Finally, new bonds shimmering, we collapsed together on the bed. Arms and legs twined around me, heaving breaths stirred my hair and tickled my skin, and the scent of lion musk, vanilla orchids, and clean mountain air wafted around me,blending into one harmonious aroma.
“Another trinity,” I murmured into Azrael's chest.
“Yes,” Odin said. “Through you, but not held inside you. You are our linchpin as always, Vervain.”
“Just even more so now,” Kirill said and bent his head to kiss me.
And that was how three deaths gods became the Death Star.
Ha! I'm just kidding. Honestly, I don't know what they were. United, definitely, but there was no precedence for this and so no way of knowing what they had become. Certainly not a star. Although I almost wish they were so I could give them that moniker. I assumed their power was magnified, but did they need to be together physically to receive that boost, or did their new ties provide the only contact they needed? There were a lot of questions circling my mind, but I was too damn tired to deal with them.
So, I murmured goodnight and fell asleep in my death god cocoon.
Chapter Thirteen
Morning brought no answers. We woke without sparks or flashes of light. No displays of power and no cool nicknames. But the men smiled at each other, and I felt the crossroads of their bond tingle inside me. There was no going back from this.
We unlocked the tower doors and got ready for the day—bathing, dressing, and cooking breakfast. Just usual family stuff done large scale. Once the children were fed, we released them into the wild, and they went shrieking downstairs, bypassing the elevator since they wanted to stop at Fallon and Sam's floor to collect Zariel along the way. The rest of us got into the golden cage elevator and watched the ruffians as we descended.
Dominic and Sebastian didn't exactly take the stairs or stop for Zariel. They flew down, gliding along the spiral beside our descending cage. Az waved at them, and they giggled and called out to their daddy. It was adorable. One of those moments that makes all the other parenting stuff worthwhile.
And then Que stepped out of a hallway, into the stairwell, and collided with Sebastian.
Sebastian shrieked.
Quetzalcoatl shrieked.
My husbands and I shrieked.
Sebastian and Que flapped their arms—and in the case of my son, his wings—at each other. Luckily, Quetzalcoatl recovered quickly and grabbed Sebastian before he fell. He heldthe crying, winged boy aloft, and that was all I saw before I descended past their floor. It was enough to know that both of them were okay, but I still ran out of the elevator as soon as it stopped and rushed up the stairs to meet them halfway.
First, I caught Dominic, who launched himself into my arms, wailing for his brother.
“It's all right, Dom,” I said as I hurried up to Que and Sebastian. “Que, I'm so sorry. I should have warned you that there are flying children in this house.”
Quetzalcoatl chuckled and bounced Sebastian in his arms. “It's all right. It's nice to be around people.” He handed Sebastian over to Az. “Even if it means literally bumping into them.”
“Sebastian, shh,” Azrael cooed as he took our son downstairs. “You're fine. This is a good lesson for you. You need to watch where you're going. People are not always going to watch out for you.”
“Sebastian!” Dominic cried and flew out of my arms, chasing after his daddy and brother.
“Dominic,” Sebastian said through his hiccuping tears and reached for his brother as if he was dying.
I rolled my eyes. “My children are a bit dramatic. I don't know where they got it from.”
“Mom, what happened to the twins?” Lesya asked as she came running down the stairs with Vero, Zariel, Fallon, and Samantha.
“Sebastian flew into Uncle Que.” I waved at him. “They're both fine, but it scared your brother.”
“Oh.” Lesya grimaced. “Sorry, Uncle Que. They are ruffians.”
“Ruffians, eh?” Que asked, his eyes twinkling.
“Yes,” Lesya said and strode past. “Everyone says so. We're going outside to play now. Are you going to come out onto the drawbridge?”
“The drawbridge?” Que looked at me.
“The veranda,” I explained. “It's a permanently lowered, extra wide drawbridge that crosses our moat. But it's more of a veranda. It just made it look like a drawbridge.”
