Page 67 of House of Kallan
I gave them a minute and then left Bael’s nursery. It took me a few wrong turns and maybe ten minutes to find my way back to the yard where the three men looked up at me.
“Raleigh find you two then?” Hadrian asked.
I nodded as I joined them again. “I think I should have encouraged him to be with Bael today while they waited to bring him home.”
“Why?” Hadrian asked.
“Because he’s concerned that he’s going to mess up Bael,” I said.
Hadrian frowned. “He may be a cold-hearted killer, but he’s as soft as a marshmallow.”
“Sticky on the inside?” Bellamy asked. “Is that what the inside of a demon feels like?”
Cobalt laughed. “Honey, why don’t you ask them? I’m sure Ryker and Tyrus will be happy to tell you what the inside of a demon feels like.”
Bellamy cackled. “I’m going to, you know. I love when they look at me like they don’t know what to do with me.”
“I promise, they’re very good friends,” Hadrian told me. “It’s almost concerning when the two most inhuman supernaturals among us hang around Bellamy. You’re in for a wild afternoon.”
I grinned.
Tatum
We gatheredas if this were going to be a surprise party. Every guest arrived first, fanning out around the yard. Hadrian and Cobalt had questioned the need for five tables set up for gifts but by the time the last family arrived, and the tables were overflowing onto the deck around the tables, Bellamy gave both my men very pointed looks.
Hadrian raised his hands in surrender.
I’d thought it was going to be overwhelming being surrounded by this many people I didn’t know, but I’d been wrong. It was way beyond that.
I sat off to the side and just watched as everyone gathered and greeted each other. They began in a large gaggle at first but then started breaking out into little groups. I watched my husbands, curious about who they naturally broke off with.
Aden and Lazarus remained together and were joined at a table by two men and two women. One of the women was a fucking sphynx, which I might have fangirled over a little. From a distance, of course.
Hadrian and Toby also stayed together. They were sitting with four men, laughing around a table as theypassed a screen back and forth. Among them was a unicorn, if I wasn’t mistaken. Maybe this was the friend Tyrus had told me about.
Rahael sat with two men in front of one of the firepits. They sat close, their heads bent together as they stared at the tiny screen of a phone. Their conversation looked intense as they talked about what they were looking at. On the opposite side of the fire was Cobalt and a stunningly beautiful woman. Like, she was pinup model beautiful. They sat comfortably as if they’d known each other their entire lives, with the woman poking the fire from time to time.
Then there was Hawthorn sitting with the banshee Ady, Anakin, and another man I spoke to when they dropped off the kids in cages.
It didn’t take me long to recognize that what I was looking at, the little groups broken up throughout the yard, were their more intimate friendship circles. It made me curious as to where the Darkyns fell. I was pretty sure one of them was with Hawthorn—Cyprien, maybe. I’d met him that same night as well. But what about the others? Which of the twenty-one groups did they belong to?
I was also a bit surprised that there were children here. I didn’t remember my men ever mentioning children. The youngest, maybe three or so, belonged to the earthen family. Then there were six witchling kids. Although, I didn’t think the three oldest ones could be counted as kids for much longer. They were well into their teenage years.
However, my attention kept swinging back to Bellamy. He was practically cuddled into the lap of a fucking nightmare! I think I stared for what could be considered a rude amount of time. But I was floored. The nightmare appeared as if he were used to this behavior, but it was clear he wasn’t sure exactly how to deal with Bellamy. His hands remained at the sides, somewhat awkwardly, so he wouldn’t touch Bellamy. And he looked at Bellamy like he had no idea what to make of him.
It was adorable, horrifying, and hilarious all at the same time.
Finally, it was time for the Darkyns to get home. I wasn’t at all surprised to find that Tyrus was the one holding Bael. Immediately, he was surrounded as those in the backyard got up to take a peek. I watched with a smile from my vantage point. Tyrus beamed as everyone cooed over his baby, going on and on about how adorable he was.
There were passing comments about ‘I bet he’ following with what he’d turn out to be capable of. I listened to the observations with fascination. So many of the traits they saw that I hadn’t noticed had me reconsidering a lot.
Maybe I was simply too close to these kids. I was always looking at them with a medical eye. A scientific outlook. Comparing them to what the world already knew.
That was the wrong strategy to go with.
“Hi.”
I looked up, slightly startled. Two men pulled up a chair on either side of me, one holding one of the witchling kids. Not the youngest, but I thought he was probably nine or ten. He eyed me with curiosity but didn’t say anything as the man settled him on his lap.
