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Isla sighed, gnawing on her lip in thought. “We’re going to have to figure something out. Someone to watch him when we’re not around.”
“Oh, that’ll be an easy sell,” Kai mused. “Please watch our baby monster. We apologize if he decides to eat you.”
Isla deadpanned, “We’ll figure. Something. Out.”
Kai’s eyes slid over her face again, a smile tugging at his mouth. “If you’re like this now, I can’t imagine how you’ll be with our own pups.”
The statement made Isla’s stomach toss and flutter, but she snipped back, “If this is a test run, I’m afraid howyou’llbe.” A lie. She couldn’t wait to see him as a father and had a feeling he’d be an amazing one. “Probably letting them run amok.”
Kai poked at her side. “We’ll just have to get there, won’t we?”
Get there…when everything stopped being so shitty.
Isla smiled tightly. “One day.”
Kai flicked her nose. “One day.”
In the distance, she could hear crew members yelling amongst each other that the ship was set to go. Not long after, the vessels horn gave a blow that sent the birds perched on its structure flying away. “I need to go.”
“Technically, you go whenyouwant to go,” Kai said. “You are the queen.”
“Okay, Ishouldgo. It’s going to be a few hours trip anyway,” she replied. “Any last words of advice?”
Kai seemed to wrack his mind. “Just be you.”
“You can’t do better than that?”
He huffed, muttering something about her being so hard to please. “If you meet a guy named Jax, don’t believe anything he says.”
Isla furrowed her brows, heeding his amusement. “Why?”
“Because he tends to embellish his stories about some of our night’s out when we were younger.”
“Ah.” Isla grinned and reached up to pinch his cheek. “Tales from the rebellious little prince days.”
Kai hummed in agreement before leaning down to kiss her. The embrace didn’t last nearly long enough.
He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers, murmuring, “I love you.”
Isla brushed her mouth against his one last time, burning its perfect shape into her mind. “I love you. Stay out of trouble while I’m gone, and expect me back if I feel anything wrong.”
Kai laughed and echoed her mock threat. “Let’s see if we can make it a few days without anything freakish happening.”
Isla held back her scowl, feeling phantom ice fill her veins again.
Later. She’d tell him, worry him, later. They just needed to get through the following few days.
One more kiss didn’t hurt before they finally broke apart, and Isla headed for the boat for her first trial as queen. Kai remained on the dock until they’d safely sailed away.
CHAPTER27
ADRIEN
Adrien couldn’t think of the last time he and his parents had actually sat for a meal together that wasn’t surrounded by other people. So, when he'd woken up to an Imperial courier at his townhouse door, telling him to meet his mother and father for brunch, he thought he hadn’t woken up at all.
He’d had an hour to get dressed and out the door, and he spent more than half of it contemplating the purpose of the summons. Was his father about to disown him over some toast? Had he seen him hiding in the rafters last night, watching as he and the High Witch spoke for merely two minutes before leaving the room to go Goddess knew where?
That may have been the most painfully aggravating moment of the night, given he’d done all that work just to observe some tense greetings and insults being hurled at Locke for being bloodied in her presence.
