Epilogue

My mate was not happy. I hadn't seen her in such a state since the first day we met and she demanded I let her go. Like then, I was not giving her what she most wanted. Freedom to come and go as she pleased.

"We have no choice, Bexley. Now that you're with child, there is no way you're going anywhere without me. And going through the portal to reach my home in Central America is not an option either."

Lovely breasts that would soon nourish our child were nicely plumped up by her arms-crossed position, tempting my sanity. To say I was distracted was an understatement. But I refused to be swayed.

"Trace, you say I'm pregnant. I say I need scientific proof. I just want to drive into town, get a pregnancy test, or ten, and have it verified. I don't see the harm in that."

Of course she didn't. She hadn't spent centuries battling demons and their ilk, maintaining humankind"s survival. And she had little defense against an attack until she figured out what her new power would be. She, Britt, and Rhia had gone through the entire grimoire that had appeared to Britt shortly after she'd mated with Quinn. They'd still yet to decipher all the spells specific to battling immortals. Spells that would be needed to keep them safe should they become separated from their mates.

Even though we'd gone through the binding ceremony last week after Gavin's return, I wasn't convinced it was enough to protect Bexley from being immune to Dante's powers. Call me overprotective, but it's the hill I decided to stand on, no matter how much my mate tried to seduce me so she could go shopping.

The fact that we'd mated just hours before she'd been abducted right from under my nose by a lesser being proved me right in my command that she remain in the castle.

"What if all three of us went together? Britt needs to buy some more supplies for the nursery and Rhia's been having weird cravings and wants to stock up. She's almost out of Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch cereal, and pork rinds." Bexley visibly shivered.

I didn't quite get the combo either, but I'd been reading a book on human pregnancy and knew women did experience odd desires for certain foods. And for some, lots of sex in the second trimester. I was looking forward to experiencing this, but then again, we were already having lots of sex.

My brothers finally entered the great room, saving me from the three-to-one odds. "Well, did you find out anything?"

Quinn, Keir, Roane, and Gavin each shook their heads. The search for Mac, who'd gone off on his own to find his mate, was not going well. That's where they'd been when Bex and I had been locked up by Athena.

"I'm not sure why he took this on himself. He's been a freaking mess since we saw his mate on that tablet of Dante's last month in Chichen Itza, and thanks for being there, by the way," Quinn griped.

"There were five of you, and it turned out okay in the end. I was starting to molt." I tucked Bex in closer, then whispered in her ear, "He just likes to ride my ass because he's the oldest."

"Not true. You could have sent word instead of sulking and hiding from us." Quinn turned to his mate, Britt. "Come sit, you look tired."

She joined him on the leather couch and sighed. "If you insist. So, tell us, what did the almighty Tiegh have to say this time?"

Our father hadn't given us much to go on when he'd shown up after I'd regenerated, but he'd given us a location where we might find Mac, and possibly his mate, Sierra, who I'd recently learned Dante claims to have captured. She'd looked as if she'd been roughed up when they'd all been in the temple retrieving the first Emerald Tablet, and Dante had shown them on a live feed on his handheld tablet.

"So, Sierra is supposed to be Britt's cousin, but Britt didn't recognize her. But Mac claims the mating bond kicked in as soon as he saw her. But he didn't bother to tell any of us until right before he disappeared."

"Sounds like, Mac," I mumbled.

"Actually, I sounds like all of you. No offense," Rhia chimed in.

She wasn't wrong.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Gavin asked.

"Tiegh thinks we should wait until Mac reaches out, but he says Mac is somewhere in Iceland."

"Iceland? Not exactly grizzly-friendly. And why would a Dante pick one of the coldest places on earth to hide one of our mates. I mean Arizona seems more his climate."

I watched Bex absorb the back-and-forth of my brothers. She'd been adapting well to her new normal, and wanted to help, not just with the search for the two still missing tablets, but with anything else that was needed as part of our growing family. No wonder I loved her.

"Well, you could say it out loud." Bex poked me in the ribs.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in my head when we're sitting next to each other." I could feel heat rising up my neck. "I've said the words out loud."

"During sex doesn't count." Bex shot back.

"Ew." Keir plugged his ears.

"TMI," Quinn groused.

"Say the words, you dope," Roane laughed.

"But we're not done discussing Mac and his mate." I'm more than willing to say, but in private.

Bex patiently waited as I squirmed.

Quinn waved off my excuse. "Mac's a big boy. If he needs our help, he'll reach out. And if he doesn't soon, well then, we'll just head to Iceland."

Looking around the room, I realized Bex deserved to be told in front of my family. I should have been telling her multiple times a day.

Turning toward my mate, I lifted her left hand and slip on the diamond ring I've been waiting for just the right moment to give her. It's a human tradition she never brought up once, which made me want to gift it to her all the more.

"I love you, witch."

"I love you, phoenix, and your ridges."

Groans filled the room, but I couldn't care less.

My mate was in my arms, carrying my child, and she'd saved my life.

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