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Priest just laughed. “Demon Benadryl. I just put him to sleep. Relax. I didn’t feed on him.”
Jeremiah’s body released some of its tension as he cupped Remi’s cheek. “Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay. Better now,” Remi said. He licked his lips and let out a trembling breath. “I was terrified I wasn’t going to see you again.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “They wouldn’t have been able to hold me if I was going to end up in any real danger. We do our best to keep to the law whenever we’re in foreign territory, but we always have a plan B.”
“And C. And D,” Priest rattled off.
“H, I, J, K,” came another voice that Remi didn’t recognize, and he felt a pulse of something like jealousy when Jeremiah let him go and immediately rushed at the newcomer, throwing his arms around the massive man.
He was very good-looking—tall with deeply tanned skin, dark hair, and light green eyes. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and biker boots, and he lifted Jeremiah off the ground as he hugged him. Remi wanted to put his fist through the man’s ridiculously handsome face.
Jeremiah must have felt that because he was genuinely laughing as he turned and beckoned Remi close. “This is Gray, but everyone calls him Slate. He’s been on assignment for the last two months.”
Remi felt some measure of comfort as Jeremiah linked their hands together, kissing his wrist before letting go so Remi could offer his hand.
“I heard Sunshine found his mate,” Slate said, his voice a low rumble. It only took Remi a second to recognize the secondary traits of a Gargoyle. But he wasn’t as stoic as Remi was used to, pulling Remi into a hug instead of taking his hand.
It was odd and comforting, and Remi understood now why Jeremiah was close to him.
“You missed all the action, bud,” Storm said, clapping him on the arm.
Slate rolled his eyes. “I have a feeling something will make up for it. But I’m sorry I wasn’t here before things got bad. How are the kids?”
The question sobered Remi almost immediately. He knew his brother and sister were fine, being looked over by the rest of Remi’s detail until they could all get on the plane back to Midlona, but he also knew the trauma of being kidnapped and everything else would be lasting. And fuck, he’d missed them. He was so done with Hillsland and their bullshit bigotry.
“We’re heading back to Midlona today,” Jeremiah said, pulling Remi close. “You can hang out with them on the jet.”
Slate’s eyes were soft and crinkled at the corners as he smiled. “Awesome. I love kids. My family is—was—huge. Full of kids, and I was always the uncle who volunteered to babysit.”
Remi swallowed. “Are… did something…”
“No,” Slate said before Remi could finish his question. “Not the way you’re thinking. We had some disagreements, and we don’t speak anymore.” He bowed his head, but he smiled when Storm gripped the back of his neck, and Remi remembered from their trip to pick up the twins why the Dragon understood exactly how Slate felt in that moment.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here before we turn into some melancholy folk ballad,” Priest said, clapping his hands.
Jeremiah groaned, but he motioned everyone forward, and they all headed back to the SUVs. Before Remi could take more than a few steps though, Jeremiah pulled him back. His Hellhound gripped him by the chin, locking their gazes.
It made Remi feel some type of way to be looking in Jeremiah’s eyes, now permanently changed thanks to their bond. Fuck, they were beautiful on him—a glowing blue that lit up whenever his hound was close to the surface.
“Tell me you’re okay,” Jeremiah said.
Remi nodded. “I am. Now, tell me you’re okay. Tell me the humans didn’t hurt you.”
“No one touched me,” Jeremiah said with a tiny smile playing at his lips.
Remi nodded, but he didn’t feel comforted just yet. “Is it over, or are they going to come for you?”
Jeremiah sighed, and Remi’s heart sank. “It’s nothing we can’t handle. Nothing we haven’t done before. There’s been unrest in Hillsland for a long, long time, and people like me are easy targets. But nothing is going to happen to me, my little princeling. I promise you.”
Remi closed his eyes and surged up for a kiss that Jeremiah took gratefully, holding him close as he breathed a sigh against Remi’s lips. “I love you,” Remi said.
Jeremiah shuddered like the words were almost painful to hear, and maybe they were. Remi knew Jeremiah had spent too much of his life unloved, and he wanted to spend the rest of his making up for that.
“I love you too,” Jeremiah whispered. “Now, let’s get you home.”
Remi nodded. “I need to see my family, then I can’t wait to see your place.”
