by Amy Sumida
“It worked out okay. We got her back.”
My gaze slid over Re and he looked away uncomfortably. His daughter, Sekhmet, had tried to abduct Lesya and even believed that she had succeeded, but it was Morrigan who actually took my daughter. To Re, the fact that Sekhmet hadn't technically kidnapped Lesya didn't matter; she had intended to do it. So, he punished her for it. But she hadn't been herself at the time—having just miscarried her baby—and had since come back to her senses and apologized. I reached over and took his hand, letting him know that my words hadn't been meant as a barb. I had forgiven Sekhmet. Re squeezed my hand and smiled softly, his eyes warming.
“The fey magic must be responding to remnants of other fey magic,” Odin murmured. “Or to Vervain's emotions, as Mallien suggested. But I just don't understand it. There have been many faeries who have visited Earth since the way was opened; it's odd that this magic would focus on Vervain.”
“I can't,” I whispered.
“What's that, Minn Elska?” Trevor asked gently.
“I can't talk about this anymore,” I said firmly. “I'm exhausted and sad and afraid. I need some sleep. We can talk about saving the world tomorrow.”
“You're right.” Arach stood and took my hand. “We all need some rest. The Human Realm can survive another night without us.”
With that, we stumbled off to bed. My other husbands were kind enough to give Arach and me the main bed for the night. We curled up together while the others went to their tower bedrooms. Around us, the night went still as if it knew that we needed the peace. The ex-King and Queen of Fire, fell asleep in each other's arms, beginning our new lives as fresh starts should always begin—with dreams.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was my fey husband's face and a small part of me was overjoyed. I'd finally have my family together. No more trips back and forth to Faerie, no more counting days and marking down the time that I left, no more missing people I loved. My children would grow up together. They would have all of the love that our large family could give them.
Which meant that the future had changed.
That future I'd visited had changed anyway. I knew things wouldn't be exactly the same as what I'd seen. That was the point. I'd gone there to alter things and save my own life. But there were certain aspects of that future that couldn't be changed. Faerie and Alaric had assured me that my children would be born. But what about now? Had the closing of Faerie changed something integral? Had it changed me? Had I lost Samara—the daughter I had with Arach, the one who had come back to the past to get me? If she didn't exist, would it mean that she had never come back to save me? Would the past change as well as the future?
No! I couldn't worry about that. There was only so much panic I could handle at once. And I was determined to look on the bright side of things.
“Mother?” Brevyn's voice came hesitantly from the doorway.
I turned toward him and saw not only my boys but also Dexter and Deidre. My heart expanded with happiness. The boys had been to the God Realm before but not the nurials. Seeing Dex and Deidre there made it real and helped me to fully admit that I could be happy with things like this. I wanted them there. Giving up Faerie and all of the faeries I loved was rough, but this was my reward.
“My babies!” I opened my arms and all four of them came running over. “I get to see you every day now!”
They leapt onto the bed, jolting Arach awake, and huddled around me. Arach grumbled good-naturedly and pushed a wagging nurial tail out of his face. Before he could say anything, two more little monsters came running down the tower stairs to join us. We'd installed doors at the entrances to the towers and they were usually locked at night so the kids wouldn't walk in on anything they shouldn't see, but we'd left them open the night before. Arach and I hadn't been in the mood for sex and we'd slept in our underwear—both rare occurrences.
Lesya and Vero squealed and jumped onto the mattress with their brothers. Then all of them dive-bombed me. I made a groaning plea for mercy and they rolled away, laughing. I kissed every forehead, including the furry ones and my husband's, then untangled myself from the kid-knot and slipped out of bed. Nicholas was at the bottom step of the tower stairs to the right, watching all of the hubbub with an air of superiority that only a cat can manage.
“Come on, Nicky,” I said to the cat. “You hungry?”
Those were the magic words with Nick. His gray ears perked up and he daintily came down the last step and strode past the pile of laughing kids, yipping nurials, and dragon daddy with his head lifted and his tail in the air disdainfully. I opened a can of cat food and stuck it in a dish for him, setting it on the floor before I headed into my dressing room. His disdain disappeared as he descended on his breakfast.
The kids had started jumping up and down on the bed by the time I emerged from the dressing room, and Arach had abandoned the mattress for the safety of the kitchenette. He sat at the table, watching the chaos with the air of a man who knew when to retreat. As I walked up, he lifted his dragon stare to mine and smiled. It was wan and tired but at least it was there. I went to stand between his knees and hugged him tightly. Arach laid his head on my chest and let out a long breath. I stroked his hair and back while he rumbled contentedly. We were going to be okay.
“Is it safe?” Kirill asked as he peered around the door to the left tower, the one closest to Arach and me.
“Yeah, the animals are all in bed.” I grinned and jerked my head toward the jumping kids. “Or on the bed, rather.”
“You're letting them jump on the bed?” Trevor asked as he followed Kirill into the room.
“I'm making an exception for this one morning,” I said softly and continued to stroke Arach's hair.
Arach's shoulders straightened and he lifted his head. “I suppose I should get dressed.”
“Yeah, you probably shouldn't meet with the God Squad in your boxer shorts,” I agreed.
Technically what Arach was wearing wasn't boxer shorts, they were the fey version of them—shorts made of soft, fey material—whose name I couldn't remember, but Arach didn't contest the label. That alone told me how upset he was. Everything had happened so fast and Arach had kept a stiff upper lip throughout it all but now that it was done and he was here, he could finally process the facts. He couldn't go home. Never again. I could see the despair shadowing the depths of his stare and I hoped that it wouldn't turn into resentment.
No. I trusted him. I knew him. Arach wouldn't hold this against me. He would come around eventually and make the best of it. He would be happy that he still had us. All he'd ever wanted was a family—children. Now, he had two boys and me. That was a hell of a win for the Dragon King... the ex-Dragon King.
Arach stood up and looked over at our sons as if he had to reassure himself of that win. The boys had dressed themselves before they'd come upstairs so he didn't have to worry about them. Unfortunately, I think that only made things worse. It would have been good for Arach to have something else to focus on. He trudged away, heading down to his new bedroom.
“He'll be all right,” Odin said as he joined us.
Re, Azrael, and Viper were right behind him.
“I know,” I said softly as I continued to stare after Arach. “He just needs some time.” I started toward the bathroom decisively. “And I need some hot water. Can you guys wrangle the kids and take them downstairs for breakfast? I just want a few minutes to myself.”
“Of course, Carus.” Azrael grabbed my hand as I headed past him and pulled me over for a quick kiss on the cheek. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
“I'm good. I'm happy to have everyone together. But there's still a lot to be sad over. I need some time too.”
Azrael nodded and stroked the star stripe of hair back from my face. “You won't be sad for long. Not with these ruffians,” he lifted his voice and dramatically scowled at the kids, “running wild in our home.”
The children laughed uproariously. And Az was right, it wa
s impossible to stay sad with their laughter in my ears and their precious faces smiling at me.
“I'm going to take a shower, and you six”—I pointed at the nurials too—“are going to behave, right?”
A chorus of “Yes, Mommy,” and “Yes, Mother,” rang out accompanied by nurial yipping. Nick left the room, probably in search of something to kill. I had created mice with my territory magic and released them in the grasslands so he could hunt with the other predator cats. With all of the beasts inside me, I knew the importance of hunting.
“Excellent.” I nodded to the kids as I headed for the sanctuary of the bathroom.
I didn't use the shower in the center of the pool-like tub but instead went into the stall in the back corner of the huge bathroom. I wanted the comfort of a small space. Once under a spray of hot water, all of my bravado and positivity abandoned me and I started sobbing violently.
Chapter Thirty
“Az?” I stepped out of the shower to find Azrael sitting on my vanity stool with a towel in his hands. He was naked.
Azrael stood up and spread his magnificent, raven-black wings. His eyes lightened from pale blue to sparkling diamond and the symbol of his name in Angelic script started to glow on his cheek. “Let me help you, Carus.”
Azrael is the Angel of Death. Even though he retired from his duties of soul-harvesting, he was still Death. But he was also a god of comfort. Az gave grieving people peace and that was the part of his job that he had excelled at. He spread the towel open and I walked into it. Then my angel dried me off—first my body and then my hair—taking his time to glide the fabric over my skin gently.
Azrael tossed aside the towel at last and eased me into an embrace. His arms and wings closed around me and a sense of calm settled over my skin, sinking deeper and deeper, relaxing muscles and raging emotions as it went. Az laid his head over mine and his even breaths coaxed mine into the same rhythm. I laid my cheek over his heart and melted. The sorrow suddenly seemed easier to bear.
“I've got you, Carus,” Azrael whispered. “I won't let go.”
Carus was Latin for beloved. So beautiful—I loved the sound of it on his lips. The word reminded me that I had much more than I'd left behind. I had so much more than any one woman had the right to have. My life was exceptional, extraordinary, and, at the moment, ethereal. I let Azrael's Angel magic comfort me and then, when I felt strong again, I lifted my face to his.
Azrael's lips met mine gently at first—just a brush of delicate skin upon delicate skin. A question more than a touch. I answered by opening to him and drawing him in. With that first wet caress, something zinged between us and we moaned together. Azrael's wings burst open. Our hands clenched on each other, pulling and demanding. He traced the lines of my back with his fingertips, then slid them up, into my damp hair. Az grabbed a handful to pull my head back for a more thorough kiss, his hard body pressing against mine, forcing me to feel how I had affected him so quickly. I grabbed his face with both hands and met his passion with my own.
Az nibbled and licked and growled into my mouth, but wouldn't stay put. He kissed his way down my throat and then my chest until he reached the crest of a breast. Azrael went to his knees then, folding his wings behind him as he took a tightened nipple into his mouth. I clasped him to me and cried out as his wet heat enveloped me. But that wasn't what I needed and Azrael knew it—felt it through our Blood-to-Heart bond. His strong hand slid between my legs, fingers stroking gently, then more firmly—working me expertly until I was weeping for him.
I went to my knees as well, then laid back on the cool tile, my gaze locked on my beautiful husband. Short, midnight hair still tousled from sleep blended with the midnight wings that rose above and behind him, diamond eyes glinted within that darkness, and the pale blue light of his name added to their magical glow. Below that stunning face of chiseled angles, his broad shoulders crowned a sculpted chest, the smooth ridges leading down to a taut belly and powerful thighs. His shaft reached for me, rigid and rose-tipped, and I reached back. With my first touch, Azrael let out a deep groan and settled between my thighs. I led him home and we became one.
My legs hooked around Azrael's back, just over his tight ass, and his flight feathers brushed my knees as I pulled him deeper. Those glorious wings lifted higher, becoming a velvet backdrop to his beauty, and his muscles clenched as he began a slow tempo. Strong and deep, Az moved inside me as he held my gaze, opening himself to me. Love shimmered down our bond and back, carrying our thoughts with it.
Azrael's were a stream of poetry, broken but beautiful. He sent his emotions along with his thoughts, infusing them with even more meaning. Inside my mind, they glowed as if he'd written them there. It has always been you, Vervain. Carus, my beloved, my wife, my star. The only light in my heavens. I could not exist without you guiding me. Happiness would forsake me without you in my arms. I need your body beneath me. Your love inside me. So much love. Eternity is not long enough for us. Carus. Beloved. Beautiful Vervain. I love you. On and on it went, drawing me into a rapture so profound that pain didn't have a chance of survival.
When we finally reached that ultimate peak, we did so together and with such shivering beauty that I wept. But this time, they were tears of joy.
Chapter Thirty-One
I was utterly relaxed when I went downstairs with Azrael. That peace lasted until I entered the dining hall and the sound of children, lions, nurials, Imps, and magical men greeted me. The entire pride had come down to welcome my family to Pride Palace and the werelions who had not been there the night before were met with a gaggle of grinning Imps in addition to the faerie princes they'd been expecting. The lions decided to make breakfast, but the Imps wanted to help and the ensuing conglomeration of techno-magic, daddy-determination, and Intare-ingenuity resulted in a cacophony and chaotic mess that made me wince.
“What in all of the Hells is going on?” I shouted over the din.
“We made a muffin machine!” Meilyr, one of the Imps declared proudly.
“We were going to have pancakes, but Uncle Re said he'd make his muffins, but then the Gremlins said they could make better muffins, but—” Lesya started to drone on.
“Gremlins, eh?” I cut her off.
“Like the movie!” Vero shouted. “They said that's their other name.”
“It is,” I confirmed. “But they are not Mogwai. Those are Chinese demons. Or, at least, that's what the myths—”
“Mommy, don't ruin it,” Lesya chided.
I blinked at her as everyone else chuckled.
“Well, pardon me for trying to teach you something, young lioness,” I huffed as I went forward, through the crowd, to inspect the muffin machine. “Where did you even get the parts for this thing?”
The machine wasn't that large, perhaps the size of two microwaves set side by side, but it gave the impression of something much grander. Gears whirred and magic glinted within its metal depths. Heat and the scent of chocolate wafted out from it. I peered through a glass panel and saw a tray of muffins moving along a conveyor belt.
“Wait, I know that glass panel.” I narrowed my stare at the Imps, and they yipped and scattered. “Did you take apart my microwave?”
“You can make new one, Tima,” Kirill reminded me with a soft smile. “They wanted to help.”
I grimaced at the Gremlins. “All right. Well, are there any muffins finished?”
A little pair of furry, claw-tipped hands thrust a plate of muffins at me, sliding it between Kirill and Re. Re snagged a muffin as it passed him. Scotaidh's eyes peered up at me hopefully as I selected a chocolate chip muffin. I peeled back the paper cup and took a bite. Everyone went quiet. I chewed thoughtfully, drawing out the tension.
“Oh, for flame's sake, Vervain,” Arach huffed and grabbed the muffin from me. “They're fantastic and you know it.” He took a bite and made a murmur of delight.
“Hey!” I took it back. “There's an entire tray-full right there. Get your own, you thievin' dragon!”
<
br /> The children laughed as the Imps cheered and rushed into the kitchen to grab more supplies. As the tide of Gremlins withdrew, Isleen stepped forward. She had a smudge of chocolate on her lip.
“Good morning, my Queen,” Isleen inclined her head at me.
“Um, you have a little chocolate.” I motioned at my lip. “Just there.”
“Oh.” Her tongue darted out and licked the chocolate away, then she gave me a childlike grin. “Thank you.”
With shock, I realized that Isleen was feeling a little of what I had felt earlier—joy. I thought about it. In the God Realm, she'd have no responsibilities. Isleen could do whatever she wished without worrying about the kingdom. She could get a hobby or a new god boyfriend—one who wouldn't be—
“Isleen!” Lugh's voice seemed to come straight out of my memories.
I mean, it had to be a memory because there was no way that Lugh could be there. In my dining hall. After the Faerie Realm had been sealed.