Page 174 of Heimlock

Bringing my hands to his face, roving my fingers over his cheeks and jaw, I whisper, “I’d climb out of every single one of our graves just to have the chance to plant flowers with you.”

His smile, the one reserved just for me, increases my pulse. Lips hovering right above mine, he murmurs, “I love you, graves and all, Firefly.”

71

Four Years Later

“You packed the present, right?” Kyrielle says anxiously, eyeing the backpack in my hand. We’re walking up the path to Fynn and Orliana’s house. The front yard is ‌lush green, with flowers exploding from pots and flowerbeds. It’s Rhuth’s second birthday — a big birthday for Dragons. It’s when magyck begins to manifest for children.

Kissing her forehead and patting her ass, I say, “Yes. For the umpteenth time, yes.”

She pokes me in the side. “Excuse me, manservant, but last year you forgot Rhuth’s birthday present. So excuse me for quadruple checking.”

Okay, I’ll give her that. “To be fair, you distracted me with your tongue. It’s not technically my fault.”

She pretends to be outraged as we stop at Fynn’s front door. “You just wait and see if you get any use of said tongue for at least a day. That’ll show you.”

Into her ear, I whisper, “Then you get no use of my tongue or tail, baby girl.”

This shuts her up. Crinkling her nose, she pouts. “You play dirty.”

Brushing a kiss against her cheek, I murmur, “You fucking love it.”

Before she can say anything else, I open the front door. We’re immediately met with the squealing laughter of children. Small bodies chase one another, almost knocking down plants.

“Hello?” I call out.

“In here!” Talia responds from the kitchen, where other adults are chattering.

We walk into the brightly lit space, where a dozen adults smile at us stepping. Orliana, belly full of another baby, grins and waddles over.

“Hey, you two. You’re late.”

I jerk a thumb at Kyrielle. “Her fault.”

I receive a supposedly affectionate pump in the kidney. Orliana laughs, hugging her best friend.

When she pulls back, she looks at the backpack. “Assuming there’s a gift, you can put it on the pile in the living room. Fynn is outside with Luca and the kids.” Grabbing Kyrielle’s hand, she says, “Come with me. I need to make sure the cake doesn’t topple over when I pull it out of the fridge.”

Leaving them to it, I deposit the wrapped present on the pile before heading outside to the backyard. Fynn and Luca stand next to one another, both holding their children. Reverie stands next to Luca, incredibly anxious. It takes a second to see why; when I understand, I grin.

Stepping outside, I call out, “Who’s winning?”

Reverie glares at me. “Do not encourage this.”

She motions to her husband, who is proudly holding a male Gargoyle toddler. They recently adopted the kid, and she’s still incredibly protective, despite knowing Gargoyles are learning to fly by now. “Caz can’t even use his wings yet!”

The fathers ignore her, tossing the toddlers into the air. Caz goes higher than Rhuth, but both squeal with delight, their tiny arms flinging out. Rhuth’s black hair and golden scales shine in the sun, glistening across her face.

Fynn looks at Luca. “Best twenty out of thirty?”

“That’s fifteen for me, and ten for you,” Luca says, ignoring his wife’s attempts to grab the toddler, who is already screaming, “AGAIN, AGAIN!”

I grab a Heimlock from a nearby cooler and sit in a chair, watching them compete over which toddler can go higher. Luca wins, placing Caz over his thick neck, and running around like a unicorn, with Reverie calling out encouragement. Rhuth is clearly exhausted; within seconds of being cradled in her father’s arms, her eyelids get heavy.

Fynn comes to sit next to me, popping open a Heimlock. Holding a beer in one hand and a sleeping Rhuth in the other, he asks, “Kyrielle’s inside?”

“Yeah.” I glance around. “Where’s Joulian?”