“Very true. Oh and by the way, tell your mates I don’t want to see them back here until tomorrow morning. Steel and Sofia are handling the meals and will also be delivering yours to the clearing. So have fun and enjoy their company.”
Smokey’s face lit up. “Really? Fuckin’ A! Hey, you should probably tell Steel he shouldn’t come knocking if the leaves are shaking…if you catch my drift!” he exclaimed, smirking.
Bursting out in laughter, Jackson shook his head. “I’ll make sure to do that.” After Smokey left, Jackson sat down on a stool, breathing a sigh of relief. Cain was alive and safely in his custody. But there was still the unanswered question of how and why he got shot in the first place. Oracle had said no harm would come to Cain while he was considering the Fates’ request, but obviously she was wrong. He would have to ask her about that, but first, he needed to see Ian, Mac, and Colton about Smokey and the need for them to keep quiet about his abilities.
~/~/~/~/~
As Kieran dashed up the steps to Brian and Reif’s house, Logan glanced at Remy and asked, “You comin’?”
“Yup, I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Remy said. “One of my favorite toys when I was a kid was the stuffed Nessie my parents gave me.”
“Do you still have it?” Logan asked.
“Nope,” Remy replied chuckling. “One day, I decided it would be great if he could show me his underwater world.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah…by the time my mother found us in the pond behind our house, he was soaked and even though she tried, it was impossible to save him.”
“Your mother was a witch, right? Why didn’t she use magic to resuscitate him?”
“My parents couldn’t risk using their magic once I made my first light sphere.”
“So you grew up without magic?” asked Logan.
“Not exactly,” Remy replied. “My magic was so weak that my parents felt it would be safe if I used it for my lessons.”
“Doesn’t sound too exciting, from the sound of it,” Logan said, smiling.
Shrugging, Remy said, “It was more like ‘why bother’ since I’d never be able to do anything with it.”
“It must have been a big shock when you found out you were the Ruler of the Mystic Realm.”
“That’s an understatement.” Remy chuckled. “Thank goodness I had Carson to help me figure out what to do.”
“Mates make all the difference, don’t they,” Logan replied. “I don’t know what my life would’ve been likeif Kieran hadn’t appeared like a ray of sunshine in it. C’mon, our spirit is telling me the first egg will be hatching in a few minutes.”
Chapter 22
“Ye made it!” Brian exclaimed when he saw Kieran enter the nursery.
“My spirit didn’t give me a lot of notice, but I toldmacushlaI promised you I’d be here. Not that I didn’t want to be here because I do, especially to welcome your Nessies into the world, but I toldmacushlaI had to keep my promise, so he got Remy to use his magic, anda voilà…here we are!”
“Who’s Remy?” Reif asked.
“That’s me,” Remy said, entering the room behind Logan. “I hope you don’t mind if I crash the birthing party.”
“Brian and Reif,” Logan said, “this is Remy…Ruler of the Mystic Realm. And, Remy, meet the two fathers-to-be, Reif and Brian…who is otherwise known as the Loch Ness…”
“Don’t say that word,” Kieran whispered. “Brian isn’t one and I don’t want his babies hearing you say it about their daddy.”
Wrapping his arms around Kieran’s waist, Logan kissed his neck before murmuring, “You’re right,mo anan cara. No child should ever hear their father called that.” Then glancing at Brian, he said, “Remy, meet Daddy Nessie.”
His eyes filled with merriment, Reif chuckled, “So now you’reDaddyNessie…good to know…I always wanted...”
“Ye stop right there,” Brian warned his mate.
“Perfecto!” Kieran exclaimed, bouncing on his toes. “Daddy Nessie and Papa Nessie…absolutely perfecto!
