“You know, I am really not positive,” Abel offered while tilting his head curiously. “I don’t know how this will affect traveling back to Earth realm, but by all technicality, the two of us should be fine. I mean, our magic isn’t connected just to the land of the living. I would just guess that we shouldn’t spend an extended period of time down here, though. It may affect the ‘living’ aspect of ourselves.”
His warm, soothing voice had me momentarily zoning out as we began walking again, everyone’s thoughts seemingly elsewhere as I tried to formulate my next question. I inhaled slightly, trying to shake myself, but instead took in Alaric’s pine scent and Abel’s cherry scent. Honestly, I felt like I was being taken on some seasonal joy ride. Yankee candles had nothing on these boys.
Plus, Yankee candles couldn’t turn me on. Just saying.
Abel’s deep ocean eyes tracked my heated face as a tiny smirk flashed onto his perfect lips, causing his brother to rumble in warning. Abel ignored it and continued to meet my stare. The two of them had very different personality types, yet they looked nearly identical except for their eye color.
I loved all my men for different reasons, and the twins—from Alaric’s grumpiness to Abel’s sweetheart charm—were absolutely included in that. I wouldn’t change them, ever. They accepted my flaws, and I sure as hell accepted theirs. I mean, these boys were sweet enough to watch Disney with me! And kill for me! That’s fucking hubby material right there.
I was totally going to husband them up.
“What about you?” I looked at Declan, feeling concerned about the lively demi-god.
His lips twerked up into a satisfied smile. “Worried about me, lass?”
I scowled as I looked away. “Well, not anymore.”
He barked out a laugh, making me smile as the crimson sky above us cracked with thunder, which made me almost fucking jump in surprise. What the hell?
Suddenly and without warning, the familiar scent of Zachariah’s wild magic wrapped around me, then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. My eyebrows rose as I looked around. I mean, call me crazy, but my sexy Voodoo priest was not here. Unfortunately.
Declan’s smile grew, seemingly elated with what had just occurred.
“What?” I asked as the twins looked at him with confusion as well. Oh good. I would hate to be the only one.
Declan looked skyward and then at the kingdom ahead, which was less visible as the dark foliage grew thicker. “I would give it an hour, maybe two at most.”
“An hour until what?” I pushed, stopping to stand in front of Declan. His eyes met mine as a dangerous light flashed through them. You know, the guy was normally pretty laid back, but I had a feeling he had a different side to him and that he was far more upset about this situation than I had realized. Which was a bit flattering, in a way.
Should it concern me that I was discovering that he may have a slightly darker side? Nah. I think I had always known the bastard was a bit crazy. Plus, I liked scary. I knew Declan would never hurt me. I mean, after all, we did make storm babies together, and that was a fucking big commitment.
“He means until the others show up,” Abel translated. I felt relief and excitement crash into me. How crazy was it that I literally already missed them? I mean, we had been down here for an hour or two, at most.
I wanted to say I was being pathetic, but the truth was I was in love with them. All six of them. I didn’t exactly ever feel complete unless the seven of us were together. So no, not pathetic—just insanely in love.
Plus, the sooner we got back to Earth, the sooner I could see my adorably vicious kitten! Shadow. What an absolutely adorable bundle of fur. I literally had the best boyfriends in the world. I mean, how long had I been wanting a kitten? Then they don’t just get me a kitten, they get me a hellcat! My brow furrowed, hoping he would be okay while we were gone.
I really needed to up my gift game for Christmas this year to compete with that. Although, to be fair, they had six brains to come up with gift ideas. I did not.
Maybe I could get the spirits that always annoyed me to help…
“Zachariah is probably freaking out.” Declan seemed amused by that.
It was true though. His secret best friend was no doubt freaking out. I knew Raphael was probably losing his shit, and Dorian was most likely trying to keep it together without doing something rash. It didn’t help that the level-headed twins and relaxed Declan were the ones down here and not above trying to figure out what to do. I loved my three men on Earth, but they weren’t exactly known for their cool temperaments.
Zachariah was always in control—like literally, all the time—and only recently had he let out his crazy. Something that I enjoyed probably far more than I should have. I was excited for what the concept could yield. I already knew what it yielded with Raphael, and it was absolutely something I would repeat again… and again. Oh, and again. Dorian I wasn’t as sure about. I mean, I could see it going either way. When we’d fooled around before, he’d been hesitant and worried about losing control. I wasn’t worried though. I trusted Dorian with my life, let alone in bed. He just needed to trust himself.
I realized I had somewhat zoned out again as they started to place bets on the timing. My eyes followed the path towards the massive glinting castle, a dark monstrosity against the red skies. My mood dipped slightly, and I was glad they were too distracted to notice the guilt that weighed on me. I mean, I really did feel as though I’d gotten us into this mess.
I should have known that my mother’s actions were unusual. I mean, when had she ever been helpful in my life? Had it been too much to ask that she would put her own daughter first instead of her own selfish bullshit? Not even just me, either. No, this was literally about most of New Orleans!
I had no idea what had happened to mommy dearest to make her this way, but I would never be like that. I had promised myself that I would never treat others poorly just because of my own past. They didn’t deserve that. The past could only haunt you, if you let it.
On top of that, I should have considered the two demonic princes’ abilities when it came to fucking shit up. Asmodeus and Nero weren’t dumb. I hadn’t expected that impressive of a trap, but I suppose I should have been more cautious. I had underestimated just how badly they had wanted to win. How much all of this meant to them.
Well, if they wanted to win, they were in for a fight. No, really—if they wanted NOLA, they would be pulling it from my very dead hands. Well, alright... since I am technically “dead” right now, that may not be the right analogy, but you get the point.
I didn’t make promises lightly, and I had sworn to put the supernatural community of New Orleans first. So I planned to. Whether or not I was the right person to lead them didn’t matter currently.
Not until the threat was eliminated.
Then, and only then, would we sort out the grievances the community had seemed to form. Because Maker forbid they figured out how to communicate their issues instead of finally exploding with frustration in a maelstrom of bullshit.
Sometimes I sincerely wondered how I enjoyed being Queen so much.
The supernatural community as a whole didn’t have the best reputation for communication… or just normal reactions as a whole. Instead, they caused chaos and avoided talking about problems until someone aggressively forced the issue. I think it may have to do with some weird dominance factor, but I wasn’t positive.