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I turned toward Dion. “What’s up, birthday boy?” I asked, reaching out to ruffle his blond hair.
“I don’t have a birthday,” he said matter-of-factly. He sounded so much like Sam. Somehow, even without being blood related, Dion had inherited Sam’s brutal honesty and lack of caring what others thought. Manners weren’t high on his priority list either.
“I know, but your sisters do and we needed a day to give you presents.” I knelt down so I was at his level. “What can I do for you, honey?”
“Dad wants you.”
I looked over my son’s head and found Sam watching me from beside the playhouse. “Do I want to know?” I whispered.
Dion shrugged. “He didn’t say why he wanted you.”
“Nadina, how about you play with your brother for a bit? I have to go help Daddy with something.” God only knew what that something was.
“Hey, Dion said you…” The words died on my lips as I caught sight of the child-sized trident that was not supposed to be anywhere besides the secret room of the garage. “Samuel, what is that doing in our playhouse?”
“That would be a question for our son. Maybe you can get a better answer than I did.”
“How did he find it?”
Sam had gotten the trident for Dion, but I wasn’t ready for him to start training with it. Five was too young. I needed a few more years before I was ready for the heart attacks that were sure to come when Dion started fighting.
“I don’t know. Better question is how did he get it all the way over here without anyone noticing.”
The weapon wasn’t exactly small. And now we had to get it back in the garage without my family or our daughters seeing it. I ran my hands over my face and let out a groan. “I could have had normal children whose version of getting in trouble was tattooing each other with sharpies or sneaking cookies out of the pantry.”
Sam’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me in to his chest. “You would have gotten bored.”
I laughed. He was probably right. That being said, I wasn’t going to jump at the opportunity to adopt another angel. One was enough of a handful. “What explanation did he give you?”
“He and Nova were playingHunger Games.”
I moaned into his chest. “How…?”
“Remy was apparently watching it at your parents’.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
Sam’s chuckle vibrated through his torso. “I was planning on letting Nacio do that.”
“Mmm, that’s a better idea.” I pulled back to look up at him. “This is a sign that it’s time to let him start training with the weapons, isn’t it?”
Sierra and I had talked about when was the right age to let our children start using weapons and learning to control the heavenly fire in their veins. According to Sierra, who’d spent years training in firearms, learning to use a weapon gives you respect for the weapon. She’d met children who were more trustworthy with guns than some of the adults she’d seen at firing ranges.
If Dion knew where Sam kept his weapons, it was time to teach him to respect them… and to not bring them into the playhouse in the middle of parties. I’d have to tell Sierra about him showing the trident to Nova.
“I honestly don’t know,” Sam said—a sentence I was pretty sure only passed his lips when he was alone with me. “Angels in the seventh order aren’t usually trained the same way as angels in the second order. I don’t have the same skill set that Dion does.”
His eyes clouded, and I knew what he was thinking. Joriel had the same skill set as Dion. But Joriel wasn’t here to help us through this or to offer advice.
“I wish he were here too,” I whispered. “But you’re doing an amazing job with Dion, and we’re going to figure this out.”
Sam buried a hand in my hair and brought his mouth to mine in a searing kiss that promised much more later when our guests were gone and our children in bed.
Reluctantly I pulled back. “We still need to figure out how to hide the trident before anyone else sees it,” I reminded him.
“Mad dash for the living room doors?”
“There’s no way that’ll work.”
“Have a little faith, Siren.” His lips found mine again, claiming my mouth in a deep kiss that lit my body up from the inside.
I felt a click in my chest, that feeling of rightness that was familiar to me now. I was exactly where I was supposed to be, with the man I loved with my whole heart and soul and the family we’d built together.
THE END
