Page 14 of Finding Embers and Stars (Twin Flames Duet #1)
Chapter fourteen
I ’m stunned when the door slams in our faces, frozen in place until I hear our mate screaming for someone. When the door reopens, we’re staring at the business end of a rather impressive looking Desert Eagle in the hands of a tiny woman that clearly knows how to use it.
She’s smiling, but her eyes are narrowed and she’s clearly taking our measure. “I know I ordered a lot of groceries, but does it really take five strapping men to carry it?” Her voice is sultry and filled with humor.
Maverick blows out a breath and whispers. “What the fuck? She's our mate too?”
She lowers her gun and lifts a finger to point at each of us, she starts counting us quietly. “One, Two, Three, Four, Five.”
Her eyes widen when she sees Milo. “Are both your eyes purple or just one?”
Milo silently pushes his hair back so she can see that his other eye is dark blue. He normally uses his hair to hide his heterochromia because it either freaks people out or they fawn over him.
She looks behind her for a minute and I hear them both groan. “Fuck.”
She turns back to us and opens the door wider. “Well, you may as well come in. We have a lot to talk about.”
We pile into the large living room, looking around in awe. This is a nice place. She shuts the door and puts her gun in the drawer of the table by the front door. We stand there like idiots watching the two women that my instincts are screaming are our mates sitting side by side on the couch and throwing a colorful crochet blanket over themselves. Once they’re all situated, they both look up at us expectantly.
I shake my head, trying to get my mouth to catch up with my brain. “I’m Wyatt. This is Maverick, Milo, Walker, and Liam. Could you maybe explain how you’re both our mates?” I point to each of my brothers in turn as we settle around the room in the seats across from our mates.
They share a look and seem to have a whole conversation with just their eyes. Finally, the tall blonde that slammed the door in our face clears her throat. “My name is Piper and this is Sage.”
Before she can continue, the doorbell rings. Sage sighs and gets up to answer it. The surprised yell and laughter she lets out has us all running to the door.
Piper pushes her way through us to join Sage and when she sees who is at the door, her laughter joins Sage’s. “What are you doing here? Did you bring anyone else? Why do you have our groceries?”
They’re rapidly firing questions at whoever is at the door. I can hear the deep timbre of a stranger’s voice. “Let me get all this inside and then I can answer your questions. It's hot as Hell here today.” That causes even more laughter as they step back and let the newcomer inside.
I’m dropping to one knee with my head bowed before I even realize that I’m staring at demon royalty. The guys do the same except for Mav. I know he won't kneel for anyone.
A deep sigh from overhead seems to go with the footsteps that stop in front of us.
I swallow, trying to find my voice. “My Lord, it is a pleasure to be in your presence.”
Another deep sigh is followed by insane giggles as both women drop to one knee on either side of me.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Would you two nut jobs get up and give me a damn hug already?” The King of Hell grins as my mates bounce off the floor and wrap their arms around him.
Mav growls from behind me, drawing the attention of a demon that could flatten him with a flick of his wrist. Surprisingly, he’s grinning at my angry brother. Pointing at Mav, he chuckles. “He’s my favorite today. Now the rest of you idiots get off your knees and introduce yourselves. I hate all that pompous bullshit. Why do you think I let my brother handle the day-to-day headache that goes with being a ruler of Hell?”
“Who the fuck are you and why do you have your hands all over our mates?” Mav snarls.
I groan and scrub my hand over my face. “Mav, shut up and meet Felix Morningstar. He’s one of the Kings of Hell, and the eldest son of Lucifer and Lilith Morningstar.”
I’m kneeling in front of demon royalty.
As an orphan that hasn’t seen the demon realm since I was a child, I never expected to see Felix Morningstar walk into my mate’s house. Especially wearing a shirt that says, ‘Give me demons with horns and tails’.
Mav grunts. “Impressive, but it still doesn't answer why your hands are all over our mates.”
This earns a laugh from my king. “Well, because I can, that's why. These two lovely women are like little sisters to me. They are best friends with my mate and a part of my family. As I am happily mated, none of you have anything to worry about. However.” His icy blue eyes seem to frost over, showing just how dangerous he can be. “If you would like to keep testing me, I can show you what it’s like to have your tongue pulled out through your asshole.”
Piper grabs her phone and frantically starts typing. “That line is so going in a book.”
I'm stunned that he delivered that with a smile on his face and equally puzzled by Piper’s comment. Though it drew a snort of laughter from both Felix and Sage.
I stand up quickly and stretch out my hand to shake his. “I’m Wyatt. The growly one is Maverick, and this is Milo, Liam, and Walker.”
Shoving a hand through my hair, I frantically try to explain what’s going on. “I apologize for Mav’s behavior, but we literally just found our mates and we haven't even had a chance for basic questions yet.”
Felix nods his head and walks into the kitchen. The girls follow and put the groceries away while he unpacks the boxes he brought. Sage jumps up on the counter and swings her legs while looking at Felix. “So, where's Ash?”
Felix pauses in what he’s doing to look at her. “She's at home with the babies. Willow and the twins aren’t feeling well today, and Garrick is in Heaven with his grandpa and Archer.”
Piper rolls her eyes at him. “Felix, Willow's nine and the twins are seven. They aren’t babies.”
He grunts dismissively. “I don't care if they’re one hundred and nine, they will always be my babies.” He sets the last package down on the kitchen table, then steps back. “I have to go now. I think you all have some things to talk about. All your presents are here and when you come home, we will have a birthday celebration dinner. I will let them know to add five more people to that list. Pretty soon we will need to build a damn football stadium to fit us all.” He hugs them one more time. “I love you both. Be safe.” He gives each of us a hard look, then walks out the back door. We stand there and watch as his wings pop out and then he’s gone.
Sage jumps down, grabs her sub and a water, then heads to the living room. Piper follows her but calls over her shoulder to us. “Help yourselves to a drink or snack. I'm starving and have been waiting months for another Pub Sub fix.”
We all pile back into the living room and once again, both girls are under the same blanket. I wave my finger between them with my eyebrow raised. “So, is this a you guys are together kind of thing?”
Sage looks up at me with a completely straight face. “Well, we’re not scissor sisters if that's what you're asking.”
Milo chokes on the sip of water he just took. Seeing him cough and sputter along with the shock on the rest of our faces has Piper laughing so hard I’m worried she won’t be able to breathe.
I hear Mav behind me grumbling about that being too bad. Of course he has to go there.
Once everyone gets themselves under control, Sage sets her food down and looks at us. “Okay, cliff notes version. Piper had a twin who died in the womb. Black magic was involved. The Mother of the Universe stepped in and gave Piper her brother’s wolf for her shifter form since her wolf was killed in the same attack. His name is Atlas. He was charged by the Goddess to be our guide. And I need all the help I can get since I was also marked as one of the Mother Universe’s chosen.”
She pauses to take a drink, linking her fingers with Piper’s before continuing their story. “Piper is the next in line to take over as the Supreme Alpha, unless someone else beats the Alpha Dick in a challenge match. Atlas was destined to be my mate. We bonded accidentally the first time we shifted. When we ran away to Wyoming, we were guided to a shelter for supernatural victims of abuse. The woman that runs the shelter is a powerful witch, and she had a vision when she touched us. She saw that we would share our five mates. This was the Moon Goddesses way of balancing the scales after Piper’s twin was murdered. We know it’s you five because she also told us about Milo.”
“Breathe Sage.” Piper’s quiet comment makes us chuckle. Sage seems determined to get their whole story out in the open as soon as possible. It’s like she’s throwing all the bad shit at us at once to see what will drive us away. She doesn’t realize that nothing they say will scare us. We have our own fucked up stories.
Milo takes advantage of her pause. “What do you mean she told you about me?”
Sage smiles at him. “She told us that we can trust in our mates. That we would know when we found them because one of them would be marked with a single blue eye and a single purple eye. She said your powers come from an extraordinary love that was never supposed to happen. The answers you seek are in the Fae Realm.”
Milo has never known where he came from, so this news is both amazing and earth shattering for him. I clear my throat, drawing the focus away from my shell-shocked brother. “Okay, clearly, we have a lot to go over. Any objections to me ordering pizza so we can eat and then talk all this out?”
Sage stands up to throw away their trash, and Piper looks over at me with a raised eyebrow. “How are you not running for the hills? We just told you my wolf was intended for my dead brother, who also happens to be mated to my best friend, who is your mate.”
I just smile at her. “We’ve been waiting for our mate for a very long time. To find out we have two amazing women to love and cherish is the best news we have ever received. Today is a cause for celebration.”