I blinked at her several times before I could find the words to reply. “You honor me, Valkyrie. I'll keep that in mind.”
She inclined her head at us and walked out the huge doors of the amphitheater, her girls following.
Once she was gone, we said our goodbyes, offered help if anyone needed it, and thanked everyone profusely. We promised to throw a huge party in the mountains as soon as we got settled back in at home, and all who had volunteered or participated in our daughter's rescue would be invited.
We got a lot of cheers from that, especially from the werewolves. “They've wanted to hunt deer in our mountains for a long time,” Elias said with a chuckle.
“I thought the location was hidden?” I asked as we walked toward a portal back to the house in North Carolina.
“It is, but most people know the general mountain range we live in.”
I sucked in a huge sigh of relief when we stepped through and into the living room. “This place is already starting to feel like home.”
Elias grinned. “I hoped you'd feel that way.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RILEY
“When are they supposed to call?” I sat on our bed pumping while my guys passed Linna around.
“Every day at six eastern time. They'll call and if we answer, great. If we don't, they move on to the next safe place.”
“We owe Danyelus and especially Tammy a huge favor. They dropped everything to help us,” I said as I finished.
“I was thinking about that. What if we took this house and gave that one entirely over to them? Technically that house belonged to Michael, too, so now it would be yours.” Anthony rocked Linna back and forth as he spoke.
“Seriously? How many homes do I own now?”
Anthony and Elias exchanged a glance and Axoular laughed. “That look they just gave each other,” he said, “makes me think there's lots to tell you.”
“Well, first you were pregnant and easily overwhelmed. Then you were kidnapped. Then you had the babies and were recovering, and Dumadi hung over our heads.” Anthony handed Linna over to Axoular, who had been patiently waiting his turn.
“Now, we're home, it's only a matter of time before our entire family is here, and things can calm down. We can go over the estates, businesses, finances, and all the other important things,” said Elias, itching to hold the baby, based on the way he kept touching her.
“How much longer until they call?” I asked.
“Another four or five minutes,” Elias said, checking his phone.
I groaned. “I'm going to run this milk to the freezer real quick.”
We'd gotten home and all showered, eaten, and had a nap. Linna hadn't been put down once since I took her from Hildr's arms. She'd eaten again, and I had just finished pumping the rest of what she didn't eat.
In the kitchen, I marked the bags with the date and laid them flat in the deep freeze alongside the rest of the liquid gold.
I stopped in the kitchen and sank into a chair, overwhelmed. I didn't let myself dissolve into tears, but I sat there for a few moments and tried to come to terms with what had happened over the past few weeks, the past few months, the past five years.
It had been a lot.
When I had come to some shaky terms with the insanity of my life, I returned to the bedroom, all smiles.Sometimes a girl just needs a moment.
Linna was out like a light, and Elias had just hung up the phone. “They're on their way,” he said. “I just got off the phone with Leo, he's on his way to get them.”
I jumped up and down with a squeak. “Excellent!”
We moved into the living room onto the couches, knowing the portal would open there. “What happens if someone tries to open a portal where someone is standing, or where a piece of furniture is?”
“That's why we keep certain spots open and free of furniture. It'll cut it in half. But if a person is standing in the way it won't open.”
