Page 25

W ith the help of his family, Victor carried everything from the kitchen to the dining table. A fallen knight with big brown eyes and a smile that never failed to light up Victor’s heart winked at him. Victor grabbed a seat on the other side of a serious sentinel with a quiet-but-often-spicy nature. Like Phillip, Keegan had changed out of his gorgeous Cinder Lord formal attire to a casual uniform.

Keegan hadn’t expressed any interest in wearing jeans like Arvandus and Samson or buying new clothes at all. Victor wasn’t sure if it was because Keegan was so newly resurrected, a nod to their sentinel mate, or just the fallen knight’s preference. No matter his choices, Victor supported him unconditionally. And he was handsome in everything. So was Phillip.

Victor was a lucky man to have not one but two extraordinary men in his life. Everything between them had happened so fast and smoothly that Victor wasn’t sure when he’d fallen in love with them. But they were his soul. His cat purred with contentment as Victor reveled in his feelings for their mates.

The perfect moment to tell Keegan and Phillip hadn’t yet presented itself, but it would. Victor was counting on it.

“Why are you passing this to me?” Alaric asked sharply, interrupting Victor’s wandering thoughts.

“Because Bax already handed it to me,” Chander replied.

“Did you notice that Bax put some of the green beans on his plate?” Alaric asked.

“Yeah, and?”

“Put some veggies on your plate, Chand,” Alaric ordered.

“No.”

“I would prefer if you did,” Alaric said.

“And I’d prefer not to listen to you demand I eat veggies every night. Tonight, neither of us are going to be happy.”

“Is that common for you guys?” Baxter asked.

Ducarius glared. “Do not start. We have just sat down to eat. Save your questions or comments about s-e-x until after dinner.”

“Really?” Vellerynd asked, his irritated cobalt blue gaze narrowing at Ducarius. “Why are you doing the spelling thing?”

“Because he’s annoying,” Teverild responded conversationally. “Chand, pass those green beans over here before they get cold.”

“Green beans are tasty; thank you for making them tonight, Victor,” Phillip said.

“Making me feel bad won’t work,” Chander replied. “Victor cooked other things, and they are delicious. Green beans aren’t. They’re gross, and I don’t like them.”

“I still say Victor should sneak healthy stuff into food so Chand will eat them,” Brynnius suggested.

“I’m not a child,” Chander retorted. “Veggies are for growing kids. I’m an adult. An immortal one.”

“Who wants to remind him that he technically already died once?” Benton asked.

“No one declared me dead,” Chander corrected. “So that is incorrect.”

“Your spirit lifted from your body,” Alaric stated. “I would argue that you did indeed die.”

“Chand didn’t know he was part imp and unintentionally ignored that half of him,” Victor explained to his mates. “Since he didn’t accept his imp like a shifter unites with their beast, it affected his health. Eventually, his heart was ripped in half. Without the quick thinking of the Reverent Knights to call in the warlocks to mend him and get him to a hospital, Chand wouldn’t be with us right now.”

“All the fucking vegetables in the world wouldn’t have changed a damn thing,” Chander said. “And that was a long time ago. My imp and I are bound as tightly as Phillip and his dragon. We’re good. Even if we weren’t, eating green beans wouldn’t save me.”

“A healthy diet can help you feel energetic,” Alaric informed his mate.

“So can coffee,” Chander retorted.

Baxter threw his arms up. “He’s hopeless.”

“That just means more green beans for me,” Teverild replied, scooping up a giant forkful of the aforementioned veggies and shoving it into his mouth with a flourish. He added an obnoxious moan and closed his eyes in ecstasy as he chewed.

Victor tucked his lips in to keep from laughing at the way Cassius’s brown gaze widened and he dropped his own fork to watch his other half with rapture written all over his handsome face.

“Settle down or we’re going to have to tranq Cass,” Arvandus remarked, his blue gaze brimming with humor.

Teverild winked saucily at Cassius, then yanked him close for a deep kiss that had Victor’s eyebrows flying up.

“I hope they keep their clothes on,” Ducarius remarked. “I will be most annoyed to watch them have s-e-x at the table.”

“Think of it as an educational experience,” Samson advised. “You could learn some things to help you once Fate brings you your mate.”

“I have already mentioned I find the entire thing distasteful. I doubt my mind will be changed in the future.”

“You must honor your gift from Fate,” Alaric told Ducarius.

“I would never betray the Sentinel Brotherhood by denying my mate,” Ducarius replied.

“You’ll be interested in s-e-x after you meet him,” Baxter insisted. “We’re sentinels. Attraction doesn’t exist for us until we are with our other half. But trust me, your d-i-c-k will definitely be interested in your mate.”

“Victor, you have a sentinel mate, can you help me?” Vellerynd asked. “Would it be better for me to ignore the f-u-c-k-i-n-g spelling or keep telling them to knock it off?”

“Since when do you swear?” Teverild asked his brother.

“I did not. I spelled it out.”

“To answer your question, Vel, Phillip is a gentleman. If I politely asked him to stop doing something that annoyed me, he’d immediately do it,” Victor explained.

“I am a gentleman,” Ducarius stated.

“Act like it,” Chander advised between bites of his dinner.

“I am too,” Baxter insisted.

Benton scoffed. “Yeah right.”

“I’m not talking about in bed,” Baxter told his other half. “Of course I’m not a gentleman then. You wouldn’t want me to be.”

“Give me one example of you being a gentleman outside of our bedroom,” Benton retorted.

“Easy. Sometimes I let you win when we spar,” Baxter countered with a shit-eating grin.

“Are we heading over to the complex tonight to watch Ben kick Bax’s ass?” Keegan asked.

“I will go with you,” Phillip immediately answered.

“I’d love to watch two handsome men spar tonight,” Victor told his mates. He’d enjoyed journeying to the sentinel complex long before he met Keegan and Phillip, and being with his mates only made it more interesting.

“Ben and I will go. We’re the most handsome here,” Baxter replied.

“He was talking about Keegan and Phillip, not you,” Chander retorted. “Also, you’re delusional.”

“Why didn’t we shorten their names like we did for Sam?” Cassius asked.

“The same reason we did not shorten Victor’s or Arvandus’s. Sometimes it is best to leave a name alone,” Alaric said.

“What’s the criteria for deciding if a name is shortened or not?” asked Devlin, Lich Reaper Grymington Daray-D’Vaire’s other half. The rock star had mischief in his blue eyes, and Victor wasn’t surprised by the way Alaric’s glowing gaze narrowed at the enchanter-human hybrid.

“It is decided on a case-by-case basis,” Alaric replied.

“Since when do sentinels have flexible rules?” Devlin asked.

“Since today, apparently,” Chander muttered, which earned him a glare from the Lich Sentinel.

“I can explain,” Alaric said. “In some cases, like Devlin’s, the name doesn’t change because I dislike the person. That is obviously not the case for Victor. We met him before we learned it is customary for imps to shorten names, and we’d grown so used to his full name that it’d be confusing to change it. Keegan and Phillip should not have nicknames because their mate does not. That keeps it harmonious.”

Victor wasn’t fooled by Alaric’s words nor his attempt to convince everyone that he disliked Devlin or anyone else in their family. The Lich Sentinel liked to have his little moments of sarcasm, so the cat shifter didn’t call him out. But it was tempting.

“Except we call Grymington Grymmie , and he is Devlin’s mate,” Cassius replied.

“Yes, but as I already mentioned, we do not like Devlin,” Alaric retorted.

Devlin laughed. “Bullshit, you love me.”

“Since you are a D’Vaire, could you not take more of your meals at Rafe and Aleksander’s home?” Alaric asked.

“Grym prefers to eat here,” Devlin said. He grinned slyly at Alaric. “For reasons I can’t explain, because the company is better at D’Vaire.”

“Feeling a little shitty because you’re always complaining about fallen knights, and it’s an enchanter pissing you off right now?” Arvandus teased Alaric.

“Actually, I am currently feeling annoyed by both a fallen knight and an enchanter hybrid,” Alaric replied.

Victor polished off the last bite of his roast beef and patted his napkin to his mouth. The recipe for the roast beef was given to him by Sentry Talon Stone—a member of the extended D’Vaire clan and the twin brother of the leader of the Royal Order of the Gargoyle. It was a delicious meal Victor thought he improved on each time he attempted it.

“Should we get ready to go to the complex?” Victor asked.

“Help Victor clear the table,” Chander ordered as he stood with his own plate and silverware in his hands.

The Darays swung into action. Victor mused it was a bit like being swept up into a hurricane. His family worked so hard to help him that he often had little to do after meals. They rinsed dishes, stacked stuff in the dishwasher, and carefully put any leftovers in the fridge. Victor went to grab the dishwasher soap but was nudged out of the way by Samson, while Albrecht wiped down the dining room table.

“I texted Gavrael,” Eduard said. “He and Gedeon will be joining us. Dra’Kaedan will teleport us.”

Skeleton Lords Gavrael and Gedeon D’Vaire completed the Skeleton Seven and were the only two who lived apart from the Darays. Like Phillip and Keegan, they worked from home at D’Vaire in the mornings and traveled to the Sentinel Brotherhood in the afternoons.

“Okay, give me a minute to get some snacks,” Brynnius responded.

“Want me to go grab your book?” Keegan asked Victor.

“No, Sunshine, I’ll get it. I need to put on shoes anyway,” Victor replied. After giving Keegan and Phillip a quick kiss, Victor dashed into their bedroom to slip into a pair of comfy sandals. He slipped his current romance novel—one he found paled in comparison to his real life—into a bag and rushed into the living room.

“I have a pillow and blanket for you,” Cassius told Victor.

“Give it to me,” Phillip insisted.

“Why?” Cassius asked.

“Because Victor is our mate,” Keegan replied.

“But I’m the one who remembered to grab it for him,” Cassius argued.

Teverild plucked the blanket and pillow from Cassius and handed them to Phillip. “Stop being such a sentinel, Baby. You grabbed it first, but they would’ve done the same. They’re Victor’s mates.”

Since Cassius hated to argue with Teverild, he gave in easily as his other half traced his lips with his fingertips. Victor was glad at least one crisis was averted. Dra’Kaedan arrived and happily teleported everyone to the Daray Sentinel Complex. The Darays greeted every sentinel they passed as they headed for the closest gym. Even the Daray dogs belonging to the reapers and Brynnius stopped as if they too wanted to visit with the sentinels. Long ago, Victor had learned the names of everyone in the Sentinel Brotherhood, and he loved being a part of such a tightly bound group.

They entered a gym, and Victor was offered no chance to help as his mates built him a little nest with the pillow and blanket. Keegan and Phillip kissed him swiftly, then he was handed a plastic container with cookies in it, and they sauntered off to train. With an ecstatic kitty purring in his head, Victor got comfortable and relaxed as the men in the room found spots to start their sparring.

Predictably, Chander buried his face in a book and forgot the world around him existed. It was an imp trait to lose themselves in a task, and although Chander was a hybrid, that part of his personality was easy to witness. Chander wasn’t ever offered any snacks because he’d ignore those too. As a family, the Darays respected each other’s personalities, so no one commented as Chander withdrew.

It was something Victor wished the Antonovs understood, but even though Fate had offered him the two most beautiful men she’d ever created, he put no stock in miracles. Victor glanced again at Chander and broke the unspoken rule of never bothering the Arch Lich when he was engrossed in a task.

“Chand?”

“Hmm, yeah? Everything okay?” Chander asked, lifting his head from the thick tome on his lap. His pewter gaze was filled with both incredible power and kindness.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

Victor was unexpectedly choked up. He swallowed thickly as his attention was drawn to where Phillip was carefully explaining something to Keegan.

“For them,” Victor managed.

“Oh shit, don’t cry,” Chander said, scooting across the smooth floor on his pillow so he could hug Victor.

“They’re happy tears. Without you, I wouldn’t have them. They mean so much to me.”

“I’ve thanked Fate for granting me the power to resurrect your mates, but you know what sucks? That you’ve had to wait so many years. How long have we known each other now?”

“Decades,” Victor said, sniffing.

“Get it together or your mates are going to come over here and maybe murder me,” Chander insisted.

With a chuckle, Victor brushed his tears from his cheeks. The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt Phillip and Keegan’s training. It was something they both enjoyed, and they deserved the opportunity to do it uninterrupted.

“They’d never do that, but seriously, thank you. Keegan and Phillip have…shit, I don’t even know how to put it into words.”

“And you don’t have to figure it out,” Chander replied, cupping Victor’s cheek and kissing his forehead. “I have one too. I get it. But stop thanking me already.”

“I’ve always appreciated the beauty of necromancers, and I’ve adored sentinels, fallen knights, and reapers from the moment I was welcomed into your lives. But I didn’t think I’d ever be lucky enough to share my life with one…let alone two of them. And the fact that it was you who resurrected them? Chand, I love you.”

“I love you too, Victor. If you want to thank me, use your gratitude to keep investing so much of yourself into your relationship with them. That’s the only thanks I want.”

“Is everything okay?” Phillip asked as he stalked over to Victor with Keegan on his heels. Alaric marched through the room heedless of the other men flipping around him to get to his mate’s side as well.

Victor smiled up at him and Keegan. “Yes, I was thanking Chand for resurrecting you both.”

“Which is seriously creeping me out, so make him stop,” Chander pleaded.

“Victor, be nice to Chand,” Alaric teased.

“Maybe if we spent more time ensuring that Chand knows how important his magic is to our family, he’d be less uncomfortable hearing it,” Victor said, giving Chander another hug.

Alaric chuckled. “No, I am afraid he will forever be uncomfortable with gratefulness.”

“It’s not my worst trait, so can we let it go?” Chander asked. He wiggled out of Victor’s embrace and clutched his book like a shield in front of himself.

“You’re a wonderful, caring person,” Victor told the Arch Lich. “Since you won’t let me keep saying it, I’ll thank you again for enriching my life beyond measure by pulling Phillip and Keegan across the veil. But don’t worry, I won’t mention it again.”

“If I’d known they were waiting for you, I’d have done it years ago.”

“You do not get to feel guilty for not knowing Victor’s mates would need to be resurrected,” Alaric stated forcefully.

“Agreed. Now, go train,” Victor instructed Alaric, Keegan, and Phillip. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your evening.”

“Sorry if we wished to ensure you were okay,” Phillip muttered as he trudged off.

“I’m fine, Spicy,” Victor called out. Phillip turned and winked. “I promise I’m good, Sunshine. Go train with Phillip.”

Keegan blew him a kiss, then ran after Phillip.

“Go away, Alaric,” Chander ordered.

Alaric grinned wildly. “Bite me, Chand.”

The Lich Sentinel turned on one booted heel and marched off.

“I get the feeling he means that literally,” Victor said.

“You sound like Bax. Leave my sex life out of this,” Chander replied.

Victor chuckled. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now, read your book and eat your cookies.”

“I will, but first I want to watch two sexy Cinder Lords try to murder each other with daggers.”

“You have weird kinks, Victor, but I’m glad we’re family.”

“Being a Daray is everything to me,” Victor murmured as Chander opened his book and lost himself in words again.

With his own novel neglected, Victor smiled as Phillip dodged Keegan’s blades and offered words of praise if the fallen knight’s bright smile was anything to go by. The next best thing to being close to Phillip and Keegan himself was enjoying the way they interacted with one another.

It was one of the many perks of having a triple matebond.