Page 104 of Castor

“Hope you guys are hungry.” Raiden’s toothy grin matched his playful personality. “You gotta be after all the calories you burnt last night with all that bumpin’ and grindin’ in the sheets.”

“You didn’t have to listen,” Castor said.

“I had no choice. You two nearly shook the house down.”

Gray slid off my back and hopped up onto the barstool. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“That’s because you sleep like the dead,” Raiden said before giving him a sliver of bacon.

The smaller male hummed happily to himself as he nibbled it. Raiden ruffled Gray’s blond hair before returning to the stove.

Galen and Simon were the next ones to come into the kitchen. My best friend was rambling about a new shipment he needed to finish going through at work and how his mate’s insatiable sexual appetite that morning would make them late.

“Hey, Si.”

“Kyo!” Simon rushed over and pulled me in for a tight embrace. “Oh my god, I’m so happy you’re here. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Good as new.”

His hazel eyes were watery as he pulled back to look at me. And then he slapped my chest. “You asshole. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard you were injured.”

“Sorry. I’ll just nicely ask the dagger not to hit me next time.”

He laughed. “It’s good to hear your smart-ass mouth again. The shop hasn’t been the same without you.”

“So you’ve been able to keep it open?” I asked. “I know Alastair made you close down for a week when we were in Greece and demons were targeting this area.”

“Clara helped us put anti-demon warding around the building,” he answered. “And Galen is always with me just in case we run into any trouble on the way to and from.”

“I go with you too,” Gray said, his big eyes heavier now. “I help protect you.”

“Yeah, you do.” Simon smiled at him.

When Bellamy arrived a few minutes later, a cloud passed over his face. Guilt poured off him as he approached me. “I’m sorry, Kyo. If I wouldn’t have hesitated on that beach, I—”

“Don’t apologize,” I cut him off. “A lot of crazy shit happened that day. I don’t blame you for anything. Okay?”

Castor rested a hand on my hip and leveled a stare at his brother. I didn’t need their ability to read minds in order to know they had fought about that very thing, probably more than once.

“Please tell me there’s tea waiting for me,” Alastair said as he entered the room. As usual, he looked prim and proper, not a strand of his pale hair out of place.

“Yep.” Raiden nodded to the stove. “The tea bags are brewing.”

“You mean steeping.”

“Whatever.”

The timer on the oven beeped, and Raiden pulled out a large pan of biscuits. Cooking made him happy. It was obvious in the bounce in his step as he prepared our food and the soft smile lingering in the corner of his lips.

Coffee was poured, plates of food were placed on the table, and then we sat down to eat. Alastair filled a cup with tea and added a dash of cream before joining us.

“Daman’s hungover,” Bellamy said. “He partied hard with the Fae last night. When I tried to wake him, he said he’d kill me if I didn’t go away.”

“God, he’s such a little bitch,” Castor said.

Raiden frowned at Daman’s empty chair. “I wanted all of us to eat together.”

“You’re such a mother hen.” Bellamy smirked at him.