“I don’t know. Renny, did you text them?” Dra’Kaedan inquired.
“I always include them if we do Coven of Warlocks stuff,” Renny responded with a shrug.
“I’ll call them,” Dre’Kariston said.
The phone was nearly up to his ear when Saura charged into the great room with T’Eirick behind her. Her blonde ringlets were flowing behind her, and her face was flushed. “So sorry, we were…well, your father just thought we should…” Saura stammered, then turned to T’Eirick. “How am I going to explain it without offending our sons’ delicate sensibilities?”
“Yeah, Mortis, they were definitely humping,” Rafe told his wolf.
Dra’Kaedan let out a breath of air, and his expression morphed into one of disgust. “Eww.”
“Grand Warlock, grow up,” Saura retorted. “Now, what’s going on?”
“Klodjana’s ready to summon her familiar,” her brother, Scheredin, nearly shouted.
Saura’s eyes grew damp as she approached Klodjana and clasped one of her hands. With the other, she grabbed Bryjelni. “Oh, what a special moment for you both. Congratulations.” They both hugged the former Grand Summoner, and Dra’Kaedan insisted they form a large circle around Klodjana as he tugged Bryjelni close.
“Go as soon as you’re ready,” Dra’Kaedan told Klodjana quietly.
Renny had an excited fairy practically dancing next to him as Klodjana’s eyes slipped shut. His smile formed without thought as a woman with black hair and bright green eyes came into view. After being embraced by her summoner, she was introduced to Klodjana’s mate.
“The Coven of Warlocks would like to introduce you to the High Kings of D’Vaire,” Dra’Kaedan told the new familiar once she was brought over to meet the Grand Warlock, who held on to her tightly for several minutes the moment she was in reach.
“Have you chosen my name?” she asked Klodjana.
“I was thinking Klodjena.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Scheredin burst out. “You can’t change just one letter of your name.”
“It worked for Drystan when he named his son,” Aleksander murmured.
“Yeah, well, it breaks warlock tradition. She’s not your child. She’s a grown woman who deserves her own identity,” Scheredin argued.
Klodjana threw her head back and laughed uproariously at her brother’s ire. Containing her mirth, she slung an arm around her familiar’s shoulder. “I only said that to irritate my big brother, Scher,” she told her familiar. “What do you think of Jena?”
“Can you tell me its meaning?”
“It means ‘endurance or little bird,’ ” Bryjelni supplied.
“She’s definitely going to need endurance to deal with my sister,” Scheredin muttered.
“I like it,” Jena enthused. “I appreciate having some similarity to your name.”
“Welcome to D’Vaire, Jena,” Aleksander said. “Everyone here is going to make sure you have as happy of a life as possible.”
“I think we need to celebrate with a cake,” Rafe remarked after he greeted Jena.
“Can I set it on fire?” Rorie teased.
“The Coven of Warlocks would like to officially throw out the fairy from our population,” Dra’Kaedan announced.
“Nope, that’s not happening,” Renny replied. To Rorie’s delight, he took his mate in his arms and kissed him thoroughly. Then he took his turn in saying hello to their newest D’Vaire.
Chapter 36
Rorie had learned that since High King Rafe had fully accepted his role as leader of D’Vaire, he’d made it a point to focus on creating events that would bring the family together. With everyone moved by their experience traveling back in time to visit the Fae realm, the idea had quickly surfaced to have the warlocks use their magic to lift memories from the entire extended clan. For several weeks, they’d spoken with people and peeled away images to build home movies everyone could view.
As someone new to D’Vaire, Rorie was excited to get to see the many special moments that had occurred in their lives. Renny had worked diligently on the project and had won the vote to include the inner monologue of the person whose recall they were relying upon. Although Rorie had wished to be fully involved, Renny had insisted he stay out of it so he’d have the chance to enjoy the final product with no spoilers.
