The door creaked open.
“Told you she’d be up today!” Zane crowed. “Pay up, losers!”
“Don’t listen to him, sweet girl,” Koa murmured, appearing behind him with a tray of food. “He’s been saying that every day since you went under.”
“Because Ibelievedin her!” Zane said indignantly. “You can’t punish me for optimism.”
“Optimism and harassment are not the same thing,” Cas added dryly as he followed Koa.
“Oh, my Goddess,” I groaned. “Did I die and go to boy jail?”
“Better.” Zane winked. “Youlivein it now.”
“Eat slowly.” Cas plucked the tray from Koa’s hands and set it in my lap. “Your system’s still balancing.”
“Also don’t be mad about the hand face.” Zane’s gingerbread eyes glinted. “It was Koko’s idea.”
“It wasnot—”
“I love it.” I held up my hand and made the mouth move, dropping my voice to imitate Koa’s baritone. “My name is Gerald.”
That earned a rare, surprised laugh from Casimir, and Zane pumped a fist with a roar of victory. Koa covered his face with one hand.
“Um.” I knew the answer just from the taste, but hope sprang eternal. “Please tell me someone brushed my teeth while I was unconscious.”
Awkward seconds passed as none of them made eye contact with me.
“You guys are horrible.”
#
As I ate, I found out three days had passed.
“Wait!” I paused, the spoon halfway to my mouth. “Did it work? Nuking the portal?”
“Closed. Sealed.” Zane flopped across the end of the bed like he was dying of relief. “Shadow-proofed, per Cas’ aggressive overkill.”
“There’s no such thing as overkill when the enemy is literal and figurative darkness,” Casimir muttered, arms crossed.
“It’s been handled, beloved.” Koa leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “You just focus on recovering.”
“You trusted me to stay here with only Brummy?”
A beat of silence.
“You’ve got a moon appointment, sweet cheeks,” Zane deflected. “Eat up so you can blind us with your glow.”
Papa.
They’d called Papa-in-Law to stay with me while they fought the baddies.
They’d swallowed their fears, sunk their pride, and called their father. Asked him for a favor. Forme.
I finished my soup without another word, then held up my arms to Koa, making grabby hands.
Forget about brushing my teeth; my Koko needed comforting.
Yes, that phone call had cost each of them something; Mahina was mother to all of them, after all. But Koa carried things more heavily, like a mountain with a volcano smoldering deep inside.
