Elias pulled me close so he could wash my hair. “We've been where you are with mourning him. We just had more time to come to terms with it.”
“Going forward, let's focus on us, our kids, and the future,” Anthony said.
“That sounds perfect.” I smiled at him, and he pushed forward to kiss me while Elias washed my hair. I had one major stress off my chest, and I was ready to tackle the other. Dumadi.
CHAPTER EIGHT
RILEY
“Where can we send them?” I rocked back and forth in the chair we'd ordered for the baby. I couldn't wait to rock him in it.No rocking for you, Riley. You don't get to be happy.
I squashed back the negative thoughts and focused on the three men sitting in front of me. “Well? Do you know of any safe place we can send them?” We’d been having the same conversation for a week straight. I’d stopped spending my nights in the boys’ rooms, and spent my days in my garden, in their classroom helping Tammy. We spent many evenings playing card games. Daniel had become obsessed with them, and I was trying to teach him Rummy. He’d already mastered Uno and had been begging me to teach him poker. When we weren’t with the kids, we were rehashing the same subject over and over.
“Who are we sending where?” Axoular had maintained the entire time that we wouldn't have to send the baby anywhere.
“The kids, the baby.”
“The kids aren't going anywhere, and neither is the baby,” said Anthony.
Elias shook his head. “I don't know, maybe we should. But if we do, Riley is going too.”
“Why would I go anywhere?”
“Why wouldn't you?” Elias asked. “Think about it. They want the baby, not you, not me, not any of our kids. Why wouldn't you go with the baby?”
I was floored. It made sense. Why did I have to fight each and every fight? I could leave this one to my husbands and the Junta to sort out. They'd surely be able to bring the Shapeshifters around.
“Okay, so say I go with them. What would you do to change our situation?”
“We'd work with the Junta, give the Shapeshifters an ultimatum,” said Anthony. “They'd have to comply, or their leaders would be imprisoned.”
Elias, sitting in the overstuffed chair beside me, took my hand. “They can't stand against the combined might of the Unseen. The magic of the Fae, the strength of the Supay. The Mermaids, the Weres.”
“And if they really piss us off, we'll call the Reapers,” Anthony said. “Or the Vampari.”
“We can always gather the Sárkány, too.” Axoular shrugged. “For you, they'd come running.”
“Wait, what’s a vampari?” I asked. “I thought vampires didn’t exist as such.”
Elias snorted. “It’s a coincidence. They’re a race of female warriors. They select and train their own members out of the Unseen, hand-picked and all. We don’t know how they came about having that name.” He shrugged. “They’re secretive.”
Tammy walked into our bedroom through the open door. “Anthony, you left your cell in the kitchen.” She handed him his phone. “Marinus Ash is on there. When I saw his name, I answered.”
Anthony jumped up and grabbed his phone. “Yes, this is Anthony.”
I listened intently to the one-sided conversation.
“Were you able to make contact? Who did they send? No, I don't know anyone named Ross.”
He looked over to me and nodded at Axoular. “Do you two recognize that name?”
I shook my head. “They never mentioned any names.”
He listened for a moment. “What about the man that kidnapped Riley and Axoular? What measures are being taken?” He nodded. “Please, keep us updated. We are on tenterhooks here, waiting.”
He tapped the screen to shut off the call and turned back to us. “They seem to be trying.”
“What are they doing?” I asked.
