“The rules are simple; where I go, you go. If there are a hundred seats in a room, you sit next to me, not two seats down, and if there are no seats available, you sit on me.”
I study his hard gaze and the taut muscles in his neck and jaw. “I’m not going anywhere,” I utter.
Jed takes the seat to our left, and Zac the one to the right. I glare at Jed. Traitor. He shrugs. “I’m in favor of him watching your every move for all eternity if it keeps you safe.”
I groan and tip my head back against Archan’s shoulder. “Shall we have this out, and then we can move on?”
The door opens and Barney walks in, Uncle Charlie and Gramps on his heels. Okay, so I hadn’t forgotten them. I was just avoiding them. Best friends and the owner of my heart have nothing on Uncle Charlie and Gramps when it comes to the guilt I feel about leaving them. Gramps sucks in a breath and slams his hand over his mouth. Uncle Charlie studies me like one would examine a cell under a microscope; with ultra-focus. Gramps shoves past him and Archan releases me. We slam into each other and I’m wrapped up in a hug that squeezes my heart. Tears form. I need to get a grip on these emotions.
“We lost you,” Gramps mumbles under his breath.
“I’m sorry, there was no other way. If I could have avoided it, I would have.”
Uncle Charlie folds his arms across his chest and huffs. “There were a hundred other ways that night could have gone, and if you’d stopped for just one second to discuss it with any of us, then things would have gone differently.”
Gramps releases me as I eye Uncle Charlie. “They kidnapped Gramps, Archan was possessed, and I’d backed my ass into a corner. How else could I have saved the people I love?”
“What I want to know is how you are back?” Uncle Charlie says.
I back away from him and into Archan’s lap. No need to make him go cave man again. I wave a hand at the table full of the strongest people I know. “Take a seat, we were just about to have this out.”
Uncle Charlie takes the seat opposite Archan and I. Gramps sits next to him, their eyes glued to me.
“Okay, so I was dead, now I’m back.”
Duncan snorts a laugh. “Obviously.”
I flick my gaze at him. “Ty didn’t kill me, I did with the knife.”
Uncle Charlie blinks. “Huh.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I made it to the afterlife, where I was at peace. But the higher power gave me a choice to return here. I accepted,” I explain, leaving huge parts out.
“You are missing some important shit from that explanation,” Zee says, leaning forward.
I shove a forkful of noodles into my mouth and chew before speaking. “Humans can’t return to Earth as they were. But there’s a loophole for me. I was never fully human, and after I fought and won against the Etir poison, it nudged me even further away from normal human body chemistry.”
“So what were you?” Aaden asks as he types everything he’s thinking down on his laptop. The door flies open and Lucifer appears. He glances around the room, smirks at me on Archan’s knee and fills an empty seat.
“Continue,” Duncan says.
I shrug. “I’m not sure, but what matters is it gave me a loophole to return.”
“Then you are just back as you were?” Uncle Charlie asks.
I run my tongue over my teeth. “Not quite. I’m still me, but more.”
“What’s more?” he asks.
“I’m a goddess.”
Uncle Charlie leans away from the table. Gramps’ eyes widen. “A goddess of what?” Duncan asks.
“Hope, of course,” Zac says.
I roll my eyes. “Yes, and no. I’m the Goddess of Hope, but I am also a little of the bloodline I’m made from.” Archan’s arm tightens around my waist. I glance at Lucifer, then Jed. “All gods have to descend in some form from the Primordials. I am no different.”
“And who exactly are you linked to?” Zee asks his eyes darting over my shoulder at Archan.
