“So, are they true mates or what?” Amos asked O, popping some grapes into his mouth as they all sat around the dinner table. It was three weeks after the great battle. And it was their last night all together as a group.
In the morning, they were all leaving Donovan and Felice in the great wooden cabin. Idris had decided that it was time to see his country. He needed to meet the people, start fixing problems, and choose a home base.
When Idris had told the group his and Isla’s plans, he’d received a lot of placid okays and raised shoulders.
“You know we’re going with you, right?” Solar had asked him.
Idris had been stunned to learn that not only were none of them returning to the human realm, they were also all joining Isla and him on the cross-realm trip. He had himself a cabinet of sorts.
“Um. I’m sitting right here, guys,” Isla said as she speared some salad on her fork. “I can hear you talking about whether or not we’re true mates.”
“Well, we were just debating it because you can’t really know unless one of you spouts the true mate fire. And as Idris spouted the true KING fire, well, I’m confused.” Amos shrugged. “I would have pegged you guys for true mates, but maybe not.”
Idris grinned at Isla’s furious expression.
It matched Lucy’s. “Good lord, muscles! Could you be any ruder?”
O looked around in festive glee at the group. In a matter of months, his family had pretty much tripled. And it was about to get even bigger. He kept eyeing Mel’s belly for the day that she’d finally start showing. Then he looked across the table at Ike who was busy making silly faces for baby Rudy. He hadn’t told anyone yet that the two of them were gonna end up together one day. He didn’t want to mess it up by speaking it out loud. But he also didn’t think Amos’s blood pressure could handle it.
Maybe he’d tell Mel though. Just because she could keep a secret. And she’d love it so much. Almost as much as he loved her. And their baby. A boy. O sighed. Their boy was going to be an oracle. With any luck, he’d have an easier go of it. Seeing as his father was an oracle, too. A luxury O hadn’t had as a kid.
Next, his eyes fell on Solar and Zara. Zara was so close to popping that Solar had her basically lying down in an easy chair at the table. O’s gaze fell to her belly. That was a real special one in there. A girl. A fighter, like her mother. She was going to help lead Idris’s army against an insurgent group. O tried not to sigh out loud at that one. He thought the group deserved a little break before he broke the news that peace was not everlasting. But it was gonna hold out for about thirty good years. And when it ended, Idris would handle it well. With the firm and steady mind of a truly good leader.
And that brought him to his brother. Idris. The one they’d all been searching for. The only one who could have ended it.
Idris spoke up in response to Amos. “Well, we won’t know if we’re true mates until Isla gets pregnant. Right?”
“Right,” O confirmed. “And, oh yeah. You are.”
A chicken bone fell out of Isla’s mouth and landed with a clatter on her plate. “What.”
Her look was mirrored perfectly on Idris’s face.
Idris cleared his throat. “True mates or pregnant?”
“Duh. Both,” O replied.
Mel pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tact. O, we talked about this. TACT.”
Isla and Idris turned to one another, twin looks of astonishment and excitement on their faces. Felice held her hands over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears. Donovan leaned over and gently kissed her hair.
“We gotta get married! Otherwise we’ll have a bastard prince or princess on our hands,” Idris said.
“Yeah,” Isla said. “Wouldn’t want that. Stripper queen, bastard offspring. Bad look.”
“Are we all just trusting this guy that they’re true mates?” Solar asked.
“Well, he is an oracle, son,” Donovan said.
“Yeah, but true mate fire is so cool,” Solar insisted. “We gotta test it out.”
He lifted his steak knife from his plate and leaned across the table, pointing the tip right at Isla’s chest.
It was burned to a crisp before it even reached the halfway mark. Solar whipped his hand back, sucking on his singed fingers. “Holy hell! You can create fire in your human form? That is so fucking awesome!”
Idris blew away the rest of the smoke from his mouth. Shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? I’m the king.”
He leaned over, took his girl by the back of her head and kissed her.
Isla closed her eyes tight. Pressed one hand into her belly and the other hand into Idris’s cheek. She couldn’t believe her life. She had everything she’d never even hoped to have. She had freedom from fear. From pain. She was here, choosing this life with both hands. With her whole heart. She could feel Idris’s love. But she could also feel the love of everyone else who sat at the table. Her whole family. She fell into the kiss. Into Idris. Into the world they’d created together.
The End