FOUR YEARS LATER
I smell smoke as I turn down the hall toward the nursery. “Not again.” I pick up my pace, sprinting the last few steps and throwing open the door, power at my fingertips and ready to quell the fire. The sight that greets me stops me short.
Rylan is sleeping in the rocking chair, the twins in his arms. They’re still little, only three months, and they seem to have taken it as a personal challenge to see how ragged they can run the four of us. I’m more tired than I could have thought possible, but it’s a good kind of tired. They’re sleeping for once, so they aren’t the source of the smoke.
No, the source is Wolf and Asher sitting on the floor across from each other, shooting little fireballs at each other. I start to yell a warning when Wolf sends one spiraling at our three-year-old, but he sends a little burst of power to fizzle it out well before it makes contact.
Then he turns and gives me an unrepentant grin. “He’s even better at fire than you are.”
“Mama!” Asher jumps to his feet and sprints to me, moving so quickly I barely get my arms out before he throws himself into them.
I spin him around twice and cuddle him close. “Hello, Trouble.” I press a kiss to the top of his head, covered in dark curls. “Let’s move this to the living room so the twins can sleep.” I eye them. “Do you think it’s wise to move them?”
“Rylan won’t let them fall.” Wolf hefts himself to his feet. “And you know what happened last time we tried to move them when they were sleeping.”
I wince. Hours of sobbing and a particularly sleepless night. “We leave them then.” Hopefully all three of them take a nice long nap. I turn and carry Asher out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room. In the years since I took over the compound, everything’s changed. Gone is my father’s overbearing style, replaced by grounded, cozy furniture in pleasing colors. This house feels like a home for the first time in my life, and it’s not solely because of the redecorating.
Malachi walks through the front door as we settle on the couch. He’s dressed in a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt and he’s never looked better. He grins at the sight of us. “Someone said they smelled smoke, and I figured it was Asher getting up to no good.”
“Wolf was supervising.”
He glances at Wolf. “I bet he was.”
We fully expected Asher to develop only one power, courtesy of whoever was his biological father, but in the last six months he’s shown evidence of all four bloodline powers that flow through his veins. We still don’t know if it’s courtesy of the bond I share with my men or because of some seraph quirk, but I’m already attempting to prepare myself for the chaos that will come when the twins start manifesting their powers. I hope we survive it.
Malachi crosses to press a kiss to my lips, then Wolf’s, while he ruffles Asher’s hair. “The twins?”
“They’re taking a nap with Rylan.”
His grin widens. “He does have the magic touch with them.” It’s true. They sleep better for Rylan than for any of us, though even that isn’t saying much.
Next to me, Wolf clears his throat. “I heard from Lizzie.”
I turn to look at him. “What? When?” She stopped by the compound exactly a year and a day after I took over the leadership, claiming it was to say congratulations for building a strong, stable community. In the three years since, she hasn’t shown her face…or claimed the favor I owe her.
“Earlier.”
I search his face for any evidence of distress and send a tentative probe along the bond. Wolf cracks his shields for me, allowing me in far enough to see that his calm isn’t an act. I ease my magic away from him. “What did she want?”
“To call her favor due.” He holds up a hand. “I’m fine. Things are different now than they were four years ago. We have people.”
It’s certainly true. While there was a small exodus of people in the weeks after I took over, the majority of the compound citizens stayed. In the time since, we’ve built up something special. The fear that originally held them in sway has given way to mutual respect and admiration. Wolf’s right. We’re stronger than we’ve ever been. Still, Lizzie presents a complication. “What favor?”
He gives a mirthless smile. “She wants us to entertain the Radu clan for a week.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Yes.” He covers my hand with his. “You already have her word that they won’t cause harm to any of ours. We’ll get it from my mother as well. It will be fine.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re taking this rather calmly.” Far more calmly than he did when Rylan’s mother came to visit. I shudder a little at the memory. She didn’t do anything out of line, but I’ve never met a scarier person in my life. I’m not eager to repeat the experience with Wolf’s mother. “I thought you’d want to avoid it.”
“I thought she’d be here within the second year. The fact we’ve had this long is a boon.” He shrugs. “Like I said, we have people.”
I twist to catch Malachi’s eye. “How do you feel about this?”
“He’s right. We’re too strong to fuck with.”
“Fuck with,” Asher says.
I shoot Malachi a murderous look. “No, baby, those are grownup words and only grownups are allowed to use them.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Asher wiggles out of my arms and practically bounces from one piece of furniture to another. “Fuck!” He sends a tiny fireball shooting at a painting I bought during one of our trips last year.
Malachi snuffs it out quickly. “That’s enough of that.” He gives me one last kiss and scoops up Asher. “It’s bath time. No more fireballs, no more bad language.”
Asher gives him a look like he might test this new boundary, but ultimately decides bath time is more important. He smiles like a perfect little child that wasn’t just shouting expletives and shooting fireballs. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Thought so.” He stops in the doorway. “We have time to figure out the Radu stuff, but don’t worry, little dhampir. There’s nothing to fear.”
I take a slow breath and let it out as he disappears down the hall. He’s right. I take Wolf’s hand and squeeze it. “You’re really okay with this?”
“More or less.” He shrugs. “It was bound to happen at some point. No matter how crazy my family is, they value children. They just want to poke their nose into our business and test our defenses a little. Nothing will come of it.” He makes a face. “The same can’t be true when the children are adults, but that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there.”
“Hey, I love you.” I wait for him to look back at me. “If they come here and cross the line, then we’ll kill them and you never have to deal with them again.”
Wolf lets out that glorious laugh that I love so much. “There’s my murderous woman.” He pulls me into his lap. “I love you, too. We’ll get through the visit without murder.” He grins, bright and sharp. “But I appreciate the sentiment all the same.”
I never thought to end up happy in this compound. I certainly never thought I’d have built a life with three men. But…I’ve never been happier. The thought of living a life that stretches for hundreds of years used to scare me, but each day now brings something new and wonderful. Even the bad stuff isn’t world-ending because I’m not facing it alone.
I’ll never have to face it alone ever again.
And neither will my men.
