Before another fight breaks out, I drag Angel back to the Horsemen castle. Who knows if sirens even need sleep like the rest of us?
My steps falter, and I gasp in horror at the sight before me. “Angel, look! They broke my favorite fountain. I loved that piece of art. Ugh, I feel so orange!”
Angel sighs and tucks me against his side. “Red.You’re angry, so you feel red.”
“But I hate orange, so I should feel orange, right?”
“Right… sorry, sweetheart. My bad,” he deadpans.
“It’s fine. I still love you.”
I kiss his jaw and stroll past the hideous fountain, broken into a thousand tiny pieces. They don’t need to know that I had asked Khatri to “accidentally”target that particular eyesore while no one was watching.
Climbing the stairs of the Horsemen Castle, I can practically hear my bed calling my name. I’m daydreaming about curling into my mate’s arms and falling asleep, and don’t notice Harvey stop right in front of me until I crash into his back.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Watch it, you mammoth. You have eyes for a rea—” The words die in my throat when I look past Harvey and catch a glimpse of the man standing in the middle of my living room.
He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, dropping his bag and phone with a thud. “I know I’m a few hours late, but in my defense, purgatory doesn’t get reception.”
Grace is the first to shake off her shock. She breaks out of Harvey’s hold and bolts toward the man, who engulfs her into a tight hug like they’ve been apart for ages. He laughs, rubbing her back when Grace starts sobbing into his chest.
“That was seriously irresponsible, Dad. Do you know how worried I was?” Grace swats his muscled shoulder with the back of her hand. “I told you to keep me updated. God, why are you always this reckless!”
Grace gives him an earful, but he takes it in stride, murmuring apologies while trying to shush his crying daughter.
Looking at him now, the differences between the real man and the blurry images burned into my memory are impossible to miss.
He hasn’t aged much in the last decade… if at all. He still looks like the twenty-six-year-old man I remember, but there’s a certain maturity in his features now.
The stubble on his face is new. I don’tthink I like it. It makes him look like someone who doesn’t prioritize his own care. The man I remember wasn’t like that.
Everything I thought I knew about him is either a false memory or no longer relevant. My memories are clashing with reality, and the differences are so loud I can’t help but panic.
I curse Harvey through our link when he slides in beside Grace, pulls her closer with his arm around her waist, leaving me fully exposed.
Grace’s dad studies Harvey, eyes narrowing suspiciously until something clicks. The older man goes rigid.
His evergreen eyes widen comically, darting between Grace and Harvey, scrambling for a logical explanation of how his daughter is standing beside the missing Prince of War.
Grace finally takes mercy on her dad, smiling as she introduces Harvey by name and as her mate.
Yeah, because that’s totally going to keep him from losing his shit.
Harvey nervously thrusts out a hand for a handshake, but the older man ignores it, pulling my dumbass into a bear hug instead. They mutter in hushed tones, miserably failing to hide their tears.
Both look a little dazed at how fast everything’s changing, and before I know it, Grace joins their sap fest.
What a bunch of crybabies.
I don’t realize I snorted out loud instead of in the safety of my head until the man’s soft green eyes, brimming with tears, snap to me.
Shit. Fuck. Shit.
Harvey steps up, shaking the man by his shoulders. Tears streak his cheeks as he laughs and nudges the older man in my direction.
A muffled cry erupts beside me, and I turn to find Seiji bawling his eyes out, hiding his face in Jackson’s chest, who, for the record, is also failing to keep his composure.
Okay, so apparently everyone’s drowning in tears except me.
