The way he said "our baby" in his low grumbling brogue even had me wanting to fan myself.
"And I will take you to Earth to check up on your pack mates before we leave," he finished. "Sam especially since I know you worry the most about her."
Mera swallowed roughly, her voice understandably breathy. "Yeah, because despite her reassurances that she's fine and her pack is no longer hurting her, I sense that there's a lot she isn't telling me."
I'd gone with Mera a few times to check on Sam, and whenever we made it to her pack lands—the pack she had worked years to escape before all but running back to them—everything seemed perfect. At least on the surface. Sam had a nice house, the town was clean, and the shifters all looked strong and healthy. But there was an undercurrent in her pack. A feeling of darkness lingering below the light.
Mera had pressed Sam as hard as she could, assuring her that whatever it was, she could help, but her friend had insisted that for once she was dealing with the shit show of her life and everything was okay.
"Don't announce your arrival this time," I said. “Maybe we’ll catch them unawares.”
"I never announce it," Mera said, her eyes shiny as she thought of her friend. "But I do always visit Torma first. One of those bastards probably warns the other pack.” Her expression hardened as she nodded. “Yes, you’re right. This time I’ll head to Sam’s first, and with a little luck, their magical shine will have a few spots I can pick at."
"The packs have been working hard to clean themselves up,” Lucien said, continuing with the dirty analogy as he leaned back and laced his fingers together over his front, “ever since Shadow decided to take an interest in them.”
Shadow scoffed, eyes hooded. "You mean ever since Mera told me my 'children' were acting like a bunch of little shits and I needed to deal with them?"
Mera shrugged. "I said what I said. When you're a parent, you don't get to just throw them out into the world and let them be assholes. It’s your job to teach them all the valuable life lessons."
Shadow’s lips twitched, eyes amused. "I'm not their parent. If I were their parent, you and I would be in a rather precarious sort of situat—"
"Stop," Mera cut him off with a squeak. "Nope. No. No no no. I was reborn and no longer have any ties to shifter packs. We are a weird, messy combination of DNA that is in no way related, and this topic requires no further discussion."
Everyone laughed except for Galleli, but the smile on his face was as good as laughter for the stoic transcendent. Before we continued any further ribbing about the minute possibility of Mera being related to Shadow, since she was a born goddess from the same Nexus as Shadow’s mother, Len reappeared, drawing our attention. "Got the parchment," he said as he dropped back into the chair he'd vacated a few minutes ago. "You'll be able to give a piece each to Sam and Simone."
He waved three pieces of parchment at her, and I noticed the invisible lines of power spanning between them all. This was Faerie magic stemming from crushed up gems infused into the paper itself. The connection between them would allow Mera and her friends to send messages between the worlds.
Mera all but dove across the table to hug the fae, only pulling back when her mate growled. “Thank you so much,” she cried, her excitement spilling free. “This will give me such peace of mind. I’m still so sorry I lost the last one.”
Len waved her off. “It’s all good. They’re easy enough to make.”
More than a few at the table hid their expressions at that slight exaggeration of the truth. These parchments were rare and took an extraordinary amount of magic, skill, and control to create. For Mera though, we'd all remake the worlds, and that was a fact that would never change. In comparison, parchment was easy enough.
5
The rest of the evening continued with those of us who ate ordering food. My new ability to enjoy food was a true gift in my life. Transcendents generally took their energy from the land, the world’s power, and their own family line. We did not have the need—or digestive system—for food. But after my rebirth, I found I could indulge in both if I wanted, and I’d really developed a taste for eating.
Everything was just so delicious, sliding across my newly evolved tastebuds with ease. After years of just touching and smelling food items for enjoyment, I finally got to experience the most important sense: taste.
"I told you the pot pie was to die for," Mera crowed, all but beaming as she watched me shovel another forkful in.
"How do they get the pastry so flaky and buttery and perfect?" I moaned, chewing each delicious layer.
"It's magic," Mera told me seriously. "Swirling portals and the ability to walk between the worlds are great and all, but the food is the true magic."
She was in her own seat now, eyes closed as she took another bite. Shadow was beside her, sipping his drink and chatting with his friends, but all the while, his possessive gaze remained on his mate. I swear to creations, watching her eat was foreplay to that fucker.
Jealousy was another new experience I had to contend with, and while I’d never want to take Mera’s happiness for my own—not in a million lifetimes—a small part of me craved to know what that sort of bond felt like.
Unconditional love.
It probably wasn't in the cards for me, and while I felt some reassurance that there was a peaceful future out there, even without a mate, I knew it would take time. Maybe what I really needed was someone to quench this fire burning in my body, and once that happened, I could return to focusing on what was truly important: peace.
Yes, that was a good plan. My mission—after the Desert Lands mission, of course—was to seek out a suitable sex partner and see what I’d been missing out on all these years. No longer would I deny my body, and in doing so, I felt reassured that peace would follow.
After all, there was no greater dream for a transcendent.
When dinner was done, the others left to rest and gather their weapons. They’d all be back soon though, along with Alistair, who was returning from Karn tomorrow.
