Page 76 of Absolution
“Go get some rest,” I told him. “Well find our own way. Plus Con needs food.”
“Me too,” Luca agreed.
“There’s a French toast bake in the fridge that was leftovers. Just heat in the microwave for a few seconds and it should be good to go.” Seiran headed for the stairs, going up the right side. “If you do your weird boy pussy things try to find a room away from the twins, yeah?”
“Fuck you, Ronnie.”
“You wish, Sammie,” he threw back and disappeared into the doorway and to the right at the top of the stairs.
“Food,” Con said, heading for the kitchen.
“That French toast thing sounds good. Where’s that?” Luca followed.
“Typical men,” I grumbled after them. “Thinking with your stomachs first.”
“Sure,” Luca agreed. “I plan to feed my tummy then feed one of you my cock. Pretty sure we all can find an appetite for that.”
Con laughed. “You are such a horndog.”
Chapter 23
Our brief exploration of the house proved it to not be as large as we originally thought. The pool and arboretum, both on the first floor took up the entire back of the house. There was a den, a small library, a large family room, a small receiving room, and a huge kitchen with an attached dining room on the first floor. The second floor was a network of bedrooms. From what I could tell there were only eight, which was a lot, but not the dozens I’d been picturing from the outside.
Jamie and Kelly’s room was at the end of the hall near the back stairs that led down to the pool. Since we could feel the humidity in the stairwell, we found a place on Seiran’s side instead, choosing a large room in the same wing as he and the twins, added some sheets to the window, and made up the California-king bed within. The room itself was huge, with its own bathroom and a walk-in closet that would make any clothes whore salivate. It was a little overwhelming for me who’d never really had a space of my own bigger than just a twin-size bed. But Luca was all over the room, talking about paint colors, the view from the window, and what furniture he might add to make it more comfortable for the three of us. He whistled at the size of the closet. “This is totally enough room for the three of us as long as you guys don’t have a lot of clothes.”
It was the size of an entire other room. “Um…” I said.
“He is a boy whore,” Con pointed out. “Clothes whore is just another step on that spectrum.”
“Assholes,” Luca griped without heat. “Sam will need some new stuff for work. Suits and the like.” His gaze fell to me, eyes narrowing like he was picturing me naked, or maybe in a suit, though those bedroom eyes said more sex than business. “I bet you’re hot as shit in a suit.”
“I hate this job already,” I said.
They both thought that was funny.
I placed the bottle of grave dirt Seiran had left for me on the bedside table. The sticky note attached to it explained the dirt would help me rest better, and once we picked a room he would have a box made beneath the bed to fill with grave dirt, like Gabe had for years. It sounded weird, but if the witch wasn’t freaked by having dirt in the house, neither was I.
Luca and Con had scarfed down the entire rest of the French toast thing Seiran had made, and then we’d run out of time. The sun didn’t demand I sleep, but I’d had a really long night, so when I laid down, they curled around me and I passed out. Since they didn’t move enough to disturb me, I suspected they did as well. I expected at least a few hours of sleep. And seemed to fall into a deep dream-filled sleep very quickly.
It was hostility that woke me. A rolling energy like a tiger pacing nearby waiting for the moment to pounce. It took a moment to identify the feeling as it wasn’t something I was used to. Anxiety. Fear. Worry. Panic.
The sun was still high overhead. The feeling of anger alive and whipping like an agitated cat’s tail through the house though it wasn’t actually in the house. I don’t think I’d been asleep long, and I could sense Seiran was awake and anxious. The fear was his. The rage wasn’t. It was downstairs…close but not inside. I was surprised that I could still feel Seiran so clearly, like he had his power layered over me still, but perhaps that was my own abilities again. It wasn’t a drain of power between us, more a link like taffy that could stretch and expand or tighten and contract.
I asked him without words what was happening, but his thoughts were a chaotic mix of anxiety. Panic. A panic attack and the Pillar of earth were not a good thing. I got up, and made my way to the door. Something vibrated in my gut. Almost like someone was pulling on something inside of me, calling for me. Not all that unlike the siren call I’d felt when Galloway had dragged my raven form to his window. This was faint, weak, but still a pulse of energy. Was it Max?
As I made my way into the hall, I tried to trace down that invisible connection between Max and I. He was there in my head, but not physically close. He was also not sleeping. For a second I was layered over him again, seeing his world as if I were him. He was reviewing documents and frowned at the angry presence I felt. He seemed to ask, without saying anything, what was wrong? Since I didn’t yet know, I didn’t answer.
Seiran’s door was open, dark and he wasn’t inside. The babies’ door was closed, and I crossed the hall to check on them. Inside, I glanced at the crib to find both babies awake, eyes glowing. Both quiet, and both focused on the door. Seriously, not normal kids. And fuck, that couldn’t be good.
A small orb of light floated through the room coming through the wall up from below, to beside the crib, changing instantly into a regular size person. His blood-red hair was pulled up on his head into a mass of a curled updo, and clothes, while they looked like a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, had too much texture in their green lines to be anything more than magic.
Bryar glanced at me. His eyes glowed just as bright as the babies since he was a fairy. “I’m bringing the babies to Jamie’s room,” Bryar told me. “Jamie and Kelly are holed up over there.”
“Seiran going too?” Because he really needed to. Whatever it was that was downstairs none of us needed to see. I suspected I already knew what it was and the wards were working the way they should.
Bryar frowned. “He said he would follow in a little bit.”
This martyr bullshit needed to stop. “Is it who I think it is?”