Meryn frowned fiercely before turning to her mate. "Fix this!"
Aiden's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline. "Fix the sky?"
Sebastian wrapped an arm around Pip's shoulders. "You will be able to go, just not when Meryn leaves. Together you and I will work on getting you comfortable with being outside the city. Before you know it, you will be able to join Meryn and enjoy the hospitality of the fae," he said, in a reassuring, fatherly voice.
Magnus stepped up behind the young vampire and squeezed his shoulder. "I will help as well. This is not your fault Pip. The ones who raised you failed in their duties to acclimate you to the open sky at a young age, but rest assured, we will not fail you now."
Avery took Pip's hand. "We'll help too, won't we Warrick?"
Warrick smiled down at them. "Of course, we will."
Pip's lower lip was trembling as he stared at Meryn. "But she is my sister, she saved me. She covers me with blankets and feeds me."
Different emotions flew across Meryn's face. It was clear even to Oron that in the brief time she had been in Noctem Falls; she had miraculously opened her heart up to the three youngsters she claimed as brothers.
Meryn took a deep breath. "Here's what we're going to do. I'll head on to Éire Danu and set up our base, you know, somewhere we can game and watch TV. You work on being outside and when you're ready to join us, I'll have everything set up and I'll be able to show you around."
Pip sniffled. "Really?"
Meryn nodded. "Yup."
Oron watched as Nigel and Neil exchanged glances before turning to look at Kendrick who smiled and nodded at them. Neil stepped forward. "We'll stay with him Meryn. With everyone's help, he should be ready in no time at all."
Meryn looked relieved, though her eyes were sad. "That sounds like a plan. But I'm going to miss you guys and probably be real bitchy and cranky, so y'all will have to hurry, okay?"
The boys converged on Meryn, wrapping her up in a group hug. Meryn disappeared under their youthful exuberance. Aiden reached in between the bodies and lifted out a giggling Meryn. "Come on, baby, time to go."
Aiden looked at the twins. "He's in your care," he said, pinning them with a stern expression.
Nigel huffed. "Of course, he's our brother too, you know."
Aiden reached out and bopped Nigel's head around. "As Meryn is my mate, all three of you are my brothers. I don't want anything happening to any of you. So, keep the shenanigans to a minimum and hurry up and join us."
Nigel and Neil's eyes widened. "We never even thought of that," Neil whispered, before turning to his twin. "The Unit Commander is our brother now." Nigel grinned. "Does this mean we don't have to do drills anymore?"
Behind them, Colton laughed. "Sorry boys, but if I still have to do them despite pulling his hairy ass out of more than one scrape, you definitely still have to do them."
Aiden gave his best friend a flat look. "There better still be units in Lycaonia when I get home."
Colton shrugged. "No promises. Sascha let Emmy get herself into danger, I will need to impress upon him how upset I am about that."
Oron winced. Emmeline Albright was Colton's adorable younger cousin. She had wrapped Colton and Aiden around her finger the day she drew her first breath. The other Lycaonia unit warriors fell like dominoes when she started visiting during training. He truly felt sorry for Sascha, but not enough to intervene, he adored Emmy as well.
Aiden looked over to where Gavriel stood smirking next to Beth. "How long are you staying here again?"
Gavriel shrugged. "Just until things settle."
"Good luck with that," Vivi murmured under her breath. Etain turned away to hide his smile.
Magnus gave Aiden a cunning look. "I may take this opportunity to take a vacation, I have not had one in centuries."
Gavriel looked over at him startled. "What?"
Kari sighed. "Make it a short one, I still have not finished breaking you in."
Declan chuckled at Magnus' expression. Rex held up his fist and absently Declan bumped it. Rex grinned from ear to ear. "Told you I would get my fist bump before leaving the city."
Declan rolled his eyes at his brother, and Meryn gave Rex a thumbs up.