Page 104 of Let Slip the Dogs of War

Vladimir crushes Grant against his chest and Dante sags against me. Ophelia is sitting on the sofa, still tense but clearly calmer than she was in the Otherworld. Oisin stands against the wall, almost hiding in the shadows.

“How did you even make it back?” Jeremiah asks. He takes a wary step into the room. “You were supposed to go to the Guardians.”

“Yeah, things went to shit,” Ophelia says. She sighs. “Thanks for the rescue, though. Ten out of ten, would recommend.”

Dante starts laughing. Ophelia catches his eye and then she’s laughing too, and I do not share quite as much in their slightly hysterical amusement, but my lips twitch all the same. I get to my feet and pull Dante gently over to the sofa she’s sitting on. Ophelia rests her head against his shoulder.

Grant lifts his head from Vladimir’s chest. His eyes are red and his hands are still twisted in Vladimir’s shirt. “Let’s not do that again, okay? Like, not anytime soon.”

“You are not leaving my sight for the foreseeable future,” Vladimir growls, then glares at me as though this is my fault.

I suppose it is. Grant pats Vladimir’s chest absentmindedly and settles more against him. He does not seem to mind that they are on the floor, and even if Vladimir might want to move them, I think he would stand on his head if Grant asked it of him right now.

“Want me to call your pack?” Jeremiah asks.

Ophelia and Dante exchange glances. “Yeah,” she says finally.

“Is Sam still with the Guardians?” Dante asks.

Vladimir nods. “I only returned with Soren because we were having fae trouble. Otherwise, I would have been there too. I planned to go back tonight.”

“Fate,” Grant says, with a little grin. “Magic.”

Vladimir hums, sweeping his hand up and down Grant’s back. His eyes sharpen when they land on Oisin. “Who are you?”

Oisin does not bristle; under the combined attention of Vladimir and Jeremiah, he looks rather as though he would like to melt into the wallpaper.

“He’s mine,” Ophelia says, and her tone brooks no argument. “I’ll take responsibility for him.”

Vladimir nods first, and Jeremiah raises his eyebrows. “I guess your alpha will have something to say about that.”

Ophelia merely shrugs. As though Kieran will deny her anything right now, though I believe he would agree with her and Dante on this matter regardless. Oisin needs refuge. We have broken our bond and hidden the crowns. The Otherworld depends on our desire to find its crownbearers.

“We should—” Vladimir begins, but something rings upstairs. His phone. He glances at Jeremiah, who does not hesitate. He runs from the room and returns with the phone a few seconds later.

Grant makes a sound as though he wants to let go and allow Vladimir to rise, but Vladimir tightens his hand in the back of Grant’s shirt and Grant sags against him again.

“You stay here,” Vladimir murmurs and sighs at the name he sees on the screen. He answers the call. “Cassian.”

“What the fuck just happened? Did a fucking gate open in the middle of your living room? What the—”

“Hey,” Grant says. He sounds tired now. “We got a bit stuck. Had to improvise.”

Dante huffs. Grant’s eyes slide to him, and his smile feels less brittle.

“Grant, you—I told you that it was dangerous.”

“We did not have a choice,” I say shortly, and Vladimir proffers the phone in my direction. I take it. “Things are complicated in the Otherworld right now. What is most important is that we all returned.”

“All of you?” Sam. Ophelia sits forward when she hears his voice. “I swear to the gods, Lark—”

“All of us,” Ophelia says. She nudges Dante in the side.

“Yeah, we’re all good. Brought a bonus fae back for you as well.”

“I wasn’t expecting Lark to stay there,” Sam replies.

“No…” Dante eyes Oisin. He appears overwhelmed, and realisation strikes me. He has likely never been to this realm before. I squeeze Dante’s arm and hand him the phone before I make my way over to Oisin’s side. “We brought someone else. Look, can we explain this to all of you at once? I don’t want to have to go through it over and over.”