Chapter Fifty
Two months later, I was walking down the corridor of the crew manor in Sunsho—which we had lovingly nicknamed Hallaxgral Hall—when a Hulfrin roar made me wince.
“Come back here, Ren!” Drellan's voice rumbled down the corridor.
I bunched my legs, jumped, pushed off the wall, and caught the fleeing, flying offender. Renree yipped and then giggled as I brought him down, trapped in my embrace. In his hands was his father's belt. I frowned at it as I stood up, propping Ren on my hip. His delicate wings folded down.
Drellan came barreling down the corridor, holding his pants up with one hand. He stopped when he saw us and then held out his free hand.
I gave him the belt. “Having trouble getting dressed, Drel?”
Drellan slipped his belt in his pants loops as his son laughed hard enough to bend backward over my arm.
Drellan buckled the belt and reached for his son.
“It seems we have a thief in the house.” He settled Ren in his arms and tried to stare sternly at the child, but his whiskers twitched, betraying his amusement. “You know Daddy hunts little thieves.”
Ren burst out of Drellan's arms, his wings buzzing as he went aloft. “You can't catch me, Daddy! I've got wings and you don't!” Ren made some taunting sounds, stuck out his tongue, and flew down the corridor, and then turned the corner to the stairs.
“I now see the problem of parenting a child from another race,” Drellan muttered.
I patted his broad shoulder. “Just wait until he becomes a teenager. It will be so much worse.”
“Oh, dear Gods, help me.”
I chuckled. “I'm going home. Send for me if there's an emergency.”
“We'll be fine, boss. Navin and Ruspo aren't due back until tomorrow, and the rest of us are preparing for the trip to Mengho. Go see your mate. He just returned, didn't he?”
“Yes. It's been three days.” I headed for the front door.
“Then we won't expect you to return for at least a week,” he called after me.
“Ha-ha.” I rolled my eyes.
Seconds later, a dramatic roar came from the grand stairs. “Ha! I've got you now, you little thieving rascal!”
Renree's giggles followed me out of the house, making me smile.
Maybe it was selfish to keep Renree, but I was glad we had.
Now that word was out that Hallaxgral had become a vigilante for the hopeless, cases were finding us instead of the other way around.
We made the worst our priority, all of them terrible crimes that would have drained my soul if not for two people—my mate and Renree.
Sometimes, my crew and I would be in a meeting, weighed down by horror, when we'd hear Ren laugh in the garden, at play with one of his new schoolmates or his governess.
That's all it took to lighten our hearts.
We'd look at each other, smile, and get back to work with a child's joy and resilience to remind us of what we fought for.
Renree was the most valuable member of our team. All of his uncles and his aunt would kill or die for him. He was probably the most beloved child in all of Serai.
Still smiling, I climbed into the waiting carriage.
Things were working out just as we had planned.
With two homes, I could keep my work separate from my home life, and living in Sunsho was like hiding in plain sight.
The only thing that darkened our success was Vasren's loyalty to the Dragon King.
So, I finally agreed that he should go and speak to King Tor'rien about our work.
The arrival of Vasren's carriage was his way of telling me that he was home.
I fidgeted during the trip to our estate. It couldn't be bad news. If it were, I'd already be in chains. Or Vasren wouldn't have returned. Or he would have returned only to fly me to another kingdom. But he was back and had sent a carriage for me. It must have gone well.
As the carriage pulled into the courtyard, I saw my mate come out of the front entrance.
Three days. That's all it had been. Yet it felt as if I hadn't seen him in months.
With sunlight turning his hair gold and warming his skin, Vasren looked like a dream—someone who, if they did exist, couldn't possibly be mine.
And yet, his stare locked on mine as the carriage came to a stop, and the joy in his eyes ran through our bond to tell me that he felt the same.
I burst out of the carriage and right into his arms.
“My little Kat.” Vas sighed as he held me. “I've missed you.”
“I've missed you too.” I leaned back and kissed him.
The sound of the carriage heading to the stable faded under the pounding of my heart. Vas was back. And he was mine.
“Don't ever leave again,” I whispered against his lips.
“Never,” he agreed.
Hand-in-hand, we went inside, strolling past luxurious rooms that I still hadn't grown accustomed to.
I was just as wealthy as Vas, but I'd never felt abundant until we returned from our first mission together and joined our lives for good.
Now, I felt like the richest man on Serai, but it had nothing to do with gold.
“Tell me,” I said.
“Wait until we're in our suite.” Vasren squeezed my hand.
“At least tell me if it's good news.”
“I think it's good.”
“You think?”
“It depends on you, Mate.”
“Oh, Gods.”
Vasren laughed as we took the lifter up to our suite. But once we were alone, he picked me up and carried me through the suite and to the bed.
“Vas!” I smacked his chest. “Tell me what happened with the King!”
He grinned as he laid me down. “It went well.” He removed my boot. “He approves of what we're doing.”
“What?” I sat up.
Vas took off my other boot. “He has some conditions.”
“Of course. What are they?”
Vasren pushed my jacket off my shoulders and tossed it aside. “We don't kill unless necessary.”
“It's usually necessary.”
“Well, he trusts me enough to leave that to our discretion.” He unbuttoned my shirt.
“He trusts you enough?” I shrugged out of the shirt, keeping my eyes on him.
“He would like reports of every mission, and when possible, he'd like us to hand over evidence to the Talons and allow them to make the arrests.”
“We've been doing that.”
“Yes, and that helped win his approval. He simply wants us to continue as we are.” He unbuckled my belt and yanked it free.
“And?”
“And he wants me in charge.”
I pushed his hands away when they reached for my pants. “He wants you in charge?”
Vasren sighed and sat back. “I'm supposed to oversee all missions and put a stop to anything that goes too far.”
“Vas, I love you, but this is my crew and my—”
“Kat.” He took my hand. “I know it's your crew. It will continue to be your crew. I'm just responsible now.”
“Responsible for what?”
“You know for what. If you ever go too far, and the King discovers it, I will be punished for it.”
“Vas, I—”
“You won't go too far. I know you. He may not trust you, but I do. You will go as far as you need to, to save people. Nothing more.”
“What if I get angry? What if I turn into a monster to hunt the monsters?”
“You won't. Because you have me to remind you that you're not a monster.
You have your new family. And don't tell me they aren't your family because I know they are.
We've all been through so many missions together now, seen so many horrible things, that we're bonded.
All of us. They're my family too, Kat. And I'm all right with being responsible for their actions. I have faith in them and in you.”
I just gaped at him.
“Kat?”
“Uh.” I cleared my throat. “So, we have the King's approval?”
“More than that.” He got off the bed and went to the satchel slung over the back of a chair. After removing a rolled parchment, he brought it over and handed it to me. “We're sanctioned. You are hereby a royal officer secretly employed by the Dragon King.”
“Secretly?” I looked over the document. “Holy fuck.”
“We'll work as if the King knows nothing about us, but if we need to deal with the Talons, all we do is show them that document, and they will help us.”
“And they won't arrest us,” I murmured. I looked up. “Vas, this is bizarre. I'm a vigilante, but I work for the King?”
“Yes, you're the Dragon King's vigilante. But you will always be my fugitive.” Vasren grinned, grabbed the document, and tossed it aside. “Now, my criminal mastermind, how grateful are you to your knight?”
“You're not a knight anymore.” I pulled Vas down on top of me. “But you'll always be my mate.”
“That's all I want to be.”
As my mate showed me just how much he valued who I was—all facets of me—I saw our future roll out before us.
Would we put an end to all the evil in the world?
No, that was impossible. But we wouldn't let that deter us.
We would fight the horrors we found, save those we could, and, above all, we'd love each other.
Not just him and me, but our new family.
Because when you fought with a heart full of love, evil couldn't touch you.