A light went on in Marek’s face, a brighter one than usually appeared whenever he heard his mate’s name. “She had the babies.”
Babies. The twin daughter of the Goddess of Light had just given birth to twins.
“Congratulations,” Cal said, slapping his older brother on the back.
“She’s still resting. It was a recent thing. They’re healthy and the most adorable things you’ve ever seen.”
“I cannot wait to meet them.” Cal smiled.
“Maybe Mayra can show her to your quarters,” Marek said.
“Of course I can,” Mayra said, strolling into the audience chamber.
Marek laughed. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“I knew you were going to say that. Just like I knew you needed someone to give Gemma the grand tour.”
Cal laughed. The oracle really could see the future, but he doubted she did it as frivolously as she pretended. “I appreciate it, Mayra.”
Turning Gemma to face him, he cupped her cheek. “I’ll be with you as soon as I can, my darling.”
Her sweet smile filled him with wonder. What had he done to deserve such a gift? He kissed her, not wanting to let her go even for a second.
Mayra gently disentangled Gemma from his arms. “You’ll see her very soon. I promise. Go get your work done.”
Cal watched as the oracle led Gemma out of the room. He kept looking, even after she was out of sight.
Marek laughed. “You’ve got it bad. The Royal Romeo, felled by a tiny blond human.”
Cal pursed his lips. “She might be tiny and blond, but she’s not human, not exactly.”
Marek nodded. “So sheisa Guardian?”
“Yes. Her powers give her the ability to absorb all perceptual input and make rapid extrapolations, but because she was cut off from part of those powers, she could take in all the input but couldn’t selectively access it.”
“So she was constantly taking in all that data but couldn’t make heads or tails of it?”
Cal frowned. “Basically. She was almost catatonic when I found her. But once we, um, unlocked her powers and she was whole once more, everything came online.”
“She must be scary smart.”
Laughing, Cal slapped his brother on the shoulder. “You have no idea.”
Marek smiled. “Then I’m glad to have her on the team. And even happier to have her in the family. Your lonesome lover act was getting a little stale.”
“Says the biggest playboy in the galaxy.”
“Former biggest playboy,” Marek corrected, holding up one finger. “And don’t let Jaz hear you say that, or I’ll be in for the tongue lashing of a lifetime. A new mother is radiant, but she’s also a tightly wound ball of emotions.”
“Then let’s hurry up and debrief so you can get back to your babies and your ball of emotions.”
Marek nodded, a half smile on his lips. “Tell me about the Seekers. Nojan said they’d infested the asylum.”
“They’d assumed the role of the medical staff and were running things.”
“Demons in charge of a mental hospital? That must have been fun.”
Cal’s grin was wry. “Very. Surprisingly, they were less of a threat than I’d suspected.” He proceeded to tell his brother about what had happened at RPS.
