Page 80 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“She’s going to be checking on Teddy daily and using her magic to work on his heart and the ill-functioning valves,” Elias continued, his fingers tightening around mine. “In the meantime, Teddy is to rest.”

“Well, shit. Does that mean Elias is going to be doing the cooking for y’all?” Ryenne said. Although it came out as a tease, I saw the worry lingering behind her eyes.

I snorted. “Do you want all of us to end up at Leah’s?”

“I give a few people food poisoning, and I’m forever banned from the kitchen,” Elias said with a wink.

I playfully shoved his shoulder, enjoying the easy camaraderie. I loved that even when faced with something so grave and scary, we still found joy .

“I can cook,” Alastor offered.

“I’m happy to help with the cooking too,” Donnie said.

When my eyes welled up with tears again, Elias growled.

“If any of you make my mate cry again, you’re banned from this house.”

For some reason, that made Alastor bark out a raucous laugh. Leaning over with his hand on his stomach, he continued laughing and kept right on until the rest of us joined him.

Donnie perched on the edge of the couch. “If there are some prenatal vitamins at the pharmacy Cierra found, would you take them?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I’d have to ask Leah. She’s been having me take a tea that’s supposed to help the boys. I don’t know if I can mix the two or if one is better than the other.”

“What do these vitamins do?” Elias asked.

“They’re supposed to support mom and baby so that we’re all healthy,” I said. “The boys are absorbing nutrients from me. Since they’re pretty much little vampires sucking everything out of me, the vitamins make sure I get what I need to stay healthy for both of us. Or all three of us.”

“I didn’t know such a thing existed,” Elias said. “What Leah’s giving you is for fae. Just like the contraceptive tea may not have worked for you because you’re not fae, the tea she gave you to help with the pregnancy might not work. I think the prenatal vitamin would be better for you.”

“I agree,” Donnie said.

“When my brother returns, we can go out to see what we can find at the pharmacy,” Cierra said. “Are there any other medications you want us to bring back?”

“If you bring back whatever you think the humans here and in the human realm might need, I can have our scholars work on replicating them,” Elias said.

“As they replicate them, we can distribute to your people and our clinics as needed. It’s a good backup to have with the unreliability of everyone’s magic. ”

I snuggled closer to him. So completely in love with this man, my soul-bound mate and partner.

“I love how no one is going to acknowledge the fact Teddy just called her sons little vampires,” Ryenne said.

Elias reached for a cushion that had fallen on the floor. To everyone’s surprise, he tossed it at Ryenne’s face.

I sat at the dining room table we rarely used since we either typically ate on the couch or the patio and stared at the drawing I’d made.

Earlier that morning, Kieren had brought in a dry tree limb.

He’d assured me it wouldn’t be difficult to draw, so after he retrieved everything we’d need from his pocket of magic, we started to draw.

Although Kieren kept his instructions and strokes simple and precise, my drawing looked more like . . . scraggly lines, maybe? While his looked exactly how it was supposed to.

“That’s good,” Kieren said, trying to encourage me.

Laughing, I poked his shoulder. “Good if I’d never held a pencil to paper before in my life.

” I pulled my phone out from the back pocket of my jeans and scrolled to a picture of purple tulips Ryenne and Donnie had given me one Valentine’s Day several years ago.

“Can you show me how to draw this? They are, or were, my favorite flowers.”

Kieren took my phone and pulled out several pieces of paper while he practiced drawing them.

His eyes were narrowed in intensity while his tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth.

If he wasn’t using my phone as a reference to draw the tulips, I’d take a picture of him.

He looked that adorable. No wonder his father had looked at him with such pride.

I could only hope my boys turned out as kindhearted as Kieren.

Once he was happy with one of the multiple drawings, he slid a piece of paper to me and pointed at the drawing in the far-left corner.

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Looks damn near perfect to me.”

Elias kissed the back of my head as he settled a sandwich he’d made beside me.

I grabbed one of the pieces he’d cut the sandwich into, chuckling at the fact Elias had cut my sandwich into four parts.

It was sweet and enchanting and one more reason he was an incredible father to the girls and would be just as fantastic to our boys.

I took a bite, savoring the creaminess of the cheese in Niev.

Kieren went to work drawing a bigger replication of the sample he’d made. As I ate, I watched in fascination while he made the drawing come to life with vibrant shades of purple and green.

There was no way I’d be able to draw that.

Then a thought hit me.

“Elias,” I shouted, probably a bit too excitedly. Kieren stopped to look at me in concern, and Elias rushed toward me. I waved a hand in the air. “Nothing’s wrong. I just had a fantastic idea.”

Elias held a hand to his chest and blew out a relieved breath. “Mo elma.”

“I’m sorry, but I promise it’s worth the freak-out.

” Maybe. I switched to Kieren’s mind-speak magic to talk to both of them.

“If Elias and I were to paint the boys’ nursery walls white, do you think you could do like a whole landscape with mountains, trees, and dragons?

A green landscape. I’m tired of the snow. ”

“I don’t think you should be painting unless Leah gives you permission,” Elias said.

“No, of course not. I meant once our baby’s heart is strong, and she takes me off bed rest.”

Because his heart would get stronger. Where before the terror of the situation had gripped me, Elias’s confidence had started to bleed inside me until I felt it too. Both our boys would be well.

“Then I think it’s a fine idea.” Elias took my empty plate and planted another kiss to the top of my head. “If you’re willing to do it, Kieren?”

“Of course, I’d love to.” His smile was small and timid. “I don’t know if you should be home when I’m painting, though. The smell is strong. What if it’s not good for the babes?”

Elias clapped his shoulder. “I’ll ask Leah. If she doesn’t want Teddy home while you work on it, hopefully, she’ll be able to move around and leave the house by the time you have your next weekend leave, and we’ll stay at George’s and Everly’s.”

I scrunched my nose in distaste while Elias went to the kitchen with my plate. I wanted to be here when Kieren worked on it. I wanted to see, and hell, I wanted to help work on it and leave my mark in the boys’ room. “I mean, I’d still like to see you, not just leave before you get here.”

Kieren scratched the back of his neck, a gesture I started associating with timidity or uncertainty. “I’ll see you after, and you can tell me if you like how it came out.”

“Duh.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll love it.”

“Your human terms are still so strange to me,” Kieren said .

“I’d say you’ll get used to it, but I don’t think we ever will,” Elias said from where he washed the plate at the sink. “Tell me what supplies you need, and I’ll make sure we have them here by the time you’re ready.”

“Do you think you could get a couple of pictures of Nalari from different angles?” he asked.

I pursed my lips. “I’m leaving that for Elias to ask her.”

“As if I’m not always listening,” Nalari said.

I burst out laughing, and that laughter only grew when Kieren looked back at me in confusion. I pointed toward the ceiling, where I heard Nalari flapping her wings.

“Nalari,” Elias said aloud. “She has this thing about talking to us at the most random times to make us look crazy in front of those who can’t hear her.”

Nalari huffed out a laugh.

“Does that mean you’re going to be a model?” I asked aloud, unsure how to speak mentally to Kieren and Nalari. Or how she’d picked up on our conversation using Kieren’s mind-speak magic. While I was growing into my mage magic, so much of magic was still so fantastical and strange to me.

“What do I look like to you?” Nalari asked with a grumbling growl.

“You look like the dragon who will one day let Tori ride on your back.” Elias grinned.

Although Nalari let out another growl, I felt her amusement through our connection.

“Are you two upsetting the dragon?” Brenton, who was still in his fighting leathers, asked when he swung our front door open.

My chair scraped along the wood floor when I slid it back, and within a few seconds, I was engulfed in Brenton’s strong embrace. He reached his arm out for Elias, who joined our hug. Before pulling away, Brenton kissed both our heads loudly, making Elias snicker.

He clapped Kieren’s shoulder as I sat back down. “Your father is helping the shifters,” he told Kieren. “He said he’ll be back late tonight or early tomorrow so he can see you before you’re needed back at the military school.”

Kieren nodded.

Brenton sat on the chair next to me, his arm around my shoulders as he pulled me in. “I came as soon as Donnie told me.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. Should I give him a reassuring smile or poke him playfully to ease some of that tension that rose inside me?

Before I could think of anything, he pulled away to grab the drawing I’d made of the tree limb and quirked his brows up in amusement.

I lifted my middle finger, making him grin.

Playfulness to ease the tension it was. Despite us not sharing a bloodline or the many years we hadn’t known each other, Brenton and I were similar in so many ways.

Even if blood and magic hadn’t made us siblings, I knew the bond we’d formed would still exist. He was family in every way that mattered.