Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Evander discovered he liked lasagna.
And enchiladas.
And chocolate cake.
And lemon pie.
And all sorts of breads with all sorts of foods on them.
And cheese. His mate was capable of procuring many kinds of cheeses. He found he liked all of them.
Someone who looked very much like his lethean opened their door, his eyes going wide. “Uh. Hey.”
“Hello, you are pink. You must be Cosmo.”
That got him a nod and a grin. “Hi, I’m Cosmo, and you’re awake and looking good and you have pointy ears, so you must be Evander. Apparently, you’re really hungry because I have this huge order from here.”
He tilted his head because he wasn’t sure exactly what Cosmo meant, but it didn’t sound awful, so he nodded. “I do heal quickly. It causes me to eat quite a bit, very much in fact.”
Cosmo nodded to him, and the man’s smile was warm. “Well, I’m glad that you’re awake and eating, and that you’re not toothy and stuff. Do you know where Corbin is?”
“I believe he went to the dragonlands to get me some sort of sweet that he thought I would like, or that he was wanting. I’m not exactly sure, but I do know that’s where he went.”
It was incredibly sweet that Corbin went to Lunastra to find him sweets.
Evander had discovered, in very short order, that he could not go to the dragonlands.
And Corbin had informed him in very, very, very strict terms that he was not allowed to go back home to the Land of Summer either.
Apparently, the fae there wanted to hurt him.
“Well, do you want to help me carry in some bags, and I’ll get things put away that need to be put away? Do you remember by any chance getting bitten?”
Evander stood and went to help, frowning a bit. “I was going to save a child and his family, but the parents were too far gone. I took the child and began to run, but that’s all I remember.”
“I understand. We’ve fought a lot of vampires over the years, and some of the things we’ve seen have been hard.”
“Yes, Corbin has told me about how you found this house, how you protect the portal, and defend the world from evil. It’s lovely.” And terrifying. It was also terrifying to believe that his mate, his beloved lethean, could be fighting vampires.
Cosmo stopped, the bags falling from his fingers, his eyes going white.
“They were vampires. They wanted to infect you and they wanted you to go infect the fae. They wanted to steal into all the worlds. That’s what they want.
So they’re going to keep coming back, because this place is stained.
This house is stained on the inside with dragon blood, and they don’t know what to do.
They’re out there, and they’re going to come back. ”
Oh dear.
Mate? Lethean, I need you here. Your pink brother is being a seer.
It was a touch frightening.
And while his type was very used to having seers in towns and cities and working about noblepersons, it personally wasn’t in his wheelhouse.
There simply wasn’t a lot of call for it in a hunting scenario.
He left seers and mystics for folks who were much more in need of that skill than he was.
He just wanted to go run in the forest, have a lot of sex, provide for his family, and worship the Lord of the Hunt. Surely that was enough.
I’ll be right there! Corbin called.
Cosmo was beginning to holler, to foam a bit about the lips.
Very unattractive.
“Cosmo!” There was this huge roar and a giant man came rushing in, scales standing out on his face in a lovely red and black pattern. Very attractive. There was also a child in a carrier on his chest and a… gargoyle.
“DA!”
Evander supposed the newcomer might be evil, and one never knew about gargoyles, so he stood ready to defend the pink brother from whoever this was. “Be kind to him.”
“They’re vampires,” Cosmo screamed.
“Did you bite him?” Big and scaly roared, and he snorted.
“Why would I bite him?”
“NO BITING!” croaked the gargoyle.
“I’m not a vampire.” He frowned at the little one and bared his not-sharp teeth. “See?”
The little monster rushed him, and he went into a defensive mode.
Don’t hurt him! He’s my nephew!
“There are no vampires here.” Two more people rushed in—the purple brother, that was Cullen, the other one, who was Cullen’s mate and a unicorn, to whom he owed a show of gratitude—and Cullen scooped up the gargoyle.
“Elliot. Stop. He’s Uncle Corbin’s. Hawk, get your mate.
He’s foaming. Evander, hi!” He got a sparkly wave. “Hi! I’m Cullen and—”
The little black flying horse pushed into his arms, nuzzling him hard.
“Oh, I know you!”
“This is Tisi. And you saved him. We owe you gratitude, Evander.”
“You saved me. I think we’re even.” Evander grinned at the brothers while he let Tisi love all over him. “It’s very good to meet all of you finally, actually meet you and not just hear you in my dreams.”
Corbin came thundering in like a herd of water buffalo. “Is everything okay? Everything’s all right? Yes?” He looked back and forth from Evander to his brothers. “No one is vampiric, guys, I promise.”
“I think Tisi solved that problem once and for all.” Cullen grinned. “He just threw himself at Evander, and nobody could argue with that.”
“Hold you?” Elliot grunted his little rock on granite voice across everybody’s ears.
“Absolutely.” Evander handed Tisi off to Cullen and took Elliot in his arms. “Hello, little one. I promise I’m not here to hurt anyone.
” Elliot had to be the heaviest baby he’d ever lifted in his entire life.
This little guy was like a gargoyle, literally, even though he could tell he was a dragon and fae mixed together.
“No hurting,” Elliot said very seriously, grabbing his cheeks and staring into his eyes.
“I promise. None. Your Uncle Corbin and I are learning how to be mates. That’s all.”
“Like papas?” Elliot looked back and forth between his two dads.
“Exactly like that, my little gargoyle baby,” Corbin said, grabbing Elliot and tossing him in the air.
Elliot grunted out this hysterically funny little laugh, and wiggled and giggled, happy to be flying through the air like his cousins, Evander thought.
He was a pretty good judge of character, and he usually made his impressions quickly.
Evander decided then and there that he liked both Cosmo and Cullen.
Orion he already had a sense of because he had a bit of the man’s blood.
Hawk was still a mystery. He thought if the man had learned how to handle this household, then he had to be a good dragon.
“Evander, here’s your food.” A box of food was handed over, and Evander had to admit he loved how it all came in little boxes and bags all on its own.
“And the order came, so there’s all sorts of stuff in there too.” Cosmo grinned over at his brother. “That’s what started this whole rigmarole. I came to deliver goodies.”
“Shame on you!” Corbin chuckled and shook his head. “Well, since we’re all here, we should all have a sit and get to know each other. There’s plenty of room.”
So he was sitting there on the sofa with four babies crawling all over him, fascinated to get to know their new uncle.
Corbin was making up snack trays, he thought, for everyone, and Cosmo was helping while Hawk stared at him. Cullen and Orion just sort of teased and played and made terrible jokes.
The whole… what was the human term for it? Vibe? Was of family, and warmth, and love. Something he had sadly missed out on most of his life.
But he would soak it in now.
Little Serena, who was a unicorn, dragon, fae butterfly baby, pressed her iridescent nose to his and stared into his eyes. Bubbles appeared in the air around them, her magic incredibly strong.
“Luff.”
His heart melted. “I will love too, Serena. So much. I promise.”
“This is your Uncle Evander, Serena. Can you say Evander?” Corbin was beaming.
“Ever?”
Tisi snorted from where he was draped around his shoulders and snuggled in, and the gargoyle baby, who was gnawing on his toes, glanced up from the floor. “Uncle Ever After?” he crunched out.
“Ever After,” Serena agreed, the bubbles turning pink and sparkly.
“I like that.” Corbin grinned at him. “They really like you. Welcome home.”
“Uncle Ever After. It’s almost as good as Hawk. Huh?” Cosmo plopped down on the big dragon’s lap. “Quit staring; he’s Corbin’s, and we’re keeping him. We like him.”
“Hmph.” The big guy was fighting a grin though, watching him with the babies.
Elliot stopped munching on him to curl up and roll to Hawk like a wee stone. “Papa. Ups.”
“Yes, son.” Hawk leaned down and scooped him up, plopping him on his lap next to his other dad. “Well, I am glad to see you up and awake. You had us all worried.”
“I can only imagine. Vampires are scary. Having one that’s possibly a fae warrior had to be horrifying.”
“You can get out in the sunshine, right?”
“Good lord.” Cosmo stared at his mate. “Don’t wake up and be an asshole. Besides the sunshine is flowing in through the window; he’s fine.”
“Right, sorry,” Hawk apologized. “I have all this adrenaline.”
“No worries at all.” He stuck his hand into the bright beam of sunshine. “No blisters.”
“Papa.” Isabelle waved at her father from the crook of his arm, and he chuckled.
“Is that your papa, little girl?” he asked.
She blinked, wrinkled her little nose, and then she hiccuped, smoke coming out of her nostrils.
“She is her father’s daughter,” Cosmo said, leaning hard. “Thank goodness no one seems to have inherited my particular skill. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“It’s more than all right. Are you well? I swear to you I am not bringing the vampires here.”
Cosmo shrugged. “The vampires were here first. They killed two dragons that lived here. Murdered them. Their blood is on the floors.”
Cullen looked at Cosmo. “Are you serious? B-A-B-I-E-S.”
“Right, sorry.” Cosmo rolled his eyes. “We are perfectly safe here, and anything that happens we can take it on.” Sorry, guys.
Oh, he’d heard that.