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“I wish the same for you,” Jeremiah said. “But I meant it when I said we’re not ashamed. We’ve created our own family.”
Remi desperately wanted to ask to be part of it, but he couldn’t call forth the words. So instead, he clung to Jeremiah’s hand until they landed and were forced to walk apart.
* * *
“Remi!”
He hadn’t realized just how badly he needed to see the twins until he was on his knees, his arms around them tightly. They seemed not only fine but thriving and happy, and something settled in his chest as he stood back up and let them each take a hand, their mouths running a mile a minute.
“And we got to fly!”
“And there was this deer, and he just… boom! Took it.”
“We ate it! We ate it for dinner!”
“And we… we gots to go in the hot springs, which wasn’t too hot!”
“And we shifted, Remi! We shifted in the hot springs even though it wasn’t Siren water!”
Remi smiled down at them. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy you had a good time.”
Percy nodded, then wrinkled his nose. “You smell weird.”
Remi shot a withering look over his shoulder at Jeremiah, whose cheeks were pink, but he was pretending he hadn’t heard Percy. “Uh. It’s just from the long plane ride and being around the palace guards and Jeremiah…”
“No. The others don’t smell like that,” Sadie told him pointedly.
A tall Dragon wearing thick-rimmed glasses and an honest-to-gods sweater vest appeared and held his arms out as Percy and Sadie leapt into him. “Sometimes they do.” He winked at Remi, then managed to stick out his hand from under Sadie. “I’m Caspian. It’s really nice to meet you. Thanks for letting the kids hang out. We haven’t had hatchlings in a long while. And it’s been hard since…” He cleared his throat. “We sort of lost someone.”
Remi’s chest burned with sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”
Caspian shook his head, then let the twins down so they could run over to Jeremiah and talk his ear off for a bit.
“Humans,” Caspian said once they were out of earshot. “But we didn’t say anything in front of the twins about him or what happened. We didn’t want them to think that there was anything wrong with who they were.”
Remi swallowed past a lump in his chest. His kingdom was one of the most tolerant on the continent—except when it came to him and his family. No one had ever been so kind as to think of his or his siblings’ feelings when it came to their heritage. “Well, they seem like they’ve really enjoyed being here.”
Caspian nodded, then glanced around at his Hoard milling about. They all looked so different from each other—one was covered in tattoos, another had grease all over his hands like he was a mechanic, and still another was shrugging off a chef’s jacket. But obviously, they fit. Remi could actually feel the connection between them all.
“Are you sure you want to take them back?” Caspian asked, grinning.
Remi sighed. “It’s not really in my hands. I’m heading back to campus.”
Caspian’s eyes narrowed. “Alone?”
Remi laughed. “Jeremiah’s coming with me. I don’t think he’s overly thrilled with the idea, but I can’t put my entire life on hold indefinitely, and I trust him.”
“That much is obvious,” Caspian said with a tiny smirk, then leaned his head in close. He reminded Remi of Oz a little bit, putting Remi at ease so quickly and teasing him mercilessly. “It must be something—being mated to a Hellhound.”
“Oh. W-We’re not mates,” Remi said quickly.
Caspian snorted. “You might want to come up with a different cover story, then. Not only is his scent all over you, but he’s bitten you.”
Remi’s hand flew to his neck, shock rushing through him. He felt a strange, echoing sensation, and he looked at Jeremiah, finding him staring at them from across the room. “That was just… you know. Fun.”
“I certainly know how much fun a mating bite is,” Caspian said with a laugh. “But he’s a Hellhound, and you’re a Siren.”
“I… but I’m mostly human.”
