Zane had been an old demon, and Mal was delighted to have gotten a chance at him, because the bastard usually hid the second he got wind Mal was around. Zane had been just as delicious as Mal had hoped, and he would have savored the experience if they weren’t in a hurry.
It wouldn’t have killed Clayton to look at him for just a second, though.
Mal leapt onto the boat, easily scaling the slanted deck, but before he reached Clayton’s side, he was assaulted by a small bundle of tears and snot. Only his lightning reflexes allowed him to catch Tommy before he smeared his face all over Mal’s clothes.
“You were gone!” Tommy howled. “You left and we were all alone and then the bad guys came!” He hung in Mal’s grasp like a wet sock, crying his tiny heart out.
Sigh. Mal’s clothes were only a mental construct anyway. He cradled the crying boy in his arms and said, “I’m sorry. I’m here now, and I won’t let this happen again.”
Tommy responded by crying even harder and burying his face in Mal’s armpit.
It was possible that Mal had made a mistake by not rescuing everyone as soon as he’d found them.
Mortal logic and emotions were tricky things. Mal needed to start working on figuring it all out since his entire family was full of mortals.
Mal looked to Clayton for advice but saw that he was consoling Holly and Merry while Eira stood close by looking a lot like she might need to be consoled next.
Mal carried Tommy over to join them. He didn’t know what to do, but they might as well freak out together as one big, happy, traumatized family.
“I must be the dumbest person alive for following you,” Holly sniffled, shooting daggers at Mal with her eyes.
“No one told you to follow me.” Mal thought that was pretty clear to everyone involved, but he said it anyway because people could be pretty dumb even under the best circumstances. “Once we get everyone out of here, you can take off and never look back,” he offered.
Eira snapped, “Bite your tongue.”
Tommy shouted “Don’t take Holly away!” into Mal’s armpit.
“He didn’t mean it, Holly. Please don’t go,” Merry said, tugging on Holly's shirt.
Well, shit. Mal had clearly missed a lot while they were gone.
Clayton didn’t seem to need a recap at all and patted her shoulder gently, saying, “No one is going to make you stay, Holly, but we’d love to have you. You definitely fit in with us.”
“Because I’m an absolute freakshow?”
Mal, not being a dumbass, read the room and added his own two cents. “This is a strictly freakshows-only kind of family, kid. You seem like a relatively tolerable person, so I’m fine with it. Whether you stay or not is up to you.”
“Relatively tolerable? What a terrible thing to say,” Eira smacked the back of Mal’s head and then froze, likely realizing who she’d just hit.
Mal merely snorted and ruffled her hair.
Like a tiny swat from a kirian was going to do something to him. Please.
Eira glared at him through her messy hair and sniffed haughtily. “You have to handle children gently. Especially their emotions.”
Mal was of the opinion that kids were tougher than they looked and shouldn’t be coddled so much that they couldn’t develop necessary survival skills, but they were still in the middle of a rescue, so that conversation would have to wait.
As if on cue, a fae man, covered in scars, strode confidently out of the shadows, bracketed on both sides by four demons.
It was more than Mal had counted during his recon. Nice.
“Even if you have a dreamwalker with you, Elena, we still have you trapped. You may have been able to take out one of my demons, but I have an infinite number at my disposal. You’ve interrupted their food supply chain, and they’re not happy about that.”
“You’re feeding our children to demons, Kendric?! You absolute shit-eating monster.” Elena popped up from where she and Naerith had been keeping watch and began openly firing on the man, peppering him with shot after shot.
“The king and queen will have you flayed alive for this,” Naerith snarled, leaping up to stand protectively next to his wife, holding a flaming sword with both hands.
“My brother and sister-in-law will be too busy fighting off the entire demon realm to worry about me. After my demons feast on your children’s souls, we’ll burn down Astraea’s stupid tree and take the capital. Then my friends can eat as much as they want.”
