Back Home #2
All eyes fix on me, and most of them are frowning, mainly from my own family, with the exception of Blondie, who has a thing for frowning at me anyway.
“Theo?” Ares says.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up,” they all say in unison.
Blondie smirks, and I raise my eyebrows at her, remembering that weird-ass aura. What was that?
You know I’m going to ask her, and my wolf stirs; he’s in agreement. Something is going on, and I want to know what.
“Right, so shall we get down to what the hell happened from start to finish?” Gramps asks, frowning. “You don’t just up and leave like that.”
“I agree,” Aunty Maria says with a nod.
“If we didn’t, there was a high chance you guys would have deterred us,” Jayce says quietly. “Regardless, everyone is back safe. And before anyone begins with the ‘what if something happened’, it didn’t.”
We’re all currently in one of the Academy conference rooms. It’s huge, but the tension makes it suffocating.
“Aunty Ri, mind if you replay the scene from one of their minds? I wasn’t allowed in, so I want to see what happened, too,” Ahren asks from where he’s sitting, eating cookies that I have no idea where he found them.
I sit forward. “It was damn epic, man, like that shit was fucking amazing,” I tell him.
“Ideally, from one of the girls’ minds, since they were just watching it all and probably saw it all better,” Carter adds.
“Whose mind then?” Raihana asks, looking at the girls. “Heaven?”
She shakes her head, and Raihana frowns slightly but nods. “Mine is fine,” Sienna says, stepping forward.
Raihana performs the spell, touching her finger to Sienna’s forehead, and once again, I’m back in that arena. A couple of us collectively groan.
“Too soon,” I say, and the others nod.
Everyone is silent, and even I fall silent as the duel begins.
Being there was one thing, but seeing it from Sienna’s eyes is another.
The sheer power, the calibre of the attacks, man, even I’m impressed we managed that, but of course I don’t say that.
Instead, I lean back with a cocky smile as we fight against a god.
“See, the Westwood men spar off against a god, now that’s something no one else can say they’ve ever done,” I say. The sound of the arena is loud around us. Everywhere around us, power clashes against power.
From up here, the attacks are far stronger and more intense. Our remarks and shouts can also be heard. Although I have to admit, I bring the entertainment. I’ve lost count of how many times the women gasped, or everyone shouted. Ma even screams a few times before clamping her hand over her mouth.
Even Katara looks impressed.
When Allie screams, I snicker. “Aww, look at you caring for me.”
“I don’t care about you,” she throws at me scornfully.
The final attack happens, and everyone is on the edge of their seats: Dad, Gramps, and Grandma, who, by the way, is wide-eyed. I don’t see that expression on her face much, and Uncle Rayhan, too.
They do realise it’s over, right? That they’re just watching a replay.
Ma jumps again, as does Aunty Kiara. I’m tempted to scare them from here, but maybe it’s too soon.
Yeah, they seem to have forgotten.
Sienna pulls away the moment Helios falls to his knees, and we are back in the room.
Dad looks at us, and I’m not sure if he’s impressed or proud, maybe both.
“Three boys favoured by the gods,” Grandma says, stunned. The others nod, clearly still shocked from the replay.
Ma is shaking as she clings to Dad’s arm. Aunty Maria looks shocked, too. Raihana is smiling, and Delsanra looks worried, her eyes running over our bodies.
“Thank you for everything you did to bring her back. I truly appreciate it,” she whispers, looking at all of us.
Uncle Al is wearing a proud smirk on his face, whilst Leo is already calculating strategies of how he can use us. Trust me, I know the dude.
“Well, Liam, you must be proud. I fucking am. You raised some strong boys there,” Uncle Al says.
“I cannot take credit,” Dad says, ever so humble.
“Dad, just say: Obviously, they’re my sons, init?” I say.
“We made it out alive thanks to Heaven,” Jayce adds. “She traded her voice, so no one died while we were there.”
All eyes now turn to her, and Raihana hugs her. They knew about it; she probably told them, so they were over the initial shock.
“We’ll find a way,” Raihana says. “I’m so proud of you. I’m going to continue to train you myself. You’re my priority.”
Blondie tosses her hair and nods. I’d like that, she writes.
Uncle Rayhan gets up and sits on her other side, wraps his arms around her and kisses her forehead.
“Thank you,” he says before looking at us. “And thank you, all of you, for bringing her back. Alessandra, Ahren, you, too. I think we can all agree that our children have grown to become strong warriors and leaders.”
“I agree,” Gramps says.
“Yes, and you’re all back safe,” Grandma says.
“Are any of you hurt or need anything tended to?” Delsanra asks.
We shake our heads as Maria stands. “For breaking Academy rules, there will be some punishment, but we can deal with that in a few days. Take a few days to rest.”
“You’re marked,” Dad says suddenly, making silence fall through the room. He’s looking at Sienna, who is standing by her mother. Her hand instantly goes to her neck.
“Don’t sweat it. Her mate marked her,” I say. The room falls silent as Delsanra moves her hair, and everyone can see the clear Deimos symbol that covers her neck.
Pin-fucking-drop silence.
Uncle Al sits forward. “Mate?” he growls.
“Yeah, in case you all didn’t know when you fucking insulted him, Jayce and Sienna are mates,” Ares adds.
“Yeah, so imagine how he felt when his mate left him, and you all gave him shit while some were too far up their own arses about their own hurt,” I finish. Although Jayce is trying to mind-link us, we ain’t backing down.
For once, no one tells me to shut it, although Jayce gives me a warning look.
“You blamed Jayce?” Sienna’s voice trembles as she looks at her family, her chest heaving as she tries to control her emotions.
“No,” Uncle Rayhan says softly. He probably blamed himself, and Uncle Al looks down.
But the best fucking part about this? Those who did give him shit, just knowing that they are mates, has changed their entire attitude towards the situation.
“That’s unfair,” Sienna says quietly.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re back, my job is done. You lot can carry on with what went down; I’m heading to bed.”
“Jayce-” Dad tries.
“Goodnight,” Jayce says, before he makes his way to the door, stopping only to kiss Ma on the forehead, leaving behind a fucking intense silence. And for once, even I don’t know what to say.