Chapter 54
We will be staying here. Near our family.
—Majda (Once, on Meeting her First Great-Grandchild)
Their separations during the times Raphael had to be at the Tower during that first year were made easier by the support structure around them on either end.
Elena missed her archangel each and every night they were apart, but to have Eve, and her grandparents, and Zoe—who’d managed to visit more after Aegaeon seemed to mellow following the births—with her over that year…it was a gift.
Zoe rocking Nixie all through the day when he had a bad spell, her long legs eating up the paths around the Refuge with the Legion for company.
Eve swaddling the baby as she told her nephew stories of their family.
Majda singing sweet lullabies to him from her homeland that reminded Elena so much of Marguerite.
Jean-Baptiste sitting with Nix in the night, describing his experiences in the jungle, where he’d been born and come of age. “I will take you there one day,” he promised his great-grandson. “It is a wonder to be experienced.”
As well, Elena’s friendship with Hannah had grown immeasurably in the time they’d spent together in the Refuge. To be a first-time mother with another first-time mother, both of them learning as they went, it created an unbreakable bond between two very different women.
Then there was Izar swinging by just to keep her company, and to tell Nix stories of the wild things he’d done as a child—with his brothers as accomplices. “You’re a one-being, and so is Aanisa. You should join forces.”
Nasien also returned to the Refuge two months after the birth, complete with an intricately illustrated book of fae tales for children, which he read aloud to the baby while Izar lounged nearby.
The two were physically identical—but strikingly unique in their personalities.
Of the three, Nasien was the most measured and tempered, the child who’d thought through their wild plans to make them foolproof.
Then Misha managed to work it so he had time off from the Tower while both his brothers were home, and suddenly, she had all three of them offering to prowl around with Nix in their arms. If Izar was the wildest and Nasien the calm within the wild, then Misha was pure mischief.
He kissed Elena on the cheek, the silver of his hair brushing her skin, and said, “I’ve decided I should be in your Guard. You need a tech specialist.”
Elena’s lips twitched. “I thought you declared that you were planning to be part of the Seven?”
A very feline sound deep in his throat. “I was a cub. What do cubs know? The Seven are at the forefront—but I’m part cat.
I like to prowl in the background. Your Guard fits better.
Ash and Janvier already walk in the gray, and Sameon has the front-facing end covered, with Izzy as his backup.
I’ll slide right into that gap in between. ”
He was right. Her Guard had always functioned more under the radar than the Seven—while working hand-in-hand with Raphael’s team.
She also knew that Misha was brilliant at what he did; as mentioned by Jason and Vivek both, he was unique in his approach, his mind built a different way—but that just meant he outthought people without trying.
“He’s perfect,” was the response from the current membership of her Guard when she floated the idea of Misha joining them.
So it was done, a man she’d adored since he was a child becoming part of the protective force around her and Nixie.
What she didn’t expect was for Misha to point out that she’d also unofficially appointed his brothers to the role.
“We work as a pack.” Misha nuzzled her as he’d done since he was a cub, so affectionate and playful that you’d never guess at the lethal predator under the skin.
“Nasi and Izar are shadow members of your Guard now.’
Such loyalty. Such heart.
Elena felt overwhelmed in the best way.
Familial ties and the bonds of friendship, love coming from every direction, she’d never wish away the past year.
She was, however, grateful to return home to the Tower. The healers were happy enough for Phoenix to be there, under Nisia’s eagle eye. He’d come through the delicate newborn stage with flying colors—though the mortal cells in his body continued to confound Keir.
These days, her baby had the sounds of New York as background music, and was already used to being in different sets of familiar arms.
Sivya and Montgomery had threatened mutiny when Raphael and Elena discussed hiring a nanny of sorts—a trusted individual who’d step in to cover the times when both Elena and Raphael had to be at their duties and Majda and Jean-Baptiste weren’t available.
Perhaps a young Refuge healer who wanted to spend time in the city but wasn’t yet ready for full duties.
“You already have too much on your plate,” Raphael had argued with the two.
To a stoic stubbornness.
Which was why their baby spent time in the kitchen being spoiled and petted by Sivya and her staff, or being carried around in a baby pouch by Montgomery.
Nix loved his babysitters, and though he was still very small and nowhere near as active as a human one-year-old, he smiled at the merest hint of their voices.
As for his great-grandparents, he saw them at least twice a week.
The times when she and Raphael needed someone to watch him for an hour or two while they were at the Tower, it was—surprisingly—Greta who volunteered first. “I’m always here,” she said in her dry way.
“Also, the infant rarely cries, so you can park him on my desk in his bassinet and I will make sure he is alive on your return.”
Not the most enthusiastic offer—but Elena knew her friend. Greta would fight to the death to protect Phoenix. She’d also talk to him as she worked, and if he fussed, she’d pick him up and rock him. Because Greta, for all her rigid facade, was kind to small children and animals.
“You don’t have to,” Elena said. “I know you don’t like babies.” She wasn’t about to put her friend in an awkward position. “Nisia’s happy to have him in the infirmary with her as long as they’re not overrun. Dmitri and Honor, too, if they’re in the Tower at the time.”
Elena’s Guard, the Legion, they’d all step in if necessary—but it was a case of who among the team knew how to handle an angelic baby this young. “Do you even know anything about babies?”
Greta rolled her eyes. “Yes.” A pause. “Tell anyone and I will call you a liar to your face, but a very long time ago, I was a child minder for angelic families.”
Elena’s mouth dropped open. “You’re lying. You told me you ate children during your witch phase.”
“Oh, be quiet.” Laughter in those bright green eyes. “And give me the child. He is my best friend’s baby. Of course he’ll stay with me. Don’t forget to leave him milk so I can feed him.”
That was how Greta ended up with a special bassinet that was lifted off the floor and designed so she could rock it using one foot as she worked at her desk—while also being able to look down and engage with Nix when he was awake.
Elena hadn’t given her that rocking bassinet; Greta had ordered it all on her own.
As she had the mobile that hung over the bassinet, full of soft-to-the-touch animals and fuzzy things that the baby loved to grab at when he was awake.
One day, Elena walked into the office while Greta was looking down at Nix, and heard her friend talking to him in the softest, sweetest voice she’d ever heard from Greta. “Yes, I know you’re a smart boy,” Greta was saying. “Charming too. But I’m immune, so don’t even try it.”
But she then picked Nixie up for a cuddle.
Elena slid out of sight before Greta saw her; her friend…her best friend…deserved her secrets. Because with Nixie’s birth had come an opening in Elena’s scarred soul that allowed her to embrace Greta’s friendship to its greatest extent.
I did it, Sara. Finally, I did it.
Tears rolled down her face, the requiem in her heart a forever song to the friend who would always be her sister in every way that mattered.