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their home world with Jushua. She’d said it was much changed, much destroyed, from what it had once been. After the Dark Sorcerer was defeated, someone would have to return there and restore it to the glory it had once been.
    Nelciana did not believe it would be her that returned—but perhaps Jushua and Loren, with Eaudne acting as the true queen of all lands.
    Would the older woman be capable of assuming rule?
    Would there be anything left of Evalanedea to rule? For her children to inherit?
    “Perhaps. But the children are as much Levian and Gaian as they are Evalanedean. Do not forget that.”
    “I have forgotten nothing.” But he had. The last of his nasty little spell dissipated. Her hands were free.
    She couldn’t help herself, she rammed both hands into the hard abdomen, putting a bit of her own magic behind the blow. He doubled over.
    She took her mother’s sword from him and thought about clubbing him over the head with it.
    Seriously.
    He was still green, but he stood up. “You should not have done that.”
    “Why?”
    “Because then I am forced to do this. This house has wards around it, to protect me—and all of my bloodline—from attack. And you attacked. I have yet to put the wards up to prevent harm from coming to you.”
    The bushes around them were rustling, growing. Thorned vines were extending. Gathering closer to her. She stepped nearer to him.
    He laughed. The sound went right through her; her anger continued to grow. Her own power burned beneath her skin.
    Lothonos smirked again. He waved a hand at them. “You even try to strike out at me, and you will not enjoy the results.”
    “And what will you do, spank me for my impertinence? I think not.”
    “If a spanking is what you wish, I will give you one. I have never spanked a female before. But you have a rather luscious ass. I will make a point of starting with you.”
    She looked at him. He meant it, didn’t he? “You’ll never touch me again, Lotho.”
    “And yet you have practically crawled up my chest—to escape a plant. You, goddess of the plants, are afraid of a bush.” His hands wrapped around her back again, and he lifted her. “They will not hurt you—as long as you are in my arms. I shall carry you inside, where you will be safe and protected.”
    “Tucked away with the children, while the big strong male goes to war? I did not think you a chauvinist; chauvinism defies logic, after all.” She did not want to cling to him, but every time she moved, the damned branches around them rustled.
    If she held still, so did they.
    He carried her into the back hall of his home. It was beautiful inside; she’d never been there before. Lothonos kept the other gods and goddesses out of his personal space. Whenever they’d met for matters of the worlds—he moved freely through far more of the different worlds than she did—he would insist it be at the palace where Eiophon was imprisoned.
    Lothonos’ place was a mix of blues and purples and greens, colors that were echoes of Levia’s atmosphere. It was beautiful, and not nearly as cold and emotionless as she would have expected. The light blue stone walls were offset by dark purple woods that were native to the forests surrounding his home. It was warm; almost inviting.
    Servants, Lothon Druids all, were quietly attending their tasks. How many did he have? She’d always thought he hid himself away when he wasn’t with Eiophon. Perhaps she had misjudged him in that way?
    “Put me down.”
    He complied, but he wrapped his fingers around both her wrists again. They were as good as bound with rope. He was a powerful Druid, and she would never forget that.
    She wasn’t entirely certain she matched him in supernatural strengths at all.
    “Stay close to me.”
    She wasn’t delusional. It was an order, no doubt. She wanted to chastise him for thinking he had the right, but he had the one incentive she would always wish for. “Where are they?”
    “In the nursery, of course. Your