1. Kian

Kian leaned back in the plush limo seat. "I don"t know about you, but I"m glad to be back on solid ground."

"I"m so happy to go home," Syssi murmured, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb their sleeping daughter.

Allegra was nestled in her car seat between them, the soft, steady vibration of the car and the muted whoosh of the tires against the pavement lulling her to sleep. She was dreaming, her lashes fluttering against her cherubic cheeks and her sweet rosebud lips moving as if she was sucking on a pacifier even though she hadn"t had one for a while now.

Kian wanted to lean down and kiss her upturned little nose, fluttering eyelids, or even just her tiny fingers, but he knew better than to rouse his daughter. It was best to let her sleep and wake up naturally.

Across from them, Annani sat flanked by her Odus, her gaze on her granddaughter and her lips upturned in a soft smile. "I adore this little spitfire," she said quietly before shifting her eyes to Kian. "I am surprised that Okidu agreed to relinquish control of the limousine to Anandur."

"I didn"t give him a choice. My penthouse is already full, and I needed him to open Amanda"s penthouse for the other two couples."

Coordinating the safe and discreet departure of so many people from the ship was a feat of logistical planning.

Shai and Bridget had worked to arrange most of the details, ensuring that clan members would not travel in large groups to the same destinations. That would have attracted unwanted attention, which needed to be avoided under normal circumstances and doubly so now, when there was a chance that members of the Brotherhood might be waiting for them to follow them back to their strongholds.

Thankfully, that didn"t seem to be the case, but Kian didn"t regret going the extra step to secure his people. For a change, Sari had agreed to follow the safety protocol without grumbling about him being paranoid.

She and her people were en route to the airport, their flights booked to different European cities before they eventually returned to Edinburgh. There, nondescript vehicles had been parked in prearranged locations scattered throughout the city, allowing them to slip back into their lives with minimal fuss.

The Alaskan contingent took similar precautions before arriving at several private airports in Alaska. They were later picked up by Oshidu, who had stayed behind in the sanctuary to fly them back home.

The last piece of the puzzle was the rescued women, who had been collected by bus to take them to Ojai. Kian authorized the temporary lifting of the village lockdown so Vanessa could leave and make the necessary arrangements for them.

So far, everything seemed to be working like a well-oiled machine, and Kian was slowly relaxing his death grip on the phone.

No calls meant no trouble, and the further the limo got from the port, the more he allowed himself to relax.

The cruise was supposed to have been a respite from his stressful life, but instead of ten days of celebrations, he had acquired new worries.

It was all good.

The Fates demanded recompense for the many blessings they had bestowed on the clan, and he was glad to pay the toll, especially when it involved rescuing a group of women from a fate worse than death and eliminating the maggots who had committed unimaginable acts of cruelty against defenseless villagers.

Still, it had been a most troubling surprise to find out that the Doomers were working with the Mexican drug cartels. By rescuing the women and destroying the Doomer team that had been responsible for the massacre, the clan had poked the hornets" nest.

All the civilians and most of the Guardians were safely on their way home, but he was worried about the human staff and the few Guardians who had remained behind to protect them.

Once they were done cleaning up and preparing the ship for her next journey, they would also be on their way, and Kian would finally allow himself to relax fully.

Still, despite the unexpected trouble and the stress, the cruise had been a great success in terms of its stated purpose. It had provided a safe environment for his clan to gather and celebrate the eternal bond between ten couples.

It had been a little too long, though, and Kian was happy to be heading home.