He shook my hand. “It was an honor, Ambassador.”
“Get up!” Star hissed.
I turned with my husbands to see Star motioning at his King's Guard who were on their knees before him.
“We failed you, Your Majesty,” Eladeb said. “You tasked us with protecting Queen Seren, and we let that bastard take him. We're prepared to accept punishment.”
I looked at Sever. “Is that what he said to them in Demon?”
Sever nodded crisply.
“Shit,” I whispered.
“You couldn't have stopped him,” Star said, his motions getting anxious as his stare skittered to us and back. “Get the fuck up!”
“But you gave us an order, and we failed,” Nassar said.
“I'm not Lucifer!” Star snapped. “I don't expect you to perform miracles just because I ordered it. That son of a bitch fooled all of us, even me. Now, get up before I change my mind!”
The King of Hell's knights got to their feet and bowed.
“Thank you for your leniency, Sire,” Apitron said.
“Oh, shut up.” Star rolled his eyes and walked away.
I looked at my husbands. They looked back at me. We shrugged at each other and split up, my husbands going to check on the kids while I went to pour myself a drink. As I set the wine bottle back down, I noticed the Twilight King standing at a glass wall, staring out. I went to join him.
“This is fantastic,” my father said as I stepped up beside him.
“It reminds me of your apartment in San Francisco,” I said, swaying Mirielle, who was on the verge of sleep.
“Not the apartment.” Dad shifted his stare to me. “This.” He waved at the living room, full of smiling people clicking glasses and laughing. Even the wounded extinguishers were there, wrapped in bandages, some hobbling about on crutches like Connor. “Fairies, humans, Demons, and Angels celebrating together. This is fantastic. I didn't know you had parties after your missions.”
“Not always. But I'll invite you in the future if you'd like to attend.”
“I would.” He put an arm around me and leaned in close, his ombré purple hair—going from deep purple at the roots to lavender at the tips—blending with the matching stripe in my hair. He gazed down at my daughter with his purple star eyes and smiled.
And I smiled at him. “Thisis fantastic,” I murmured.
Dad looked up at me. “I'm holding my daughter who's holding her daughter. Yes, I can't describe how happy this makes me. I hope you'll experience it for yourself one day.”
I looked down at Miri. “Not too soon.”
“No,” he said. “Although it will feel like the blink of an eye.”
“That's okay. We're immortal,” Sever said as he stepped up on my free side. “We have a lot of blinks left.” He bent to kiss our daughter.
Standing between my father and the father of my child felt good too. But my family was so much more than them.
“Annyeonghaseyo,” Caleum said.
I turned to see him straightening from a bow. A group of Kumihos giggled, their many fluffy tails twitching around them and their hands lifted to cover their mouths. One of them used her tail to hide half of her face. My son was enchanted.
“Oh, dear,” I whispered and handed Miri to her daddy. “Take her, babe. I have to reel in my little Romeo.”
Sever chuckled as he took Mirielle. Then he and Dad followed me back to the party.
“Caelum, did you eat dinner?” I asked as I stepped up beside him.
