"Hey, he's well on the way to being elected president, and I have a feeling he'll win, too."

  "How about we start the fire in the DEZ and let the winds push it where we want it to go?" Nadinc suggested.

  Troy thought about that a moment. "I like the idea of starting it in the DEZ; we can blame it on the djevels, and of course we can't go in there to put it out, but I don't know if I want to rely on the wind."

  "Who said anything about relying on the wind?" Nadinc asked with a smile.

  "You just did," Troy pointed out.

  "Don't you know any wind spells?"

  Healy, Mira, and Chloë laughed.

  "Girl, I like the way you think!" Healy said as she turned the helicopter towards the beach they'd picked out to spend the afternoon on.

  Troy hmm'd a bit to himself, and leaning back in his seat, he pulled out his tablet and called up weather maps. The idea definitely had merit, though he might have to tap on a few of his brothers and sisters to help with the spell.

  "We're here! Put that down, Troy!"

  Smiling and shaking his head, he stowed his tablet, and watched as Healy brought them in to a landing.

  "Weird, being the responsible one for a change."

  "Oh? And flying to the beach in your own private Blackhawk to make your wives happy isn't?"

  "Umm. You know, you may have a point. Why is there a painted set of landing pads here?"

  "Most of the folks coming here are from the different forts in the area. That's why I picked this spot. No press."

  "I don't think I'd be drawing any press," Troy said with a laugh.

  "No, but she would," Healy said, jerking a thumb back at Chloë.

  "Really?" Troy asked as he took off his headset and stuck it in his bag. Healy shut down the helicopter. She was the only one wearing a flight helmet; the rest were all wearing headsets.

  "They noticed she'd left college for a couple of weeks," Mira said. "Then there was a little news blurb today that she left Friday night in the company of a man rumored to be one of Sean Valens' sons."

  "Where'd you find that?"

  "Oh, I'm on one of her dad's fan sites," Mira said with a grin as Chloë sighed.

  "The press has been trying to find out where I disappeared to since I got back. Thankfully, your dad kept the whole thing secret."

  "Now there's a rumor that you're marrying him," Mira said, grinning even wider now.

  "What? How'd that happen?"

  "Oh, I don't know, I think a little birdie told them?" Mira laughed, and then jumping out of the helicopter, she hightailed if off towards the beach.

  "Wolf's more like it!" Nadinc said, laughing as Chloë jumped out and ran off after Mira, swearing loudly.

  "I thought cheetahs were supposed to be faster than that?"

  "If she remembers to shift, yeah, Mira doesn't stand a chance."

  "Well, why doesn't she?"

  "She's still new to it," Healy said as they climbed out, and she locked the doors to their helicopter. "Just wait until she finds out I called her dad."

  "What? You didn't!" Troy laughed.

  Healy shrugged. "He deserved to know. She hadn't even told him about what happened to her at college."

  "Oh, how'd that go over?"

  "He was going to send a few people out there to adjust a certain person's anatomy if I'd told him his name."

  "Craig and Ian already took care of that."

  "Yeah, I told him it'd been dealt with. I told him 'those Valens boys get really upset if someone messes with one of theirs.'"

  "Ain't that the truth. Well, let's go enjoy the rest of my day off, because tomorrow, I need to call Major Henning and get his people out here."

  "Why? Just light it up and let it burn."

  "'Cause we need to make it look like we set up a rescue effort. Also, with all the crap that's going to be left after the fire, I'm definitely going to need some help finding that entrance."

  "Point."

  "So once this is done," Nadinc asked as they headed towards the beach, were Chloë was trying to drown a laughing Mira, "then what?"

  Troy shrugged. "Back to my usual duties, I guess? Why?"

  "Well, eventually we're going to need to move out of your bedroom into something maybe a little bit larger? Have you looked in your closet of late?"

  "Ah. I can either ask Dad to remodel a few of the rooms into a suite for us, seeing as there are more than a few that are now empty, or we can get a place built by the main house like my brother SJ did, or we can get our own place in town.

  "And before you ask, that's for the four of you to figure out. I'm just gonna sit here on the beach and try to figure out how I got so damn lucky."

  "So did you ask him?" Chloë said, coming over to Nadi and Healy, having given up on her attempts to drown Mira.

  Nadi nodded. "He gave us three choices."

  "Only three?"

  "He said either we ask our father-in-law to expand the room to a suite, build a house on the property, or move down into Carson City," Healy said with a shrug. "What other options are there?"

  Chloë thought about that a moment. "I see your point," she conceded.

  "I vote for option one," Mira said, coming up and, after surprising Chloë with a hug, sitting down on the large beach towel Healy had spread out, and watching Troy, who was swimming in the water.

  "Why'd you choose that?"

  "Same reason you're going to," she said and turned to wink at Chloë.

  "And what reason would that be?"

  "Privacy. No one's going to bother any of us up there, and while I might not be a famous entertainer, I'm tired of getting hit on by every guy who thinks saying 'thank you' means I want to fuck him."

  "You have only yourself to blame for that, you know," Healy teased.

  "Oh, please, Heals, yours were just as round as mine used to be."

  "Woah! There's a line I haven't heard in a long time!" Chloë said, laughing.

  "I don't understand," Nadi said, looking confused.

  "Women who were easy to bed used to be said to have 'round heels'," Healy said, rolling her eyes. "You've been saving that one, haven't you?"

  "Guilty as charged!" Mira said, giggling.

  "But you're married now, to Troy Valens," Nadi replied.

  "Yeah, but that'll take a while to get around, and even after it does, Chloë's famous, so that means all sorts of people are going to be hitting on her, married or not. Some humans really don't understand boundaries."

  "Oh! I had no idea. Back where I come from, making a pass at a married woman often ends up with someone getting a beating."

  "Why not have them build us a separate home?" Chloë asked.

  "Oh, in time, I'm sure we'll want something like that," Mira admitted, "but I think, starting out, it'd be a lot nicer to live in a big house with maid service, cooks, all that stuff."

  "Somebody sounds lazy," Healy teased.

  "Somebody hasn't got the first clue how to take care of a home, plan dinner, do the food shopping, or properly take care of our husband," Mira said with a heavy sigh. "I figure if we stay there a few years, I can at least learn from our mother-in-laws."

  "Oh? What about the rest of us?" Nadi asked.

  Mira shrugged. "If you want to help, I won't complain, but honestly? Heals is going to be our pilot when we go anywhere. You're going to be studying magic, and will probably be helping Troy with all sorts of stuff, and I don't expect Chloë to stop singing, playing, writing songs, or performing. Me? I'm good looking and good in bed. Beyond that?" Mira shrugged. "If I do the housekeeping and the cooking, that just lets the rest of you do what you're good at."

  "You know, Mira, our husband—our family—is rich and powerful. Anything you want to do, anything you want to be, they'll train you. Roxy told me."

  "Yeah, why would you want to spend all your time waiting on us?" Chloë asked with a laugh.

  "Because it'll give me the one thing I've always wanted and never had."

  "Dishpan hands?" Healy teased.

  "No, a family. I've got a family now, and the idea of taking care of it, of all of you?" Mira smiled happily then. "I finally get what I never had and always wanted! And when the time finally comes to have kids, I can corrupt them all into little monsters like Troy!" She giggled then as the others snickered.

  "You know, I had no idea," Healy replied.

  "Me, either," Chloë agreed.

  "Well, I'll help whenever I can," Nadi said, "because I like the idea of being a family, too."

  "So, I guess that means option one then?" Healy asked.

  Nadi and Chloë both nodded.

  "I'll let Troy know on the flight back," Nadi said.

  "It'll be nice to have a place to call home again," Mira said, still smiling happily.

  "Yes, it will," Nadi said with a smile of her own.

  "You won't get any arguments from me," Chloë added.

  "Me, either," Healy agreed.

  Uncontrolled Burn

  Troy was sitting in Growlhalla with SJ, Craig, Ian, Sharon, Bethany, Peg, and Cali.

  "So, how was the beach?" Cali asked.

  "Nice, it was nice. Still getting used to being married, but," Troy grinned a little goofily, "I like it."

  "I'm more interested in why we're here," Ian said. "Troy's message made it sound important."

  "Well, you know I've got that Rainbow Village I need to deal with, because I'm pretty certain there's a lava tube opening in there someplace."

  "Yeah, the smelly hippy commune," Craig said with a grin.

  "Well, Chloë and Nadi had this idea."

  "Which was?" Peg asked.

  "Burn it down."

  SJ frowned. "I thought we'd agreed that we can't just burn the place down? The bad press would kill Steve."

  "Ah!" Troy said and smirked at all of them. "What if the fire started in the DEZ, and the winds just drove it there?"

  Peg frowned. "You'd have to wait for favorable weather conditions for that to work."

  "True. Or, we could just cast a bunch of wind spells to drive it where we want it to go."

  Everyone looked at each other, and then they all looked back at Troy.

  "Still," SJ started, "the optics…I don't know."

  "It's simple. First off, you send Major Henning down to 105 with his troops when we're done here. We tell him, and anyone else we have to inform, that we're concerned that there's an 'illicit support facility' in there that's giving aid and comfort to the djevels, so we're going to send in a large team of lycan troops to go door-to-door, see what we can discover, and what shakes loose. We make this big plan, and we have them start training for it. We even order a bunch of tasers or something, because it's gonna be non-violent and all that stuff, with rules of engagement, all that. We slap ''secret all over it, but those who have to know will know. I mean, it's a legit operation, right?"

  "And what, start a fire while they're searching to provide cover?" Bethany asked.

  Troy shook his head. "We start the fire tomorrow, while Major Henning is training his folks for the op. I mean, it's an accident, right? So we don't want it to look like they're waiting for it. They'll only have just started training.

  "I figure Ian and Craig can come up with something that'll look like the djevels caused it. Beth, you and Sharon can cast wind spells to drive it, while Moms Peg and Cali here monitor the winds and how it's moving, using our recon drones to guide you in how to aim it."

  "Where do Henning's men come in?" Sharon asked.

  "I want this big, out of control wildfire that's raging, and I want it to be obvious that the Rainbow Village is in harm's way. Someone's going to order Henning to go in to evac those who can't get out, tell the others to leave, all that."

  SJ nodded slowly. "Because they'll not only be the closest group, they'll have been studying the place, and have an idea of what they're dealing with."

  "Exactly. Then, after the fire has destroyed the place, we can come back while 'searching for survivors', and find where that tunnel opening is."

  "You realize some of the people there are going to die, right?"

  "So what?" Troy said with a frown. "They're not supposed to be there, and they know it. They're aiding the enemy and providing them comfort. We'll give them more than enough time to get out, but if they decide they don't want to? Tough luck."

  "Troy is right," Cali spoke up. "Every time we have tried to remove them, someone with a lot of influence or money protects them. We know there are still traitors in the government we have not found. We are at war; they are the enemy. Troy's plan offers them more mercy than I dare say they deserve."

  "But it offers us lots of cover, and we come off looking like heroes, going in there and trying to 'save' them from the fire."

  "Hey, if worse comes to worst, just claim the djevels set the fire to destroy the evidence," Sharon said with a wink.

  "Why would they do that?" SJ asked.

  "Duh, because they're djevels?" Sharon said with a wicked grin. "Just make sure you have a really good alibi, Troy."

  Troy nodded. "I'll be sure to be very visible. We're housed in the barracks at Fort 90, so we're very visible."

  "Well, it's your call, Troy," SJ said. "Dad and I have both agreed to let you handle this as you see fit, seeing how well you've done on everything else."

  "Great! Then we're doing it. Any questions?"

  "Umm, just how big a firebomb do you want?" Craig asked.

  "As long as you make it look like the djevels did it, either by accident or on purpose, as big as you want," Troy said.

  Ian and Craig looked at each other and slowly smiled.

  "Just don't burn down Nevada while you're at it, boys," Peg warned.

  "Oh, we'll be careful, Mom," Craig said.

  "Yes, very careful," Ian agreed.

  Peg just sighed heavily.

  #

  Come Monday afternoon, Troy was sitting in on the daily command briefing while 'waiting' for his operation to launch in a few days, when the report of a fire was mentioned in the brief. Command, which was Colonel Heller at Fort 105 in this case, didn't know about Troy's actual plan, so his warning was more of a notice to the flight crews who might have to deal with the smoke.

  Two hours later, he got a call from Colonel Heller, who did, however, know about the op Troy was planning later in the week to search the Rainbow Village, as it was now training at his base.

  "Yes, Colonel?" Troy said when he was handed the phone by the captain in charge of Fort 90.

  "That fire's spinning up out of control. It looks like I may have to ground all flight ops in your area for the next several hours."

  "I don't have a problem with that, Colonel. My thing doesn't come off until Wednesday, and if we have to, I can always push it back a day or two."

  "That's not why I'm calling you," the colonel said with a heavy sigh.

  "What's the problem, sir?" Troy asked, giving his best concerned voice.

  "The problem is, my analysts are fairly certain this fire is going to blow right through that hippy encampment, and from what we've figured out they're using for building materials, that place is gonna go up like a tinderbox."

  "Uh-oh."

  "Yeah, so I want you to take Major Henning's people and evacuate as many of them as you can. I got twenty busses driving out there from Salt Lake City, but I don't want to send them into that little valley, in case things get too out of control. Also, I don't know for sure if they'll get there in time. Best guess is, you'll have a couple hours to get in and get out before the smoke's too thick."

  "What about dropping water on it?"

  "It's too close to the border, and we don't have any tanker aircraft that have been warded against the djevel's weapons."

  "Understood. So why us?"

  "Because you and the major's men have been preparing to go in there anyways, and if there's anybody who knows what's what in there, it's you. Also, you're the only force I've got right now that's large enough."

  "Got it. Send Major Henning out here to meet me at 90. I just hope those folks will listen to reason."

  "Thanks, Troy. Good luck."

  Troy set the phone down and turned to Captain Lightfoot. "I'm sure you heard that. Can you detail a couple of monitors in your command post here to show a real-time image of that spot? I'll call one of my moms and see if I can get one of the high altitude drones assigned."

  "I'll give you two of the large monitors. Fort 89 is going to be evacuating; it looks like they're smack in the path of this thing, so we need to keep eyes on the area in case they need help. At least it seems to be moving too fast for any djevels to outrun."

  "Yeah, let's hope it doesn't do the same to us," Troy said and went to find the girls. He figured he had about thirty minutes until Major Henning showed up.

  "So, phase 'save the dirty hippies from burning to death'?" Mira teased as he found them. They'd been given two beds at the far end of one of the barracks, which they'd pushed together. Chloë had been a little surprised at the lycans' easy acceptance of nudity in the barracks, which were coed, but she'd adjusted quickly enough once she'd realized the others had all grown up with it and no one was going to be hitting on her.

  Though some of the things that had gone on in a few of the bunks last night might have been a little bit shocking, as she discovered that the lycans' easy attitude towards nudity also included sex for a lot of them.

  "Looks like. Henning should be here soon enough, with his people and his Ospreys."

  "So what do you need us to do?" Healy asked.

  "I was thinking of taking you and Mira with me."

  "What about me and Nadi?" Chloë asked.

  "I want you two to sit in the command post. You're the only ones here who know what's really going on. If you see anything I need to know that needs to be kept secret, you can text me, Mira, or Healy."

  "Anything else?"

  "Gear up and arm up."

  "What for?"

  "If the wind shifts, there's always a possibility they may have to evac here. Also, there's a possibility djevels fleeing the fire could end up here as well. So gear up, arm up, and make sure you've got spare magazines."

  The girls nodded, and then they set about getting geared up. At least Chloë already knew how to shoot.