Dean
Four years later
I think retiring last year was the best decision I’ve ever made. I know I just turned forty, but after twenty years as a Horseman and the Grim Reaper, I needed time for the things I never thought I’d have.
My family needed me more, and I knew Nevaeh was more than ready to take over as the first female Grim Reaper.
The supernatural world has been in a state of frenzy since. Anxo and Nevaeh have torn into every outdated, patriarchal rule they could find, reshaping the world into something their children can actually grow up in.
The Tetrad kingdom has never looked better, and it’s forcing everyone else to catch up or get left behind.
The little boy beside me tightens his grip on my hand.
“You nervous, buddy?”
Dylan glances up at me with his big doe eyes. “A little. Do you think the girls will like me?”
“Of course they would. I bet you’ll be their favorite uncle.”
He laughs instantly, the sound bright and warm, and it hits me right in the chest. I love that he laughs more easily now.
Every time Dylan hears the word uncle, he loses it. He’d much rather be their cousin… or just their friend.
Four years ago, Hazel and I walked into that orphanage and met Dylan. A quiet, guarded seven-year-old werepanther who had already seen too much.
Hunters wiped out his entire pack. By the time the Diablo towers intervened, it was already over. Only a handful of kids and elders survived who managed to stay hidden until help arrived.
I still remember bringing him home. He was afraid of everything. Every sound. Every shadow. The world had already proven it wasn’t safe.
It took him a long time to trust us, and if it weren’t for August, I don’t know how Dylan would’ve coped in a new environment. Having someone his age, someone who met him where he was rather than trying to fix him, was a blessing in disguise.
Now we’re standing in the Famine sitting room, waiting for Seiji and Jackson to finally let us meet the babies.
We held back on bringing the kids earlier, giving the new family time to rest and bond.But now they’ve settled in, they want to introduce the babies to their cousins.
Seiji and Jacksonadopted a set of twins two days ago from the same boarding school where we found Dylan.
The girls had been stuck there for two years after their parents died in a car crash because no one wanted to adopt Siren babies.
Even after everything Zale has done to rebuild Eldoris’ reputation, the stigma remains, and it’ll only get better over time.
The doors swing open, and August marches in first. “Move out of the way, please, precious cargo incoming!”
Nevaeh laughs behind him, her hand tucked in Anxo’s arm as he carefully guides her down the stairs.
August turned nine recently, and he’s still the biggest mama’s boy in the kingdom. If anything, he’s only dialed it up since Nevaeh and Anxo announced the pregnancy.
Grace and Harvey follow, their four-year-old perched proudly on Harvey’s shoulders. The kid’s laugh spills through the room, and it’s so contagious we’re all smiling before we even realize it.
He might look like Harvey, but that charm? That’s all Blackburn.
Dylan tugs on my hand, and I know it’s time for him to catch up with his squad. The second I let go, he bolts straight to August. They were fast friends the day we brought him home, but somewhere along the way… they became brothers.
Nevaeh waddles toward me like the cutest little penguin, and I open my arms, shifting sideways to hug her around the curve of her belly.
She looks down at her feet with a pout, and I frown. “What’s wrong?”
“Can you tie my shoelaces? They keep coming undone, and I don’t know why!”
