Page 21

TRINITY

I wake with a start, disoriented in the dim light filtering through the heavy curtains. For one terrifying moment, I'm back in the dungeons—but then Kaelin's unmistakable cry reaches me, followed by Liora's softer whimpers. My daughters. Not the dungeons. Vael's house.

Our house? No. Not mine. Never mine.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, my body protesting every movement. It's been three weeks since the twins were born, and while the physical pain has subsided to a dull ache, exhaustion still clings to me like a second skin.

"I've got them," Vael's deep voice calls from the nursery. "Go back to sleep."

It's still strange, hearing that dangerous voice softened for the babies—for me. I push myself up anyway, drawn to them like a moth to flame.

"I'm already awake," I say, padding across the polished floor to the adjoining room.

The nursery glows with soft amber light from the enchanted lanterns. Vael stands between the cribs, his massive frame somehow gentle as he lifts Kaelin. The contrast of his ash-gray skin against her paler tone makes my heart twist in ways I don't understand.

"She's hungry," he says without turning, somehow knowing I'm there. "Liora's just fussy because her sister is loud."

I move to Liora's crib, gathering her up against my shoulder. "Takes after her father that way," I murmur, breathing in her sweet scent. "Always making noise when she wants attention."

Vael's eyes glint in the low light as he turns, Kaelin nestled in one massive arm. "I don't recall you complaining about my noise-making before."

Heat rushes to my face. This new rhythm between us—this comfortable, almost domestic banter—is more dangerous than any dungeon.

"You're impossible." I settle into the padded rocking chair, adjusting my nightdress to feed Liora first.

Vael passes Kaelin to me once Liora's finished, taking our satiated daughter with practiced ease.

How quickly he's adapted to this, this softness that seems so at odds with everything I first knew about him.

The fearsome bounty hunter who now sings lullabies in a rumbling baritone when he thinks no one's listening.

"Jackie's coming early today," he says, gently patting Liora's back. "I need to go into town."

I look up from Kaelin's hungry face. "Another bounty?"

"Just supplies." His expression gives nothing away, but I've learned to read the tension in his shoulders.

"You're a terrible liar for someone who hunts people for a living."

One corner of his mouth lifts. "I don't lie to you."

"Not directly." I stroke Kaelin's cheek as she feeds. "But omission is its own kind of deception."

Vael sighs, the sound heavy with something unsaid. "It's nothing for you to worry about. I'll be back before dinner."

"I'm not worried." I keep my eyes on Kaelin, avoiding his piercing gaze. "The schedule works. You hunt, I watch them, Jackie helps during the day. We've found our rhythm."

The silence that follows feels charged, dangerous. When I finally look up, Vael is watching me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle.

"Is that all this is to you? A schedule?"

I swallow hard. "It's what we agreed to."

"We agreed to a lot of things that don't seem to matter anymore." He places Liora back in her crib, his movements careful despite the tension in his voice.

Before I can respond, Jackie's distinctive knock sounds from downstairs. Saved by the human.

"That's early even for her," I say, grateful for the interruption.

Vael nods, casting one last look at me that I can't decipher before heading downstairs.

I finish feeding Kaelin, holding her against me longer than necessary. Her tiny weight anchors me in reality when everything else feels like shifting sand beneath my feet.

By the time I make it downstairs with both babies, Jackie's already bustling around the kitchen, her platinum blonde braid swinging as she moves. The shaved sides of her head catch the morning light, making her look like she's wearing a metallic crown.

"There they are!" She beams at the sight of us, immediately abandoning whatever she was mixing to take Liora from my arms. "How's my favorite little troublemaker today?"

"Quiet for now." I adjust Kaelin against my shoulder. "Her sister made up for it overnight."

"These two are gonna keep you on your toes," Jackie laughs, bouncing Liora gently. "Good thing you've got the big scary demon to help."

I glance toward the doorway where Vael has reappeared, dressed in his hunting leathers. The sight of him like this—armed and dangerous—creates a jarring contrast to the gentle father who held our daughters moments ago.

"I won't be gone long." He approaches, one hand coming to rest on my lower back while he peers down at Kaelin. "Try to get some sleep while Jackie's here."

"I always try." I offer him a small smile. "Be careful."

His eyes soften in a way reserved only for these quiet moments. "Always am."

When he's gone, Jackie settles Liora in the cushioned basket she keeps in the kitchen. "You look like death warmed over, sweetie. Go take a proper bath. I've got these two monsters."

"They're hardly monsters," I protest, though I'm already imagining the luxury of hot water.

"Says you." Jackie grins, taking Kaelin from my arms. "Go. Before I change my mind."

The bathwater is incredible, scented with oils Jackie brought that she swears help with healing. I sink into it gratefully, letting my head rest against the edge of the tub.

This routine we've fallen into feels dangerously comfortable. Jackie arrives each morning, bringing warmth and chatter into a house that was once cold and empty. She cooks, cleans, and helps with the twins while telling stories about her wife Donna and their life in the city.

Vael returns in the evenings, sometimes bloodied from his hunts but always softening the moment he sees the girls. He takes them without hesitation, freeing me to eat or bathe or simply breathe. We've developed a wordless dance, passing babies between us, anticipating needs before they're spoken.

At night, he sleeps in his room, I in mine, with the twins between us in the nursery—a physical manifestation of the unspoken barrier we maintain despite everything that's changed.

I close my eyes, sinking deeper into the water. This wasn't the plan. None of this was the plan.

The plan was to bear his heir and leave.

The plan was to never care.

The plan was freedom.

But as I listen to Jackie's cheerful voice floating up from the kitchen, cooing nonsense to my daughters, I wonder what freedom really means anymore.

I wrap myself in a soft robe after my bath, a small luxury I'm still not used to. The house is quiet—suspiciously quiet for a place with newborn twins. Following the silence, I pad down the hallway toward the main living space.

I stop at the threshold, the scene before me freezing me in place.

Vael sits cross-legged on the plush rug by the hearth, both twins nestled in his massive arms. His deep voice rumbles through the room as he speaks, those dangerous red-gold eyes soft as he looks down at our daughters.

"—and that's how your father tracked the most notorious thief on three planets through the caverns of Shozuh with nothing but a broken compass and pure stubbornness."

Jackie sits nearby, her platinum braid falling over one shoulder as she folds tiny clothes. She catches my eye and smiles but says nothing to alert Vael to my presence.

"Your father embellishes," I say, stepping into the room. "I've heard the actual story from Domno, and there was significantly more stumbling involved."

Vael looks up, and something in his expression makes my chest tighten. He told me he was never letting me meet another one of his so-called friends after I met Domno a few months back. "Domno would say that. He was the one who fell into the acid pools."

I settle on the edge of a chair, watching as Liora waves her tiny fist as if trying to grab her father's words from the air. "Funny how that detail never makes it into your telling."

"Details are subjective." His mouth quirks up at one corner as he adjusts Kaelin in his arms. "Some just matter more than others."

"Like the part where you were the one who pushed him?"

Jackie snorts, smoothing a tiny dress with her palm. "No wonder he talks shit about you."

"Language," Vael and I say in unison, then look at each other in surprise.

"Oh please," Jackie rolls her ice-blue eyes. "Like these two aren't going to grow up hearing worse from both of you. Especially you." She points at Vael with a folded sock.

Before he can defend himself, Kaelin lets out a distressed wail followed by a distinct and unmistakable smell.

"Speaking of shit," Jackie mutters, rising quickly. "That's my cue to start dinner."

Vael doesn't hesitate. He stands smoothly, Liora secure in one arm while he carries the fussing Kaelin toward the changing table in the corner—another addition to the main living space that has transformed this once-austere hunter's lodge into something else entirely.

"You can hand her to me," I offer, moving to take Kaelin.

"I've got it." He's already laying her down, his large hands impossibly gentle as he unfastens the soiled diaper. "You just had your bath. No sense in both of us smelling like a tuskram pen."

I hover nearby, watching as this deadly bounty hunter—this demon who terrifies half of Aerasak—coos nonsense at our daughter while efficiently cleaning her.

"You're getting good at that," I say, taking Liora from his other arm to make the task easier.

"Necessity breeds skill." He secures a fresh diaper with practiced movements. "Though I still maintain babies should come with more instruction."

I laugh, bouncing Liora gently as she starts to fuss in solidarity with her sister. "What would the great Vaelrix do with an instruction manual? You've never followed directions in your life."

"I followed yours." His eyes meet mine over Kaelin's squirming form, intense and unguarded. "That night in Asmodeus's hall, when you told me exactly what you thought of demons. I remember every word."

The memory of our first meeting washes over me—how small I'd felt in that opulent room full of demons, how defiant I'd been despite my fear. How he'd looked at me like I was the only person there worth seeing.

"You didn't follow them very well," I murmur. "I recall making it clear you should leave me alone."

"And yet." He lifts Kaelin up, pressing his face briefly to her tiny belly, making her squeal with what might be laughter. "Here we are."

Here we are indeed. In this house that no longer feels cold. With these children who bear both our features. With this strange, dangerous man who looks at our daughters like they hold the universe in their tiny hands.

Liora reaches up, her small fingers brushing my chin, drawing my attention back to her. Her eyes—not quite his, not quite mine—look up at me with a focus that seems impossible for one so young.

"Here we are," I echo, feeling something shift inside me like sand settling after a storm.