Page 360 of The Gods Order

My eyes find her immediately as I step out onto the mountain ridge and fill my lungs with the fresh morning air. Her laughter carries on the wind.

It’s just as soul-stopping as it’s always been.

A smile takes over my face as I watch her soar through the sky. Her multicolored wings flex in and out as she dives and twirls, trying to outmaneuver V and Lestari, who trail right behind her.

Seismet and Verlet fly over their heads like guards ready to take down a damn bolt of lightning if it were to strike.

My fingers curl slightly at my side as I reach for the bond between us. My soul does a fucking happy shimmy before cuddling closer to hers, tugging it just a touch. Giving me away.

Her laughter cuts off midair. Even from this distance, I feel the exact moment she realizes I’m here. Her direction snaps toward me, and she heads my way. The closer she gets, the more the wicked smirk on her face spreads.

I know exactly what that look means.

“Thayla, don’t you fucking do—”

Too late.

Her wings snap inward, and instead of landing like a normal damn person, she launches herself directly at me. I brace myself a second before impact. Barely.

The force of her collision sends us tumbling backward into the soft grass, her laughter mixing with mine as we roll across our backyard.

When we finally stop moving, she’s sprawled across my chest with her hair falling around us. Her smile is brighter than the morning sun.

“You’re late,” she says as she uses my chest to push herself up and straddle my lap.

I stare up at her.

“I came directly from Hell. I was gone an hour tops.”

She hums, pretending to consider it.

“I think you should have been here sooner. You probably spent half that hour talking shit with Sevryn.”

A laugh escapes me before I can stop it, but I quickly choke it down.

She knows me too well.

“Fifteen minutes max,” I say, plucking a piece of grass out of her hair. “I didn’t expect to find you out flying when I returned. You were supposed to be in bed still.”

“Well, Riven said he was going to cook me breakfast since you left me, so I figured I should escape before the house caught on fire.”

My face falls blank.

“You’re fucking with me.”

She arches a brow and I grip her hips, preparing to lift her right off and go check on my fucking kitchen. A belly-gripping laugh belts from her throat and I immediately ease back against the ground.

“That’s not funny. That’s a serious threat.”

“Sounds like a consequence for leaving your wife on her birthday.”

A massive smirk stretches across my face.

“Someone’s still got an attitude about being one hundred.”

She purses her lips at me, but she can’t hide that teasing glimmer in her eyes.

“Is someone offering to adjust it for me?”