’Course a lot of that had to do with the fact that Ari’s daddy was Styxx and his mom, Bethany. Since the two of them were only a few months apart in age, Terry and Ari hung out together a lot.
A lot, lot.
Bethany and Tory said that they were the twin brothers akri and Styxx should have been when they were little.
And that was okay. Akri and Styxx had learned to be twins and even friends over the years.
Akra-Tory set more pancakes down between them before she brushed the hair back from Terry’s forehead and kissed his brow. “How many times do I have to tell you not to tease your father about Atlantis?”
“I know, but I want to graduate early and get on with my life.”
She snorted at his answer. “You’re seventeen, a senior in college, and you’re immortal. Slow down. You have eternity to get on with your life.” Tory handed Simi a bottle of barbecue sauce. “Not sure how that’ll taste with the syrup mixed in, but …”
Simi smiled as she gladly accepted the bottle, then she poured it over her stack.
“Besides,” Terry pointed at Ari, “it was his idea.”
“Hey! Don’t throw me under the bus. I said we should try to get extra credit and graduate before the spring so we could get jobs with the Squire’s council. Atlantis was all your idea.”
Akri appeared in the room so that he could glare at Terry. “Why do you want to torment me in the morning when you know how much I hate mornings?”
Terry smiled. “Simi told me to.”
Blinking, Simi swallowed her bite. “Uh-uh! Why you want to lie on your sissy like that, Ter-bear? And after all the times the Simi done helped you when you were little and hid things from akri you thought he’d kill you for doing.” She tsked at him. “I even removed the hornays from your bitsy head that I put there when you were two.”
“I know, Simi. I was just kidding. Besides, Dad knows you’d never do that. It’s why he’s still scowling at me.”
Akri ruffled Terry’s hair while Ari laughed at them.
Simi didn’t speak as she watched them go through their normal morning routine. The only thing missing was Sebastos, but he’d spent the night with a friend.
And, of course, Xirena who’d left them a few years back. Her sissy had decided to move in with Drakus. Xirena’s favorite Charonte. They were extremely happy together and Simi prayed that her sissy never regretted leaving them.
But Simi regretted it. Everyone was getting older and going on to new things.
She hated that.
Thorny was right. Change sucked. Although akri seemed completely happy with the change Tory had brought into his life, especially their sons. They made him happier than Simi had ever seen him.
So maybe some change was good?
She watched as Ari and Terry pulled out their phones and started making plans for the weekend. Even in a room with people, they were off by themselves again. Just like when they’d been babies who babbled together.
Something she missed so much.
So no, she decided. Change made the Simi’s heart ache. She missed when they were little and ran through the house like shrieking demons, chasing her and her sissy. They never did that anymore.
They were too grown now.
Akri pulled his phone from his pocket, then turned it on to read it.
“Everything okay?” Tory asked as she set a plate of crispy bacon in front of akri.
“Not sure … It’s from Fang. He’s asking me if I’ve seen Thorn. For some reason, he’s not responding to Fang or anyone else.”
Fang was married to Aimee Peltier, one of the owners of Sanctuary, but he was also one of Thorny’s Hellchasers.
Normally, the Hellchasers could find Thorny easier than Simi could. Thorny always kept an eye on them in case they needed help.
