by C. W. Gray
“You might consider answering our questions before we let her go,” Silas interrupted with a grin. His fangs flashed in the overhead light.
Cinnamon chose that moment to peek out of Quigley’s unruly curls and hiss at Charles.
Charles’s face drained of color. “That’s a black stinger. Keep it away.”
“Don’t worry about the damn lizard,” Renee said, growling. “Worry about me.”
Charles shook. “No one said Quigley was related to the Chief of Enforcement and the Lord Admiral.”
“Why was anyone discussing me?” Quigley asked, suddenly having the urge for some jerky. Gram made the best rabbit jerky, but the only rabbit close to them was Mo’s pet, Abbot, and there was no way Quigley was catching and eating a pet, especially not one that visited Fire every morning for a lettuce nibble break.
Renee’s comm chimed, and they reluctantly let her go. She pulled it from her pocket and read whatever message was urgent enough for communications to interrupt their interview.
“Charles,” Silas said. “Continue.”
Charles looked conflicted for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind. “My cousin married into your old clan. Dustin is the new clan elder since your sister murdered his father.”
Thoughts of jerky disappeared, and Quigley leaned forward. “Go on.”
“Dustin can’t let his wife’s betrayal go,” Charles said, swallowing hard. “It’s a dishonor.”
“There is no way anyone of my previous clan would get on a ship,” Quigley said, shaking his head. “What do they have to do with the trainees that aren’t trainees?”
“Dustin did get on a ship,” Charles said, biting his lip. “He brought five of his best warriors with him. They know where you live, everyone does. They’re going to kill his welp. It’s his right, and you took that away from him. He wants to kill you too, but we weren’t sure if he could manage both.”
Cyrus. Quigley turned for the door. He felt Cinnamon scrambling to keep his balance.
Renee grabbed his arm. “Wait. That message was from Leti. The threat is over. This Dustin asshole and his warriors are dead. Cy and Fire are okay.”
“They’re dead?” Charles looked horrified.
“You shouldn’t worry about them,” Renee said, smiling sweetly. “You’re mine now, asshole. You commit a crime on Charybdis Station and you lose any diplomatic rights. Bowan will understand.”
Quigley didn’t stay to hear the man’s pleas. He hurried from the room and through the halls of the Enforcement Headquarters.
Silas followed behind him, looking at his own comm. “Oh shit. Uh, Quigley, I’m supposed to distract you for another hour.”
Quigley stopped and turned. He stared at Silas, brow arched.
Silas shrugged. “It’s what Fire wants. He doesn’t want you to see the bodies, so they’re cleaning them up.”
“I’m not sitting on my ass while my mate suffers.”
“He’s fine,” Silas said, shrugging.
“He never wanted to kill anyone ever again.” Quigley shook his head, anger bubbling up. “I brought trouble to his door and ruined it.”
Silas blinked. “He, uh, didn’t kill them. From what Shae said in his message, Sebastian and Kelly kicked ass. They didn’t give Fire the chance to do anything.”
Quigley felt a smile slowly crawl across his face. “They did?”
Silas nodded. “Now, why don’t we go pick up the kids? You know Fire likes cuddles, and they’ll make him happy.”
Quigley sighed. “Okay, but I want some jerky too, and maybe some goat milk.”
Silas wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, sure. Jerky and goat milk.”
“So Dustin is dead?” David asked, leaning into Quigley’s side. His son liked whispering to Quigley’s baby bump often, so he could usually be found near Quigley’s stomach when they were together.
“He is,” Quigley answered, walking slowly to the house. His mate wanted time, so Quigley was doing his best. The stop for food and to pick up the kids hadn’t taken as long as Silas would have liked.
Aster walked on his other side, her hand in his. “Good. He deserved it for killing Aunt Sara.”
“Oh, thank the stars,” Silas muttered when they drew close to home. There were no bodies or anything really to suggest a struggle had taken place in front of their house.
Fire and Cyrus were watching them through the front window. Something eased in Quigley when he saw his mate’s smile. He can’t be too upset if he’s smiling like that. Fire wasn’t exactly adept at hiding his emotions.
Fire opened the front door and handed him Cyrus. “Our baby is okay.”
“I never thought he wouldn’t be.” Quigley leaned down and kissed Fire, taking the time to run his tongue between Fire’s lips and taste him.
“Ugh,” David said. “Aster, they’re kissing.”
“You didn’t have to tell me,” she said, pushing David’s shoulder.
“If I have to know, you have to know.” David ran for the kitchen. “Where’s Gracie? I need to tell her about school.”
Aster sighed and moved deeper into the house. “The goat better not be in the house again.”
Quigley leaned back, breaking their kiss. “I missed you.”
“I always miss you,” Fire said, pouting. “Cy and I should be able to go to work with you.”
Cy leaned up and gave Quigley a slobbery baby kiss on his chin. “Dada.”
“I’m glad you two are alright.” Quigley let the guilt fill him. He preferred to face his feelings head-on instead of ignoring them. “I’m sorry I brought all of this to you.”
Fire snorted. “Silly mate. You’ve only ever brought me happy times, even though you stole Cinnamon and break my pretty underwear all the time.”
“They like it when I do that,” Quigley said, smiling against Fire’s neck.
“That’s what you say, but Death says he never knew anyone who can talk to underwear.” Fire patted Quigley’s baby bump. “Are you hungry?”
“Do we have any jerky?” Quigley tried for a pitiful look. “Maybe some potatoes?”
Fire gave him a suspicious look. “Mo said you were looking funny at Abbot yesterday. Plus, Abbot told me that you commented on the size of his haunches.”
Quigley smiled, going for innocent this time. “I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
“You’re lucky we got Ma and Juniper,” Fire said, pulling him toward the door. “They made all kinds of yummy stuff. I’ll get you a plate after you see your surprise.”
“What surprise?” Quigley’s mouth watered as he thought of platters of delicious food.
“Dad, Gracie and all the food is at the park,” David yelled, running in from the backyard. “I’m gonna go get Aster.”
Quigley watched Fire. “Hmm, now I really need to know what the surprise is. It can’t be the food because they feed us all the time.”
Fire gave him a shy smile and pulled him out the front door. “I wanted you to have desert sunrises and sunsets, so your bones will talk to you again and you’ll be happy.”
Quigley shook his head. “All I need to be happy is you, little flame. You’re more beautiful and special to me than all the sunrises and sunsets in existence.”
“Don’t talk so pretty,” Fire said, giving him a heated look. “We can’t be naughty right now.”
Quigley started to say something but forgot everything when he saw the mini desert at the opposite edge of the park. It was about an acre and looked like it was plucked from Burnished Outpost. At the center of the desert was a large spiny snake tree. Its thin, center branches held a brightly shining circular orb.
As soon as sand was under his feet, his bones seems to sigh in relief. He had known he missed Burnished Outpost, but he hadn’t realized how much.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking around at the people gathered around them. The kids were back from school, and most of their neighbors and friends were there.
Silas patted his shoulder. “Fire
wanted something special for you.”
“We built you a sun,” Beck said, grinning proudly. “It’ll rise and set with the station’s public lighting settings.”
Kelly waved her hands across the sand. “Over this lovely little dessert that we’ve named the Kelly Desert.”
“We didn’t name it that,” Fire said, sticking his tongue out at his arch-nemesis.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “What they’re saying is that every morning and evening, you can come here to get your fill of desert sunrises and sunsets. Sheesh, these two are worse than Rizzie and Sami.”
Quigley blinked back his tears. “Fire, you did all this for me?”
Fire gave him a nervous look. “Do you like it?”
Quigley pulled him into his arms. “I love it, Fire. I love you for thinking of this. The sand under my feet is exactly what I needed.”
David and Aster sat in the sand, twin looks of wonder on their faces. Jellybean rolled down a hill, building up speed before crashing into Shae.
Fire held Cyrus close and watched Quigley, love in his eyes.
This is Helara. It has to be, Quigley thought.
Gram huffed and gave Quigley a knowing look. “He’s our heart, isn’t he?”
Quigley nodded, unable to find the right words. He stared into Fire’s swirling eyes. “You’re my Helara. The heart of my clan. My little flame.”
Epilogue
Five years later
Sara dragged Cyrus behind her as she ran down the street. “Seshi! We need you,” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Gretty and her best friend Hazel paused in their game of chase to stare at them, but Sara didn’t stop to say hi like she normally would. “It’s an urgency, Seshi!”
Cyrus laughed and flipped one of her curls in her face. “He can’t hear ya. He’s like a thousand steps away.”
Sara blew hard and the curl bounced back, covering Cinnamon again. Daddy said she had her papa’s hair, and she was starting to understand why he kept it short. Cinnamon liked living on her head though. Papa said it was because her hair looked like a black stinger nest.
She skidded to a stop, her clomping boots keeping her upright. Doin’ their job, she thought with a grin.
Cyrus was a lot more graceful with his own stop. “Why we got to run all the time? David says you wouldn’t need the ugly boots if you didn’t run all the time.”
“Shut it. I love my clomping boots,” Sara said, running into Seshi’s backyard. That was where she could usually find their best friend. “Seshi, we need you.”
Seshi looked up, his eerie black eyes dancing with amusement. “What did you break this time?”
Sara fell into a sprawl next to him, pulling Cyrus down with her. She handed the box to Seshi. “Aster’s music box fell off the dresser when Cy ran into it.”
“I ran into it ‘cause you was pulling me around,” Cyrus said, rolling his eyes. “Can you fix it, Seshi? This is the one Xu gave Aster on their first date. She listens to it all the time.”
Seshi looked it over, poking and prodding it with his driver. “I can fix it. Give me a little time.”
Sara groaned and flopped back in the grass, barely missing Seshi’s dog, Midge. “My life’s over. Aster’s gonna kill me if you don’t hurry, and she’ll let Wooley eat me.”
“Daddy and Papa won’t let her kill you,” Cyrus said, voice worried. “David says they like you a little.”
“They have another baby,” Sara said, working up to a wail. “Petey is nicer than me.”
Seshi chuckled. “Jellybean says they won’t let Aster get rid of you. He remembers when you were born and says your daddies were really happy.”
“Thanks, Jellybean,” she said, sighing heavily. A familiar weight pressed into her side, and she patted at the guinea pig spirit.
A shadow passed overhead, and she sat up quickly, picking up Jellybean and holding him against her chest. “I got to go, guys. Princess is calling.”
Cyrus laughed and felt around until he could grab Jellybean. “Remember to take off the boots. You cried last time you burnt them.”
Sara vibrated in place as she pulled off her boots and dress. Her friends were used to her undressing and didn’t pay her any mind as she shifted into her elemental form.
Her body melted away and all she was became a small ribbon of flames. She shot through the air and caught up with Princess Buttercup. She flew beside him as they headed around the neighborhood.
“Hey, Sara,” Milo said, waving from the back of the Fire Veil dragon. It was just him, so he’d get in trouble with his daddies. He wasn’t supposed to ride without an adult.
Sara pushed the worry away. Flying was for fun, not worries.
Also by C.W. Gray
Writing as C.W. Gray
Charybdis Station Chronicles – science fiction/fantasy, mpreg
The Blue Solace Series
The Mercenary’s Mate
The General’s Mate
The Soldier’s Mate
The Lieutenant’s Mate
The Engineer’s Mate
The Captain’s Mate
The Rebel’s Mate
Charybdis Station
Death’s Mate
Fire’s Mate
Rune and Silas – Coming Soon
The Hobson Hills Omegas – non-shifter, mpreg, omegaverse
Falling for the Omega
Snow Kisses for My Omega
“The Beta’s Love Song”
Romancing the Omega
“Bennett’s Dream”
Healing the Omega
“Justin’s Journey”
A Pint for my Omega
Unraveling the Omega
“Grey’s Gift”
Hobson Hills Shorts: Volume One
“Zoe’s Happily Ever After”
The Alpha’s Christmas Wish
Convincing the Alpha
Loving my Omega (Sam’s book) – Coming Soon
The Sheriff’s Omega (McKenzie’s book) – Coming Soon
Admiring his Omega (Cane’s book) – Coming Soon
Holiday Omegas Shorts – holiday short stories from the world of The Silver Isles – paranormal, mpreg, omegaverse
“Cauldron Cake Pops and a Witch’s Kiss”
“Sugar Cookies and a Witch’s Love”
“Candy Hearts and a Witch’s Ring”
“Carrot Cake and a Witch’s Surprise”
Sonny and Leo (Anthology with books 1-4)
Muddy Paws and a Fae’s Wings – Coming in October 2020
The Silver Isles – paranormal, mermen, mpreg, omegaverse
The Guppy Prince
The Not so Little Merman
“A Mate from the Deep”
The Sea Witch – Coming Soon
Writing as Chloe Gray
A Little Bit of Perfect – contemporary, non-mpreg, Daddy/Little age play
Adler and Orrick
Tobias and Beau – Coming Soon
If you would like to keep up with releases, please like and follow me on my Facebook author page, join C.W. Gray’s Reading Nook on Facebook, or visit my website at (https://www.cwgray-author.com).
