Page 51 of Spectacle

Her eyes light up a little at the sight of Typhoon, but it’s with greed and not joy, and I feel ill. Yup, not letting her anywhere near them. Her attention turns to me and my beautiful girl, and she wrinkles her nose again.

“What is wrong with her coloring? That’s not the coloring of an Aquilian.” The only part of Hali she can see is her hair, which is the same as mine.

“She takes after Lila, which is dictated by the dragon eye gem. She is the keeper of their mine,” Nikos brags, and I wince. Damn it, she didn’t need to know that. I can see the greed in her eyes multiply at possibly having access to the gems.

“Fine, you can bring the female child with you too, and I expect a delivery of the dragon gems once a quarter as payment for letting them return.”

I stare at the woman, completely gobsmacked by her audacity. She wants me to pay her to take my mate and children back. Does she expect me to just be okay with this? She didn’t mention anything about me going with them.

“Mother, where is Nixie? I’d like to introduce my sister to her niece and nephew.” Nikos doesn’t give her an answer to her demand, and I reach out with my warlock powers to see how he feels. He looks very calm, and I will kill him if he is even considering it. I shouldn’t have worried, though, because inside him is a ball of fury, and I can feel his worry for his sister.

His mother huffs in disgust. “She turned out to be as useless as you. She is unavailable to see your spawn, as I have her locked in the dungeon for some correctional behavior. I’ve given her womb to General Mallon to use. He expressed interest in breeding her when I initiated bidding rights.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Nikos explodes, waking up Typhoon who wails with fright. He glares at his mother before standing up and shushing Typhoon, bouncing him up and down to sooth him. “I cannot believe you. After how Father treated you, you’re now acting as badly as him.”

“Being nice doesn’t pay, Nikos.” His mother smiles contemptuously. “Now that I’m in charge, we’re doing things my way.”

“But who are you going to have as your heir?” I ask the mer bitch, still rocked by her attitude. She smiles, and it makes me feel ill. It’s slimy and reminiscent of her dearly departed husband. I shudder.

“Nikos, your friend Hurricane is a captain in our armed forces, isn’t he?” Queen Nerissa asks, and I brace for wherever she is going with this.

“Hurry? Yes, he’s stationed at the barracks near the trench. His unit is in charge of making sure none of the creatures escape.” My mate sounds confused.

“He has twins in his family, right?”

Nikos nods as Typhoon falls asleep, although there is a small hitching of breath as he still sobs in his sleep. My poor baby. “Yes, he has younger twin sisters. They must be in their mid-teens now.”

“Excellent. He will be a suitable breeding partner. I will have him relocated to the palace immediately. I’m still young, and who knows, the next lot of spawn we give birth to may actually be competent.” She pushes her hair back behind her ear and flutters her eyelashes girlishly.

Nikos’s eyes widen with horror, and he looks at me. I can feel his desire to warn his friend of his mother’s plans. I decide I’ve had enough of this whole interaction. Time to cut it short.

“Well, good luck with that.” I brush off her announcement like it means nothing to us. Narcissists like her only want attention, and I am not feeding into that. I’m thankful she’s not going to be in my children’s lives, because after that little performance, there’s no way she is spending any time with them. “Nikos and our babies will be remaining with the circus. I take it you no longer want to be associated with the Galaxy Circus, Queen Nerissa, so I shouldn’t rely on Aquilian performers returning now that the show is resuming its tour, correct?”

I’m done playing games. I don’t want this woman anywhere near any of us.

“No Aquilian will demean themselves by performing in that freakshow anymore.” She curls her lip in disgust.

“Fine, I’ll have the council made aware of your stance so that when we refuse to bring the show to Aquilia, they will know why. I’ll also share your decision with my in-laws. That would be the ruling families of Vilax, Westalin, and Iceen as well as Snakebite Logistics and the suppliers of suva, to name a few. I’m sure they will agree that a boycott on anything Aquilian will be appropriate since you consider us all freaks.”

Her entitled look drops, and she starts to sputter.

“Oh, and I’ll make sure my mate, Zeydan, the god of earth, lets his brother know that the ruling royal on Aquilia approves of selling females for breeding purposes. I’m sure Tito, the god of water and your patron god, will be interested to hear that. He may even decide that Aquilia needs a reset or, at the very least, a new ruling family,” I bluff as I pass Hali to her father and stand up, putting my hands on my hips as I glare at the now pale woman on the screen. “Watch your back, bitch. Nobody messes with my family and gets away with it.”

I wave my hand to turn the screen off, feeling spitefully pleased at the shocked look on Nerissa’s face.

“I need to call Hurry and warn him about my mother’s plans, and I need to go rescue my sister,” Nikos tells me, juggling both children flawlessly.

“Wow, so that did not go well,” Xavier says, leaning against the kitchen counter and drinking a beer. Saxon and Tirrian are sitting at the dining room table with their own beer, and they were thankfully quiet through the whole conversation. We didn’t need to add fuel to the flames, but I can feel Nikos’s embarrassment.

“Not sure your mother is any better on the throne than your father,” Caspian points out unnecessarily, and I glare at his tactless ass. He just shrugs.

“How long do you give it until the Aquilian people rebel? They must have thought their luck changed when Marlin was dealt with. They are not going to like what she’s doing,” Saxon muses, and Nikos nods.

“Yes, I don’t doubt Mother will have to quell possible civil war. She should have kept Nixie as her heir. She is the beloved princess of Aquilla. Our people will not be happy to hear she will be replaced.”

Xavier puts his beer down and walks over to us, making grabby hands for the children.

“Give me my guppies. I’ll watch them while you call your friend.” He’s so grabby for all the children, and he spoils them rotten. I think he’s been secretly working on a spell to help him breathe underwater. I heard him muttering when he thought nobody was listening, and he was considering getting Caspian or Nikos to give him a mating bite so he could shift and swim with them. Talk about extreme measures.

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