My mother sighed against him and just shook her head. “You’re forgiven. Do you want to put the presents under the tree?”
He nodded. “Anything for you, sweetheart.”
Their relationship had grown over the last few years, but they weren’t really mated. I supposed he truly was more like my mother’s boyfriend than a husband. Which was a really weird designation for him.
“What’s a nesting party?” I asked, perking up at the idea of another festive occasion.
“Fuck,” Titus cursed as another flame shot out of control.
Cyrus smirked. “Problems, Firefly?”
“Suck my cock,” Titus snapped.
“Titus!” my mother gasped, making my fire mate flinch.
“Sorry, Ophelia,” he said, sounding contrite.
Cyrus just grinned harder.
Stop taunting him, I said to my water mate.
But it’s so fun, he replied.
I just shook my head and glanced at Gina, wondering if I should worry about more explosions, but her attention had diverted to the door as if she was waiting for more fae to enter.
Is a Hell Fae coming? I asked Exos.
Definitely not.
Shifter Fae? I guessed.
Nope, he replied.
Then who all is coming?
Patience, he repeated.
Sighing, I went back to the task of adjusting my decorations, which included ascending the ladder again to adjust another streamer.
“What are you doing up there?” my mother demanded, shock evident in her voice. “You shouldn’t be tottering about at dangerous heights.”
“Good luck convincing her to stop,” Titus muttered, then cursed as fire raced up one of the curtains. “Damn it.” He stilled the flame with a wave of magic.
“I don’t like you up there,” Cyrus said, his hands on my hips, steadying me while Titus focused on the candles. “Come down, please.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. Vox and I often found ourselves in the clouds during one of our one-on-one sessions, but she didn’t need to know that.
But I allowed him to pull me off the ladder anyway just as the rest of my mates entered.
Exos narrowed his gaze but didn’t comment.
“Why aren’t you steadying yourself with the earth?” Sol asked as he helped Vox place a mountain of food on the table near the burnt nuts. “And what happened here?”
“Claire likes candles,” Titus explained.
“And she can handle heights just fine,” Vox added, then frowned as glitter floated toward the food. He sent it away with a puff of air. “This stuff is everywhere.”
“I know, and it’s so pretty!” I exclaimed, lacking a better reason for why all of this was necessary.