Page 10 of The Party

Naomi gritted her teeth.

“I’m not calling you Commander Underpants, son. Get your skinny ass on the ground before your father sees you and puts you in time out in the mausoleum!”

The kid clutched his chest dramatically. “Oh, the mausoleum! Be still, my terrified heart.”

The sword-fighting duo clapped at his acting.

“Bravissimo!” Pig Tails gushed.

The boy grinned. His smile froze at a soft metallic whirring.

The chrome and gold birdcage elevator under the stairs pinged. The accordion door opened, revealing five men. The one in the lead was talking as he stepped out.

Mae stiffened a little when she discerned the presence of the incredible beast inside him.

He must be the Sphinx.

Hellreaver vibrated nervously on her chest.

“As I said to Otis, no one knows the origin of that?—”

Sebastian Lancaster rocked to a halt at the sight of the chaos inside the foyer.

The men with him stopped and stared.

Mae could tell two of them were Immortals and powerful ones at that. She studied them cautiously, Nikolai equally alert beside her.

The one with the snake mark on his forearm must be Conrad Greene. And the other guy is Ethan Storm judging from that pentagram birthmark on his hand.

“Did you get everything?” the man with blonde hair and blue eyes behind them asked Mila jovially.

“Yeah.” Mila leaned toward Mae. “That’s Zachary Jackson, my dad. The guy behind him is Otis.”

Mae stared. Otis Boone was just as ordinary looking as Violet had described him to be in his human form. Yet, the divine power of the seraph inside his soul was so bright it almost seared her vision.

“We were gone for twenty minutes,” Conrad said to no one in particular.

“And they were the longest twenty minutes of my life, dad,” William declared leadenly. “I’m never having kids.”

Conrad rolled his eyes.

Ethan smiled. “Hey, Lola. Did you miss me?”

The little blonde girl with the ringlets threw herself at the Immortal, the dog padding after her. “Daddy!”

The Immortal caught her, propped her on his waist, and kissed her cheek. She giggled and hugged him.

“Where did Lucas and Anna go?” Conrad asked.

“They’re getting stuff from the attic,” Lucy replied. “Serena and Drake went with them.”

“And Alexa?”

William made a face. “In the kitchen, helping.”

Conrad stiffened. He looked over at Mila.

“Is someone supervising your mother?”

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