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“Your auntie is right.”
I opened my eyes to see Nikkos giving my nieces a stern look, his arms crossed and his wings pulled back. “You need rest. If you’re good girls, I’ll give you each another sweet tomorrow.”
Aurora jumped to her feet. “We’ll be good.”
I mouthed my thanks to Nikkos. It was nice having backup. Usually, my parents caved and gave in when the children whined, making me out to be the bad aunt.
Blaze and Nikkos each dug into their bags and pulled out rolled-up pallets.
“This is all we have to sleep on,” Blaze said as he pushed the two pallets together, close enough to the fire that we could still feel the warmth, but not risk embers igniting our makeshift bed.
“It’s fine.” I knelt on the pallets, beckoning the girls to join me. “But what will you sleep on?”
“Don’t worry about us.” Blaze ruffled his wings. “We have our feathers to keep us comfortable.”
“Thank you.” I did my best to fluff up the pallets. The makeshift beds were thin, filled with a single layer of what felt like feathers. I wondered if they’d used their own feathers. All of my family’s mattresses and pillows were made from my father’s feathers. My mother collected them after every molt.
Aurora jutted her hands on her hips, frowning down at the pallets like my mother scowling at our feeble attempt to make our bed. “You don’t have blankets?”
Nikkos scratched the back of his head, the color rising in his cheeks. “No, sorry.”
“They don’t need blankets,” I said to my niece while wiping a smudge of dirt from her nose. “They use their wings like Pappo does.”
“Oh.” Ember knelt next to me, her doll once again tucked under her arm as she batted large eyes at my mates. “Can you sleep with us and keep us warm?”
“No, Em,” I blurted, embarrassment flushing my cheeks. I stifled a groan, too afraid to look in my mates’ direction. I wasn’t ready to share a bed with them yet, even if we had two children between us.
“Why not?” Aurora asked. “Pappo keeps Yaya warm with his wings.”
“Come here, darling.” I held out my arms to her, keenly aware that my mates had gone eerily still. Were they as mortified as me at the prospect of sharing a bed? Elements, I still couldn’t look at them, and I feared I’d combust if my face got any hotter. “I will keep you warm.”
She frowned. “You don’t have feathers.”
“Of course not.” Nervous laughter erupted from my throat as my unsuspecting nieces continued to drag me down another level of awkward. “Only Ravini males have wings. You know that.”
“That’s not fair.” Ember pouted. “Why don’t we get wings?”
“No more questions, girls.” I punched the pallet in a futile attempt to fluff it. I loved my nieces, but after our trying day, I was clinging to my last thread of patience. “We need to get some sleep.”
Nikkos knelt beside us. “Do you need anything else?”
I made the mistake of looking into his honey-gold eyes, and then my gaze drifted lower to those kissable lips. Elements, he was too cute. I’ve never been attracted to a man this much—ever. “You’ve done so much already.”
“Okay.” Blaze thumbed behind him, shadows falling over his eyes. “We have to go beat some sense into our brother.”
“Please don’t fight,” I pleaded.
“Don’t worry.” Blaze offered me a playful smirk, even as smoke curled from his fingers. “We won’t kill him.”
“I’m sorry about your parents, too.” Nikkos stood, his wings drooping by his sides. His hands clenched and opened, and I had a feeling he’d take me in his arms and kiss me senseless if I asked him to. “I know they’ve broken your trust, and I don’t blame you for not trusting us yet.”
I didn’t know how to answer that, but I was overwhelmed with gratitude that he understood my concern.
“Trust is earned,” Blaze added, “and we’ll do everything to earn it.”
My throat constricted at the look of sincerity reflecting in both of their eyes, and though my parents hadn’t told me much about mating bonds, I wondered what would happen if I bonded with Nikkos and Blaze and rejected their brother. I wasn’t sure if rejecting one and accepting two was an option. One thing I knew for certain, I wasn’t about to join my body and soul with a Fae like Draevyn, no matter how much I liked his brothers.
* * *
