"I thought so," she said and smiled.

  "Oh, you did?" he asked with a smile.

  "You're more magical looking than the other lycans."

  "Oh? Djinn can see that?"

  She nodded. "We're magical, though I'm not very, compared to the higher caste djinns, the mages and the warriors, or even the better courtesans."

  "Interesting. Well, let me introduce you to the parents, then I'll show you to my room, and I'll find out what the plan is."

  Heading inside to the living room, he saw his mother, all the other mothers, his father, and Mike's wives. SJ and his wives were also there, as were Bethany, Sampson, and his father's mother. There were two other couples, older folks, so he figured they were some of his new in-laws.

  "Welcome to the insanity known as just another day with the Valens," Troy quipped to them as he walked up to his father.

  "What are you doing here, and why is she with you?" his father asked.

  "I just heard on the flight back up. So, yes, thanks for inviting me to rescue my brother," Troy said and winked. "Not that he probably needs it; knowing him, he's probably already stacking bodies."

  Sean snorted. "You're probably right; it's always the quiet ones, right?"

  Troy put a hand on his heart. "Gasp! My father made a joke! During an emergency, no less!"

  Troy laughed as his father threatened to cuff him. "Sure you want to go? We'd hate for your fragile ego to have to witness the triumphs of my favorite son against stacked odds yet again."

  "Someone has to sing his praises, and honestly, Dad, I've heard your singing voice."

  Sean rolled his eyes, and then looked over at Nadinc. "Hello, Nadinc. Please don't tell me you've fallen into the evil clutches of my most wayward son?"

  "Umm…"

  "Yes, she's mine now, Dad. Sorry. You snooze, you lose."

  Nadinc noticed Troy's father's eyebrows rise at that.

  "Well, I guess that makes my life easier," Sean said.

  "I'm going to show her to my room here in a few. Do we have a location on Mike yet?"

  "No, but I'm going to stage everyone on the mountain so we can head there immediately once we've got it."

  Troy nodded. "Got it. Give me a few to get Nadi here settled, and I'm good to go."

  "Thanks, Troy. I'm glad you're coming with us."

  "Hey, he's my favorite brother too, you know!" Troy said with a wink, and turning to SJ, he stuck out his tongue. Then, taking Nadinc's hand again, he led her back to his bedroom.

  "Did you mean what you said back there?" Nadinc said, looking at him in confusion.

  "More or less. Mike, Mihalis, is one of my favorite brothers."

  Nadinc shook her head. "No! I mean about me being yours!"

  Troy gave her a wry grin. "Yeah, guess I did say that, didn't I?"

  "You were joking?"

  Troy grabbed her and laid a very passionate kiss on her, overwhelming her completely with the intensity of it. Closing her eyes, she grabbed him and held on, losing all sense for a moment.

  She was panting when he finally let her come up for air.

  "But…but we hardly know each other! We haven't even been to bed!"

  Troy smiled at her and kissed her on the nose. "My rashest decisions always seem to be the most fun, but I guess it was a little abrupt of me to declare to everyone that you're mine without asking you first.

  "So if you'd rather not, just tell me, and I'll take the blame. Okay?"

  "Why wouldn't I want you?" she asked, surprised.

  He smiled at her. "I can't think of a single reason, personally." With that, he laid her back on the bed. "I don't know how long I'll be gone. If you need anything, ask one of the moms; I'm sure they'll be able to help you."

  "What about my things?"

  "Oh! Right. I'll ask somebody to move those over."

  "Why don't I just go get them?"

  "Because I want you to stay here tonight," Troy said with a purr. "I want this place to smell of something other than me when I come back, okay?"

  "I'm not sure I understand?"

  "It's a cat thing. Now, it's late, and I'm sure you're tired. The bathroom is through there. I gotta jet." He kissed her again. "Sleep well. I'll be back by morning, I'm sure."

  Turning, he left her laying on the bed, looking confused. He closed the door behind him. Heading down to the living room, he saw his father was going over a few things with Sampson, as everyone got sorted out.

  "You coming, SJ?" Troy asked, walking over to his older brother.

  SJ shook his head. "Dad's leaving me in charge. I wanted to go, but he pulled rank," SJ said, frowning.

  Troy laughed. "It is his favorite son!"

  "You know, that joke does get old sometimes."

  "Which is why I keep telling it. Mike absolutely loathes the whole 'favorite son' thing."

  "Really?" SJ said, looking surprised.

  "Come on, you know how low profile he likes to fly. It embarrasses the hell out of him every time Dad says it."

  SJ snorted. "Then maybe he needs to stop living up to it."

  Troy laughed again. "Yeah, Mike's been a never-ending source of surprises this month, hasn't he?"

  "And you haven't? I had no idea you were sleeping with that djinn girl."

  "That's cause I ain't. Well, not yet at least."

  "What?"

  Troy nodded. "Tonight was our first date, and believe me, if Mike wasn't in trouble, I'd be finding out what I've gotten myself into right now."

  SJ suddenly laughed. "Oh, man, you know what? This is going to be fun. Watching my rash brother finally get what's coming to him."

  "Well, yeah, I deserve the best! That's why I grabbed her!" Troy said, grinning back at him.

  "So, gonna grab the other three?" SJ asked, still snickering.

  "I don't know. I thought maybe once Ian and Craig saw how happy I was, they might want one themselves."

  "Assuming Dad doesn't send them home."

  Troy stopped a moment and put his hand on his brother's arm. "Don't let him do that."

  "Why not?"

  "I haven't gotten the full story out of Nadi yet, but I'm getting the impression that would be like sending the Christians to the lions."

  "You know I'm a lion, right?"

  Troy grinned. "Yup, so you know what I'm talking about. But seriously, these girls are all like the untouchables in India, from what I'm picking up. They were sold off to be used or killed, and no one cared."

  SJ looked thoughtful a moment and nodded. "I'll make sure they're not sent anywhere, at least not until you've figured out what's what."

  "Thanks, bro."

  "Anything else I need to know about?"

  "Oh, Ryan and a couple of our sisters are probably going to need bailing out of jail by morning."

  This time SJ sighed heavily. "Another one of his parties?"

  Troy nodded.

  "And you're not there why?"

  "Because I wanted to take my cute little djinn home and get to know her better."

  "Wait, you passed up a night of mayhem and rabblerousing for a woman?"

  Troy sighed and tried not to look embarrassed.

  "Wow, okay, you know what? I'm gonna make sure Mom knows this one is serious!" SJ said and snickered.

  "Yeah, well, some of us don't need our women to stage an elaborate ruse to get our attention," Troy grumbled.

  "You may have a point. I think you better get going. Dad just opened up the gate."

  Turning, Troy saw that his father had indeed opened up a gateway, and everyone who was going was quickly moving through it.

  "Well, off to Growlhalla," Troy said and jogged off to the rear of the line, quickly moving through the gateway. His father stepped through right behind him and closed it immediately.

  "So, did I overhear you telling your brother this was your first date with Nadinc?"

  "Umm…" Troy tried not to look embarrassed. "Yup."

  "Good for you. That's how I got Daelyn and Jolene. Snagged 'em both the moment I met them. Never regretted it."

  "So you think it was a good choice, then?" Troy asked, looking surprised.

  "I saw how she was holding on to your hand when you dragged her in. Yeah, I think of all your rash and stupid ideas, this one may end up being the best."

  Troy snorted. "Thanks, Dad."

  "Well, if I didn't tell you when I approved, you'd stop trying, now, wouldn't you?"

  "Umm. I'm gonna get a lot of shit about this, aren't I?"

  "Not when Nadinc's around. I'll make sure of that. Wouldn't be fair to her. Now, let's go see if we can find out where your brother got to."

  Troy was chatting up a rather cute lioness when his father called for everyone's attention.

  "Mihalis was just here. We know where he is! Line up, we need to get in there before they have the opportunity to escape."

  "Where is he?" someone called out.

  "The elven king's old summer palace," Sampson called out. "So be prepared to deal with defenses. Now! Get in a line! You heard Sean! Time's a wastin'!"

  Troy watched as everyone lined up to march through, but he wasn't having any of that. Throwing up a shield spell, he just ran, hellbent for leather, and dove through the gate the moment it opened. Tucking and rolling in the air, he landed on his feet as he drew his weapon and picked off targets of opportunity.

  There were several very surprised-looking elves as he slid to a stop and dropped to one knee, taking in the scene in an instant. It was a nice château, which of course you'd expect, as elves had built it. The thing was huge and had several spires that went up into the air, though there only appeared to be living quarters about halfway up. The building itself below the spires was about two stories, and again, lots of windows and lots of glass.

  Probably cost a fortune to heat in the winter.

  Two of the three elves he'd shot were down and rolling on the ground—he'd taken them in the hip, as he figured they'd need someone for questioning. The building itself sat on a foundation that was made of square blocks of what looked like granite, which meant the whole thing had a basement, and if there was one thing he knew about the older races, it was that they loved their basements and their dungeons. Spying a large opening that led down into the foundation, he popped another elf who was running down it, though unfortunately he had to headshot that one.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Sampson thundered, running up behind him.

  "Scouting! Come on, Gramps! Let's get in before they think to kill the prisoner!" And with that, Troy popped back up to his feet and ran in through the opening in the foundation, which was obviously the entrance to the basement. The elf he'd headshot had probably been going for the heavy double doors, which were set about ten feet inside the entrance.

  Moving forward at a slower pace so Sampson could keep up with him, he moved down the hallway; the sound of gunfire from behind them meant whoever had decided to encircle the castle had found some more interesting targets.

  Casting a seeker spell he'd invented to be able to track his sibs down when he felt like playing a trick on them, he sent it off in search of Mihalis, and it came back fairly quickly. Apparently, he wasn't that far away.

  "This way!" he called and put on a brief burst of speed. He slid to a halt in front of a heavy door. Checking that the hallway was clear, and Sampson was now covering him, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  "Hey!" he called out with a grin as he saw Mihalis chained to the wall. Otherwise, the room was clear. "What are you doing just hanging around there!"

  "I asked if they could put me up for the night," Mihalis quipped back at him.

  "Enough with the jokes," Sampson said, coming into the room as he bopped Troy on the back of the head. "Go set your brother free, and if you start singing 'Unchain my Heart', I'll smack you into next Tuesday."

  "Sampson? What are you doing here?" Mihalis asked.

  "Your dad grabbed everybody he could toss through a gate and sent them here. I think he's just a little upset."

  "Yeah, well, it's not my idea of a good time, either. The spells on these chains are well done, Troy, so you might want to start with a dispel."

  Troy snorted and grabbed one of the shackles. While the shackles were made of iron, the enchantments had been set into a layer of silver that coated the outside, probably as a protection against the iron rusting. His hand closed around the silver, which brought it inside the protective layer of his silver shield, and as the silver was converted, the enchantments failed.

  "How'd you do that?" Mihalis asked.

  "They're silver coated. Change the metal, disrupt the spell. I thought you knew that?" Troy said as he grabbed another shackle.

  "Now I feel like an idiot," Mihalis said, shaking his head.

  "Didn't you look at them?"

  "Hadn't had the chance, they only left me alone about fifteen minutes ago, when I convinced them the place was going to be raided any minute."

  "How'd you do that?" Sampson asked.

  Mihalis snorted. "With shocking ease. I also think I found out why so many elves hate goblins."

  "'Cause they cheat them?"

  "'Cause they're so easy to cheat," Mihalis said, grabbing the shackle around his neck. Troy had already disrupted the one around his waist and was moving to deal with the ones on Mihalis' ankles.

  "I can see why you didn't notice the silver," Troy said as he finished and stood back up. "It's on the outside; the inside layer is all iron."

  "They thought I was a demon," Mihalis said with a shrug as he freed himself.

  "Well, according to Jade, you're definitely one in bed!" Troy snickered and dodged out of the way as Sampson took a swipe at him.

  "Put your wings back out so they keep thinking you're a demon, in case they've got anybody with eyes on the place," Sampson said to Mihalis. "Troy, see if you can find him some pants."

  "Yes, Grandpa!" Troy said with mock seriousness and left the room at a jog. He ran back up to the body of the dead elf he'd passed on the way in and removed his pants, shaking out the worst of what had come out of the elf's bowels after he'd been killed.

  "What are those for?" Beth asked, coming down the hallway.

  "Mike needs some pants, and I don't want to take the time to see if there's anything better than this around."

  "So you're giving him those?"

  "I ain't giving him mine; you want to volunteer yours?"

  "Umm, no."

  Giving the pants one last shake, he ran back to where Mihalis was talking with Sampson.

  "I found you some pants!" Troy said, grinning.

  "Oh, man, I can smell them from here!" Mihalis protested. "Please tell me this is a joke."

  "Sorry, Mike. This really is it."

  "Well, let's find a bathroom. I need to piss, and maybe I can wash the worst of the smell out in a sink. So, Mom Peg's here? Who else?"

  "Estrella, Beth, Sharon, Pisti, and a dozen lions Dad had come up from the base while the First was trying to pin down exactly where you were."

  "King Ryul will be here shortly, too," Sampson added, "along with your father."

  "What's Dad doing with him?"

  "This is one of their palaces, and he is your father-in-law now. So he went and got him."

  "Good point."

  Troy left them to deal with that as he ran back to grab Beth, and they joined the team clearing the rest of the building.

  "Find anybody other than those two I shot out front?" he asked they moved up the stairs.

  "Only a couple, and one of the two out front pulled a gun out and got his brains splattered. So I'm not sure how many live ones we got."

  They finished searching the house just as they got the recall, and they trooped down to the front gate. Troy saw that Mike was there with Dad and some elf he guessed was the elven king. He went over to where Sampson and the others were standing and after a moment, his father led Mike around the side of the castle, talking with him as they all followed behind. Once they were out of sight of everyone, his father opened a gate.

  "Single file, everyone," Sean called out, "let's go home."

  "Yes! Off to Growlhalla!" Troy cheered from where he was bringing up the rear, to assorted laughs and groans.

  Sampson cuffed him on the back of the head.

  "What was that for?" Troy grumbled, looking back at him.

  "Being within arms' reach," Sampson said with a smile back at him.

  "So just what was all this about anyway? Any idea?"

  "Some group wants to kidnap Rika, seeing as she's the king's daughter."

  "Oh, man, I can hear Mom Cali sharpening her knives from here!"

  "It won't just be Cali, trust me on that. Your dad's pretty upset, and your mom is as well. And that doesn't even begin to consider what Sawyer's gonna do once he hears about it."

  Troy chuckled. "Knowing Sawyer, he not only has, he's probably already starting in on something. Mike's his godson, after all, and you know how serious Sawyer takes his family commitments."

  Sampson snorted, but Troy could see he was smiling. "I almost feel sorry for them."

  Denied

  By the time Troy got back to his room, it was well after seven, and all he really wanted to do was sleep. Opening the door to his room, he suddenly remembered that he had a girl in his bed. Even as tired as he was, he still felt guilty. How'd he forget about Nadinc of all people?

  Shaking his head, he sighed, walked around to the bed, and woke her up.

  "Hmmm? Oh! Master! You're back! What time is it?"

  "It's after seven, going on eight. How are you doing?"

  Nadinc sat up in bed, the covers falling down and revealing that she wasn't wearing anything. Well, at least not from the waist up, that he could see.

  "Oh, I'm doing fine! Are you okay, Master?"

  Troy yawned. "I'm fine," he said, and then his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything in far too long.

  "Oh! Let me get dressed, and we can get you something to eat!" Nadinc said, jumping out of bed, revealing that she was, in fact, completely naked.

  Sighing with a wry smile, Troy watched as she grabbed her pants and one of his t-shirts, and quickly put them on. He wondered if Nadinc knew about undergarments, or maybe it was just a djinn thing?