"Yes." Marigold's relief was evident in her single word response which followed with a yawn. "I think I'll take another nap then."
"Feel free to. I'll ensure Cassandra rests and is safe," he assured her.
"Okay. Thank you, nice bear shifter," Marigold declared.
"Just call me Everett."
"Everett. Nice name. You're a good dad," she whispered. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Everett replied, waiting a bit before he added, "I'm glad you deem so."
If only I could respond to his words, but even my hearing was drifting like the rest of me. Something soft pressed against my left temple, and I caught Everett's words as he whispered, "Sleep well, Cassandra. I'm so proud of you and no matter what change you've endured, you're still a daughter to me."
His words filled my heart with love and gratefulness, but I wouldn't be able to express my love in words and a hug in return until I got better.
I allowed myself to rest, and my body went back into the clutches of the inviting darkness.
"What the fuck is she doing here?!" The hiss made me stir in someone's embrace and snuggle closer, the enticing scent of expensive cologne immediately reminding me of Adonis.
"I told her we were preparing," Dominick announced, and something soft brushed my lips. "Cassandra, my sweet."
"No," I mumbled, wishing to sleep some more.
"Aren't you hungry, Cass?" Tristan's voice drifted to me, and the thought of food made my stomach growl in calling.
The soft chuckle that vibrated against my ear was followed with Adonis's seductive voice.
"Our princess is in dire need of food," he hummed.
"After we deal with that hag," Otis muttered. "Cass, we need you up for a bit."
The mention of a hag made me open an eye to see Dominick, Tristan, and Otis standing near the bed that I was comfortably snuggled upon with Adonis.
"Widow's here?" I questioned with a groggy voice.
"Downstairs and waiting for us to get down there to deliver striking news," Otis muttered, appearing more pissed than usual.
"Did she even give a warning?" I inquired.
"The wicked don't warn anyone," Adonis replied.
"Won't she sense my presence?" I inquired.
"Dominick put a temporary spell on you so no one can sense you right now. Not even us," Tristan explained.
"Does that have to do with the whole fae bond magic thingy?" I inquired, feeling as though it was a part of it as I stared at the culprit who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Sort of," he replied.
"Let's get this-" Adonis and Otis began but suddenly stopped. "Fuck!"
The two of them cursed and I was suddenly tossed - literally - into the closet. The door locked on its own and I sensed the rush of magic throughout the room. I scrambled up, shook my head, and peeked through the line spaces of my mini-sized closet to see the door swing open to reveal Widow and a fuming Everett.
I hadn't seen him upset like this in a long time, from his threatening, glaring eyes to the burning green aura that began to taint with gold and brown energy.
Moving my gaze to the others, I noticed Adonis was still in bed with a wet cloth on his forehead while Dominick and Tristan were standing on the side of the bed that was near the window.
Otis was sitting at the end of the bed with the latest lingerie magazine I subscribed to in his hands, the page pausing on a really nice set that caught my eyes from here, but I held my tongue as his eyes seemed to meet mine for a split second.
He then looked at the door, his grimace becoming a dangerous straight line while his eyes shifted to a dark red and glowed in fury.
"What part of 'give us a few minutes because Adonis isn't feeling well' did you not understand?" Otis barked. His fangs were out and showing their spectacular white appearance, a sign that he was really irritated.
Or really thirsty.
Widow met his scowl with a frown, her eyes moving to Adonis, who looked far paler than he had a few seconds prior to Widow's abrupt arrival. There were even beads of sweat running down his face, leaving me to wonder if Adonis would end up joining the acting field with how flawlessly he'd gone into his rather "sick" role.
"If it isn't sweet old Widow of the West." Adonis smirked, which looked a little delirious.
Tristan and Dominick sighed, and Otis gave his brother an annoyed look.
"Please don't speak. You always hurt my pride when you're sick."
"Coolio, BroBro." Adonis grinned like a happy child. He pulled the blankets and hid right beneath them. "Hiding away."
I swear I'd have to tease him about this later, but Everett took the advantage to step in and turn to face Widow.
"Unless you can give me the reason why you dared to walk into my house, disrespect my space, and waltz up here, barging into the sacred space of my missing daughter, I'll show you a really ugly side of me that you don't want to deal with."
His threat was heavy as he began to glow an eerie green with bits of gold.
He's not playing around.
"We had a source inform me that Cassandra had returned home," she announced.
An eerie giggle came from the blanket, drawing everyone's attention as Adonis poked his head out from the blanket. "You mean when I accidentally used Tristan's phone to call my brother, which wasn't really my brother but some random agent, and proceeded to tell him about my dream of seeing Cassandra come home in one piece?"
Everyone looked back at Widow, who had turned around to glare in Adonis's direction.
"You accidentally called a secret agent and informed him of improper information," she barked.
"Otis." Adonis blinked his eyes innocently, and I could swear he was going to cry at any second. "I'm being bullied."
Otis groaned and closed the magazine in his lap before rising up to cross his arms over his chest.
"You of all people should know what's bullshit from fact. Before you try to put the frustration of your lack of proper connections to locate our Cassandra on my sick brother, why don't you confront that agent who took a random call seriously? Adonis doesn't usually get sick, so when he does, it's a big deal. No one was around and Tristan left his phone up here while the three of us went to do errands and get him medicine, all of which is none of your business."
"If your agent was as professional as he should be, he would have immediately known that the person using my phone wasn't me, and since there's a small chance that Adonis used his incubus voice to make his apparent dream seem like a reality, all agents should triple-check any information given to them before informing the higher-ups, which in this case is you," Tristan pointed out.
"Cassandra isn't here." Dominick's voice was hard with anger. "Now, unless you actually have some news about where the hell she could be after being missing for months, you can get the fuck out and do your damn job."
"How dare you-" Widow began, and everyone froze when Adonis was suddenly behind the woman with a pink nail right at her throat.
"Adonis," Everett warned, but Adonis merely chuckled.
"You know I hate slithering liars who decide to waste my sleep time." Adonis's voice was at a lethal low, and even I worried he was about to kill the hag with that sharp nail of his.