Page 12 of Omission: Part 2

What I find doesn’t surprise me.

One is looking at me with complete happiness, and the other’s attention is solely on the near-giggling vampire witch on his lap.

“When are we having the bonding ceremony?” Gabriella asks the second Aya stops blushing. For a second, she forgot our audience, and I’m proud of it. Revel in the way I affect my tiny fae queen. “It’s been so long since our people have rejoiced in a royal union.”

As soon as the words leave Gabby, she looks at me and all noises cease. For that secular moment, we’re back to that day—the familial connections we share thrums with sadness—and bits of the last horror-filled moments of our parents’ lives flash before my eyes. I’m sure she’s remembering, too, and while there will always be sadness and loss, we’re not alone anymore.

Now, as Anaya slips her hand into mine, there’s comfort and the promise of new memories that will begin overriding—erasing the last moments with our parents. I’m reminded of the happier times in my childhood and with it comes the desire to give our future offspring the same kind of love and safety we were raised on.

From Mom cleansing our home with sage and herbs or the times she baked our favorite desserts in the kitchen. To Father teaching us our first spells, and when things went wrong, which they do for all new witches, he’d repair what we broke after calming his offspring with a hug. His magical tethers would wrap around us while he explained and taught with all the patience in the world.

Isabella burned his desk.

Gabriella shattered an ancient Wiccan mortar that belonged to our first ruler.

I made our paternal grandfather’s grimoire disappear, and to this day, I still don’t know where it vanished.

Not once did he get angry. Instead, Father found our magicalmishapsamusing.

“Mistakes create character, Leo. It will humble you, and you three will need that. My offspring will one day rule this world, and being perfect leads to egotistical tyranny and selfish leaders—I want you to mess up. To burn things, my son, because one day those same frustrating moments will help you lead with mindfulness and empathy.

“Soon, Sister, but first?—”

“Like the next new moon, soon?”

“I’ll let you know once we decide. We actually?—”

“You haven’t discussed it yet? What are you waiting?—”

“Gabriella, Anaya needs to speak with everyone.” That stops my sister from asking any more questions as both vampires sit up straighter, their blood-red eyes on my mate. They don’t speak. Instead, they tilt their heads simultaneously while I move my eyes back to their favorite place: on her. “Tell us, sweetheart. What upset you earlier, Anaya?”

4

ANAYA

“What upset you earlier, Anaya?”Leo’s question hangs in the air as two cell phones go off at the same time, his and mine, but before I can respond, another one pings, and the vampire king merely raises a brow. His eyes flick to his mate, their exchanged looks knowing, as another text comes in within seconds of the first—four in total before Theo blindly reaches for the device set atop a modern side table that I’d missed before.

The design is simple yet unique, and I can’t help but smile at something I’m more than positive Gabriella chose. Its concept makes it appear as if blood drips from the round tabletop, thick beads of red frozen in time, while the legs complete the look in the same manner. There’s a fluidity to the table—this suspended-in-time moment of a gory ending—while the touch of gold in the filigree design at the bottom of each leg gives it a touch of glamour.

Unique, it sits beside the royal couple with no other purpose than to hold their mobiles.

She’s always had a taste for the macabre, precious one. It’s always been her quirk.Leo’s voice inside my head causes me to let out a small gasp while his sister takes the offered device from her mate, ignoring us. And while my reaction should embarrass me, it doesn’t. I would honestly live through a thousand years of humiliation for this brief moment of bliss. It’s the sweetest caress across my every processor, a stroke down my nerve endings, and a complete contrast to the painful manipulations I’d been raised by.

His voice in my head is full of love, not spite.

Not hate, but honest respect. Appreciation.

Not just hers, my king. I’ve seen your collection of medieval weapons.My lips quirk at his faux indignant expression, but I’m not buying it. More so when his jaw ticks and eyes crinkle a bit from holding back a laugh.Or are you going to deny the time you’ve spent organizing, maintaining, and cataloging each item?

“I’m guilty, Anaya. Won’t deny it.” Leonardo tilts his head a bit, and I’m lit up from within at the sudden heat in his blue eyes. They give me a slow perusal, from head to toe, before ending the flirtatious move with a not-innocent shrug.I’ve lived a hundred years without you and spent every single one of those minutes occupying my time—collecting things—to ease the loneliness. And when I wasn’t taking care of my people or researching ways to kill your father, I hoarded treasures. I did everything in my power to make those endless seconds pass because giving another woman what is solely yours was a crime I would never commit.

A throat clears, pulling our attention toward the throne where we find the two vampires watching us. One has a happy expression and the other, a stony one, the latter, which I’ve come to realize in my time at the vampiric kingdom, their king’s default. He’s also still holding up the cell phone, which his mate has made no move to take.

Instead, the vampire queen simply laughs. “It’s Isa. We need to video call her.”

“Have you spoken—” Leo begins, but she snorts, cutting him off. The sound is so childlike, innocent, and the complete opposite of the powerful witch/vampire sitting atop her throne and mate’s thigh.

“Yes. They’ll be here later this evening.”

---