Calyx cleared his throat as he blushed. “I don’t think that’s a conversation we should be having at the kitchen table.”
Shelby pouted. “Why do you take all the joy from me?”
“I’m not saying you can’t talk about it at all, just not here.”
“Maybe you should try it, too,” Shelby teased him. “You could do with a good dicking down.”
“How long were you down there?” Calyx asked Justin, ignoring Shelby and clearly trying to move the conversation along.
“I don’t know. What day is it?” Justin suspected it was close to Christmas, considering the decorations in the house, but he couldn’t be sure.
“It’s almost Christmas.”
Justin grimaced. “I went in the summer. Damn. I didn’t realize it had been so long.”
“Time passes differently there,” Mynor grumbled.
Justin hadn’t known that, and he was curious, but he was also overwhelmed. He wiggled his eyebrows, hoping to distract everyone from asking questions about that. They could all wait. “And I was otherwise occupied.”
“Did you see your mother again after you turned her down?” Griffith asked.
Justin had seen her way too often than he’d have liked. “About once a week. She tried to make me change my mind every time, no matter how many times I told her I wouldn’t. She said I could stay in that cell forever as far as she was concerned, and I think she meant it. She started coming less often after that.”
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you and your mother,” Calyx said. He honestly sounded sorry, but then, he’d always had the softest heart out of all of them.
“It doesn’t matter,” Justin told him. “I already have a family, and you got me out of there.” That was all he cared about.
“I had to. We knew you were in trouble when you didn’t come home.”
“Do you have anything to do with this?” Justin asked as he pulled on the collar of his t-shirt to expose the colors on his skin. He kind of liked the designs. Maybe he’d get them tattooed if they weren’t permanent. If Calyx had caused them, they were a reminder of how much he cared.
Calyx’s cheeks flushed again. “Maybe?”
“Tell me,” Justin ordered. He couldn’t wait to hear that story and forget about his for a little bit.
Chapter Thirteen
Justin was already smiling when he opened his eyes. He didn’t need to see the room around him to know he was home. Even better, he was out of that fucking cell in which he’d spent way too much time.
He wasfree.
And he wasn’t the only one. Mynor’s arm was around Justin’s waist, holding him close. It was as if he were afraid that something would happen if he weren’t there to protect Justin, and he wanted to be sure that Justin wouldn’t do something stupid like sneak out of the bedroom without him. Mynor didn’t believe that they were safe just yet, but that was okay. He would eventually. Now that they were both here, they could build a new life together. Justin wasn’t sure what that would look like yet—he and Mynor hadn’t had the easiest beginning, and they’d need to learn how to be together in the real world—but Justin was hopeful.
He’d been hopeful the entire time, although it hadn’t been easy. He’d known that Calyx would find him eventually. It had taken more time than he’d expected, but that didn’t matter. He was home, and it was almost Christmas. Justin would spend the holidays with his family. Even Caitlin was back. She was a ghost,and Justin wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that yet, but she was here. That was all he cared about.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Mynor muttered against the back of Justine’s neck.
Justin turned so he could lie down on his back and look at his demon. “Many things.”
“You can finally sleep without fearing someone attacking you or dragging you out of your cell, and instead, you decide tothink?”
Mynor’s eyes were still closed. He looked different from what Justin was used to, probably because he was clean and his hair was combed. It was like a sheet of white silk over the pillow, and Mynor wrinkled his nose when Justin gently touched it. He still didn’t open his eyes, though.
“We’re home,” Justin said.
“You’rehome.”
“Since we’re together, this is your home, too.” Justin needed Mynor to understand that.
