Things actually went according to plan over the next few days.

Monday the twins stayed with the rest of our little sept and got started teaching them about life on Earth, while I teleported myself down to the city to do some shopping. I had two dozen gold coins in my purse and my first stop was a certain car dealership that I knew was involved in the shadow economy.

It took a bit of haggling but I managed to get a nearly new minivan, complete with licence plates and all the legal paperwork. It only cost me nineteen coins too, which wasn't too bad all things considered.

Then I dropped in at another fae-friendly store and one more gold coin got me a pair of brand new top-of-the-line phones. I only needed one, but I figured we could teach our guests how to use the other one, then leave it in the cottage incase they needed it.

And when I got home with the mini-van I teleported those concrete blocks off our driveway and into the ditch on the other side of the road.

Once that was done I pulled the new van in and parked by the house, then when I went inside I was happy to find out the power was back on. So me and the twins set about charging up our phones and checking our email and everything. Kelly and Keira talked me out of calling either Elise or Susan, they were still worried about tipping off Kaitlyn that we were back.

Then we spent some more time with our guests, teaching them about light switches and showing them how the fridge and stove worked. Merryweather and Petunia figured out the TV remote all by themselves. Even though none of them understood English the two pixies were absolutely fascinated by the television, especially cartoons.

On Tuesday me and the twins got our three fae guests into the mini-van and apologized to the pixies about having to leave them behind. We still had no idea yet how to handle pixies meeting humans. So Merryweather and Petunia stayed in the cottage and streamed anime on the TV while the rest of us went to the discount mart to do some shopping.

That was an adventure in itself, with three fae dressed like medieval LARPers and not speaking a word of English. The six of us attracted a lot of stares, but happily there wasn't any trouble and nobody got hurt. In the end Siobhan, Laoise, and Padraig all had a few outfits that would be suitable for going out in public.

It was a sight I never thought I'd see, but Siobhan looked pretty darn good in skinny jeans and a tight t-shirt. And she rocked a pair of cowboy boots she picked out for herself.

Language was going to be the next big challenge, and I was still debating whether or not to try and cheat with magic or let them all learn the language the hard way. I figured in the end it would come down to whether or not they wanted to actually stay here. If they did, they'd be better off learning English themselves. If this was just a short-term visit, then magic might be a good temporary solution.

I was a little anxious about our plans for Wednesday and Thursday. We'd be leaving our guests alone for two days, and it was probably an over-reaction but I worried about them burning the place down because they did something wrong with the stove or an electrical outlet or whatever. Or they'd get bored and wander into town and wind up getting arrested or something.

Not that I really thought those things would happen, but it would be their first two days alone on Earth and I was anxious.

On Thursday me and the twins would be out in Cape Breton all day, so they could confront their grandfather. I had lots of concerns about how that would play out too, but it was still another day away.

Wednesday morning after breakfast the twins took the mini-van and headed off into the city. They had to visit the university, they had meetings with their profs and so on. Both of them were anxious about how that would play out, and I was a little worried about it too.

I stayed behind and spent the rest of the morning with our guests, but I used clairvoyance spells every now and then to check in on my cousin. I wanted to drop in and see her, but I wanted to make sure she was up and dressed and everything before I showed up.

Around noon I checked on Elise again and saw she was finally up and dressed. I let the others know I'd be back later, then I was on my way. Her place was a little far to do it safely in one jump so I teleported partway there, then my second jump brought me into her living-room.

"Tegan!" Elise greeted me with a shout, followed immediately by throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug.

I hugged her back and smiled, "Hi Elise. How are you doing?"

She eventually let go and said "I'm fine. Have a seat, can I get you anything?"

I sat down on the sofa and she grabbed us a couple cans of soda then sat down next to me.

"So are you back now? Is it over? You said you were going to take on the king and a whole army?"

"Yeah it's over," I replied. I probably sounded a little weary as I gave her the extremely short version, "Me and my little group faced off against the king, a bunch of mages, and a small army. And we won."

Elise asked "Just like that? There must be more, how did it play out? Did anyone get hurt?"

I shrugged, "Nobody on our side got hurt. There were a few deaths on the other side. Uh... a dozen maybe? I killed the prince and eliminated the king, I basically put Queen Áine on the throne. She seems cool though. She's young, only about two hundred I think? But I think she'll do well."

She shook her head, "You say that so casually Tegan, like it's no big deal. I'm trying to think of what it would be like if that sort of thing happened here? That must be big news over there. Won't basically everyone there be reacting in one way or another?"

That left me thinking for a few moments, then I finally shook my head. "They don't have televisions or radios or anything. I don't even think they have newspapers. News travels by word of mouth? Áine will return to the palace without her dad or brother, and between her and the other folks who survived the encounter they'll tell everyone what happened. Word will spread through the courtiers and through the soldiers and stuff like that. And I doubt it'll make any difference to the average fae. Like someone on my mom's staff? Makes no difference to them who sits on a throne two hundred leagues away."

Elise looked thoughtful again, "Right. You've said they're basically medieval over there. That must be an adjustment too, going back and forth between the high-tech information-age here and the middle-ages there."

"It was at first," I replied with a slight smile. "I guess I'm used to it now? Life there moves at a different pace and you just get used to it. No email or phones or texting, so if you want to communicate you dispatch a courier or you get on a horse and go there yourself."

She smiled as well, but a moment later her smile fell as she asked "How can you be sure this new queen won't come after you? Maybe she'll want revenge for her dad or her brother?"

"I don't think so?" I responded. "She was there, and honestly she didn't look all that upset when I killed her brother. Or when I got rid of her father. Her brother was an entitled arsehole and I'm guessing Áine knew that. And she actually warned me about her dad the day before the big showdown?"

After a moment I added, "Even if she did change her mind though, I think I made a big enough impression that no fae in Otherworld will ever try and challenge me again."

Elise raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why, what did you do?"

"Oh, I just showed off a little," I replied with a smirk. "I took away all the magic in the world, then I blacked out the sun."

She stared at me with wide eyes, "You what?!"

I grinned, "Yeah. For a few minutes that day, I kind of had god-like powers. Fae all across Otherworld thought the world was ending or something? But word will spread that it was just me. Tegan Vale turned off the magic and turned out the sun."

She continued staring at me in stunned silence for another minute or two.

After she finished her drink Elise asked, "What about the problems here? I haven't had any more run-ins with your detective friends, and last time I spoke with Susan she said she hadn't heard any more either."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Queen Áine is going to call off any agents her father had over here causing trouble, so we shouldn't have to worry about any new problems coming up? And I've already taken care of the current police problem. There's one loose end I still have to deal with next week, but the investigation's over and nobody's looking into our affairs or keeping tabs on us anymore."

She hesitated, "Do I want to know how you handled that stuff?"

"No," I shook my head. "You really don't."

We were both quiet again for a few moments, then she asked "So how are things at the house? Was there any damage? Did the police ransack the place or anything?"

I shook my head again, "They couldn't even get onto the driveway. I have about twenty acres heavily warded with protective spells. They cut the power though, but we got that resolved the other day. So the house is ok. We'll have to invite you over for a visit soon. Me and the twins have the rest of our little group staying with us right now? We have three fae, Siobhan, Laoise, and Padraig staying in the cottage. And two pixies, Merryweather and Petunia."

Elise looked surprised but interested, "Seriously? Pixies are real? Are they really four inches tall?"

"Yeah," I smirked. "Well Merryweather is. Petunia's like three and a half inches? Some fae are scared of them, pixies have a reputation of being short-tempered and murderous, but so far Merryweather's only killed one person and that was an enemy in the battle? So I think that reputation is maybe a little exaggerated."

She gave me a quizzical look, "I have no idea if you're teasing now or being serious. But I definitely want to come and meet your friends, and these pixies."

"Soon," I grinned. Then my expression became serious as I said, "Tomorrow me and the twins have to go out east. Kelly and Keira need to see Kaitlyn. They're as worried as I was about the kid being fae again. Actually I think they're even more worried than I was."

Before Elise could respond I added, "Please don't tell Susan we're back or that we're coming out her way? The twins don't want Kaitlyn to know we're coming, they don't want her to have a chance to prepare or stage things. They want it to be a surprise."

Elise was quiet for a few moments, and she had a very serious look on her face. She sighed, "Ok Tegan. I won't tell Sue you're back, and I won't tell her you and your girlfriends are coming out her way. Just please promise me you and the twins aren't going to do anything rash?"

"I promise," I replied. "Kelly and Keira just want to talk to Kaitlyn. They want to find out what she's been up to, what she's planning now that she has access to magic again. And they want to know how she did it."

"Get Kelly and Keira to promise too, ok?" she asked. "I know you three have a lot of misgivings about Kaitlyn, I know there's loads of stuff she's done that I don't know about. But I spent a week there with Sue and Kaitlyn last month and all I saw was a teenage girl juggling homework, chores, and a really strong crush on her girlfriend."

I sighed, "I know. And I've told my girlfriends that too. But they just don't trust their grandfather? The sort of stuff Kaitlyn did before... It's really hard to believe she's changed so much."

"I get it Tegan." Elise's voice was sort of soft and serious. "But people can and do change. The bottom line is despite everything that's happened over the past few years, despite all three of us going in different directions, and despite how we've all changed? You and Susan and I are still family. I still love her, she and I both still love you. And I don't really say this anymore, but I'm still your father. And I'm asking you not to burn any bridges with your mom. Sue's practically adopted that girl, she thinks of Kaitlyn like her own child now. If you or your girlfriends hurt the kid in any way, you know Susan will never speak to you again."

Her little speech left me quiet for a few moments. I hadn't heard her go into 'dad-mode' in over two years. And it was even more surprising to hear her call herself my father after all this time. It was actually hard for me to picture the cute brunette party-girl college senior next to me as the same person I called 'dad' for most of my life. But that sort of made her words hit even harder.

I finally nodded, "Ok Elise. I'll get the twins to promise me they won't hurt Kaitlyn. And I promise I'll do my best not to ruin things between Sue and me."

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