Chapter 23

 

Everyone, minus Imogen returned an hour later, freshly showered and changed in comfortable clothes. They all picked spots around the dining room and waited for someone else to start the conversation. No one seemed willing.

“So, what happened?” Reggie prompted, much less patient than Magnus, apparently.

“The east attacked the west during the trial,” Valkyrie answered, not nearly as tired now that she’d been healed and cleaned up. “Stupid, really, but King Jub has never been a thinker.”

“Why?”

Magnus didn’t know King Jub—or anyone from the east—very well, but they’d been a reasonably quiet territory. Aside from the odd gathering, they’d always kept to themselves. Attacking a house twenty times larger and stronger seemed like a dumb move.

“Serinda’s finding out now,” Valkyrie said. “She’ll let us know when she knows.”

“That really doesn’t make sense,” Reggie piped in. “Jub has always kept to himself. He doesn’t get involved in politics.”

No one seemed to know what to say to that. A coiling tension followed the statement, winding around them.

Otis folded his arms on the table and dropped his head into them, his exhaustion winning out. His brother wiggled slightly in Riley’s lap, half asleep. One chubby leg twitched in a restless bob.

No one spoke for several, long minutes, weariness blanketing their thoughts. Magnus knew exactly how they felt. He’d been ready to beat his own brains in during Valkyrie’s mother’s funeral. He could only imagine just how insufferable Arild’s would have been. The guy was a narcissist. Plus, the crowning ceremony was usually held straight afterwards. It wasn’t nearly as long, but it was an added three hours on top of the five for the funeral and another two for Tiana’s trial. That was ten hours of being surrounded by a scary group of women who thought men were the weaker sex.

Magnus had no opinion on the matter, but their perpetually cold attitude towards outsiders made the whole matter all the more awkward. Valkyrie and Serinda were the only two who seemed to possess a soul … and sense of humor.

“I’m hungry.” Otis raised his head, eyelids half closed. “Alec is too.”

Riley sighed and hefted Alec higher in her arms. “Zara said she was nearly done. I should go see if she needs help.”

“I better join you.” Kyaerin pushed wearily to her feet. “At this rate, we may never eat.”

Riley gingerly dumped Alec into Octavian’s arms. Magnus watched his older brother stiffen and start to protest, but the kid was there, nestled against his chest and Riley was following his mother into the kitchen.

Octavian stared at the dark-haired child half slumped against him with varying degrees of panic.

“He doesn’t bite,” Otis said, watching Octavian with a pinch of disgust Magnus couldn’t blame him for.

Octavian hadn’t kept his disdain for the werecubs a secret, especially given that he’d voted the pair out into the street, but Riley was another matter entirely. She had saved them, given them a home, had cared for them. She was probably the only person in a long time who had shown them an ounce of sympathy and compassion. It was no surprise to any of them why they were so drawn to her.

“How was the funeral?” Reggie looked to where Valkyrie sat with her tired eyes and grimly set mouth.

“Fine,” she replied. “Father would have liked it.”

“Did the crowning ceremony happen after?”

The brunette nodded. “Serinda is queen.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “She’ll make her first royal judgment tomorrow decreeing Tiana’s death. Then will remove all previous supporters loyal to my father and replace them with her own warriors. There will be many changes after today. I’m not hungry.”

She rose abruptly and left the room. Gideon remained behind, his gray eyes shadowed.

“She didn’t say it, but it was hard for her to be there,” he murmured. “I think part of her had hoped they would reconcile at some point. Despite putting a bounty on her head, she still wanted that asshole’s blessing. Watching him get pushed out to sea and set on fire wasn’t comforting.”

Harvesters had adopted the Nordic rituals for burying their dead. Warriors were placed upon their shields, in a raft and cast adrift across the lake. From the shore, a fiery arrow was shot and the boat and the body were set on fire. It was the kind of way Magnus had always wanted to be released of his life.

“But at least she no longer has to worry about getting beheaded,” Reggie mused. “Arild wasn’t exactly known for his forgiveness. Best thing to happen for everybody is that man dying.”

While Magnus knew Gideon felt the same, the blond refrained from actually voicing it. His days of insisting Arild was the devil were over, at least in the company of their parents; speaking ill of the dead would not be tolerated, no matter how big of a douchebag Arild may have been.

“He was a good warrior,” Liam remarked, slanting Reggie a pointed glance. “Whatever his beliefs may have been, he was one of us. He was a Caster. He fought by our side. That deserves our respect. His death is not to be celebrated.”

Reggie pressed his lips together, possibly to swallow whatever retort he may have had brewing on the tip of his tongue.

Riley took that moment to hurry out with two plates of hamburger and fries. She slid one in front of Otis, who immediately threw himself down on the meal with the enthusiasms of a starving wolf. Handfuls of fries vanished before Alec’s plate even struck the table. The younger cub barely glanced up. He mashed a tiny fist into his eye. His leg twitched again, restless.

“He’s tired,” Otis translated around a massive chunk of burger.

Riley sighed softly. She smoothed back a thick lock of dark hair off Alec’s brow. “Can you eat a little? Then we’ll have a bath and bed, okay?”

Alec yawned loudly, exposing sharp little fangs and slumped against Octavian’s chest. His head lulled off the side of Octavian’s bicep and hung like a limp rag doll.

“Come on.” Octavian reached for a fry and held it to the boy. “Just a few.”

Alec squinted at the offering. One arm lifted gradually, with the efforts of lifting something heavy, and accepted the bit of potato. It reached his mouth and vanished slowly.

Octavian waited until it was gone entirely and the boy was no longer chewing before reaching for another.

Alec accepted, but barely when his head began to nod forward.

“I don’t think you’re going to have this one up for much longer,” Octavian mumbled as both of Alec’s arms began to slowly slide downward into his lap and his eyes slipped closed.

The bit of fry plopped to the ground and Alec was out.

Riley clicked her tongue. “Poor baby. He had a long day, but he was such a good boy.”

Otis’s head jerked up. “What about me?”

Riley tussled his hair, grinning. “You were very good, too.”

The satisfaction on the boy’s face died as quickly as it had appeared when Octavian hoisted Alec up against his chest. Soft, brown eyes narrowed warily, every bone in Otis’s body tense. But Octavian didn’t notice. He adjusted Alec’s weight more comfortably and turned to his wife.

“I’ll take him up,” he said.

Riley offered him a smile and stepped out of his way.

Otis scrambled from his seat, meal forgotten as he hurried after the man hauling his brother from the room.

“Otis, finish your food,” Riley called after him.

Otis skittered to a stop. He turned and rushed back.

“I’m done. Thank you.”

Not waiting for a response, he gathered both his and Alec’s plates and darted into the kitchen.

Dinner was impromptu burgers and over cooked fries in the diner, a rare occurrence his mother seldom allowed; dinner was a family event that needed to happen around the dinner table. There was very little leeway around that. But the room had been divided into three groups. Magnus and his brothers in one. The women—minus Riley—sat clustered around one table, talking quietly amongst each other. Mostly it was Imogen describing something she’d read. An empty seat was saved for Riley, Magnus assumed. At the other, Akilah, and Talib sat with his parents.

At the men’s table, Octavian and Gideon were in a deep discussion about properly baby proofing a house.

“You can’t protect kids all the time,” Reggie was saying when Magnus forced himself to focus. “You need to let them learn not to do stupid shit.”

Octavian laughed. “Is this vast knowledge based on your personal experience?”

“It’s basic knowledge,” Reggie ventured, taking a bite of a fry. “You keep safeguarding them against every bump they’ll grow up to be morons.”

“Putting them in a damn bubble definitely won’t help,” Magnus agreed. “All it does is piss off everyone else.”

Octavian caught his meaning and sat back in his seat, arms folding over his chest. “Alec’s just a baby. He could get seriously hurt falling down those stairs.”

Magnus wasn’t the only one to gape. Gideon had stopped with his burger inches from his open mouth. Even Reggie’s eyes had gone wide.

“Have they begun to grow on you, big brother?” Gideon prodded, setting his burger down. “Didn’t take long.”

“That’s ‘cause Octavian’s secretly a big ol’ softy,” Reggie ribbed, smirking.

Octavian pulled his lips together and glowered at each of them, even though Magnus hadn’t said anything.

“Just because I’d rather not have them here, doesn’t mean I want them hurt, okay? I’m not a monster.”

“No, just a big teddy bear.”

Octavian flicked a fry at Reggie. “Call me big again.”

“I like them,” Gideon retorted before Reggie could open his mouth again. “Especially the older one, Otis. He’s a good kid. Really watches out for the little one. I mean, he’s practically a baby himself, but he’s damn protective. Got to admire that.”

“I swear he can read that kid’s mind,” Octavian broke in. “The whole time we were shopping, he just looked at Alec and knew what the boy wanted. I don’t know how he did it, but it definitely made things a whole lot easier.”

“Hey.” Gideon elbowed Magnus. “Remember when we used to tell Reggie we could read each other’s mind?”

Magnus snorted. “Twinpathy.”

Gideon laughed. “He believed us for the longest time.”

“I’m sitting right here,” Reggie muttered, poorly concealing his grin.

Gideon ignored him. “Remember when we told him wearing a bowl on his head would stop us from reading his mind?”

Now even Magnus laughed. “He walked around with Mom’s wooden bowl on his head for a week.”

“You know what, you two were always monumental douchebags,” Reggie mumbled.

“Hey, that’s what big brothers are for.” Gideon punched him on the arm. “Suck it up, buttercup.”

“Don’t let them get to you,” Octavian broke in. “They’re not as bright as they pretend. I had this one sitting behind Daisy for the better part of an entire day waiting for that cow to take a dump in his cupped palm.”

Gideon’s jaw went slack. “You swore you’d take that to your grave!”

Octavian shrugged. “Suck it up.”

Gideon lashed out, kicking out blindly under the table and managing to catch Magnus instead.

“Jesus!” Magnus snapped, rubbing his abused shin.

“Boys!” Kyaerin barked.

Gideon muttered an apology, but never took his glower off Octavian. “You’re a dead man.”

“Okay, can we go back to why you wanted cow shit?” Reggie broke in. “I’m fascinated.”

“Don’t!” Gideon warned, one finger pointed at their older brother.

“I told him that if he took Daisy to a certain patch of grass out in the fields—”

Gideon lunged over the table and food, hands extended, reaching for Octavian’s face.

Magnus intercepted, tackling him back into the chair, wanting to hear this story as well.

“Traitor!” Gideon wailed.

“Hurry up!” Reggie laughed, motioning for Octavian to speed up with the rest.

“I told him she’d shit gold nuggets.”

Reggie and Magnus howled.

“And did she?” Reggie sputtered in between breaths.

“Fuck you guys,” Gideon mumbled, shaking his head.

“All I know is he spent a long time washing up that night,” Octavian finished.

That only sent Magnus and Reggie nearly toppling out of their chairs. Even Gideon was chuckling now, head still rocking slowly from side to side.

“I’ve never been so excited to see a cow shit in my life,” he confessed.

“Jesus,” Magnus panted. “That’s disgusting.”

Gideon snorted. “You have no idea.” He opened and closed his hands like he was kneading playdough. “Warm.”

Groans of disgust filled their table. Several bits of fries were tossed in his direction.

“Boys.” Kyaerin looked from one to the other, blue eyes bright with silent laughter. “While that’s a fascinating story, not while we’re eating.”

“Sorry, Mom,” all four of them mumbled in unison in the tone of chastised little boys.

Akilah chuckled. “It’s nice to see boys don’t change much as they get older.”

Kyaerin sighed and faced forward once more. “No, they certainly do not.”

Shaking his head, Magnus turned back to his burger and the stray cluster of fries he hadn’t pitched at his brother. He picked one up, was about to pop it into his mouth when he felt it, the hard punch between his shoulder blades. It nearly drove him forward, and would have, if it had been a physical thing.

“Magnus.”

Zara’s gasp had him scrambling to his feet, fingers already closed around his blade, eyes searching.

“Where?” he demanded.

“Magnus?”

The whole room had gone still, but he ignored them, focus solely on the woman at the next table.

“Oh!” Akilah breathed, too late.

The front doors blew open.