Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

twenty-five.

I cleaned up around the house, waiting anxiously for Val or Zane to call me and tell me what was going on. Not knowing if they figured anything out was killing me and keeping busy in an empty house was hard. I realized this must have been how Chris felt, and we left him in the dark for nearly a week and a half. My phone rang and I ran across the house, tripping on one of Noah's shoes that I hadn't gotten around to putting back in his room.

I stood up and grabbed my phone, cursing the shoe. It was Chris letting me know he was coming back home. As happy I was to not be alone at home, I was still upset it wasn't Val or Zane. When he came home, I was cleaning dishes from the kids' breakfast and felt his arms come around my waist. He kissed my neck as I rinsed off a plate. I put it in the drying rack and then turned to him.

"If you would have told me thirty years ago that you and I would be living together with a family... I wouldn't have believed it."

"Thirty years ago, you still hadn't realized I had a thing for you, so I believe that." I laughed.

"I'm sorry for being so dense. I had a thing for you too, but I didn't think you did."

"It's okay. Everything happened the way it was meant to, I guess." He continued to kiss my neck and collarbone and squeezed my waist between his arms. "The kids are going to be home soon..." I said, laughing under his touch.

"I just want to kiss you... I love you," he said, between kisses.

"I love you, too," I said, putting my hands around his face, kissing his lips. "I'm sorry, again, for not letting you know what was happening when we were in New York."

"Shh, let's not talk about that right now," he said, kissing my lips again. I heard the door unlock.

"Ick...!" I heard the twins say as they walked through the door. We separated as the kids put their bags on the table.

"Really guys?" Odie said. The both of us shook our heads and the kids headed to their rooms to change clothes. I got something ready for them to snack on. I heard a noise in my bedroom and thought the twins might be playing in it. I called out to them, and they came downstairs asking what I wanted, but the noise continued. I asked Chris to keep an eye on them as I grabbed one of the kitchen knives and ran upstairs. I listened at the door for a second before opening it. I heard familiar voices on the other side.

"Val? Zane?" I said, opening the door, placing the knife on my dresser. Val was on the ground, unconscious and Zane was running around, trying to get her propped up on her side. "Val!?" He spelled the door shut behind me and placed a silencing spell on the room.

"Val was poisoned. I'm trying to get her the antidote," he said, rummaging through her dresser.

"What the fuck? How?"

"The door to Adriel's house... If anyone but someone from her bloodline tried to open it... We didn't know. Val just tried to open the door... It was going to take me too long to break the spell on the house, so I just brought us back here."

"What do you need? I know how Val has her stuff organized..." He rattled off a list of herbs as I searched the drawers to get what he needed. He grabbed a bowl and started to crush them all together into a balm. He handed me the bowl.

"Hold this for me." He ripped Val's shirt open, turned her on her side and grabbed the bowl to rub the balm onto her back. She started to cough and throw up poison as I ran for a trash can. His hand lit up blue and I could see her color returning. Zane asked me to get on the ground and hold her still. "I have to make sure it's all out and this is going to hurt. Hold her arms down. I don't want her to shoot my ear off." I knelt over her, holding her arms down. Zane hovered his hand over chest and stomach.