Chapter 14

"Ugh, this better come out of my hair." I tried to shake the last remnants of what looked suspiciously like slime from my bangs. Where had we even been around slime?

Oh, ew. The giants. So gross!

Kendra had just portaled us into the backyard with a flick of her wrist.

Zara tried to use the water hose to get some of the paint and chocolate off—arms flailing, shoes flying, and landed with a squelch in the flowerbed. "Oops, sorry, flowers."

"Right, let's get inside before the neighbors start questioning our choice of yard art." I motioned towards the back door. We were a sight, three women covered head-to-toe in otherworldly goo, walking into a house like it was the most normal thing in the world.

As for me, being a vampire-dragon hybrid had its perks, but at moments like these, I missed the simplicity of just being human. Though humans didn't get to kick rogue demon butt across dimensions, so there's that.

We stumbled into the kitchen, expecting to find someone in there. Instead, we got blessed silence. Not a soul in sight. That's when the ruckus hit us like a wrecking ball, a symphony of shouting from the living room.

"What the heck?" I asked, shaking my head. Kendra and I exchanged a look.

Zara just peeked over our shoulders, wide-eyed.

We tiptoed to the entryway like we were sneaking into a dragon's den. Jax was red-faced, hollering at Luke about something that probably made sense three arguments ago. Ransom, ever the peacemaker, was trying to play referee between them.

"Hey, stop yelling!" Ransom growled, but nobody listened.

Across the room, Howard was giving Ollie an earful.

Grim and Nash were locked in a verbal tug-of-war while Cleo, bless her heart, tried to get a word in. "Stop it, you two! You're worse than toddlers!"

Claudia was using Paige as a human–er vampire–shield against Ivy, who looked ready to claw her eyes out or throw a punch. Maybe both.

In the corner, Flint snoozed on the couch like he was in some tranquil meadow, not a yelling match.

Goldie, in her sleek cat form, lounged next to him, unfazed by the chaos.

Janice sat beside the sleeping dragon, reading People Magazine as if it were any old day. Adalinda and Izora stood off to the side, surveying the scene with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Then they looked up and saw us and their smiles widened.

"Welcome home," Adalinda said. Her voice cut through the noise like a knife through butter.

The room fell eerily silent as everyone turned to gawk at us. Then, all hell broke loose again.

"Where have you been?"

"Are you okay?"

"Is that... mud?"

"Is that paint?"

"It's been a day, Hailey. You've been gone an entire day!" Jax's voice boomed over the rest, his eyes boring into mine.

"A whole day?" Kendra groaned, rubbing her temple. "No wonder I'm so exhausted."

"Exhausted doesn't cover it." I plucked a leaf from my hair.

Jax pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back. "I'm a mess."

"I don't care." He kissed my forehead and walked us to the stairs. "Let's get you cleaned up."

I loved my mate. He was always taking care of me, but I also knew he wanted some alone time with me to make sure I was okay.

Kendra moved to the front door. "I'm going home to shower. I'll be back in a few."

Instantly Howard was at her side, pulling her into a loving embrace. She sighed and leaned into him, which made me smile. My bestie and my ex-husband were so happy together, and I was glad they'd found one another.

Zara excused herself and headed for the back door to head to Wade's to shower. We all agreed to meet back in my living room in an hour.

In less than an hour later, I was freshly showered and dressed. Jax and I took our time getting me clean. Ahem, among other things. But now it was time to head downstairs to fill everyone in on what happened.

I still couldn't believe we'd been gone for twenty-four hours. Jax had said it had felt like I'd died because he couldn't feel me through our bond. It was safe to say it would be a while before he let me out of his sight.

I was okay with that.

We settled on the couch where I picked up Flint and cuddled him. Jax scooped Goldie up, who was still sleeping in cat form.

Once everyone reassembled in the living room, Kendra, Zara, and I took turns telling everyone about our trip through the reality from hell.

"Okay, so there we were, knee-deep in chocolate, when—" The tale of our misadventures was cut short by an insistent knock at the front door.

"Seriously?" Kendra threw her hands up. "If that's Luci coming to gloat, I swear I'll blast him into another reality—like the sticky one we just left."

Adalinda, who'd been watching us with regal amusement, suddenly stilled. Her sharp gaze fixed on me, and she cocked her head as if listening to something beyond human hearing. "I don't know who is on the other side of that door," she said, her voice low and measured, "but it's a dragon."

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