Page 61 of A Bloodline Redeemed

I rolled my eyes.Was now really the time for a dissertation?

Ambrose vanished in a cloud of shadows, reappearing between Dyre and Aahil.“My love,” he told the necromancer.“I understand how much you care for the children.We all do.But you know nothing the jinn says or does can ever be taken at face value.”

Dyre clenched his fist, extinguishing the necromantic spell he had held, but his cold violet gaze still pinned Aahil in place.“This is your last warning.Do not even joke about harming them, or you will answer to me.”

Aahil’s posture melted and he gifted Dyre with a taunting smirk.“Are you threatening to punish me, necromancer?”

Dyre’s face flushed bright red—something he was only recently capable of since bonding to all of us and having his soul restored—then he turned away with a huff.Striding past the children, he dropped the shield around them and muttered a gruff “don’t antagonize the jinn.He has problems with his brain.”

The twins looked at Aahil with wide eyes.Damn it, they had only just begun to loosen up and now they were wary again.

I opened my mouth to correct whatever nonsense Dyre had just planted in their heads, but the words froze in my throat when the entire pocket world shook.Something big was just outside our shields, and it wanted our attention.

Bis scrambled up my pantleg, then up my t-shirt, perching on my shoulder with a little peep of dismay.“They’re back,” he whisper-shouted in my ear, giving my hair a tug for emphasis, even as he opened up the link between us and prepared to help guide my magic.

“Ouch,” I complained, lifting a hand to try to loosen his grip on my hair before he left a bald spot.

But he was right to be afraid.I could easily sense what he could, with my enhanced powers.We had visitors of the interdimensional kind.

Oleander Lovell, the voice of the cleaners rang in my head, and I reached out along my bonds, making sure everyone could hear this.

“Oh.Hi again,” I said with a cheery voice and a wave that hopefully hid how badly I wanted to pee my pants right now.

They had been drawn to the pocket world before.It was their job to clean up the void.They fed on anything that didn’t belong—which included us and our makeshift sanctuary.They had agreed to give us time to safely return home.Apparently, our time was up.

Shit.

I knew we couldn’t stay in the pocket world forever.For one, we had to go out and bring back resources all the time.And for another, the energy here just wasn’t able to sustain us long-term.But even with most of the unrest resolved back in Magea and Planus, I was still reluctant to try to put the Lovell mansion back where it belonged.

It wasn’t a skill issue.I was sure I could do it.But… we were, unfortunately, celebrities now.The big scary goon squad that the SA and other governing bodies could threaten to unleash if anyone else ever got the idea to abuse people or start a war again.We needed to stay out of the public eye.For our sanity, and for everyone’s safety.

We hadn’t discussed all of this.It was one of those things I’d been avoiding.But apparently, time had just run out.

“Look,” I said, holding my hand up in a placating gesture toward the beings in the sky.“I know I promised we’d get out of here eventually, but… we need more time.We can’t leave yet.We’ve… there have been a lot of things going on in the other realms that we needed to settle, and…”

We are aware of your contributions toward restoring order,the voice informed me.You cannot stay here indefinitely.It upsets order.But you are valuable creatures.We would like to propose a… deal.

And when all-powerful intergalactic entities proposed a deal, you took it.

Chapter 35

Andy

Icouldn’tstopcrying.

It was stupid, really.There was no reason to be crying right now and feeling all these stupidfeelings.It was just how things had to be.The cleaners had given us a couple weeks to get our shit together.And this was part of getting our shit together.

“Mo—Andy?”Moon asked, her little shoulders square, but her voice wobbling.“Is it our fault?”

I turned, surprised to see her standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding her brother’s hand.“What?”I asked as I hurried to wipe away my tears and pretend I hadn’t been blubbering into the oven.“Is what your fault, honey?”

She looked at her brother, then lifted her chin to look up at me, always the strong one.Always their spokesperson, while Sky observed, taking in all the details.“Did we do something wrong?Is that why you’re sending us away?”

Oh.My fucking heart.“Oh, baby, no!No.”I went over and crouched down in front of them, reaching out to ruffle Sky’s hair and touch Moon’s sweet little cheek.They looked so much better, healthier and stronger…happier, even after such a short time.“Of course you didn’t do anything wrong,” I told Moon earnestly.“It’s just that… well, you don’t belong to me.To us.The Alliance says that you have a great uncle out there somewhere.He’s your family.We can’t just keep you from him.It wouldn’t be right.”

“And besides,” I said softly, knowing most kids wouldn’t understand this.But the twins were different.They’d seen things that other kids hadn’t.“It’s not exactly safe around here, you know?The house eats people.Aahil sets things on fire.Ambrose causes bad dreams.And sometimes we have to go kick people in the butts to make sure they behave.You deserve to live somewhere safe.”

“We don’t want to go,” Sky said softly.“We wanna stay here.”

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