Once Seiji hits his quota of being mesmerized by my essence, he complains about how unfair it is that only the Horsemen of Death got the ‘badass smoke effect’.
I tune out his whining and focus on helping around the kingdom. We succeeded in containing most of the battle to the northern side, so the damage shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to fix, especially with the centaurs and their construction business already drawing up plans and discussing a timeline.
I guess this is what happens when you go to war against a superior species. The witches have maybe half a dozen covens left with castles as empty as a ghost town, while we’ll be up and running in less than two days.
I pass some kids dancing and cheering and their happiness is so contagious I can’t help but feel their joy. I’m glad we hid any signs of a brutal battle before regular folks returned.
Seiji aided the earth fairies in ensuring the ground regained fertility after every last drop of blood was soaked, and a fresh batch of grass graced the empty, barren land. By the time the morning sun peaks out, it’s starting to look as if we never had a war to begin with.
Removing what is left of our armor, we clean up in the war castle to go home to rest before it’s time for Uncle Elijah to drop off my little monkey.
Despite my protest, Hazel stays behind to talk to the second-in- command’s and elite warriors to get a gist of how things went on their end.
We finally drag our tired limbs to the Horsemen castle around noon. Fates, I want to sleep for three days straight.
My steps falter, and I gasp in horror at the awful sight. “They broke my favorite fountain, Angel look! I loved that ugly piece of art. Ugh, I feel so orange!”
Sighing loud enough, I bet people on the other side of the kingdom heard, Angel gently tucks me into his side.
“Red. You’re angry, so you feel red.”
“But I hate orange, so I should feel orange, right?”
“Right… I’m sorry for my stupidity, sweetheart,” he deadpans.
“It’s okay, I still love you.”
Lifting on my toes, I kiss his jaw before walking past the hideous fountain broken into a thousand tiny pieces. No one needs to know thatIasked Khatri toaccidentallytarget a certain showpiece.
Before we even enter the castle, I can practically hear my comfy bed call out to me. Daydreaming about cuddling my mate and falling asleep in his arms, I don’t watch my step and crash into someone’s back.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Watch it, you mammoth of a man, don’t you—” My words get stuck in my throat when I peek around Harvey and find a certain man standing in the middle of my living room.
“Looks like I’m a few hours late.” The man sheepishly drops his bag on the floor with a thud. “In my defense, reception inpurgatoryis total shit.”
Grace is the first to shake her shock and run to the man. He engulfs her in a tight hug without hesitation and laughs when Grace immediately starts sobbing. They embrace each other like they’ve been apart for ages.
“That was mighty irresponsible of you, Dad. Do you know how worried I was? And didn’t I tell you to keep me updated? God, why are you always this reckless!” Hearing an earful from his daughter, the man apologizes a hundred times to calm a crying yet laughing Grace.
How this woman can feel this many emotions at once still baffles me.
Looking at the man holding tight to his daughter, I notice the difference between him and the blurry image engraved inmy head. He hasn’t aged much in the last decade, and with his Divine slowing his aging to half, he looks more twenty-five than thirty-six. But there’s no mistaking the maturity in his actions and features.
The light stubble is new. It makes him look like a man who just crawled out of a place where shaving was not a priority, and I have this urge to ask him to go shave it off. The difference between what’s in my head and my reality is so vast I can’t help but panic about what else I’ve been imagining wrong.
I curse Harvey in my head when he moves to stand beside Grace and leaves me exposed.Dumbass. The laid-back man curiously regards my best friend, squinting his eyes before they widen comically. His wide evergreen eyes bounce to Grace, Harvey, and then Grace again, silently asking his daughter for an explanation.
When Grace introduces her mate by his name, the older man completely goes off the hook and engulfs Harvey in a bear hug, who doesn’t shy away from the enthusiasm. Both men try and miserably fail at holding back tears.
What a bunch of crybabies.
I didn’t realize I snorted out loud instead of in the safety of my head until the man’s eyes snapped to me.Shit. Fuck. Shit.Harvey backs up before shaking the man by his shoulders. Laughing with tears freely falling down his cheeks, Harvey nudges him to me.
Hearing a muffled cry next to me, I turn to find Seiji bawling his eyes out, hiding in Jackson’s chest, who is also failing to keep his composure.
Okay, so suddenly, everyone is drowning in tears except me. Wait, Angel—
Yeah, no.
