Chapter 4

• Abe looked at the entrance to see a tall man standing in the doorway. He had shoulder-length brown hair, half pulled up into some sort of bun. It was very tidy. He could never have done that, which is why he kept his hair short and easy to manage.
• He’d seen a lot of different eye colors in his life, but his were the darkest green he’d ever seen. The kind of green that would be for a forest in a painting, not a usual eye color.
• “Prince Artesiam.” His uncle King Troy went over and shook his hand.
• “Please just call me Art. My full name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”
• “Art.” Troy motioned for him to come in.
• “Where’s your sidekick?” Chase inquired.
• “Elgar was busy with some dealings for my parents.” He walked with long strides over and sat down at the table.
• “Sorry, we’re late.” Prince Bastian and a woman with blonde hair came in. They were carrying six donut boxes with them. “My lovely Nova decided we needed to bring offerings.”
• “Are those the muffins from that café?” His aunt Daxx was out of her chair so fast it was surprising. She glared at Uncle Rafael, “Back off. As Queen, I get first dibs.”
• Rafael glanced at her mate, “notice she only uses the queen card when it’s for her benefit?”
• “If there’s a cappuccino one, it’s mine.” Aunt Alona nodded, “As queen, I decree anything caffeine-flavored is mine until this child is born.”
• Chase smacked his hand on the table, “so be it.”
• Prince Art looked amused. “All of you need to come to visit sometime and show my relations how a family should be.”
• Mitz came into the room carrying empty trays and putting them on the table. Without a word, she went over and relieved Nova of the three boxes she carried and went over to put the muffins on the trays. Abe didn’t know much about his great-aunt, but she always knew everything and appeared out of nowhere, it seemed. Some day when he’d fully digested mages, witches, fairies, and everything else he’s learned since walking into that apartment with his father to meet Alterealm relatives, he was going to ask his great-aunt what her superpower was.
• Prince Bastian took the remaining boxes over to the table and then plucked one of the muffins off the tray. He turned around and watched Nova sit between Alona and Autumn, the disappointment on his face was clear, yet he didn’t say a word.
• Abe had heard during lunch, or was it breakfast the day before? He couldn’t be sure. There were always gatherings and meals with this family. Bastian and Nova were mates. Literal soul mates, but because of the traitor in Solrelm, they couldn’t find; they were unable to complete their union. If anyone was motivated to serve justice, it had to be Bastian. He wouldn’t rest until all offenders were found if it were him. Of course, Abe wasn’t anxious to find a spouse of any kind. He didn’t want to pass along whatever was wrong with his head—or make a child have to bite people and go through what he had.
• “Our family isn’t all fun and games, sadly,” Chase told Prince Art, “But we do manage to sneak some between battles and unraveling evil plots.”
• “Speaking of battles, before we get into other business, there’s something that needs to be done.” Michael glanced around to see if anyone objected; when no one did, he continued, “Raf and I completed our assessment of our nephew,” every head in the room turned so they could look at Abe.
• He felt like he was under a bright spotlight. Glancing at his father, he could tell from the look on his face that he had known this was going to take place, and it was likely the reason he’d been invited. Maybe he needed to share some stories with dear old dad’s mate to feel the satisfaction of retribution.
• Rafael went over to the furthest table and picked up a case.
• “Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Aunt Paisley said with a smirk.
• Michael grinned and looked over at Abe, “You’ve done well, although knowing proper fighting form was a huge plus.” He paused to smile, “And now you are part of the Royal family’s guard.”
• Leone tapped him on the arm, “As in, you get to come out with the rest of us.”
• Abe opened his mouth, snapped it shut, and looked at his father. Two hundred and twenty-seven years he’d waited for a purpose in life, and now he was finally going to have one. Better yet, it didn’t involve staring at screens and organizing his family.
• “Now,” Rafael started coming toward him carrying the large wooden box, “Abe’s not bad with the broadswords,” he gave Emil a side-eye, “but his skill with the smaller version rivals Autumn’s,” he smirked, “at fighting.”
• Showing his chair back, Abe stood up.
• “So, we had these made for you.” Rafael stopped and set the case on the table, and flipped it open.
• Abraham wasn’t big on gifts and emotional displays, but when he saw the shiny, pristine twin short swords inside the box, he felt a lump form in his throat.
• “Mitz has the rest of your gear for you,” Rafael lifted his arm and tapped his forearm, “some extra protection in your sleeves—”
• “In his sleeves?” Bastian asked.
• Autumn jumped up and over the table to stand in the center of the tables that were arranged in a large square. “He does this epic move, where he can flip the,” she paused with her hand over the new weapons, “mind if I?” Abe shook his head. In his mind, a fighter like his aunt could only amp up his weapons with her good vibes. “Cool.” She picked up one of the blades and held it, pointing it toward Bastian, So, yeah, he goes from offensive,” she spun the blade handle in her hand with a flick of her wrist, so it pointed the other way, “to defensive,” she raised her arm to show the blade tucked against her forearm. “And blocks an attack with it the same way I do with my batons.” Faster than you could blink, she did the move twice, then turned and lay the blade on both palms, holding her hands out to him. “I can’t wait to fight with you.”
• When Abe took it from her, he felt a moment of excitement. It was perfectly balanced, and felt like the grip was made to fit his hand alone. He didn’t want to turn this into something emotional, so he kept his eyes on the weapon as he examined it. “I can’t tell you how great this is,” he glanced up at his Uncle Rafael, “if I had to sit there and stare at monitors much longer, I was going to go crazy.”
• Rafael grinned, “You still have to stare at the monitors and track shit for us, but only when we’re not out hunting and—”
• “Kicking ass,” Daxx nodded and put another piece of the muffin in her mouth.
• “Not what I was going to say.” Rafael shook his head, “But we’ll leave it there for now.” Turning, he went over to the muffins and grabbed one.
• Abe set the sword back in the box. He’d fawn over them later in private. He started to sit down when his father grinned and started walking toward him. In his hand was a small black box. His father must have recognized he wasn’t relishing the attention because he popped the box open as he reached him and held it out.