away with that," Chad replied with a shake of his head. "Everyone knows exactly where those lycans came from."

  "I suspect they were relying on that Walker guy to tell a story that would get them to blame it all on the lycans," Roberta said.

  Chad shook his head again. "They'd have blamed the lycans, sure. But when it comes to a presidential assassination, or the assassination of any head of state, the reaction always scoops up everyone even on the periphery. The Vestibulum would have been destroyed as well, and all the magic users would have been outed."

  "What did Arthur say about it?" Sean asked while spearing a sausage with his fork and holding it out to Roxy, who positively lit up, smiling.

  "That the president had borrowed half of Duncan's best magic users and put them on a plane three hours ago, along with all the lycans you loaned him, heading for Boston."

  Sean sighed and shook his head. "This isn't going to end well for them, is it?"

  The phone rang then, and one of the twins in the kitchen answered it, coming into the dining room almost immediately.

  "That was Carl, he said to turn on the television," Dania said.

  "That doesn't sound good," Sean said and got up quickly as Cali slid off of his lap and ran to the living room to turn on the TV. The president was on, and he was sitting behind his desk in the Oval Office with a bunch of paperwork on the desk before him.

  "…and in keeping with this celebration of freedom, on this day when we celebrate the sacrifice made by so many American patriots, I have signed an executive order re-affirming the thirteenth amendment and making it clear that the scope of this amendment extends to all the races that inhabit this country, and this planet. Including any that others might try to declare not protected by our Constitution because they claim they are not human. Slavery is never to be allowed under any guise, and just as there were those who once tried to claim that other Americans were 'not human', and therefore did not enjoy the fruits of freedom and the protections of the Constitution, there will always be those who will try to make such claims against others who are obviously entitled to the same rights and protections we all enjoy.

  "Understand that no person or being with intelligence and the ability to reason shall ever be considered property of another here in these United States, in accordance with our Constitution."

  "Holy Shit." Chad said and looked around the room. "Did he just say what I think he said?"

  Sean nodded. "Guess he's a man of his word."

  "I can just hear the conspiracy theorists now," Roxy said with a laugh.

  "Hell, I can almost hear the magic users screaming from here," Roberta added.

  "That's definitely going to put some teeth in Sapientia's new ruling," Peg said.

  "Why'd he do it?" Chad asked, turning to look at Sean.

  "The Supreme Court is apparently deadlocked over the question of whether or not lycans are human."

  "Wow, talk about your stupid."

  Sean nodded. "Almost makes me wonder if they've got alliances with some of the magic users out there."

  Chad looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe we should infect a few of them?"

  "I don't think…"

  'Hold on a moment,' the First suddenly piped up in Sean's head, 'Let's hear him out.'

  "…we should just go biting people willy-nilly," Sean said, barely skipping a beat. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to pick the right people."

  Roxy looked at Sean in surprise. "Wait, you're okay with infecting Supreme Court justices?"

  "I don't know, what were you thinking, Chad?"

  "Well, maybe not justices, but I don't think we should rule anything out just yet. Let's see how this plays out first. But think about it, if the justices on the court know about us, that means there are others who know about us in Washington. Then there's Congress, just how much representation do we have there?"

  "Zero," Sean said.

  "Well, maybe we should go infect some?" Chad said with a wicked grin.

  "I thought lions had rules against that sort of thing?" Daelyn asked.

  "I think I hear some exceptions being discussed as we speak," Sean told them. "But I'm not sure that's any of my concern right now. My job is to free the lycans, and until that's done," Sean shrugged, "I don't know that I want to get involved in politics."

  'You need to send a group to Washington; the president just came down on our side, and like it or not, we need to support him.'

  'I've still got Canada and Mexico to deal with. Are you giving this to me too?'

  'Technically, this is still your job,' the First said with a chuckle. 'However, I do understand you can't be everywhere at once. If you need help, I'm sure I can bully someone into doing it.'

  'Oh great, now they're all going to be mad at me because I'm making them work!'

  The First snorted. 'I'm making them work. Don't get airs, Son.'

  Sean shook his head. "Pick out a hundred or so good people and take them to Washington, Chad."

  "Oh, no you don't!" Chad said, shaking his head. "I'm a military leader, I don't do politics."

  Sean raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Really? What about Claudia and the others?"

  "Schmoozing a few people is one thing, Sean. But playing politics with the government? Besides, I have my pack to take care of! I've been gone for weeks now! I'll advise whomever you send, but this isn't a job for me, Sean."

  Sean sighed, Chad had a point. His preferred method of problem solving involved solid objects and bouncing people off of them until they saw things his way.

  "Fine, fine. Then who should I send?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" Chad asked with an almost ear-to-ear grin that made Sean start to worry.

  "You should send Steve."

  "Terri is gonna kill me…"

  Maitland came into the room then. "Ah, Sean! There you are. When do you want me to meet with the dwarves?

  "Well talk about this later," Sean said to Chad. Turning to Maitland, he smiled. "Now would be good, I guess."

  #

  "Sean, what's so important that you needed to meet today, on a holiday of all things?" Samis asked as Sean, Daelyn, Roxy, and Maitland entered Samis' home.

  "I didn't know dwarves celebrated the Fourth of July."

  "What? There's drinking beer, eating food, and setting off explosions! That's a holiday tailor made for a dwarf, my boy!" Samis said with a laugh.

  "I should have known," Sean said with a shake of his head. "Well, as to why I'm here, I need the dwarves to start making Faerie swords and armor. My uncle Maitland here knows how to do it, so I want him to meet with your master smiths to teach them how it's done."

  "You want us to make Fae swords and armor? Whatever for?"

  "To fight demons. Our weapons aren't up to it. The cold iron swords I got are good for one or two fights, but even those don't do all that much damage."

  "I'm not sure why this couldn't wait until tomorrow, Sean."

  "I want to buy a lot of them."

  "How many is a lot?"

  'Five hundred thousand. For a start,' the First said, making Sean twitch.

  "Five hundred," Sean started and paused to take breath.

  "Five hundred ain't no big deal, Sean."

  "Thousand."

  Samis looked at Sean for an entire minute and didn't say a word. He went over to the kitchen, pulled a mug out of the fridge, then went over to the tap on the keg they kept there, and filled it. Then he drained it, wiped his mouth with a sleeve, and came back over to Sean.

  "Did you just say five hundred thousand?"

  "And that's just a start," Sean said with a nod.

  "Damn," Samis swore. "I think you better come with me. Daelyn, honey?"

  "Yes, Uncle?"

  "Could you run down Roloff for me? We're heading down to Master Sjon's place. Get him and bring him there."

  Daelyn looked a little confused but nodded. "Sure thing, Uncle."

  Sean followed Samis out of his home and down the tunnels. After only a few turns, they were suddenly in a set of tunnels that were barely higher than Samis' head. Sean shifted into his lion form rather than walk stooped over, with Roxy shifting as well.

  "Lucky you, wish I could do that," Maitland grumbled, as he had to bend over a fair bit. Sean at least took the bag Maitland had been carrying. As a lion, it really wasn't all that heavy.

  "Never been down in the dwarven halls before?" Samis asked.

  "Nah, we Faerie are an arrogant bunch, as I'm sure you already knew. The only halls under the hills that we go in are our own, and those are hardly designed for living in."

  "So I've been told," Samis agreed with a nod. "Ah, here we are, Master Sjon's."

  Sean followed Samis in, after he knocked and received permission to enter.

  "Samis! What brings you to my door? I'd thought you'd be one to be out drinking today?"

  Sean looked Sjon over. He was definitely an old dwarf, looking almost as old as Daelyn's Grandmother Robin. However, where Robin looked frail, Sjon looked to be made of hardened gristle. Gristle and muscle, that was. He looked like a man who swung a hammer for a living, and there were a lot of scars, big and small, covering his bare arms.

  "It's my son-in-law here, Sean, who you've no doubt heard mention of?"

  Sjon nodded to Sean, not at all fazed by the fact that a fairly large lion had just padded into his home. "Aye, I've heard of him. Congratulations on capturing the heart of Daelyn, there, Sean. Too many dumb dwarves passed over a real nugget there! But then, I suspect you already knew that, never met a lion who wasn't sharp as a blade."

  Sean smiled at that and dropped the bag he'd been carrying to the floor with a clank.

  "So, onto business, what do you be needing?"

  "Sean?" Samis said and motioned for him to tell Sjon.

  "Faerie swords and armor. My Uncle Maitland here, who I'm sure you've noticed is Faerie, has agreed to teach you how to make them."

  Sjon looked up at Maitland. "Is that true?"

  Maitland nodded. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't already know."

  "We've made them in the past, but they're not ours, they're yours, so we never felt the need to teach or pass on the methods."

  Maitland nodded. "I can see where a dwarf would have little need for things Faerie."

  "So, Sean, how many of these blades do you need that Samis is standing there looking like the harbinger of all things unhappy?"

  "Five hundred thousand."

  "Is that all?"

  "It's a good start."

  "Armor too, I'm sure. Trendan!" Sjon called in a loud voice.

  A young dwarf came into the room; he had a few fresh, but small, burn marks on his arms. "Yes, Master?"

  "Go tell all the weapons and armor smiths that we'll be meeting for dinner. Make sure they understand it's important."

  "Yes, Master!" The young dwarf nodded and hurried out of the room.

  Just then Daelyn showed up with Roloff in tow.

  "Samis, Sjon, what's so important that you pulled me away from a fresh keg of ale?"

  "Sean here just ordered a half million weapons," Sjon said, "of Fae design, for the said purpose of fighting demons," Sjon turned to Sean, "am I right, Sean?"

  Sean nodded.

  Roloff looked at Sean and surprised the hell out of him by smiling.

  "So! We're going to have us a war, are we? Awesome! It'll give our descendants something new to sing about when they drink to our memories!"

  Sean was just about to say that there wasn't a war coming, it was just the First being paranoid about demons, when he suddenly got the distinct feeling the First wasn't telling him something and that right now, he just might be happier not asking.

  "Let me know how much this will all cost," Sean said instead.

  Samis snorted. "Don't worry about it, Son." Samis turned to Roloff. "I guess we should inform the council."

  "It'll be a pleasure!" Roloff said. "It's been way too long since we had a good war, I'm sure a good many of them will be pleased."

  "If you wouldn't mind," Sjon said, turning to Maitland, "I'm sure you have a lot to teach me, and I see no better time than the present to get us started."

  "That's why I'm here," Maitland agreed with a nod.

  "Off with ya'," Sjon said and waved to Sean, Daelyn, and Roxy. "We've got things in hand here. We'll call you if we need you."

  "What about the enchantments?" Sean asked.

  "Oh, we got more than enough dwarven mages, I'm sure. But if we need ya', we'll be calling."

  Sean looked at Daelyn, who shrugged, and Roxy, who just nodded towards the door.

  "All right," he said and left.

  "What was that all about?" Roxy asked Daelyn once they were well down the hallway.

  Daelyn shook her head. "I'm not quite sure. There's things in our history that you don't get to learn until you're older."

  "Sean?" Roxy asked.

  "I'm afraid to ask the First, or any of the other lions."

  "Why's that?"

  "You ever hear the old saying about 'Don't ask the question if you can't stand the answer'?"