Page 22

Liam

Seth’s magic swirled around us in the aftermath of our lovemaking. It was familiar and comforting, something that had soothed my very soulstuff for decades. But this time, it was stronger than it had ever been.

I felt whole. Not that I wasn’t whole and happy with Seth, but this was even better.

Seth wasn’t the only one who’d noticed when Hazel’s thoughts had strayed to less happy things. She really didn’t hide her feelings well and instead, tended to wear her emotions on her aura.

And about her aura… I was pretty sure that Chief Henderson was right and that she did have some sort of selective magic nullification, but only when it was dangerous to her.

It didn’t stop magical spells from working on her because Seth had clearly been successful in helping her reduce her headaches magically.

And it didn’t nullify the magic we made under the sheets.

If anything, it compounded it. But I was just a demon and didn’t claim to understand how these things worked.

But I did know that her nullification magic definitely made doing her job a little safer. Which was a good thing because I wasn’t sure I could handle having two important people in my life who constantly put themselves in danger.

It was well known that immortal demons who fall for mortals would need to face their loved one’s mortality one day or another, even someone like Seth, who could use magic to extend their life both legally and not.

I’d long since come to terms with it, or at least I thought I had until now.

Hazel looked so small and fragile in my arms. I didn’t want her to go back to work, and I didn’t want her to be sent out to unknown calls and crime scenes.

And then there was the new development of Seth’s nightmares.

Hazel wasn’t as attuned to Seth as I was, and he’d been trying to hide them since that first night, but I knew.

I’d tried talking to him about it, but he’d brushed it off as just stress.

He did have both Desmon and the EA breathing down his neck to find a way to close the unwanted portal.

Seth’s hand, which had been reaching across to rest on my arm, gave a little squeeze. “Now you’re thinking too much. Save that for tomorrow. It’s your rule.”

Right, only happy in bed. That rule had saved us many times in the past. We were a good couple, but that didn’t mean we always saw things eye to eye. And it had been my rule.

Here, it was just him and me in our little world, hidden away from all the troubles and problems that plagued his life.

Except now Hazel had joined us. She was the first female we’d actually brought home and shared in our sacred place.

I had no regrets, though. Everything felt right, like it was meant to be.

We were in yet another tangled pile of happy, sweaty limbs on the couch when a portal opened up in our living room. Seriously, Mateo needed to learn to call before showing up unannounced.

But the “woo-hoo!” that called up from the portal wasn’t Mateo’s voice but Elena’s.

“Mom!” Seth was suddenly alert and untangling himself from us.

“Mom?” Hazel whisper-shouted, her eyes wide. “I’m still naked!”

Seth waved his hands, and Elena stepped through the swirling mass just in time to see a very modest frock appear magically over Hazel. It had a tiny floral print and looked like something a grandmother would wear to church.

Elena’s white-blonde hair was pulled back into her signature bun, and she looked like she’d just been in the sunroom taking care of her plants. She still had her gardening apron on.

“I knew it! You’re hiding a woman from me! I knew Mateo was acting strange.” Elena made a beeline to poor Hazel, whose hair, unlike her dress, looked just-fucked. “I’m Elena, Seth’s mother. And who are you?”

Hazel looked at me, panicked, then back at Elena.

“What are you doing, just standing there?” Elena asked Seth. “Go make us some tea.” She turned back to Hazel, expecting her answer.

“I’m... I’m Sarah... or Hazel.” She cleared her throat again. “People at work call me Sarah, but Hazel’s my first name.”

“We call her Hazel,” I said, ever helpful.

“And what do you do for work, Hazel?”

“I’m a cop.”

“Ohh! You’re the cop. How delightful!”

Hazel frowned. “Seth mentioned me before?”

“All the time! It was so kind of you to lend him your cruiser so he can save Tansy.”

“Lend?” Hazel had that look on her face that told me she didn't remember the events quite the same way. “That's not what—”

Seth cut his Hazel off by loudly asking, “Milk or cream?”

“Milk, please, dear.”

Hazel replied as well. “Milk for me too.”

In an attempt to save Seth from an awkward conversation, I started telling Elena the story of how we ended up with Hazel at our place, starting with the incident at The Breach.

I kept talking until Seth returned with a tray with a pot of tea, milk in a small pitcher, cubes of sugar, and four teacups.

I got to work, filling mine with as much sugar as would dissolve in the hot tea. Her previous question forgotten, Hazel looked at my concoction with raised brows. “Seriously?”

“Yep. I like it as sweet as possible.” I reached out to boop the tip of her nose with a fingertip. “Just like you.”

“These two troublemakers are treating you well, I hope?”

“Yes. But before you jump to any conclusions, I’m only here temporarily. Like Liam explained, they’re supposed to be monitoring me until all the effects are gone.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me.” Elena eyed her dress. She’d seen Hazel naked for just a moment before it had appeared on her body. “But who am I to say about these things.”

Eager to keep the peace, I said, “Let’s talk about our favorite thing instead: Seth.”

The subject in question sent me a glare.

“Has my boy told you about how I ended up at Desmon’s place?” Elena asked.

Glad to have the pressure taken off her, Hazel said, “Yes, he has. I’m glad you’re safe now.”

“Thank you,” Elena beamed. “My Seth is such a good boy.”

Seth buried his face in his palms, and Hazel tried not to giggle at his reaction.

But what Hazel didn’t know was that by telling Elena that Seth had told her about his past, she was basically admitting that there was something between us. Seth was a private person and wouldn’t have told her anything otherwise.

“Seth usually comes by for the family dinner every week. Only Mateo and Eva showed this week, so I knew something was up.”

“Mateo?” Hazel’s surprised look was hard to miss. “I didn’t know he was family.”

“Family by choice,” Elena clarified. “He was orphaned and was going down a dangerous path when Desmon found him. I convinced him to take the young man in and give him a job. Seth was growing up and I needed someone to mother. Did you know we still keep their old rooms for them at the estate?”

Seth had felt a bit like he’d had his mother stolen from under him when he first met Mateo. But he’d since come to terms with the fact that the manticore was here to stay. With the way they bickered, you’d think they’d always been brothers.

And of course, we’d recently found Tansy, Seth’s sister, when she went to Redrock Protective Services out of desperation after finding out that her “mother” wasn’t her mother at all, but a millennia-old spirit who lived forever by taking over new bodies, and she was next.

Currently, Elena was guardian to a ghost-turned-living-teenager named Bella.

“Well, I think that’s really sweet,” Hazel said. “You’re lucky to have family that cares about you.”

“You’ve had the misfortune to meet the other half,” Seth said.

Elena’s posture changed. “You’ve met my husband.”

“Met is overstating it,” Hazel clarified. “We were at a restaurant at the marina and he was there with his friends. I swear, if looks could kill, we’d all be dead. But having one half and found family on top of that is a lot better than having none.”

“Don’t you have any family, girl?”

“Not anymore. Unless you count Chief and my partner. Chief Henderson gets all fatherly on me, and Mike treats me like a sister. Not having much family left is part of the reason why I moved back to Darlington. My grandparents on my dad’s side passed away, and since Dad was gone, I was next of kin.

And I have no clue where Mom is now. But my grandad was on the force, so Chief slotted me right in.

Mike had another partner at the time, and they’d had to move things around, but it worked out.

” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m rambling. ”

“No you’re not, dear. I’m glad they were here for you. Sometimes the found family are the best.”

“If you don’t mind me asking. Why do you still call your ex your husband?”

“Because we never divorced. Those old geezers over at the WEC don’t believe in divorces.”

Seth scoffed. “Like I said, he doesn’t have to believe in it. The law is the law.”

“But I’d have to face him again in court.”

“You might not need to,” Hazel said, “if it’s a simple divorce.”

Elena huffed bitterly. “As if that ass would let it remain simple. Knowing him, he’ll find any reason to force me to face him, just so that he could intimidate me again.”

I reached out and put a soothing hand on Elena’s shoulder.

This had been a bone of contention between Seth and his mom for a while now.

I understood both sides. Seth wanted any connection Samuel had with Elena to be severed, but Elena was terrified to even leave Desmon’s estate without Seth along as protection.

She’d never be caught dead at a place like the marina.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing, Elena,” I assured her.

“You’re a good kid.”

I was no kid, but I took it as a compliment.

Elena reached into her purse, which I didn’t notice until now, and brought out a photo album. We’d tried telling her that most people just use their phones now, but she’d insisted on printing out all her good photos and putting them into an album anyway.

“I don’t have his baby photos since those are all at the old house, but I brought photos of Seth and Liam from when they lived with us. Want to see?”

“Mom!” Seth looked ready to balk, but Hazel was grinning from ear to ear.

“I sure do!”