Page 21 of Seared Fates

“And the asshole is probably charging them a ridiculous amount,” Rurik adds.

Ramy drops his elbows onto his knees and rests his chin on his fisted knuckles. “Sen was really that adventurous?”

I often forget my youngest never met my oldest. Overcome with a tenderness for Ramy, I lay my hand on his head to stroke his dark locks. “He was, and a terrible flirt. If there was trouble to be found, Sen would find it.”

“Once—” Before Rurik even begins his story, he’s laughing, “once when we were somewhere in the Middle East, Sen wanted us to break into a castle surrounded by a moat filled with crocodiles.”

“I’m certain it was West Africa,” Luc corrects, and Rurik flips him off—smirking and calling him an asshole.

“Was there treasure inside?” Ramy asks, leaning closer.

“Absolutely,” Lucero replies. “But that isn’t why he wanted to do it. The noble who lived there was proud of a hideous piece of art, and we wanted to take it away from him.”

“A crown made out of gold, wasn’t it?” Rurik frowns, trying to find the memory.

“Something to that effect,” Lucero replies with a wave of his hand. “Anyway, after much debating on how we’d deal with the scaled beasts, we snuck in through the sewers.”

A loud laugh bursts from my chest. “Oh yes, horrible experience.”

“You all really did that?” Ramy asks, shoulders shaking with quiet laughter.

“I protested,” Lucero adds.

Rurik scoffs. “Of course you did, not enough silks and pretty boys to rub your feet.”

“That wasn’t the only thing I wanted rubbing…”

Grinning, I elbow Luc while twisting Ramy’s hair between my fingers. “Yet once we were inside, we managed to lose Sen.”

“But we did find the golden mushroom,” Lucero proclaims.

“It was a crown, asshole,” Rurik corrects.

“And—” I sit up, smirking like the devil at Ramy, “we also found guards.”

He gasps, and if possible, leans closer. “What happened? Did you kill them?”

I raise my chin as I tuck a strand of hair behind my youngest's ear. “Where would the fun be in that?”

“Before they could chop our heads off, Sen and the noble came stumbling into the chamber,” Lucero tells, lip quirked. “Apparently, our brother was getting the man incredibly drunk.”

“So he saved you?” Ramy asks.

Rurik shakes his head, snickering. “That asshole acted like he’d never met us.”

Ramy grins like he very much approves of Sen’s antics. “What happened then?”

“Well…” Lucero begins, launching into a complete lie about our daring escape. Rurik rolls his eyes and follows it with the truth, which is far more boring and involves another sewer.

But the story, truth or lie, doesn’t matter as I listen on. My chest filling with all the warmth of the sun as it begins to creep into the sky, casting away any lingering mist. I have to make things right with Kai. But to have my offspring's smiles, well, for now…

That is more than enough.

Chapter ten

Kai

Dropping my notepad and unicorn pencil beside Apollo’s double-stacked mattress, I haul myself upright with a deep inhale only to slump against a wall plastered in punk posters.