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"Both," all six Sins replied in unison, then looked at each other in surprise.

I laughed at their synchronized response. "Well, at least you all agree on something."

Nic picked up a gooey cinnamon roll and held it out to Lust, his eyes wide.

Ooh, looks like he had a new best friend.

It was so cute.

We all sat down to eat, hunched around the round table. Greed sat on the counter, happily munching on cereal. Envy took a protein bar. Gluttony stood, hovering over all of us like an anxious mother hen.

“The council has been contacted. They’re going to look to see if there is a deeper ring to the traffickers. Each of them should be picked up by this afternoon by their respective clans and families,” Gluttony said, voice devoid of emotion.

I frowned, as did the children.

“Oh. I guess I thought they’d stay longer,” I said softly.

Gluttony frowned, his mouth opening, then closing quickly.

“Children, Diana has set up...activities for you outside when you are finished.”

He turned and left the kitchen without further fuss, leaving us.

I wanted to desperately ask the others what was going on, but not in front of the children.

“Well, that sounds fun!” I said, pasting on a smile. “Why don’t you all go now and see what she has planned? I’ll clean up.”

They didn’t need to be told twice, abandoning their half-eaten plates for the promise of more fun. Kiva led the way out the backdoor to the garden with a shout, the others screaming behind her. Greed winced, and Sloth covered his ears.

Lust slumped in his chair as soon as they were gone. Our bond hummed between us, his presence as familiar to me now as my own heartbeat.

"How are you really feeling?" I asked him softly.

He sighed. "Better physically. Mentally...I'm still processing. Everything's happening so fast."

I hesitated. "What did Kiva mean when she said you called me a weapon?"

Lust winced slightly. "Poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was your ability to channel and redirect emotion. Hades used you on purpose to rebuild that mirror.”

He stepped closer, his aura brushing against mine in that now-familiar sensation of connection. "But you're not just aweapon. You're not just Wrath, or a witch, or any single thing. You're all of it at once. And that's what makes you..."

"A freak?" I supplied with a wry smile.

"Extraordinary," Greed corrected firmly.

The sincerity in his voice caught me off guard. He hopped off the counter and picked me up, hugging me hard. He plopped me down on the counter and kissed me, rough and wild. And I loved it.

“Hey, stop hogging the new sin!” Envy protested, laughing.

Greed pulled away, chuckling against me. His calloused fingers ran roughly up the soft skin of my neck. I felt a flutter of something warm in my chest, a response that had nothing to do with our magickal bond and everything to do with the man before me.

“I need space to think,” I said.

They backed away, letting me wander outside the woods that bordered the house.

With everything happening so fast, my mind felt like a tangled ball of yarn with seven cats playing with it simultaneously. The manor's vast gardens called to me with their promise of quiet and dirty fingernails.

Back with Xavier’s pack, cooking had been my escape. Now, I found myself adding gardening to the list. After all, I could cook and do alchemy with what I planted, couldn’t I? Something about sinking my hands into soil and coaxing reluctant plants into flourishing called to me right now, more so than alchemy.