Page 44 of Untraceable
Amori chuckled and walked her to her seat. He held the chair out for her and then settled next to her. It was the cue to start dinner.
Bailey was only a few people down and said, “I am relieved to see you. I was worried that your destiny would be scrapped due to you needing to get laid.”
Heyval wrinkled her nose and finished her tiny appetizer. “Thanks for just saying the quiet part out loud, Bailey.”
Mira chuckled. “Mom told me about it.”
Amori took a sip of wine, “I hear you and your friends have tried to sneak into the club. If I have to increase the age to twenty-one, I will make sure that everyone knows why and who spurred the change.”
Mira paled. “No need for that. I didn’t hear anything.”
The gathered folk laughed in amusement. There was a harsh chortling from the corner, and Rage and her father emerged from the shadows. There were seats for them a few down from Alora and her two.
Rage snickered as her father held out her chair, and the others stared into the shadows that made up his body. “Did we miss dinner?”
Appetizers were set in front of them, and wine was poured.
Heyval looked out at the smiling faces around her. The affection of one sort or another in every expression. She smiled. “Queen Alora, is this all of your children?”
Ulric smiled. “We had been with her for thirty years. You think five is all she managed?”
Alora sighed. “My eldest are here. The other seven are at home.”
Bastien chuckled. “She wasn’t expecting the life-extending powers of her link to Ulric to extend to her reproductive capabilities.”
Alora snorted. “That was a bit of a surprise. I keep praying for menopause or at least for the guys to get a headache, but it never happens. Ulric got Bastien a massage table for our second anniversary, so I don’t get them either. Doomed to a huge family.”
Bastien and Ulric each leaned over and kissed her.
Heyval smiled. The five siblings were grinning. They saw the affection all the time. Mira was staring in a sort of bemused horror.
Bailey covered Mira’s eyes. “Sorry. I was a single parent. She’s a little surprised.”
Mira pulled the hand down. “Thanks for embarrassing me, Mom.”
Heyval smiled. “Well, since she isn’t getting sex, she needed a hobby. Embarrassing a teen is right up her alley.”
The male unicorns grinned. One said, “Don’t worry, it can be a little much, even if you are used to it. So, what was your father?”
Mira coughed as she sipped her juice. “I don’t actually know.”
Bailey’s blush was hot. “There wasn’t a lot of conversation, but based on her scans, he was some kind of sea creature.”
Mira blinked. “You never said.”
“They are slow-developing characteristics. I still have a few years.”
Mira asked, “So, he was like a merman?”
Bailey winced and sipped her glass of wine. “More tentacles.”
Heyval’s eyes widened. “Met him at the beach?”
“Yeah. He said he was in town for a few days, and he wasn’t wrong. He came and went. My parents were not impressed.”
Amori blinked. “Wait. Eighteen years ago?”
Bailey nodded. “Yeah, I knew he wasn’t coming back.”
