He watched as Lucifer closed his eyes.
Warmth flooded him. Peace.
Slowly, Lucifer started to smile. He opened his eyes and released Atlas’s cheeks.
“What?” Atlas asked. “What’s happening?”
“Did you take some of Bel’s blood in when you mated and bit him?” Lucifer asked.
“Uh, yeah.” Had he done it wrong?
“You did?” Bel asked, tightening his arms.
“Did I do it wrong?” Atlas’s voice rose with his panic. “Are we not mated?”
“Shh, calm,” Lucifer soothed. “You are mated. Very mated. I just noticed Bel’s blood flowing inside you now.”
“You took my blood?” Bel asked again.
Atlas shrugged. “I told the magic I wanted to mate you the same way that you mated me. That we would be equal in every way.”
Lucifer nodded. “I think, I believe, that by taking in more demon blood, that your flickers settled and now you can see auras instead of the flickers.”
“Oh!” Atlas hadn’t thought about that. “Will they come back?”
“That I don’t know. If they do, then you can always take more of Bel’s blood to see the auras again,” Lucifer told him.
Bel turned Atlas to face him. “This is a good thing, don’t you think? You didn’t want to be vulnerable to shifters by not being able to identify them. If you can see auras, then you will still be able to protect yourself.”
“And you,” Atlas told him. “I can protect you too.”
“To protect me too,” Bel agreed.
“But now I’m a bloodsucker?” Atlas asked.
Adam cleared his throat. “Just reminding you that I do have a vampire in my family.”
That was right. Atlas nodded. Maybe this was the best-case scenario. “Okay.” And he had promised Bel to make sure that Bel’s mark never went away. If he needed a little blood, then that mark would be guaranteed to never go away.
“Okay,” Bel said.
“Awesome-sauce!” Adam clapped his hands. “Now come meet everyone! And we’ll figure out a time to take you to meet the rest of the family now that you don’t have to worry about the flickers.”
Don’t have to worry about the flickers. Atlas was still reeling from that. Seeing auras was such a soothing change. No pain. The auras that surrounded his new friends were pretty.
“Introduce me and I want some food,” Atlas ordered.
A pretty young man dressed in jeans and a fitted pink T-shirt stepped in front of him. He had gorgeous blond hair and a sweet smile. “There are cupcakes.” He bounced a little as he spoke. “My mate made them and they’re tasty and so pretty.”
“You’re pretty,” Atlas blurted out. Oops! But seriously this man had the most gorgeous mane of hair that Atlas had ever seen.
The pretty man laughed. “Thank you! I’m Logan, by the way. It’s so nice to meet you. And I’m proud to represent my family into welcoming you into our family.”
Family, huh?
“And this is my mate, Dean, and our familiar, Noah.” Logan waved his hand behind him.
Wow. He was really going to like this guy. Atlas grinned. Let the fun begin.
