Page 87 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos
Sometimes you don’t even realise how much you miss it until you see your family.
Mom jumps to her feet. Her long, black hair, which fades into purple is completely straight, unlike Sienna’s, which is curly. I push the thought away. Why am I even thinking about her?
“Jayce!” A smile lights up her face, and I walk over to her, wrapping my arms around her tiny, barely 5-foot frame.
“Hey, Ma.”
She cups my face, pulls me down and kisses my forehead, smiling up fondly at me. Her eyes are unique, one green and one blue, but both are filled with equal warmth.
“How are you?” she asks softly, concern replacing the warmth. “Where are the others?”
“I’m fine, and so are the rest. They’ll be here soon,” I reassure her, feeling calm in her presence.
I look over at Dad, Grandad and Grandma.
“Jayce,” Grandma smiles as she stands up and hugs me. I wrap my arms around her. She’s got a couple of inches on Mom, but she’s super tiny, too. Her aura is different from Mom’s. It doesn’t calm me, but hers gives me strength.
Then there’s Sienna, who fucks with my head.
“Hey, Grandma.”
She smiles up at me before Grandad gets up and gives me a one-armed hug as he asks me how I’m doing. I look over at Dad as I lean over Mom and greet him with a one-armed hug, too.
The door to the restaurant opens, and I sense the auras of my brothers as Mom and Dad get out, and I slide in beside Grandad. Theo flashes the waitress a flirty smile before spotting us and walking over. The rest follow, and Ares isn’t making his annoyance subtle, much to my irritation.
When everyone settles down, I look around.
“Where’s Katara?” I ask, now realising she’s missing.
Grandad chuckles. “Did you only notice she’s missing now? Azura was down yesterday, so she went to stay at hers for a couple of days. She was getting pretty bored with the house so empty.”
“Can’t blame her,” I say, looking over at him.
He looks younger than his years, but the stress of time is showing on his face.
“So, shall we order first, then talk? Because I am starved,” Grandma says. The others all agree, and I nod my agreement.
Twenty minutes later, we’ve finally decided on what we want and have placed our orders. I take my phone out, glancing down at the three emojis that have popped up on my screen: cherries, a butterfly and a demon.
Sienna’s replied, but I’m cramped between Dad and Grandad, and I’m not about to unlock my phone with them able to see everything on it.
“Ares, are you ok?” Mom asks, my eyes flick up to him as heshrugs.
“Yeah, so what was the big deal with this get-together?”
“Well, why not?” Dad asks.
“I mean, Jayce has become division leader, which is incredible.” Mom smiles brightly. “And worth celebrating.”
“Ah, so that was the reason, cus I was so fucking confused why we were meeting when school literally just started a couple of weeks ago.”
Cocky bastard.
Mom raises an eyebrow. “I don’t appreciate your attitude.”
“Yeah, cut it out,” Dad warns.
Ares smirks as he leans forward and picks up his glass. “To Jayce and his incredible success.” The sarcasm is irritating, and I simply cock a brow.
