by W. J. May
He and Luke had arrived an hour before—along with Gabriel and Natasha. For a while, the celebration had been going splendidly. But when a stripper dressed as a fireman arrived, carrying a contraceptive-bouquet, they’d decided to make themselves scarce until things blew over.
The adults were out on the patio, speaking softly and sipping wine. The kids were sprawled on the couches in the living room, feasting on licorice and taffy and whatever else they could find.
“Not yet.” Aria plopped down beside him, levitating a chocolate kiss off the floor. “Did you forget to tell Aunt Molly that you didn’t want a sex-themed party this year?”
Lily rolled her eyes with a little blush. “My mom hasn’t even seen it yet—she’s still not home.” Her dark eyes flickered to the foyer with a mixture of amusement and fear. “I was kind of hoping they’d melt before she came back.”
“Still not home?” James repeated in surprise, casting his sister a jealous look before picking up a chocolate by hand. “It’s almost six. And where’s Jason? Isn’t he supposed to be—”
“Sorry I’m late.” There was a whish of air as Jason flew over the backrest and landed beside them on the couch. “I got a little sidetracked by the front door.”
Benji snorted into his candy as Lily shook her head with a disapproving tsk.
Yes, there was one person Aria didn’t regard as a cousin. But he was family, nonetheless.
When Gabriel and Natasha set off into London that fateful night, burning ashes still falling on the street, the friends had been shocked when they returned with a trembling five-year-old boy.
He was an orphan. The only son of a childhood friend. A blonde-haired Australian pilot who’d been murdered by Vivian’s forces that very night. They hadn’t missed him at the battle; they’d never expected him to attend. And they’d had no earthly idea that he’d fathered a child.
As the story went, Gabriel had been kneeling in the wreckage of a smoldering apartment, holding Wyatt’s body and feeling desperately for a pulse, when a sound caught his attention. The broken whimper of a child trying to hold back their tears. He got up immediately, running down the burnt hallway and kicking open a door...only to discover the last thing in the world he expected.
A nursery.
A little boy was hiding under the bed, hands clamped over his mouth like he was trying very hard not to scream. His eyes were red with smoke and his body was in a state of shock, but he held out his arms as Gabriel reached towards him, letting himself be carried out onto the lawn.
Before that night, they hadn’t known anything about him. They didn’t even know his name.
But when he said it was Jason, a strange expression had come over Gabriel. He took one look at the tear-stained face before kneeling in the rubble and taking his tiny hands.
“Would you like to come home with me?”
And just like that...the family got a little bigger.
It wasn’t an easy transition. It had taken three days for him to stop crying. Another three days for him to be able to sleep. Another three days before he said his first words.
The day after that, Gabriel adopted him.
“Give me a kiss?”
Aria’s head snapped up to see the boy in question looking straight at her, blue eyes twinkling as he reached out a hand. For a second, she just sat there. Then she remembered the chocolates.
“Yeah...sure.”
Without looking, she levitated some into his open palm—avoiding all contact, ignoring the way Lily was staring from across the room. She didn’t know whether it was meant to be a joke. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt too hot sitting beside him, wondering where to put her hands.
Before she could figure it out, the door burst open one final time.
A breathtaking woman swept inside, one who looked like a carbon cut-out of the birthday girl in the lilac dress. She took one look at the sculptures before calling curiously down the hall.
“Was someone recreating Caligula in the entryway?”
Lily’s face lit up as she sprang to her feet, racing down the hall to the foyer. The others followed quickly after. The adults even ventured back inside, sensing a tentative peace.
“I’ve told you before, Jules,” Angel chided her husband, gesturing to a group of particularly vulgar men, “do this on your own time. Today is about your daughter.”
He grinned and slipped an arm around her waist as Lily skidded to a stop at their feet.
“Where were you?” she demanded. “I’ve been waiting all day.”
Angel didn’t say a word. She simply kissed her daughter on the forehead and handed her a silver key. Lily’s hand curled around it in confusion, looking first to her mom and then to her dad.
“What’s it for?”
Julian just smiled with a mysterious shrug. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
She actually stomped her foot, unable to stop grinning. “But Dad—”
“Dinner’s ready!”
The handcuffs were gone, the lightning storm was over, and Molly had assumed her self-appointed role of fairy godmother once more. Ribbons of twinkle lights laced across the ceiling, clusters of lilies cascaded off the shelves. The table was draped in a shimmering gauze and groaning under the weight of silver dishes—each overflowing with the birthday girl’s favorite foods.
There were fillets of salmon and lightly frosted pastries, tiers of oysters alongside a spicy Hungarian stew. A bizarre combination by any standard, but the table had a little bit of everything, right down to the crystal jars stuffed with vanilla wafers on either side.
For good measure, Molly had manhandled several of the larger statues into the dining room, covering them with aprons and balancing trays with apple cider and champagne in their icy arms.
Overall, it was just your typical birthday party.
If everyone living in the house had gone a bit mad.
“It’s perfect,” Lily breathed, looking slightly dazzled by the spectacle of it all. “Thank you.”
Molly beamed in response, removing the crystal band to press a delicate tiara into Lily’s hair. Julian came up behind her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO in it wasn’t the combination of food, or the random use of magic, or even the obscene ice sculptures that made the dinner so strange.
It was the conversation happening around the table.
“—if he was that afraid of llamas, he should never have come to Costa Rica,” Rae was saying practically, pouring herself another glass of chardonnay. “And how was I supposed to know the guy was allergic to foam?”
Wine had been flowing, spirits were high, and given that it was a birthday, the adults had become uncharacteristically lax about their ‘no mission talk in front of the kids’ rule.
“He’s seeing a trauma therapist, Kerrigan.” Luke threw a napkin at her with a laugh. “Give the poor guy a break!”
“Don’t,” Angel advised automatically. “I wouldn’t.”
Shocker.
Devon and Julian exchanged a quick grin.
“And I won’t either,” Rae declared self-righteously. “I just dropped off the package; I had no idea what was inside. And as I recall,” she raised her voice to drown the laughter that followed, “I’m not the only person here to have accidentally mailed someone home in a box.”
The room fell quiet for a moment as the kids looked around on a swivel. Then, one by one, every set of eyes turned to Gabriel. He leaned back in his chair, looking supremely unconcerned.
“That wasn’t an accident. It was intentional.”
The table roared with laughter once again—no one louder than Jason. He and Benji had both hit that ‘cool’ stage at around the same time where most teens tended to alienate, but the guys adored their parents, and Jason flat out hero-worshipped his dad—idolizing his every moment.
And on that note...
Aria turned suddenly to her own father.
&nb
sp; “Hey, what’s the story with that picture of you and Uncle Jules in the Oratory? The one where you’re both covered in slime?”
Devon leaned back in his chair, flashing Julian a thoughtful frown. “...covered in slime?”
“Could have been any of a number of occasions,” the psychic replied.
“I could always check for you,” Natasha offered from across the table, eyes dancing with a knowing smile. “Better me than your wife...”
Devon flashed her a grin before brightening in a moment of sudden illumination. “Oh—the slime! It was actually algae, remember?” He picked up his knife without thinking, twirling it into a distracted blur. “We followed that SC into the aquarium and couldn’t get out of the way before he shattered the glass. That’s when I found out that I’m allergic to jellyfish.”
Julian chuckled, tracing a finger along his wife’s hand.
“The photo was taken by a group of Chinese tourists. We gave it to Carter for Christmas—”
“—and he made us clean all the Oratory training mats by hand.”
The story ended with another round of laughter.
“What’s an SC?” Benji asked, reaching casually for a glass of wine.
Devon slapped down his wrist.
“It’s a suspected civilian. We didn’t know yet if the guy had any ink. Coincidentally, if that’s the case, you probably shouldn’t chase the guy into an aquarium.”
“Does that happen a lot?” Lily asked curiously. “That you’d be sent after someone without knowing whether or not they had a tatù?”
“Sometimes,” Luke replied. “It depends on the reconnaissance.”
“You usually find out pretty quickly,” Molly added. She and Rae shared a quick look, then looked away with matching smiles—both remembering the same thing.
“We should go to the aquarium,” James murmured, playing with the edge of his plate.
The entire table turned to look at him, then glanced away with secret smiles.
“We could go this weekend,” Gabriel offered, flicking Lily’s tiara. “Make it part of the birthday festivities. I’ll buy you a dolphin at the very end.”
Both Angel and Julian sat up in alarm—knowing that he was only slightly joking about those sorts of things—and Benji let out a theatrical sigh.
“That sounds like so much fun.” His long legs stretched beneath the table and kicked Aria’s chair. “Doesn’t it sound like so much fun, Arie?”
She caught on immediately, sinking her chin into her hands.
“Yeah, it does. Getting to spend the whole day together. One big happy family...”
As if they’d rehearsed it, Jason leapt on board.
“For Lily,” he said quietly, a portrait of regret. “Something we could do for Lily.”
The adults watched with the same puzzled expression as they turned their eyes to Luke.
“...if only we didn’t have a history exam the next morning.”
The women snorted sarcastically, while the men picked up on the game. Gabriel shamelessly melted Luke’s utensils, while Devon and Julian crossed their arms at the same time.
“What the heck, Fodder?”
“Are you trying to ruin my kid’s birthday party?”
Luke rolled his eyes, shaking drops of liquid metal off his hands. “Yeah, Jules. I’ve been waiting sixteen years. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”
“Exams on a Monday,” Devon scoffed. “I’d do it all so much better...”
He’d certainly been offered the job enough times. There were even a few months, when Carter went on sabbatical, that he was made acting headmaster. But he was an agent at heart. He wanted to be in the field. Julian had guest lectured. So had Molly. Rae and Gabriel had done a demonstration in the Oratory that melted part of the roof and was still talked about to that day.
But Luke was the only one who’d been able to balance a job with the Knights and a job with the school. It was a fact he was about to rub in their faces, when Angel held up a silencing hand.
“I think...it’s time for presents.”
In a flash the teenagers regressed to toddlers and bolted from their chairs, sprinting to the living room with the Deckers’ giant black wolf yapping excitedly at their heels. The adults followed along at a more dignified pace, carrying their glasses of wine.
Between the adrenaline of the others and the fact that Lily was inherently shy, the procession of gifts was over rather quick.
Benji got her a new weapon. James got her a book on art. Jason had given his already, and Aria while swore her gift was going to be the best of all she wasn’t telling anyone what it was.
The parents were a bit more extravagant.
A couture gown, a miniaturized hovercraft, twelve weeks of art lessons by the Baltic Sea. At one point, Gabriel came forward and presented her with a pair of long silver knives—so lightweight and slender they looked almost like feathers, exquisitely crafted by his own magical hands.
“They’re beautiful,” she gasped, stroking her finger down the blade. It whispered a sound in reply, like the distant ringing of a bell. “But I don’t know how to fight with two blades.”
Gabriel looked down with a patient smile, same as he had with Angel all those years ago. “I’ll teach you.”
There were still the mysterious keys to consider, and it looked like Lily was about to get her parents to break, when there was a sudden knock at the door.
“Expecting anyone else?” Rae asked curiously.
Julian shook his head and pushed to his feet, weaving his way through the cast erotic of sculptures. The more they’d melted, the worse they’d become. By the time he got to the foyer, most were looking disturbingly aggressive—with completely unrealistic proportions.
He pulled open the door, then lifted his eyes.
The neighbors were gawking, the street was shut down. Half a dozen tinted-glass vehicles were blocking both exits, while half a dozen more were parked on his lawn. As he stood there the doors opened and men in matching suits poured onto the grass, weapons holstered at their sides.
He stared for a moment, then lowered his eyes to the shy, blushing teenager on his porch.
“Sorry about the cars, Mr. Decker. I just wanted to drop something off for Lily.”
When the Kerrigan Gang took a protection detail for the future King and Queen of England at just sixteen years old, they could have never guessed it would be the first of many. That what had started as a professional relationship would soon develop into sincere affection. That as the years went past they’d be exchanging texts and recipes. That they’d attend each other’s weddings, attend each other’s coronations. That their children would grow up playing together on the palace lawns.
If only it had stopped there, but in Lily Decker’s case the relationship had progressed a bit further. The Crown Prince of England, heir to the British throne, had developed a little crush.
Julian stared at him another moment, then suppressed a little sigh.
“That’s all right, Henry. Come on in.”
As the teenage prince filed past him, he waved to the security with a tight smile. Royal protocol was to check the house, but they knew him. The gang had been to the palace many times.
“Hey, stranger!”
“What a surprise!”
The others greeted the prince warmly as he walked inside, clutching what looked like a drugstore birthday bag in his hand. Even Arrow, the resident wolf, gave him an affectionate nudge as he joined the rest of them in the living room—pausing in the entryway with a self-conscious wave.
“Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to intrude—”
“Not at all,” Rae interrupted warmly, wondering if the over-mannered young man realized he started almost every sentence with an apology. “Lily’s just upstairs. She’ll be right down.”
Julian shot her a look of betrayal and poured himself another drink. Angel was just as aloof, but seemed to think nothing of the fact that a prince had fallen for her daughter. If anything, she
seemed to have expected as much. As did her overprotective big brother.
“Hey, kid.”
Henry ducked with a grin as Gabriel ruffled his hair.
It had been impossible to resist the enchanting girl who lived beside the park, but it was also impossible to resist her extraordinary family. The only people in the world whose lives were more clandestine and fantastical than his own. The only people in the world who forgot the titles and treated him like a sixteen-year-old kid. He secretly adored the hair-ruffling and the fact that he was expected to carry his own dishes to the counter. He loved every second he got to spend in that house. But mostly, he couldn’t stop thinking of the lovely girl walking down the stairs.
“Henry?” Lily froze in the doorway, staring up in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
He almost apologized again, but caught himself.
“Just dropped by to wish you happy birthday.” He flicked her glittering tiara with a grin. “I thought you didn’t like these.”
Her parents exchanged a silent look, but Lily jingled it with a smile.
“This one has bells.”
This one has bells.
Aria shot a glance at Benji, who simply rolled his eyes.
Henry’s face melted into a smile, but he recovered quickly when he saw the rest of them watching. Instead, he lifted the crinkled bag.
“I got you something.”
Molly’s eyes misted over as he dug out a bedraggled box, something he’d obviously wrapped himself. Lily opened it curiously and a diamond bracelet spilled out into her hand.
“It’s a family heirloom,” Henry explained, still holding the box. “Came down from Queen Victoria or something.”
...or something.
Lily stiffened and gave him a long look, one that was very reminiscent of her father. A second later, he stuffed it back into his pocket with a blush.
“It’s stupid,” he mumbled, fumbling in the bag. “What I really wanted to give you is this.”
In a flash, the diamonds vanished and a severed penguin head appeared in their place. At least, that’s what Aria thought it was. Upon closer look, it was a mask. One of those cheap, plastic toys you could get at tourist shops all over the city. This one already had a giant dent in the middle.
