My Defender(57)

Adriel winced. "Yes. I am keeping my last name to avoid drawing attention. I would appreciate your discretion on the matter."

"Of course," she huffed. "I can't have my son's athair bothered by those small minded vindictive...." She struggled to find an apt insult for the bigoted Founding Family members.

"Douchebags. The word you are looking for is douchebag," Meryn suggested.

Ellie nodded. "Right. Douchebags." When she looked over at Adriel, he was smiling.

"Thank you," he said. "We have enough problems to worry about, without this leaking out."

"I'm glad Benji found his way to you. I know that must have been a hard decision for Susan." Eva's eyes were red, and Ellie remembered that Eva, despite being a tiger, was part of the Wolftown pack. She felt the blood drain from her face. "We must seem so heartless to you. Here we are celebrating becoming parents, but at what cost?" Ellie couldn't look Eva in the eye.

"No! Don't feel that way. I've known Susan and Tobias their entire lives, and they wouldn't want you to feel bad for loving Benji. I know it will be a great relief to them to know he is being cared for. Don't ever feel bad for adopting Benji," Eva protested.

"Bad stuff doesn't negate good stuff. It's not like there's a tally board and someone's keeping score," Meryn spoke up. "Be happy, because that's what gets you through the bad times."

"Well said, Meryn," Magnus complimented. Meryn held up her hand, flashing Magnus Spock's live long and prosper sign. Magnus chuckled. Ellie noticed he looked a lot better than he had earlier. Resting had done him a lot of good, though his eyes still looked tired. He looked around the table. "We may have a new complication."

"Complication!?" Kari exclaimed, looking livid. Beside her, Declan was rubbing her back, trying to keep her calm.

"What's happened?" Ellie asked.

Kari turned to her. "The Régis Founding Family head stepped forward today and enacted an ancient law that allows Founding and Noble Family members to challenge Magnus over decisions that affect the city."

"Like to a debate?" Ellie wondered.

Kari shook her head. "No. To an actual duel. It is called 'Rule by Combat'. It is like Trial by Combat in that the idea is that Fate will favor the righteous. There is no limit to the number of duels that can be demanded. Magnus could literally spend his days fighting for the next couple weeks. We do not need this right now," she fumed.

Gavriel chuckled. "Enact the 'Frère de le Sang'. It will allow Magnus to designate warriors to fight in his stead."

Kari blinked. "Is that part of the law?"

Gavriel nodded. "It was added in later when a certain vampire brought up the fact that this law would result in the strong overpowering the weak and not necessarily help in protecting the city."

Kari picked up her clipboard and unclipped a file. "Are you certain? These laws were written thousands of years ago." She turned page after page. "I do not see any mention of this law in the scanned pages that Régis submitted with the declaration."

Gavriel gave her a droll stare. "I am quite sure."

Kari blinked. "Oh. Right."

Gavriel winked at her. "Check the later volume in the series dedicated to the council. I believe the law was added by them to circumvent the acting Prince from striking it down." He looked at Magnus. "You can issue a blanket statement that all unit warriors can fight on your behalf. That should keep challenges to a minimum."

Magnus looked a bit relieved. "Not that I was looking forward to beating some sense into them," Caspian snorted at his brother's admission. Magnus continued. "But it would have gotten very old, very quickly."

"I will announce your decree first thing in the morning," Kari said, grinning evilly. She turned to her mate. "You get to handle the first challenge."

Declan beamed. "Aww, you do love me."

"Boom! Take that, douchebags!" Meryn crowed.

Eva looked over at her. "Boom?"

Meryn pursed her lips. "No good? I'm trying to find a catchphrase."

Rex laughed. "Meryn, why do you need a catchphrase?"

She shrugged. "My cult suggested it."

Beside her, Aiden choked on his wine. He hadn't even caught his breath before shooting Elizabeth a panicked look.

Elizabeth shook her head. "She means her Facebook group." She glowered at Meryn. "Some days, I regret introducing you to social media."

Aiden frowned down at his mate. "No more cult."

Meryn crossed her arms. "It's how I keep my furries organized."

Ellie looked around. "Does she mean what I think she means?"