Page 15 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“We’ll go first,” Alastor said, also taking them in.

Shadows skulked from him, my toes going uncomfortably cold when they slithered over my boot.

He called his shadows back, restraining them beneath his fingertips while they pressed against his skin.

“We can scan the area before you get there.” It came out impassive, but his shadows trembled with his irritation.

With how dark the night was, neither Sebastian nor his wife noticed.

I nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

With that, I bent space, and together, Alastor, the lirio, and I stepped into the woods outside Colina. When I returned to Sebastian and his family, I couldn’t see the two lirio who’d stayed behind, but I knew Koa and Agthor were near.

Sebastian’s oldest boy peered up at me, his mouth dropped open and eyes wide. I crouched down in front of him, using my magic to pick up a handful of snow and swirl it slowly in front of him. When he reached a hand out to it, I stilled the snow so he could inspect it.

“Whoa,” the little boy said, smiling up at me. “That’s so cool.”

His younger brother tottered toward me, his attention on the snow I held suspended in the air. When he stumbled, I used my magic to heft him back up. Giggling, he spun around to grab the snow behind him.

I let the boys play for a few beats before I stood back up.

Sebastian’s wife tilted her head. “I take it you like kids.”

“Children are a rare blessing in Niev,” I told her honestly. “What are your names?”

She patted the oldest one’s head. “The six-year-old is Ethan, and that little terror is Wes. My name’s Gracie.”

“Juanita, my youngest girl, is also six.”

It felt right to call the girls mine. I’d known them for as long as I’d known Teddy and had come to love them in a way I hadn’t expected.

The regret for what I’d done to Javier and his sisters’ father still ate at me. While I knew I’d never make up for it, I hoped his father, wherever the afterlife had taken him, saw all the ways I tried to be there for them.

“Is it okay if I pick up Wes?” I asked Gracie and Sebastian. “You two can grip my upper arm, but I’ll need both boys to be touching me so that they come through with us.”

When she nodded, I lowered myself to Wes’s height.

I looked around, stilling enough so I could hear our surroundings before I picked him up.

Back on my feet, I took Ethan’s hand in mine.

When Sebastian and Grace touched one arm, I bent space so that we all walked into the same woods I’d left Alastor.

Immediately, the hair on the back of my neck stood. Alastor jerked his chin toward the tear.

“We must hurry,” he said.

With only two lirio with us, they didn’t offer much camouflage. Still, they flanked us as I hurried Sebastian and his family to the tear. In the distance, I heard numerous voices over the hums of several engines drawing closer.

I ushered the small family through the tear, using my magic to smooth out our footsteps, but stopped to ask Alastor if one of his lirio could guard this tear. We couldn’t afford for the human military to find it. When Alastor nodded, one of the lirio stepped back as the rest of us crossed the tear.

Immediately, we stood just outside my mother's castle, with Gracie gaping at the tall building and the town surrounding it. Ethan walked to a nearby statue of a dragon, our oldest Elder, who I’d come to learn had made the pact with my parents and uncle that would result in an entire species massacred and the start of our endless winter.

The need to demolish it ran through me. I wanted to replace it with one of Nalari and the other dragons who’d fought alongside us.

One day, but not today.

I set Wes down so he could investigate with his big brother.

Without saying anything, Alastor and his lirio headed away from the castle.

While the citizens of Reignom had grown accustomed to them coming and going from the castle, the sight of the mage and his lirio still made many uneasy.

It was why Alastor did his best to stay outside of the town, although he never shrank away from who he was or what he was despite the unease fae felt around him.

It made me respect him even more.

“Teddy will be sad she didn’t get to see you,” I called after Alastor.

The mage looked over his shoulder with a small smile on his face. “I’ll see my cousin before we head out again.”

I wasn’t sure if cousin was the correct term, but there was a connection. It was obvious in the way Alastor only seemed to relax when Teddy was around.

My head guard rushed down the long, narrow steps that led to the castle. When Pietro reached me, he bowed.

“Your Majesty,” Pietro said, casting an assessing look at Sebastian and his family, that made Sebastian draw his family closer to him.

“Your Majesty?” Ethan asked, his nose wrinkled. “Are you a prince or something?”

Gracie grabbed her oldest son by the shoulder, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment while Sebastian picked up their youngest son, hoisting him on his hip furthest away from Pietro.

I bit back my irritated sigh, not wanting to deal with any more prejudices from the humans we continued to let into our realm.

“Or something,” I said, ruffling the boy’s hair.

“That’s so cool.” He grinned.

“Can you go to my cottage to let Teddy know I’ve returned?” I asked Pietro. “I’ll remain here to help settle this family in before I make my way home.”

Pietro bowed again before he bent space to do my bidding.

“Come.” I motioned toward the steps. “I’ll show you to your rooms.” And would hopefully do it quickly so I could spend the rest of the day with Teddy .

Ethan took my hand. “We’re staying in your castle?” he asked, his voice carrying an awestruck lilt.

“It’ll be your castle until I find you a home to live in,” I told him.

He turned that shocked look to his parents. Together, we walked through the large wooden doors where guards stood on either side. I tipped my head at them in greeting while Ethan tugged on my hand excitedly.

Inside was a large round table with an empty vase I needed to fill with flowers.

My father had been the one to collect flowers for my mother, and seeing it empty was another reminder of our loss.

Too many times, George, Brenton, Everly, and I had crashed into the table as we ran through the halls or down the stairs.

While the table had plenty of chips from our youth, my father had always fixed the vase.

It had been the first vase of flowers my father had gifted to my mother. It was precious to her, and now that I knew they’d lived thousands of years together, much longer than any fae was supposed to live, its value held even more importance.

“Elias...Prince,” Gracie said. “King?” Her eyes widened with worry as panic crossed the rest of her features. Sebastian took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

I tapped the table with my knuckles, digging my finger into a small fracture as I passed.

“Elias is fine,” I said as I led them up the main stairs to the second floor.

“Are you sure it’s okay that we stay here?” she asked, her voice echoing against the tall walls. “We don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

“No inconvenience,” I said. “We’ve had displaced citizens living here until their houses were rebuilt. We also have our regular live-in employees but there’s plenty of room.”

Once we reached the second floor, a large portrait of my father in his fighting leathers awaited us. The sword he yielded was as imposing as the crown that sat atop his head, but it was nothing compared to the male.

I fought the way my heart stalled at the sight of him and gave him a quick tip of my chin before I turned away from him. When he’d first passed, someone had draped a black veil over the portrait. It was a custom I couldn’t bear, and I’d had Brenton help me tear it down.

Every time I stepped into the castle, I wanted to be able to see my father’s face.

To remember every plane and angle. The way one side of his lips tipped up before the other when he smiled.

The way those large, strong hands had always been gentle with my mother and me.

The way his boisterous laughter filled the castle my mother and him called home.

“You’re all welcome to stay here until we have somewhere for you to live.

” They followed me down a wide hallway opposite the rooms my mother occupied, and I pushed open the first door.

“This room, along with the adjoining room”—I stepped into the room to push another door open that led to a second bedroom—“will be yours.”

Wes leaped up to the first bed, but before he could catch any real height, Sebastian caught him and tucked him against his chest.

I grinned, went to the window across the room, and opened the blinds, letting the late morning rays brighten the room. Both Ethan and Wes stood by the clear window.

“Whoa,” Ethan said when he looked down at the courtyard .

Knowing Wes wasn’t tall enough to see, I picked him up. He pressed his hands and face against the cold pane, his breath fogging the glass.

“There’s plenty of room in the courtyard for the boys to play while you familiarize yourself with your new home,” I said, glancing over my shoulder to Gracie and Sebastian.

“We also have a school Ethan can attend. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to make friends with both human and fae younglings.

The classrooms are divided by skill and knowledge, so he’d probably have more human than fae in his class.

” I set Wes back down, grinning at the dramatic way Ethan groaned about going to school.

“We also have two healers. I believe Leah is here. I’d like for you to meet her so you feel comfortable going to her or our other healer if you or the boys are feeling unwell. ”

I looked back at them expectantly, feeling uncomfortable when Gracie’s eyes filled with tears. But I hadn’t said anything offensive or hurtful. At least I didn’t think I had.