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His grin widens. He glances past me, saying, “We’re just waiting on?—”
“I’m here!”
A boy of about five or six runs into the foyer with enough momentum that he slides to a stop. His eyes are bright, and his grin is wide as he looks from Legion to Chaya. “Can we go?” he asks eagerly.
I study him in surprise. Something about seeing an innocent child in a realm I’d always thought of as hell has broken a stigma for me. I hurriedly wrap my scarf more tightly around my face. This kid’s energy is unpredictable. I don’t want an accidental brush to end his life.
“Where’s your father?” Legion asks, tousling the boy’s hair.
“Here.” Klyn appears, looking a little disheveled. “Damn kid is way too fast,” he adds, and I’m even more stunned.
Klyn? The grizzly, bearded guy is a dad?
Legion grins at him. “What’s it like to get old?”
“Fuck off,” Klyn says, and the boy’s eyes widen.
“Dad, you said?—”
“I know what I said. Can we get moving?” Klyn asks.
Legion chuckles. Chaya takes the boy’s hand, but he twists around, staring up at Kendall and me like he’s just now noticed us standing here.
“Hi,” he says shyly to Kendall.
“Hello.” She smiles back at him, and he lowers his eyes then turns to me.
“Are you Mr. Legion’s girlfriend?”
“Um.” I can feel every single pair of eyes fastened on me now.
Klyn snorts. I glare at him but am distracted when I note that Legion’s grinning widely, clearly enjoying this.
“Why is your face covered with that?” he asks when I don’t answer.
“I’m Kendall.” My sister holds her hand out. “That’s Tori, my sister.”
“I’m Bron,” he says, shaking her hand, completely distracted from his questions. “I’m a wolf shifter. What are you?”
“Bron, it’s rude to ask people that,” Chaya says.
“Why?”
“Come on, kid. You can ride up top.” Legion opens the massive front door and snags Bron’s hand on his way out. In the next second, he swings Bron up and onto his shoulders as if the kid weighs nothing at all. Watching the two of them together makes it strangely hard to breathe. I look away, making sure to stand back to give everyone else plenty of room. When I look up again, Legion’s watching me. I startle at his attention, but he shocks me even more by tossing me a wink and then turning away again.
I blink, a little stunned by this new flirty side of my mate. Broody and angry I can handle. Fun and flirty? I have zero experience with any of that.
I wait until everyone has filed out before bringing up the rear.
Outside, the waning double moons offer plenty of light to navigate by as our little parade makes its way out of the front gates—which are now unlocked and wide open, I note. From there, the path heads down a gently sloping grade that is all too familiar until we reach the same intersection from yesterday.
There’s no trace of the bear. Not even the scent of a dead animal. Images of those claws and snapping teeth fill my head, but I shove them away. Legion wouldn’t bring us out here if that were a risk today. Especially not a child.
It’s not until we all fall into step on the wide dirt road that I realize we’re going to walk the entire way. Not that I’m complaining since it beats being dangled by a dragon thousands of feet in the air. But it makes me wonder if they have any other modes of transport here. From what I’ve seen, Tartarus isn’t modern like Earth. Not a single car or cell phone spotted so far. And if I’m being honest, the slower pace of life is a relief for me. There’s a peace here I’ve never felt on Earth.
At the front, Legion walks along with Bron on his shoulders. The kid doesn’t come up for air as he chatters on, asking fifty million questions. Klyn walks beside them, joking and laughing easily. My chest tightens at how natural they are together. How easy and established their friendship seems.
It makes me think of Stella. And Niamh. And how, even with them, I held myself apart. Always focused on my responsibility and keeping Kendall safe. Spencer, the girl I met at Spells, was the same way. Standoffish but not rude. Just… apart.
