The spell to deepen her sleep worked, but not as strongly as James might have hoped.  If she was a regular old witch (or a regular young witch for that matter) the spell would have sufficed to keep her in dreamland without any issue.  But that was not what she was anymore, or really, what she had ever been.  It deepened her sleep initially, but the effects had long since worn off by the time he slipped back into bed.  Lane had heard him enter the room, felt the mattress shift and he laid back down next to her, but instead of saying something, she waited until he chose to speak.<br/><br/>Her eyes opened slowly and she shifted to sit up, wrapping her arms around her knees.<br/><br/>"Sure, we can do that.  Why don't you tell me where you were...I mean you're old, I get that, so you could probably tell me you got up to pee and I would have to take that at face value but..."<br/><br/>Lane sighed.  "Whatever you woke up in me, you can't do dinky little spells without me feeling an after effect.  So maybe you should tell me the truth about whatever assinine thing you plan to do and we can go from there, yes?"<br/><br/>It was strange, but she believed a few things in that moment.  First, she did believe that he actually cared for her and that he cared for his daughter.  He had a shitty way of showing it, but she knew there was truth in that, and she was not totally sure if that certainty came from her own intuition or the fact that valkyries were built to sense the measure of a man's soul.<br/><br/>"I understand the fairies are scary and clever but I'm not exactly an idiot, nor powerless, so can you just..."  Her teeth clenched.  "Level with me, James.  I'll do what you want me to do and I'll say what you want me to say and we'll make sure your daughter is safe, but level with me."