Page 77 of Gambling with Time

Lex came back into the room with a medical box. Quickly filling a new syringe with medicine, he went to his knees beside Alastor. “Hold his arm.”

They worked together to get the liquid into his veins. Bellamy went still, his breathing leveling out. Relief flooded me seconds before his body bowed off the ground as pain shot through him.

“Oh, Gods,” I swore. “Alastor, try.”

He did immediately, pressing his hands to Bellamy’s chest. I sucked in a breath and held it. A warm glow surrounded the space around where they touched as his magic flowed into him. It was different from the souls or the plants. But it still felt like life magic.

Bellamy groaned, but his eyes blinked open. “Fuck, man,” he grumbled.

“Bell,” I breathed. The invisible clamp that had started to crush my chest eased, allowing a full lung full of air into my starved airways.

He slapped Alastor’s hands off of his chest and pushed up into a sitting position. He rubbed his breast bone as he glared at him. “That burns.”

I laughed, a relieved sound in the tense space, and it broke something in the guys because they joined me. We ended up wrapped together, holding each other tightly, all of us as one. The way we belonged.

* * *

The days that followed were spent reassuring Tyler that we hadn’t meant to leave him behind, it just happened. I was sure he still didn’t believe us, but he would get over it eventually. And the nights, I wasn’t sure we got much sleep.

Sooner or later, we would have to face the world and Underworld, and I would have to face the fact that although we hadn’t talked about it explicitly, if I was with them, I would be at their sides as Queen of each faction. Because Raiden, Alastor, and Bellamy were each rulers in their own right, and our trials had proven that to each of them. Lex and I, we would be right there with them.

But right this second, all I could think about was calling it a night and dragging my men back to the hotel room to have my way with them. First, though, we would need to make it through a family dinner with my parents and Ty.

It was an important step in breaking the news to them. One, they would be grandparents. Two, all of the guys were my forever mates. Three, I no longer worked for The Order. They would need to find a new hunter to carry on the line, because it stopped here with me. I would keep the demons in line in a new way, with understanding and love.

“Ready?” I whispered as we pulled up in front of my parents’ house.

“Only if you are,” Rai replied as he settled his large hand over mine.

I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly. “Let’s go.” As the guys exited the SUV, I wiped my palms on my jeans, no leather for me tonight, and I was lucky the jeans still fit over my steadily growing baby bump.

Lex opened my door for me and helped me out. Our fingers threaded together, and we walked up the walkway. The door swung open before we reached it, and my mom appeared. She ushered us into the living room, where my dad sat in his chair.

“Daddy,” I said as I pressed a kiss to his cheek. He smiled back at me as I pulled away. Lex and Bellamy had perched on the edge of the sofa cushions while Alastor stood behind them, and Rai leaned against the unlit fireplace. “Thanks for having all of us.”

“Sweetheart, you are welcome to come to dinner anytime you want.”

I sat next to Bellamy and linked my fingers with his. My dad’s gaze dipped to our joined hands but didn’t say anything. My heart galloped like a runaway horse in my chest. How did you tell your dad that you were with not one but four guys, especially when he had reservations about the first one, still.

“It smells amazing,” Lex said, breaking the silence that had fallen.

“Savannah is a wonderful cook,” my Dad replied.

“Lex isn’t,” Bellamy quipped. Alastor chuckled, and I rolled my lips between my teeth, holding back a smile at the common thread of conversation anytime one of them cooks. “Seriously, he can burn water.”

“I’m not that bad,” he scoffed.

“No, I think you are,” Alastor said, taking Bellamy’s side in the mock argument.

They were cut off as my mom came back into the room; she was drying her hands off with a towel as she entered. “Dinner is just about ready. I hope you are hungry, I made enough for at least twenty people.”

“Yeah, these guys can eat,” I said with a roll of my eyes. I was pretty sure at this point they thought it was a sport to see who could eat the most.

“Good. Samantha, help me set the table?” she asked as she lifted an eyebrow.

I glanced around at my guys and then at my dad. Crap, had Ty spilled the beans? Was my dad going to give them the talk? A blush worked its way up my neck and to my cheeks as I nodded and followed her into the kitchen.

The table was set already, and I paused next to the seat I normally sit in. My mom held my stare as she dropped into her seat across from me.

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