Guardian Angel

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Wow, it looks like Snow White ejaculated on every square inch of this property!"

I reached up to rub my temples at Three's declaration as he turned a full circle to absorb the aesthetic of Niko's house. Niko was glaring at him, like he was contemplating just throwing the artificial outside the barrier and leaving him to fend for himself.

Not that anyone would blame him, especially Wren.

"Unbelievable," Wren declared, glaring at Three in disbelief. Three just smiled cluelessly at him as he walked over to one of the tapestries on the wall that had herbal names and uses. His departure revealed an exhausted and slightly injured Alaric, which had Hades moving us all aside so he could get to Alaric.

"I'm fine," Alaric said gently, reaching for Hades's hands, but Hades just slapped them aside and went to work checking his vitals. He just sighed and surrendered, looking past Hades at me with an apologetic smile, but I just shook my head to indicate he was fine. If Alaric was injured, Hades would make sure it was attended to properly.

"What happened?" Rowan asked Alaric, who grimaced when Hades touched his brow. He tried to wave Hades off again to no avail.

"I was taking Three and Wren around the property to do one last perimeter check before we left and they came out of nowhere," Alaric murmured as Hades gently sealed the cut near his brow, slowly getting to work on the bruising beside it, "They hit the wing hard, Hades. There's absolutely nothing left of the guest suites, not even the rec room."

"Fuck me," Hades muttered in irritation as he ran his thumb across the cut in Alaric's bottom lip, effectively sealing it shut with magic.

"Looks like someone caught up to you," River pointed out grimly. Alaric looked at him with an awkward smile.

"Don't worry, he's dead," he assured him. River seemed confused about whether or not he should be relieved by that, judging from his knitted brows and fierce scowl.

"He's a civ," Niko said when Alaric raised an eyebrow at him, "Death wigs him out."

"I'm a sentient creature," River said dryly, folding his arms over his chest, "I would think death would wig any of us out. Ah, also no... while I am not delighted over death, I am relieved that this makes our situation safer. The last thing we need is someone coming here."

"I was careful," Alaric assured, "Trust me, I get it. I was paranoid enough with one kid. I have another one now and this one won't sit still or let me put a tracker in his bag."

"Because it's weird," Three exclaimed, turning away from the decorations on the wall and making Niko glare at him for shouting in his ear, "Like, I get it, you're the dad here, but I'm not a toddler. I know where I'm going and who I'm with. Just because Wren's a daddy's boy doesn't mean—"

"Shut the fuck up," Wren fired off immediately, which made Niko roll his eyes and throw his hands up. He looked at Hades and made repeated display gestures with his hands at Wren and Three. Hades paused, looking back and forth between Wren and Three, like he was debating the situation himself.

"Hey," Alaric barked abruptly, making everyone look at him in surprise, "Three, baby, I love you, but you have got to shut up or take a nap or something that does not involve aggravating your brother. Wren, honey bear, can you please sit over here and not speak to him for two minutes? Just two." Wren and Three glared at each other for a moment longer and Wren was the first one to break away, heading for the sofa beside Alaric.

"See, told ya."

"Oh my god."

Wren doubled back for Three, who just smiled innocently as he watched Hades and Alaric both lunge forward to pull Wren back. Alaric managed to get Wren settled on the sofa at his side while Niko elbowed Three hard in the gut, making him double over.