Sticks and Stones

Epilogue

Caspian didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. His skin prickled with unease. His back was as straight as a board. He'd never had a problem with heat before, and yet that heat rising up his neck was unbearable. Fuck, he could hardly breathe.

Stick it out.

He could do this. He had to do this. For her.

Hands reached around the table before him. Bony, spiteful fingers helped themselves to the salads decorating the wooden top. Cas glared as the bastard piled his food higher and higher.

Smirking, fully aware of what he was doing, Emilio glanced up and quirked an eyebrow. "Do you not like your food?"

Cas stared at his plate disdainfully.

Excluding the sacred demon fire fruit, a demon's taste for meat was known far and wide. Usurpingly, Emilio had made sure not to cook any. Said something about going on a health cleanse. And damnit, for the sake of the evil huntress sitting beside him, Cas couldn't make a scene.

That definitely had to be the worst part of loving her. The brother.

"I'm eating it," He spat back, chowing down on his rabbit food.

Emilio's look only got cockier. "That's not an answer."

"Leave him alone Em," Nazreen scolded. She didn't eat any of the food either. Instead, she sat with a goblet—presumably filled to the top with Emilio's blood. She sipped on it leisurely, reprimanding her demi-God lover. "This isn't exactly tailored to the demon palette."

Always knew I liked her.

Nazreen knew exactly what was up. She knew the brother was giving him hell. She knew Cas had no choice but to sit here and take it.

"You could at least try eating some of it," Sofia chided. She too was no doubt enjoying it.

Because that was their life now. And God damn did Cas love it. They lived together in bliss, sharing the same bed, the same food, the same showers. All the while, they worked effortlessly day and night to make a baby. Cas was loving it. And lord did he know she was loving it too.

The easiness of the first few months of their relationship was back. They'd fallen back into their old happy in between. Sofia gave him hell—but God was it a hell he loved to burn in.

"I have eaten some of it," He pouted.

"Eat some more."

She piled his plate higher.

Cas groaned, lowering his lips to her ear.

My turn.

Emilio could do whatever he wanted to get under Caspian's skin. The salads were just a start. Only he forgot that Cas could send it right back at him.

Fully aware of the brother's unimpressed gaze, he dragged his teeth along the shell of Sofia's ear. Every fucker at the table saw the way it made her shiver.

He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "Woman, if you had any idea how hard it is for me to sit like this already—"

"Chin up buttercup." She pecked the corner of his lips. "This is just the first of many."

Not the reminder he needed right now. Him and Emilio were family now. Which meant they'd have to get used to each other. But damnit, if it meant he got to keep his evil trouble by his side eternally, then it was a torture he was willing to take.

Besides, eyes meeting across the table, he and Emilio had an understanding now. A new mission. And there was one name at the top of their shared hitlist.

Ronan.