The nobles were still shouting behind me. I could hear the accusations, but they were just noise now. Background static. Irrelevant.
“Look at me.” I held his face firmly, forcing him to meet my eyes. “Just at me. Breathe with me. In...”
He tried, his chest heaving. “In...”
“And out.”
“Out... Mama, I’m really scared.”
“I know. But I’ve got you. I’m right here.”
“Everyone hates me now.” His voice broke. “They think I’m bad.”
My throat tightened. “I don’t hate you. Papa doesn’t hate you. And you arenotbad.”
“But I broke things.”
“You didn’t break anything important. I broke things too. Ugly dinnerware and Xander Silvermane’s dignity, and honestly, that last one needed breaking.”
A wet, hiccupy almost-laugh escaped him. Good. That was good.
“That’s it. Deep breaths. You’re doing so good.”
Mal was beside us now, forming a protective circle. His hand settled on Killian’s back, steady. I could see his face, the same shock I felt and the same confusion, but underneath it all was the same desperate need to protect our child.
“I didn’t... didn’t mean to...” Killian could barely get the words out.
“Hey.” I held his face tighter, making sure he could see nothing but me. “You are not bad. You hear me? You’re perfect. You’re my perfect boy and nothing that happened tonight changes that.”
“But I scared everyone.”
“Sweetheart, I scare people all the time. It’s practically a hobby.”
A small, broken sound that might have been a laugh escaped him. The portals were starting to close, one by one. Objects were floating gently back down instead of flying. His shift was receding as ears and tail and claws slowly disappeared.
“See? You’re doing it. You’re calming down.”
“I’m really tired, Mama.”
“I know. We’re going to bed now.”
Killian went limp against me, exhausted from everything that had happened. He was shaking and making those awful shuddering sounds, but his powers had stopped. He was just a four-year-old again.
Mal’s hand found mine over Killian’s back. When I looked up, I saw my own shock reflected in his face.
“I did not know,” he said quietly. “Did you?”
I shook my head. “I had no idea he could do any of this.”
“The portals... the floating... how?”
“I don’t know.” I shifted Killian’s weight in my arms. “But right now I don’t care. We need to get him out of here.”
“Mama?” His voice was barely audible.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Can we go now? I don’t like it here.”
