Only the Strong, стр. 49

Braden dragged a hand through his hair and shook his head. “We need to stay away from that house. It’s clearly not safe.”

“That’s not an option,” Zoe countered. “Those doors are dangerous. We need to shut them ... although I have no idea how.” She heaved out a sigh and sipped her drink. “I essentially threw a magical bomb at that door and nothing happened.”

Cormack slid his eyes to her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”

“She can heal herself,” Sami volunteered. “Don’t worry about her. She just likes to complain.”

“Yes, it’s a family trait,” Aric drawled as he continued to rub Lily’s back. For her part, the baby appeared to be completely zonked out.

“I can take her,” Cormack offered, causing my lips to curve. “I mean, if you’re tired of holding her.”

“No way.” Aric shrugged off the attempt. “You keep getting my mouthy teenager hopped up on sugar every chance you get. I’m keeping this one for the time being. You can handle the mouthy one.”

Rather than continue to pester him, Cormack smirked. “Fair enough. I find them both equally stimulating.”

Sami grinned at him. “I’m awesome,” she agreed.

“Awesomest,” I muttered to myself.

Cormack sighed but his smile didn’t waver. “So, what do we do? If the most powerful mage in the Midwest can’t take down these gates, it seems to me we’re at a loss.”

“We have to come up with a solution,” Cernunnos countered. “I simply have no idea what it is.”

“I’m curious how you knew we were here,” Zoe interjected, her hand moving to Lily’s back. She seemed almost as enamored with the baby as her husband, although her attention span was clearly shorter because she straightened. “You obviously knew we were here. What’s up with that?”

“Adam got a call during our meeting,” Cormack explained. “He couldn’t mask his emotions at the start. He made an excuse about an emergency at home but I knew it was something you guys did. I called Braden and made it back here as soon as possible.”

“That’s because you’re a good dad,” I offered, poking my finger into Braden’s cheek. He didn’t seem to find me nearly as adorable as I found him. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“Probably not,” Braden replied. “Maybe you should take a nap, sleep this off.”

I ignored him. “I think the reaper council has always been lying about the gates.” Why I picked this moment to lay out the theory that I’d been privately playing with for weeks was beyond me. It just slipped out.

“Lying how?” Zoe queried.

“I think they always knew you could cross over but lied because they wanted people to fear the gates. They’ve been hiding something for a very long time and now they’re afraid, with the revenants showing up, that people will attempt to cross over and see what’s on the other side.”

Braden stroked my hair. “Okay, baby. Why don’t you take a nap like Lily, huh? You’re tired.”

I rolled my eyes so hard I thought I might accidentally fall off the couch. “I’m being serious. I think the gates were actually portals to different planes at one time and now we tell people they’re a place to transport souls, but that wasn’t their original purpose.”

Cormack smiled indulgently. “Well, that’s an interesting theory.”

Only Zoe seemed to be taking me seriously. Her eyes were narrow slits as she turned toward Cernunnos. “Is she right, Bob? Is that the big secret?”

He studied his fingernails rather than meet her intense gaze. “Anything is possible.”

Braden stirred. “Wait ... is she right?”

Cernunnos let loose a sigh. “Again, this is not my area of expertise. The history of the gates is convoluted.”

Zoe used her magic to fling one of the pillows from the sofa at his head. “I knew you were lying. Now we just have to figure out what they’re hiding over there. Whatever it is, it must be big.”

“Huge,” I agreed, resting my head against Braden’s shoulder. “I bet it’s the awesomest, too.”

“Totally,” Zoe agreed, grinning. “You really are stoned. Sami, you need to pull it back a bit next time. If she were to try and go into battle like this, it would be ugly.”

“If you say so.” Sami appeared to have lost interest in the conversation. “Can we go back to our game? I’m bored.”

Zoe nodded. “Absolutely. While you do that, I’m going to have a long talk with Bob. It’s nothing you’re going to want to hear.”

“That’s the story of my life where you’re concerned,” Sami offered as she traipsed toward the foyer.

Cormack smiled as he watched her go. “She could be my favorite today.”

“You can totally keep her,” Aric offered as he studied Lily’s tiny hands. “Not over the long haul or anything, but she’s all yours for twenty-four hours.”

Zoe frowned at her husband. “Don’t get attached to that baby.”

“I heard you the first ten times,” Aric groused. “Leave me and the good little girl alone. We’re bonding.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”