“For now, yes.”
“And Oliver?”
“The healers are looking him over. Same with Khari. Both are alive.”
The relief she felt nearly had her staggering.
Luckily, Kaj was there to hold her, pulling her into his strong arms, securing her against his body.
“I’m so glad.”
“We’ve got a long road ahead of us,” he said softly. “Who knows what it’ll bring.”
“And Bijou? How’s she taking this?”
“She stayed with Khari.”
Acadia pulled back, peered up at Kaj. “And how do you feel about that?”
A small smile pulled at his mouth. “I don’t think I have much of a say.”
“You’re her father, Kaj. She’ll listen to you. You just have to speak to her logically. Leave the emotion out of it.”
“Easier said than done.”
Oh, how she knew that to be true. Life, no matter how it was laid out, who you were surrounded by, or even the gifts you’d acquired whether material or in the manner of people, was never easy. Perhaps because humans, angels, vampires, and especially Fae tended to make it more difficult. Acadia didn’t know. However, over the past fifteen hundred years, she had learned to take things one moment at a time. Not even a full day at a time. A moment. A single breath. That was the only way she found she could make it through.
It was immensely easier now that she had Kaj to lean on. Someone created specifically for her. But that didn’t mean it would be rainbows and unicorns.
“Blaz wants me to meet the female he’d like me to hire as my assistant,” Kaj said softly. “Would you do me the honors of joining me in that meeting?”
Acadia pulled back, peered up at him. “Me?”
“I’d really like your opinion.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that. No one … absolutely no one had ever asked her for her opinion before. She’d given it, sure, because that was in her nature. However, she’d never had it requested. The feeling that swelled within her chest was unfamiliar, completely foreign, and it filled her with a warmth she hadn’t expected.
“I’d like that,” she admitted. “Very much.”
“Perfect.” Kaj stepped back, retrieved his phone from his pocket, and tapped something out. When he tucked it back away, he was smiling. “Shall we?”
When he offered her his arm, she smiled, sliding hers through.
“How’s Ari’el?” he asked as they headed for the stairs that would take them down.
“She’s perfect.” Acadia grinned, warmth infusing her as it always did when she thought about that precious child. “She’s getting bigger every minute.”
Together, they made their way down two flights of stairs, through the main hall. They continued on, chatting about the mundane. Kaj would ask a question, Acadia would answer. It was a warm conversation and it felt surprisingly … normal.
Even the thought made her smile. She’d honestly never considered what normal would feel like. Up to this point, her normal had consisted of being the blood bank for an army of angels. Now, she was mated. To a vampire.
It was a ridiculously pleasant feeling to acknowledge that.
By the time they stepped through the doors of the Lair, her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.
“Where’s Blaz?” Kaj asked Kidel when they approached where he was sitting at the dining room table, his laptop open in front of him.
“He went to meet Leilana, drive her in.”
