My Defender(20)

"Gram!" Ellie hissed.

Magnus held up a hand. "Ellie, your grandmother is well within her rights to ask such a thing, especially seeing as how we called you here for your help." He pointed to the men standing quietly in the corners. Ellie blinked. She had missed them completely. "As you can see, Elizabeth has her own guards, Kuruk and Tarak Géroux." The men winked and saluted. "With Kari and Meryn's permission, I would like to assign one of the guards Law brought with him to act as your daytime bodyguard." He smiled at her. "I am pretty sure her mate can keep her safe at night." Ellie blushed, and Grant growled his agreement.

Kari was already pulling out her notepad. "Broden and Ramsey Lionhart have taken over guarding me. Meryn has Law and Ryuu during the day, and Aiden and Gidan at night." She flipped a page. "We could easily assign Emeric as a daytime guard and Idris as a night guard. That would still leave us the other team to help the unit warriors in patrolling the city." She looked at Grant. "Do not worry about your patrol while you are helping the children, I made sure we were covered."

"Oh, she's good," Marjoram said.

Kari smiled. "Thank you." She closed her notepad and looked down at Ellie. "Tarragon should also be returning tomorrow. When he found out Bethy was pregnant, he practically had a mental breakdown and raced back to Storm Keep for medical spells for infants. He may not know much about human medicine, but he should be able to help with spells."

Ellie felt relieved. "That would be wonderful. The medicine I have been giving them seems to be helping, but I'm not sure for how long."

"Have you figured out where you'll be staying?" Elizabeth asked.

Ellie exchanged looks with her grandmother. She then turned to look at Grant. "We'd actually prefer to stay on Level Six with the children." She smiled when Grant nodded his agreement.

He gently squeezed her hand, showing his support. He looked over to Elizabeth. "I'll be staying there as well. I've been rotating with Stefan to keep the children calm."

"That is easily arranged. When the witches created quarters for the wolves, they made more than enough houses. You can choose whichever empty one you would like," Magnus offered.

The rest of the dinner was quiet as they discussed how everyone's day went. Ellie thought about what she had learned. Suddenly, their world seemed like a much darker place.

Grant ran a thumb over her hand, pulling her out of her thoughts. He hadn't let her go, not once throughout dinner. "Let's go pick out a house so your grandmother can settle your things. I know you want to get into the lab tonight."

"When you come back down to Level One, veer off to the hallway on the left. Once you're about halfway down, the infirmary is on the left and a large lab is across the hall on the right. I'll need to add your handprint to the biometric lock," Broderick offered.

"I'll be down as soon as we get our luggage moved to the new house." She turned. "Grandmother, are you ready?"

Marjoram nodded. "Yes darling." She rose with Ellie before smiling at Sebastian who stood just behind the prince. "My compliments to the chef. That has to be one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time."

Sebastian gave a half bow. "Quite the compliment, especially coming from such an accomplished lady."

Together, the three of them said their goodnights. Grant carried their two suitcases, which had been brought down to Level One. To their surprise, two escorts waited for them.

"Adriel?" Grant asked one of the warriors.

"Yes, he called ahead while you grabbed their things," the first man replied. He smiled at her. "I'm Keegan Basswood, Iota's witch, and that's Hawthorne Ivystone, the witch for the Lamda Unit." The other witch waved hello in a friendly manner.

"Level Six, right?" Hawthorne asked.

"Yes, although Grant and I will need to come back down here after we get everything settled. Then back up to Level Six again at midnight to give the children their medicine," Ellie answered.

Hawthorne shrugged. "I don't have anything going on; I'll wait."

Keegan held out an arm to her and Marjoram. "It's never a hardship to help such beautiful women."

Hawthorne took a suitcase from Grant and held out an arm to him. After stopping by the Unit Level for Grant to pack a small bag, the two witches escorted them back up to Level Six. There wasn't much debate about which house to choose. Both Ellie and Grant wanted the first empty one available on the small road. They would be that much closer to the children.

Grant carried her suitcase and his overnight bag to the master suite, and Hawthorne carried Marjoram's suitcase to the room down the hall. Marjoram yawned. "Don't be too long in the lab. You need to rest after doing so much today."