Page 49 of The Human’s Heart

I wasn’t surprised in the least by my family stepping up like this for both Hugo and Kian, but it was clear that Hugo hadn’t expected it at all. His eyes seemed to grow wider with every passing second as more people filed into our home.

Jett and Ward came over straight from the bar—they’d been held back to be interviewed by the police and BCA agents, so they were there for a few extra hours.

They both walked into the kitchen and settled in beside us, and after a minute, Jett said, “Wow. I… did not expect all of this.”

“Me neither,” Hugo said.

“Well, at least they brought a ton of food with them.”

“Don’t they always?”

That made me snort, and Hugo cracked a smile. I kissed his temple and shot Jett a grateful look.

Ward quietly asked, “How’s your brother doing?”

I let out a long sigh. “He’s hanging in there, I think. I’m not sure it’s quite hit him yet.”

Hugo said, “He’s going to be so heartbroken when it finally does… especially if… especially if he finds out what she said.”

I kissed the side of his head and gave him a squeeze. “Let’s not worry about that right now, yeah? We’re all here, we’re all safe. Let’s let our family take care of us for a while and let everything else go.”

He sighed out a loud breath. “I’ll try.”

“Good.” I kissed him again. “Let’s grab some food… if you think you can eat?”

He nodded. “I haven’t eaten anything in about a million hours, so it’s probably good to try.” He turned his head to face me. “But it’s the middle of the night, aren’t they all going to want to sleep at some point?”

“Well, most of the little kids are already set up in our guest room having a sleepover type of thing, and I’m sure some of the adults will crash in the living room, including my grandparents—”

“Your grandparents can’t sleep on the sofas. Aren’t they like a million years old? Won’t it hurt them?”

I couldn’t help but snort at that. “They’re not that old, and we have a few air mattresses they can set up. It’ll be fine. Most of them will go back through the portal and stay at their homes or in the big house, and they’ll come back over as soon as they wake up. There’s nothing you or I need to do or worry about right now. Like I said, let’s let them take care of us for a while, okay?”

He blew out another breath. “Yeah… yeah, okay. Um… can we go sit with Key?”

“Yeah, isa mezelie, I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

Chapter 15

Hugo

Last night was seriously long, and by the time Zay and I went to bed, it was long past breakfast time. We’d blown up all of our air mattresses—I hadn’t even realized we had that many—and brought two into our bedroom so Jett, Ward, and Kian would be close by. As much as I normally liked my privacy, I wanted them close, and it wasn’t like Zay and I were up for anything by then anyway. I was way overtired.

When I woke up before anyone else in the bedroom, I stayed there for a while, just… taking everything in, remembering, and trying not to wake anyone with my tears. Luckily, I must’ve been quiet because no one woke up, not even my viramore.

So I tiptoed my way over to the door and slipped out, went to the bathroom—I could hear voices coming from… everywhere—then came out to the kitchen to find Zay’s Uncle Tio cooking the biggest breakfast I’d ever seen.

He offered me a smile and pointed at the coffee machine. “There’s a fresh pot if you’re interested. If you want tea, give me a moment to get it started.”

“I’m fine with coffee, thank you.”

I quickly poured myself a mug and moved out of the way, but before I escaped, he added, “Cream, sugar, and honey are over there, kiddo.” He pointed to the edge of the counter, away from all of his cooking and prep work. I had no idea what he was making, but it sure as hell smelled good already.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Breakfast will be done in about twenty minutes. Well, brunch or lunch at this point, but food will be ready soon.”

“Thank you so much for… all of this.”