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“I injected her with my venom. It turns out Ancients are susceptible to one venomous thing on Earth. Me. And you would all do well to remember that before you send another traitor into my home or kidnap one of my mates. Next time I will not be so forgiving.”
Warning delivered, I blinked back to Earth.
Once back on Earth, I went straight to my mates. The men were scattered around our bedroom in the castle. Even Zeno sat with his back against the floor-to-ceiling windows, his gaze fixated out at the sea.
I breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge they were all safe. It was exactly what I needed to see before I went after Lexi.
Storm sat on a large armchair, his gray eyes watching me with an unreadable expression. I blurred across the room, dropping to my knees between his legs so that we were at eye level with each other.
Storm reached out, brushing a strand of dark hair away from my face, his knuckles brushing against my cheek. “I missed you, Zosime.”
I leaned my face into his gentle caress. “And I missed you, my love.”
When his hand finally dropped away, I spoke again. I hated to ask him, but I needed to know. “Did she do anything to you? Hurt you?”
I didn’t need to clarify who I was talking about. Storm’s eyes darkened, and I couldn’t breathe. “No, she was still more interested in taunting you than doing anything to me. I’m just frustrated at being her pawn to get at you.”
A dam broke, sending relief flooding through me. He was going to be okay. I’d made it in time. I crawled onto his lap, tears blurring my vision.
Storm’s strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. It was always surprising how small I felt when being held by him. “Stop worrying, Zosi. We’re all going to get through this. It will be over soon.”
Storm was right.
“Yes, it will be over soon.” Sooner than he thought.
Cuddled against Storm’s chest, I studied each of my mates. “I’ve spent too many years of my life at war. I want a different life now. My life has been dedicated to serving the Ancients and Atlantis. I’ll always protect my beloved city, but it is time I allowed myself to be a little selfish.”
The solemn mood that had descended on the room was broken when Kye snickered.
Eason smacked the back of his head. “What is wrong with you?”
“Ow!” Kye grumbled, but his eyes sparkled with mischief when he answered. “Zosi’s going to be littleshellfish.”
Every single man in the room worked to keep their mouths from twitching at Kye’s ridiculous humor, but when Bion burst into laughter, the battle was lost. Peals of hysterical laughter rang through the halls of the castle for the first time in many centuries. It was perfect.
“Oh yeah, now that you and Storm are back, you owe me twenty bucks.” Eason nudged Fynn.
Shaking his head, Fynn pulled out his wallet and handed Eason a crisp twenty-dollar bill. “Here you go.”
“What are they doing?” I asked Storm.
Storm rolled his eyes. “These immature idiots were betting on when you would claim Bion.”
My cheeks burned. “You didn’t think I would claim him?” I directed the question to Fynn.
“Oh, no. I knew you would claim him. I just thought it would be after you returned from Iolatara.” Fynn spoke with such matter-of-fact confidence that I was stunned. “Eason was the only one who said you would claim him while you were there.”
“Don’t look so shocked, beautiful.” Storm chuckled, kissing the top of my head. “We all knew. Your face when he showed up here the first time gave it away. You look at each of us the same way.”
I snuck a peek at Bion, worried about how he would handle the teasing. His beaming smile as Kye and Eason exchanged fist bumps, welcoming him to the family, was answer enough.
My heart swelled with love for these men. There was only one thing still standing in the way of the life I wanted.
Lexi.
I pressed a soft kiss to Storm’s throat, smiling when the knife wound glowed and healed without leaving a trace.
With the sound of my men’s laughter echoing in my mind, I blinked away.
