Page 75 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

I climbed onto the bed, and without thinking, I leaned my head on Teddy’s shoulder while I hugged Victoria’s plushie to my chest. Leah said something quietly that Teddy answered.

With my eyes shut, I felt Leah’s magic come to life while our babes’ heartbeats sounded.

Before I fell asleep, I heard Leah’s words of assurance .

The babes were well. Teddy was well. The kids and our found family were well.

It was all that mattered.

Breakfast was utter chaos. It was a chaos I was grateful to join since Leah had returned earlier that morning to tend to my wounds.

Although I’d fallen asleep the previous night while Leah was still there, I awoke hours later with a tormenting agony that rattled my bones. I’d been desperate to take off the single, thin sheet that covered us as well as the shirt I’d worn.

Teddy had treated me with tender care as she carefully pressed cool, wet cloths to the various burns. Whatever ointment was on the cloth had made the blisters sizzle and eased some of the piercing pain.

When she’d stood to make me an herbal tea, I’d grabbed her hand and begged her not to leave. Thankfully, Alastor must’ve heard us and brought me the tea, which was kind and very much appreciated.

Having not eaten, every sip of tea felt leaden in my stomach, but I drank it, hoping it would help.

It hadn’t, not really, and I was desperate by the time Leah had returned this morning. She had arrived before the sun rose, while the others slept.

She worked on me for what felt like torturous hours, but by the time she finished, the pain had finally given out to a stabbing throb. She left with the promise to return by midday and instructed Teddy to use the same medicated cloths four times a day .

I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before I heard the girls playing in the living room. Having felt better, I left Teddy sleeping while I went out to play with them.

The first game they wanted to play had Brenton, Alastor, and me marking the living room floor with blue tape that we used to create a maze. After tossing a sock to Juanita, she kicked the sock-ball through the maze only to end up at a dead end.

I laughed at the dramatic way she threw herself on the couch while Victoria took the next turn. Jasmine skipped to me, taking my uninjured hand in her small one.

“Is Javier coming today?” she asked, her brown eyes wide as she peered up at me.

“He’s at the military school.” My reminder came out soft, but I noticed the sadness that spread over her features.

She crossed her arms over her chest and blew out a long breath that I felt in the cavity of my chest. While I couldn’t fix this rift, I could continue to show up for her.

“You’ll see him as soon as the school gives him a weekend leave,” I said. “You know he misses you too.”

She sniffled, wiping the bottom of her nose with her hand. “I don’t miss him.” She set her lips into a defiant line. “I think Juanita and Tori miss him, though.”

“I miss him.” I let the sincerity of the sentiment speak for me because I did miss him.

The memory of him, of what we’d come to mean to each other and the trust that I’d betrayed, danced inside the confines of my mind.

“Will he come back home when he finishes school?” she asked.

“Once he graduates, he will be a warrior for our army,” I said. “His duty will be to our people, and he’ll continue to live with his fellow warriors.”

She huffed out an angry sound.

“It’s okay to miss him, Jazz,” I said. “It’s okay to want him back home with us. I want it too, but he’s a warrior-in-training now. This was his choice to make, and I hope one day you’ll be as proud of him as I am.”

Although she stayed quiet, I felt the echoes of her emotions glide through me. She was far too young to have experienced so much loss. I could only hope she’d grow to mimic her brother’s strength and resilience.

Quietly, Teddy left our bedroom and headed toward the kitchen, no doubt to make a cup of her beloved coffee. She looked . . . rested.

“It’s not fair! I can’t do it.” Victoria threw her hands in the air, scowling at the maze.

I looked back at our intricate maze and smirked when I realized we’d made it too hard.

I then felt Alastor’s magic stir and found him concentrating on the maze. Jasmine stuck her tongue from the side of her mouth, focusing just as hard.

I laughed as did George when he realized what was going on.

“Looks like Jazz is going to win,” George said, clapping as she made her way through the maze.

“Nuh-uh,” Juanita said.

“Go Jazzy!” Teddy clapped, watching Jasmine go farther than anyone else.

When Jasmine made it to the end, the room broke out in cheers.

After patting Jasmine’s head, I went to Teddy with the remnants of my earlier conversation with Jasmine following me.

I pulled Teddy to me, but she hesitated, her eyes narrowing on my shirt that hid the burns on my upper chest. I patted the burn, satisfied when it didn’t hurt too much.

“I’m okay,” I said.

This time, when I cupped the back of her head, she came to me, winding her arms behind my back while she kissed my chest. I held on to her as if she’d disappear before my eyes.

She inched back, and I trailed my hand over her every curve.

The soft curls of her red hair fanned over her shoulders, her smile small and almost shy.

She was stunning.

“I love you.” Those three words came out as a whispered secret, one I captured with my lips.

“Food,” Everly called from the kitchen.

Like a pack of wild, starving animals, everyone ran to the kitchen. Everly barked at them, which made them slow their approach.

“I hope she made enough.” I chuckled.

“If not, we have some pastries I hid from everyone last night,” she said.

“You hid pastries from us?” Brenton asked, pressing a hand to his chest. “That’s just cruel, Teddy.”

With my stomach rumbling, I tugged on her hand to lead us to the kitchen when everyone finished serving themselves.

“I’m pretty sure it’s considered rude to eat before your king even serves himself,” I grumbled.

Brenton snickered. “Don’t worry, Your Royalness,” he teased. “I’m sure these heathens saved you something.”

“I would hope so.” I smiled, knowing this would make everyone feel guilty. “Especially considering Teddy is pregnant.”

As I expected, everyone stared at me, with George and Alastor holding their forks frozen in the air .

“Don’t worry, best friend,” Ryenne said. “I hid a plate for you in the microwave just in case.”

Teddy laughed.

I opened the microwave and took out her plate, chuckling at the face Ryenne had created with the berries, scrambled eggs, and bacon. After serving myself, we joined our friends who sat in the living room.

While I guided Teddy to the couch, I took a seat on the floor between her legs. It felt good to sit around with our family and friends, eating and enjoying a moment of much-needed lighthearted teasing.

“What time are you going to the orphanage today?” I asked Brenton.

Since the attack on the castle and Reignom’s main street, Brenton spent every moment he could helping with the children. Many of our friends did the same. It wasn’t enough, and far too many children were being neglected.

Too many children—both fae and human—had lost their parents in the attacks. The orphanage had been forced to take on more children than they could house.

“I pre-ordered sandwiches and pastries at the bakery and will take it to them for lunch,” Brenton said.

“Don’t they get food from the public kitchen?” I asked.

As far as I was aware, the public kitchen my parents had put in place years ago hadn’t been destroyed.

“Have you been to the public kitchen?” Teddy asked me.

“It isn’t suitable for children,” Brenton said before I could answer.

Teddy huffed in agreement.

Chewing my food, I mulled over their words, remembering how Brenton had complained about the kitchen when we’d first met many years ago.

I was ashamed to admit I’d never considered what he meant and had never gone to visit the kitchen. Instead, I’d thought my parents were kind and compassionate for offering such a place for any fae in need of extra assistance.

“That’s one of the changes I want to make at the orphanage,” Teddy said, focusing on Brenton. “How great would it be if we could get a few people in there permanently to make the kids three homemade meals every day?”

“It would definitely be an improvement,” Brenton said.

“Oh.” Ryenne clapped. “Remember the night we went to the pizza place?”

“Ugh, world’s worst pizza,” Jasmine griped with a roll of her eyes.

Ryenne rolled her eyes right back. “I don’t know if this would be feasible or how expensive it would be, but it’d be nice if the kids at the orphanage could do something like that sometimes. While the food wasn’t great, all the kids had fun playing in the arcade, including Nate.”

“That’s a good idea,” Teddy said. “Does the kingdom have a budget for this kind of thing?”

I didn’t think so. “We’ll figure it out.”

“What about movie nights?” Jasmine traced a finger over one of the rocks Teddy and I had received at our coronation.

She went to a shelf in our living room to put it back in its place before she picked up another one.

“One of our old neighbors used to hang up a white sheet against the wall of his trailer home and put up a movie for all the kids in our neighborhood.”

“Yes, I miss movie nights.” Teddy smiled. “When your scholars figure out how to get the internet working here, we could do something like that.”

If a movie night was what my mate wanted, I’d figure out how to get the scholars to work harder so I could give her a movie night.

“We could also go old-school if someone wants to go on a hunt for a DVD player,” Teddy said.

“I volunteer Donnie and Cierra.” Ryenne grinned when Donnie shoved her shoulder.

“I’ve been thinking,” Teddy said. “Back home we have a program that places children in homes. I’d like to start something like that here.” She paused, chewing on the side of her lip.