He stopped and faced me, eyeing me for a moment. “Is it really?”
I nodded.
“Damn. I was so close.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and the chuckling man pulled me the final distance.
When we were close enough, the king consort called over, “Is it safe to assume that your viramore is himself now?”
Dain nodded at him. “He sure is. We’re all good, and there’s no chance of the asshole taking him over again.”
“You sure about that?”
“Absolutely positive. We got his icicle back. It’s safe now.”
Tan grinned at us, and behind him, the king himself called out, “Stand down. He’s fine now.”
The king’s guard all lowered their weapons, and while most of them seemed fine with it, a few looked confused or concerned, like they weren’t sure if I really was okay or not. I couldn’t blame them. In their positions, I would’ve been nervous too. Especially since I was so close to the king and the king consort.
We stopped in front of the group, and I realized Oakley and Roman were there as well. Wow, the whole royal family. Nowonder there were so many guards standing around looking like they were ready to kick some ass.
When we were close enough, I bowed my head, and Tan scoffed. “No, no, no, no. No bowing to us, Lanche. We’re family now.”
What? How were we family?
Dain shot Tan a grateful smile, and I realized with a jolt that these people really did consider Dain a part of their family. Which meant… yeah, we really were family now.
Holy shit, I was now a part of the king’s family? Holy crap.
Ho-ly. Crap.
Ailin Ellwood stepped forward and pulled Dain into a hug, and a growl came out of my throat before I could stop it. Ailin released him right away and put his hands up. I pulled Dain away from him and tucked him under my arm.
Ailin smirked. “Hey, there, just hugging one of my kiddos. No need to get all possessive.”
Sebastian Ellwood stepped up to his side and smacked Ailin’s chest. “Stop it. You’re antagonizing him on purpose. Asshat.” He turned to me. “Hey, I’m Seb. This ass over here is Ailin. We’re here to help… and to welcome you to the family.” He looked like he wanted to hug us but refrained.
He didn’t seem as threatening as his viramore, but I could still sense an immense power radiating off of him.
A little black and purple dragon mewled from her spot on his shoulder, and a black cat on Ailin’s shoulder answered back. I blinked at their familiars—their Bonded Ones—surprised by how cute and small they both were. In all of the stories, the two were huge, dangerous, fighting machines. But right now, they looked like babies that wanted pets.
Not that I was about to pet them. I wasn’t that stupid, and I’d like to keep all of my fingers.
I managed to get out, “Nice to meet you,” but it sort of sounded like I was growling at them. I didn’t know why.
Well, I supposed I did. I was feeling overly protective of my Dain after… after everything.
They both smiled, surprisingly, but I got distracted when I heard my younger brother’s voice yell over the crowd, “He’s my brother! I need to see him.”
I jerked in response and turned my head toward Glacier, who was being blocked by two guards.
I saw him, and even though I was nervous, I asked Tan, “Can my brother join us?”
Tan glanced at him, did a double-take, and called over to the guards, “Let him through.”
They did so, albeit reluctantly, and my brother rushed over.
As Glacier pulled me into a hug, and Dain held my hand, growling a bit under his breath, I heard Ailin say, “He looks just like the picture I saw of Avalanche. Are they twins?”
