Page 21 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

This meant that I’d have to bend space to take whoever replaced him and bring Koa back. It was worth it if only to see the pride that shone on Teddy’s face. And if I was honest, it was long overdue.

For months, I’d used the lirio without seeing them as more than a means to an end. But they were fae, just like my people. More than that, though, they had become Alastor’s family .

An unfamiliar, almost reluctant tingle spread across my mind, and I opened myself to it.

“Your Majesty,” Kieren said.

“ Don’t you Your Majesty him,” Teddy countered.

“You know I am actually the prince of this kingdom,” I reminded my mate. “It’s only appropriate that he address me as such.”

“Yeah but ”—she waved a hand in the air—“ you’re more this big, goofy . . .”

“Sexy,” I added.

“. . . dork,” she finished.

I laughed, tugging Teddy’s hand to bring her closer to me. “We’re making the youngling uncomfortable,” I whispered, noting the way Kieren stared at his boots.

She swatted my shoulder. “You’re making all of them uncomfortable.”

“My apologies, Kieren,” I said, addressing Javier’s young friend. “ What were you going to say before Teddy stripped me of my title?”

“I swear, Elias,” Teddy warned.

The fire in her eyes made me want to toss everyone out of our home and take her to our bedroom.

“I’ve never tried to contact someone in a different realm, but I think I might be able to with Teddy’s help. She’s familiar with Brenton’s magic and should be able to guide my magic to him.”

“Great.” Teddy clapped her hands. “What do you need me to do?”

“Can you ask if Alastor will allow me into his mind?” Kieren asked. “I feel bad not including him.”

Teddy beamed at him and quickly asked her cousin the question.

I couldn’t help the way that earlier pride grew in the friends Javier had chosen.

Where so many humans refused the fae’s offered friendship, Javier had been open to it.

Like the other fae, his friends had been raised to fear mages and the creatures outside our borders.

Yet, Kieren was worried about not including Alastor.

And where several fae saw those who couldn’t speak aloud but only through their minds—the way Kieren did—as a disability, each of his friends had embraced him without prejudice.

Kieren opened the connection of his mind-speak magic to everyone in the room, including the girls.

“I can channel my magic to Teddy,” Alastor offered. “It might help strengthen your reach so that you may contact Brenton.”

“Should we sit together?” Teddy asked.

Everyone turned to me. “You’re in charge here, Kieren. Tell us what you need from us.”

Kieren tipped his head down, but I saw the timid smile that graced his face. “Sitting together would be good. The closer Alastor is, the easier it’ll be to send Teddy his magic. Why don’t we sit on the floor?” He pointed at an open space in front of the fireplace.

The three of them sat in a circle, with Teddy reaching for Alastor’s hand to better absorb his magic.

“I feel like we’re about to do a séance,” she said.

Javier huffed out a laugh.

“What’s a séance?” Jasmine asked aloud.

“Something that’ll give you nightmares,” Javier answered.

Juanita grabbed my arm. “They’re not going to do the say-whatever Teddy said, are they?”

I scooped down to pick her up. “No, pequenita .”

“I’m going to shut off the connection with everyone but Teddy and Alastor,” Kieren said. “Is that okay? ”

When he looked at me for a reply, I nodded.

A charged, rousing energy swirled around the room with sparks from Teddy’s peach magic, Alastor’s green threads, and Kieren’s orange.

Teddy’s grin told me when they made contact with Brenton.

Kieren jolted at something said, making the magic flicker.

He drew his brows together in concentration, and that steady stream of sparks continued.

After several beats of silence, Teddy turned to me.

“I told him about the soldier who was going to take y’all to the compounds,” Teddy said. “He and Finley will head back to the meeting point so you can get them tomorrow. We should also try to reach Hayden and Ximena. Do you want me to tell him anything else?”

“No,” I said. Telling him to hurry would only worry him.

Since I was most familiar with Hayden’s magic, I also joined their circle when Teddy wasn’t sure how to contact him and Ximena. It only took a few minutes, but by the time they finished, dark circles lined under Teddy’s eyes. When I tried to encourage her to lie down, she shook her head.

As everyone settled back into their regular chairs from their position on the floor, Teddy’s voice whispered in my mind.

“Javier’s present,” she said.

I pointed at Javier, instructing him to stay where he was while I darted into our room, where we kept the gift-wrapped present in our closet. At school, Javier hadn’t just shown an interest in archery but excelled in it.

Several times, when I was home long enough to do so, we practiced with my bow and arrow. Now, he’d have one of his own.

Back in the living room, he took the proffered package with a reluctant smile. The gift wrapping paper gave a soft tear beneath his unsteady fingers, each careful pull betraying the tremor he couldn’t quite hide. Slow and precise as if each fold hid something fragile.

“We’re aging here, Javi,” Aidas said. “You can tear through it a little rougher than that.”

At his friend’s urging, he tore the last of the paper away and froze. The bow gleamed in his hand and the sound he let out was half-breath, half-disbelieving laugh.

“You got me a bow and arrow?” His gaze darted to me, then to Teddy, like he was trying to figure out if this was real.

Kieren took the bow while Javier stood to hug Teddy. When he turned to me, the hug was a little stiff so I gave his back a good-natured pat.

The bow was a work of art in weapon form. Sleek and lethal. Patterns curled along the limbs with threads of ancient runes worked into the grain. The string thrummed softly under his thumb. The matching quiver held a dozen arrows, each fletched with the iridescent feathers from the thunderbirds.

It wasn’t just a weapon. It was a promise of victory, forged by fae hands that understood war.

“Not just any bow and arrow.” Admiring the craftsmanship of the weapon, Kieren trailed a finger down it. “This is a warrior-grade weapon.”

“You know your bow and arrow,” I said, impressed he’d recognized it for what it was.

“My father got me one for my last birthday.”

“With your father’s permission, you should bring it out here for target practice,” I offered.

His expression fell, but he nodded, and I wondered what I’d said wrong.

“We need to eat,” Teddy said, pulling our attention to her.

“Do you want us to buy pizza to bring back?” Kieren offered.

“God, no,” she said, pressing her lips together as she touched her stomach. “While the pizza wasn’t bad , it’s not exactly supposed to taste like that.”

“I didn’t want to say anything, but it didn’t live up to my expectations,” Delaney said, choosing to speak aloud rather than through the mental connection Kieren kept open for everyone. “Not after Javier kept raving about it.”

“Nate’s gonna start working as the cook there, but I’ve been going through old recipes on my phone, and I think we have everything we need to make some pizzas for us another night,” Teddy said.

“What can we bring back for tonight?” Javier asked, also using Kieren’s mind-speak connection.

It warmed me to see the way Javier and his friends looked out for Teddy. Knowing our friends did the same made it a little easier to think about leaving again. When everyone settled on whatever the tavern was making, the older younglings headed out while the girls went to their playroom.

It was a good thing we’d planned for several rooms when we first built our home. We’d need it desperately with our family growing. And it wouldn’t be long until Javier’s friends wanted to spend the night.

I wondered if they would bring as much madness into our home as George, Brenton, and Everly had.

Teddy seemed to thrive on the chaos that came with so many children.

If our gods willed it, I’d happily fill each room with babes.

It shamed me that even after several months of research in our public library, Brenton still couldn’t name who our gods were.

But if our people didn’t know the truth, it made sense that our libraries wouldn’t carry information about them .

“Elias,” Alastor said, drawing my attention to him. “As we discussed, I asked the living book about the orb and how we can siphon specific magic from it.” He sighed. “The book refuses to answer me, but I’ll keep trying.”

I nodded. “Do you think it would answer you if you had the orb in your possession?”

While I didn’t like the idea of giving the orb to someone else, I trusted Alastor.

His eyes flared in surprise. “I think it would be best if you kept it. The orb was made with my sister’s magic, and the last time I held it, her magic called to me. I worry I won’t be strong enough to ignore the pull.”

“You didn’t answer at your weakest,” Teddy said, referring to his weakened state during the mage battle. “You’re stronger than you think.”

Alastor gave her a soft smile. “Do you know what startled the young Kieren when you were speaking to Brenton?”

Teddy ran a hand over her arms. “His father is among the missing fae. It caught him off guard when I told Brent about Sebastian taking y’all to the compounds.”

There it was, that festering wound I kept picking at.

Kieren was one more person I’d let down.

I wasn’t sure how he could stand to look at me, knowing his father was missing because of me.

But I’d get him back. I’d get Etienne and every single fae back, even if it meant I had to leave the human realm in ruins.

But for the next few days, I’d hide in the refuge of our news and pretend everything was normal.