Page 63 of A Bloodline Redeemed

He smiled, soft and sweet for Moon, then slow and unpleasant for Celeste.“You heard her,” he said in that soft, silky tone of voice that said someone was going to die if they stepped out of line.“They stay.”

“Andy,” Jacki started, looking at me.

I held up my hands.“Look, I tried.I really did.But it looks like the kids are staying here.”

“They belong here,” Hasumi said easily, sending a wave of calm and agreeability toward our guests.The cheater.

“Clan is more than blood,” Niamh piped up from behind me.“They have claimed us.You cannot take them from us.”

Zhong had moved up behind Dyre and Aahil, and now he spread his wings threateningly as he towered over them, offering up his support.

Ambrose materialized beside Jacki, making her start and mutter “fuck!”under her breath.“Good to see you again, field agent,” he drawled.“Or, I suppose that is Arch Mage in Command now?”

She eyed him warily.A boogeyman didn’t really need to say anything to issue a threat.His simple presence could cause mind-rending terror, if he wanted it to.Especially since the power boost.

River stood beside me, ready to shift.And Elijah stepped in, his hands and his glowing wings spread in a gesture of peace.“I would suggest you honor the children’s wishes in this case,” the revenant angel said with a beautiful smile.

Jacki shook her head, already resigned to defeat.But the child welfare woman was all puffed up now, looking to the SA commander for support.“I must insist you hand over the children immediately!Keeping them from their rightful family is kidnapping.There will be legal consequences!”

I laughed.I couldn’t help it.Legal consequences?For fuck’s sake, we lived in an unreachable pocket world—at least for another day or so.And we were capable of obliterating half the population of Magea without breaking a sweat.Who the fuck did she think she was talking to?

Yes, very Lovell of me, but… honestly?It was true.There wasn’t anyone who could make me do something I didn’t want to do.Not anymore.

“Well,” I said with a smile.“It was nice of you to visit.Time to leave, though.”

The Celeste woman took a step forward, but Aahil clucked his tongue at her in disappointment and set the hem of her skirt on fire.“Your one and only warning,” he drawled.Moon giggled as the woman hastily put out the fire with a spell before it could spread.

Aahil allowed the flame to be extinguished.This time.

I knew it, by the way.Iknewhe didn’t really hate the kids.If he did, he would have just tossed them through the portal the second it opened, so he could be done with the whole hassle.Instead he was here with Dyre, insisting that they stay.What a softie.

“Time for you to leave,” I repeated, adding a little push with my magic that sent both women stumbling toward the portal.“But tell the supposed uncle that if he’s really that vested in the kids’ wellbeing he can come visit them some time once we’re all settled.”

I hated making the offer.But I supposed there was a small chance he’d turn out to be someone the kids actually wanted to know.Maybe.

Jacki shook her head at me, then grabbed Celeste by the arm and dragged the protesting woman through the portal.The pair of them reminded me of a hunting dog who had managed grab hold of a madly honking goose.

The portal closed with a snap, and everyone let out a collective breath.

“So… does this mean we can stay?”Sky asked into the silence.

Dyre kissed the top of his curly red head, smiling ear to ear in a way I had rarely ever witnessed before.“Yes, this means you can stay.”His smile faded and he forced a grave expression to take its place.But only if you promise to stop feeding your brussels sprouts to the basement stairs.”

Chapter 36

Andy

“That’severythingIcanthink of.Everything on the list has been secured,” Bella said in a tired voice.She was still adjusting to being alive again—or as close as she’d ever get.And she wasalsostruggling with being a magicless witch.She’d been playing the role of servant around here since she was reanimated.I think she was trying to make up for her “sins.”

Well, that and she was probably trying to convince us all that we were being overly cautious by stripping her magic and would one day relent and find a way to give it back to her.

Fat chance, after she woke up from her reanimation carrying on about how we needed to use this newfound Lovell superpower to accomplish all sorts of grandiose plans—plans that were too detailed for her to have come up with them on the spur of the moment.

Clearly, she had already spent time plotting how she could use me and my lovers if I ever gave in and became her little superhero.Stripping her magic had seemed harsh when I first thought of it.But after that little display, I was glad she was basically human, and alive only at the whims of a certain angel and necromancer duo.

She apologized afterward, of course.Said that she wasn’t in her right mind after losing Junaid, and the whole dying and being brought back to life thing… but still.I’d be watching her.We all would.

“Do you have the artifacts stashed somewhere secure?”her tone of voice was innocent as she plopped down into the overstuffed chair by the workbench and started brushing dust off her pants.We’d had her running around all over the Lovell House of Horrors securing things that might go flying around when we performed our little move.Even though we had cleaned up and started using a large portion of the house, there were still rooms that hadn’t been used since my parents died.I’d gone through most of them scanning for boobytraps a few times, but that was about it.It was no wonder she was covered in grime from head to toe.

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