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Between Liv and Thalia, they had streamers, banners declaring ‘happy birthday’ and ‘birthday girl’ around the living room and kitchen within minutes.

He rigged the confetti cannons, ready to fire when Neri walked through the door and the party hats were sitting on the coffee table.

When Liv had unpacked the pointed hats, each assassin, Seth and Aubrey, and the detectives stared at the hats in horror before turning their glares at Hunter.

“I’m not wearing one of those,” Kane pouted.

“Me either,” Gunnar seconded.

“Yep, I’m too old for this shit,” Tajo grumbled.

Hunter growled, flashing his teeth. “You will wear a hat, you will eat cake, and you will do everything to make this the best birthday Neri has ever had. If you don’t, I will make sure each of you suffer in the most painful ways I can find and you’llneverknow it’s coming. Got it?”

“Got it,” a chorus of replies answered.

Jade bounced in and secured one on her head, grabbing one for Noah and handing it to him. Grumbling, he put the hat on and Jade rewarded him with a kiss.

Xander, Frost, and Silas walked in as Ax donned a hat and Silas squealed when he spotted it.

What’s going on?Silas glanced around and when he read the banners, he smiled.Who’s birthday?

“It’s Neri’s little man,” Xander responded.

Where is she?

“She’s tired after the day she had, but I’ll wake her up and bring her here.”

“Why are you talking to the baby like he understands you?” Tajo asked.

“Because Ido. Hi, I’m Silas and you are?”

Tajo’s mouth dropped open and Jack kept punching Tajo in the arm as he stared at Silas. Silas was a smidge under sixteen months and looked it.

“I’m… well, I’m…”

Jade stepped in and pointed out the two men. “Detective Cortez, who prefers Tajo and Detective O’Connor, or Jack. They are your grandma Thalia’s friends and they helped to search for Neri when she was missing.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for trying to find Neri. She’s my favorite shifter vampire hybrid.” Silas said with a serious face.

Hunter laughed and kissed Silas on the cheek. Silas giggled before he kissed Hunter back.

Thalia bustled in from the kitchen with a smear of green frosting on her cheek and reached for Hunter’s hand. “Give me an hour, moró agóri, and then bring Neri here for her party.”

“That won’t be a problem. She’s exhausted and didn’t stir when I left so—”

“She takes awhile to wake. Wave a cup of coffee under her nose. But she better be here on time, okay, moró agóri?” Thalia pinched his cheek and without waiting for his answer, headed back toward the kitchen.

“I’ll have her here.”

Hunter teleported into the kitchen and flipped on the lights. It had grown dark since he’d left. He paused at the foot of the stairs and listened, but he heard no movement from upstairs.

He set the coffee to brew, blowing out a sigh when the machine took under a minute, and poured two cups before he carried them upstairs. With slow movements, he shouldered open the door and bit back a laugh when Neri spread across the king bed like a starfish, face down on the pillow. Her breathing was deep and even and when the door clicked closed after he shut it with his foot, she didn’t stir.

“Neri, angel, I have coffee.”

Again, nothing.

Hunter set his cup aside and moved to the side of the bed closest to her face. We wafted the brew toward her and chuckled when her nose twitched. For the next several seconds, he tried to tempt her with the coffee, but soon her breathing evened out as she fell back to sleep.