“THANK. FUCK.”
Exos took the words right out of my mouth.
Our third visit to the damn underworld had finally paid off,
and I had the proof of it in my hand. Lucifer might not attend the vote, but I had his proxy letter, and that was all that mattered.
It had taken a little bit of negotiation, mostly because he’d demanded Elemental Fae females in exchange for his cooperation. When I told him that was never going to happen, he started asking for more practical things. Like help growing certain edible plants. And a few meant for getting high.
“I’m just glad it’s done,” I said, folding the letter into my suit jacket pocket. “I’m eager to return to Claire and repeat last night.”
“Sounds like a good Christmas Eve to me,” Exos agreed, punching the buttons into the portal board. Then he faced me with a grin as the system engaged to work its magic. “Titus wants a rematch.”
“He’ll still lose,” I drawled.
“I know,” Exos agreed. “But I won’t.”
I arched a brow. “You sure as fuck did last night.”
“I wasn’t prepared.”
I grunted. “Fuck that. You’re always prepared.”
His lips curled. “True. I may have given in last night, but so did you.”
“We all did,” I replied. “She was fucking magnificent.”
“She was,” he murmured. “Which is why we need to do it again.”
“Is it my turn to seduce her into it? Because I could probably complete that task faster.”
“Only because of my help last night,” Exos retorted.
I lifted a shoulder. “Not my fault you volunteered to go first.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved me off as we arrived in the Human Realm. “We need to think of more…” He trailed off, frowning.
I felt exactly what caused that expression to appear.
Something’s wrong.
I didn’t ask permission, and Exos didn’t hesitate. He knew what I had to do. I grabbed onto his wrist and accessed the reserves of my magic to mist us directly to the cottage.
While it was a short jump, misting outside of the Elemental Fae realm drained me considerably, and my vision darkened with black stars as I searched for our mate.
“Is she okay?” I demanded, unable to see.
If I fucking passed out when she needed me, I—
“Cyrus!” Claire cried out as she grabbed onto me, her tone panicked but her grip strong.
My vision cleared enough for me to see the source of her distress. She held on to her stomach, grinding her teeth as a wave of pain swept through the mate-bonds. Labor, I realized. She’s in labor.
Claire immediately tried to shut us out in an attempt to save us from the agony, but I pulled her into my arms.
“Don’t do that,” I said, brushing away her hair. “Give us your pain, little queen. We can handle it.”
We’re here, I added into her mind. You’re not alone. We’re all right here.