43. Purgatory has awful reception
Nevaeh
T aking Grace’s hands in mine, I let my Divine brush over her skin and heal her superficial cuts.
Seiji circles me like my essence, enjoying his front-row seat to my eyes glowing gold, and my powers coming out to play. Jackson, on the other hand, is standing ramrod still with his lips parted.
With every passing second, Seiji shuffles closer. If I were to move my right arm even an inch, it will bump his nose. Silly man.
Once Honeybunch is all patched up, Seiji lightly shoves her out of the way and takes her place with his hands held out. The idiot is bouncing on his feet in excitement while I stare at him blankly.
He knows he doesn’t need my help, right?
Angel snickers against my neck, holding me to his chest like I’m his comfort teddy bear. “You’re already halfway healed, airhead. Don’t bother my mate for silly scratches.”
“Ugh, fine. Jackson, bring your juicy ass over here, pumpkin!”
Shaking my head, I chuckle as Seiji pulls his mate in front of him, who is clearly too shy to ask for help.
Even when Grace is now fully mated to Harvey, she is still essentially a human... with a longer lifespan and better health, but it takes her a tad bit longer to heal. Hence why I offered my services. And now that Jackson is also family, he deserves the same special treatment.
Once Seiji hits his quota of gushing over my essence, he complains how unfair it is that only the Horsemen of Death was given the ‘badass smoke effect’.
Tuning out his whining like we always do, everyone gets to work on helping around the kingdom.
We succeeded in containing most of the battle to the northern side, so the damage shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to fix, especially with the centaurs and their construction crew already drawing up plans and discussing a timeline.
I guess this is what happens when you go to war against a superior species. The wizards have less than a dozen covens left with castles as empty as a ghost town, while we’ll be up and running in less than two days.
Seiji aids the earth fairies in ensuring the ground regains fertility. Every last drop of blood is pulled out of the soil, and a fresh batch of grass graces the empty, once barren land. By the time the morning sun peaks out, it’s starting to look as if we never had a war to begin with.
I pass a group of kids dancing and cheering on my way to clean up. Their happiness and joy are contagious, and I’m glad we hid any signs of a brutal battle before the regular folks returned.
Removing what is left of my armor, I clean up in the War castle before we all go home to rest. I'll need my energy for when Uncle Elijah comes by to drop off my little monkey.
Despite Angel's thousand protests that Hazel needs rest too, she decides to stay back to talk to the second-in-command’s and get a gist of how things went on their end. Leaving her stubborn ass, I drag Angel to the Horsemen castle because the siren might not need it, but I feel like I can sleep for three days straight.
My steps falter, and I gasp in horror at the awful sight. “They broke my favorite fountain. Angel look! Fuck, I loved that ugly piece of art. Ugh, I feel so orange!”
Sighing loud enough, I bet people on the other side of the kingdom heard, Angel tucks me into his side.
“ Red . You’re angry, so you feel red.”
“But I hate orange, so I should feel orange, right?”
“Right… I’m sorry, sweetheart. My bad.” He deadpans.
“It’s okay, I still love you.”
Lifting on my toes, I kiss his jaw before walking past the hideous fountain that's broken into a thousand tiny pieces. No one needs to know that I asked Khatri to accidentally target a certain showpiece.
Walking up the stairs, I can practically hear my comfy bed calling out to me. Daydreaming about cuddling my mate and falling asleep in his arms, I don’t watch my step and crash into someone’s back.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Watch it, you mammoth of a man, don’t you—” My words get stuck in my throat when I peek past Harvey and find a certain man standing in the middle of my living room.
“Looks like I’m a few hours late.” The man sheepishly rubs the back of his neck and drops his bag on the floor with a thud. “In my defense, reception in purgatory is total shit.”
Grace is the first to shake her shock and run to the man. He engulfs her in a tight hug without hesitation and laughs when Grace immediately starts sobbing. They embrace each other like they’ve been apart for ages.
“That was mighty irresponsible of you, Dad. Do you know how worried I was? And didn’t I tell you to keep me updated? God, why are you always this reckless!” Hearing an earful from his daughter, the man apologizes and shushes a crying yet smiling Grace.
How this woman can feel this many emotions at once still baffles me.
Looking at him now, I notice the difference between the real man and the blurry images of him engraved in my head. He hasn’t aged much in the last decade. With his Divine slowing his aging to half, he looks more twenty-six than thirty-seven. But there’s no mistaking the maturity in his actions and features.
The light stubble is new. I don't like it.
It makes him look like a man who just crawled out of a place where shaving was not a priority, and I have this urge to ask him to go shave it off. The differences between what was in my head and my reality is so vast I can’t help but panic.
What else have I been imagining wrong?
I curse Harvey in my head when he moves to stand beside Grace and leaves me exposed. Dumbass .
The laid-back man curiously regards my best friend, squinting his eyes before they widen comically. His wide evergreen eyes bounce to Grace, Harvey, and then Grace again, silently asking his daughter for a logical explanation as to why he is suddenly standing before a once missing Horseman.
When Grace introduces her mate by his name, the older man completely goes off the hook. Both men try and miserably fail at holding back tears while engulfing each other in a bear hug.
What a bunch of crybabies.
I don’t realize I've snorted out loud instead in the safety of my head until the man’s soft eyes brimming with tears snap to me. Shit. Fuck. Shit.
Harvey backs up, shaking the man by his shoulders. Laughing with tears freely falling down his cheeks, Harvey nudges the man I've been aching to meet toward me.
Hearing a muffled cry next to me, I turn to find Seiji bawling his eyes out, hiding his face in Jackson’s chest, who is also failing to keep his composure.
Okay, so suddenly, everyone is drowning in tears except me. Wait, Angel— Yeah, no .
My mate stands behind me, rubbing my shoulders and clearing his throat. This is stupid. I should be the one comforting him since he looks to be on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
When the big man with deep evergreen eyes and a ripped denim jacket starts in my direction, I step back on instinct. The way his face twists in raw hurt makes me regret that step instantly. My chest aches with every tear he wipes to regain some composure, but for some reason, I can’t take that step forward.
The man braves another step forward, and that’s when I realize I’m pressed up against Angel tightly.
I strain my neck to look behind me, and the minute Angel sees my panic, he turns me around in his arms and gestures something behind me.
Closing my eyes tightly, I focus on the fact that I can’t see him anymore. He doesn’t even look the same for fucks sake. Why didn’t I think of that before? Of course, he wouldn’t look the same; it’s been a decade!
Calm the fuck down, Nevaeh, you’re crazy is peaking out.
Angel breaks my daze by kissing my forehead, “Hey, you’re okay. Everything is okay. Just take a deep breath for me. Can you do that, sweetheart?” Nodding my head repeatedly, I focus on breathing until I don't feel like I’m standing on the edge of panic.
I feel a pressure in my head before Angel links me. “You know him Nevaeh. No need to be cautious, I promise.”
I think I’m going to pass out.
What the fuck is happening to me? Where did this sudden rush of fear come from?
“He looks different.”
“Time does that,” Angel reassures me.
“Time changes how you feel too. What is he feels different about me now?”
“Why don't we ask the man how he feels before jumping to any conclusions, okay?”
Sorting my thoughts as much as possible, I grab Angel’s collar and stand on my toes to whisper in his ear. His heart skips beneath my palm when he hears my first question. Holding my face, he kisses my forehead again before turning back to face everyone.
The man is clutching the back of a chair to restrain himself from instinctively approaching me, and I really appreciate it.
My stomach bottoms out before Angel even asks my question. The absolute fear of the answer I'll get is making it impossible for me to unfreeze myself.
“Did you know we found Nevaeh?”
The man’s face crumbles with hurt as if he is cursing himself for not knowing sooner. “No. I heard about the war, and that The Tetrad kingdom was involved, so I came to help.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he admits, “But I forgot to ask the when part.”
I snicker quietly behind Angel’s shoulder, but the man hears me perfectly fine. His desperate eyes find me, lips quirking up the tiniest bit.
That’s so like him. He came running to join a war but didn’t ask what it was about, who was involved, or even when it was happening.
Angel purses his lips to hide his amusement, but my next whisper makes him stiffen and grab my hand, clutching the back of his shirt.
“Do you plan on leaving again?”
“Never,” the tired man croaks immediately.
I breathe out a relieved sigh. I’m so damn tired of losing and rebuilding myself every time someone leaves. I don't care how selfish and cruel it might sound, but I have to protect myself. I don't want to lower my defenses for someone who's going to leave and never look back.
I never imagined my paranoia would hinder the first time I saw him again, but when your fears are louder than your own voice, there is no hiding from them.
I have lived with these fears for years, and now, as I watch them unfold, I want to crawl back into my head where it's safe. Where I won’t have to hear him say he doesn’t want me anymore.
What would he think of me if he knew everything I have done to survive? What if he's only here for Grace and his kingdom, and not for the long-lost daughter?
My worries, questions, and fears start to overwhelm me to the point I don’t notice him running at me until I’m wrapped in a hug strong enough to crush my bones.
Papa . My papa.
The hug is tight to the point of suffocating. It’s good that between Angel, Seiji, and Harvey, I’m used to being squished by giant men on a regular basis.
Papa wraps his arms around my shoulders and holds me protectively. I don’t realize I’m holding him just as tight until my arms start to shake and my knees give out.
Sobbing like a child reuniting with their parents after getting lost in a crowd, I bury my face in his chest and let him support me while I empty a decade’s worth of longing for my father’s embrace.
I’ve spent countless nights filled to the brim with doubts that he abandoned me. I feared that he didn't want me enough to save me from those monsters. But here I am, in my father’s arms, as he continues to thank the universe for bringing me back to him. I did most of the work, but sure, Papa, let’s thank the universe .
“Heaven comes Hell, kiddo, no one’s touching my family ever again,” his voice is thick with emotions and his words hold a promise; one that will destroy realms before he lets it break.
Today, the final remnants of the voice that made me question everything disappear because now I know my papa didn’t loathe me... he loved me. He didn’t forget about me even when he forgot himself.
I reluctantly step away before this whole day turns into us just crying on each other. Papa halfheartedly lets me go, but not before wiping my tears and softly kissing the top of my head.
“You need to stop crying trouble . You know if you start crying I’ll cry too, and I can’t do that. I have a reputation to uphold.”
With tears streaming down my face, I swipe under my nose and chuckle. “You can’t call me trouble anymore. I’m a grown woman now. Very decent and docile.”
All five of my so-called family gasp in sync.
“ Decent? Stop lying, monkey.” Harvey butts in.
Before I can smack my dumbass of a best friend, Seiji joins him, “And d ocile? Bitch, you made a grown man pee … by staring at him!”
For fucks sake! Couldn't they wait at least one day before telling Papa his daughter is a minor nightmare?
Traitors . All of them.
“I think she meant deranged and dangerous .” It’s good that Angel is hugging me from behind and essentially holding me hostage because my derange is creeping out.
Winking at me subtly, papa mouths 'That's my girl' and gives me secret thumbs up.
Papa raises his brow in question when Angel kisses the side of my head and comes to stand beside me. I wait for a reaction but Papa maintains a blank stare.
“So… uh this is Angel— Anxo Alarie . Shit, you already know that. He’s my mate…” I trail off, turning to look at my Angel before continuing, “And soon-to-be husband.”
The smile that blossoms on my Angel’s face is worth risking my entirety over. This isn’t the first time I’ve called him my husband or husband-to-be, but every single time I do, I fall in love with him a little more by how pleased he looks with that title.
An obnoxious fake cough interrupts me admiring my mate, and I turn to find Papa squinting at Angel.
It’s weird to see him show any kind of negative or angry emotion when I’ve always seen him cracking people up with his cheeky attitude.
Clearing his throat, Papa asks in a deep voice, that I'm guessing is meant to be threatening. At least for someone who hasn't known him for years. “So, you’re the mate?”
“Yes, sir.” Angel bites back a smile.
“And you know who I am, right?”
“Dean, I’ve known you— ”
“I’m trying to threaten you, boy; go with it.”
“Of course, sir. Continue.”
It's hilarious watching Papa pretend to scare someone he clearly adores. Angel stays quiet and allows Papa to finish his ‘You hurt my daughter, and I will use my scythe on you’ speech.
These two are adorable.
“I will find myself another Conquer the day you make her cry... or get her pregnant.”
“Wait, no—” Angel immediately let go of me to grab Papa by his shoulders. With desperation oozing from his voice, he shakes Papa, “Come on, man, I can’t not have kids. And they’ll be your grandkids…”
“Exactly why I don’t want them. I’m barely thirty-seven, which means no grandpa bullshit.” Turning to Grace, he repeats, “That goes for you too. No babies. None. Nada.”
“Old man has lost his fucking mind.”
A flying centerpiece hits Harvey straight in his chest. Bending forward, he curses Papa and pledges to have a kid in the coming year and to teach them to say ‘grandpa’ as their first word.
This idiot. That’s exactly what Papa wants.
Ever since we were kids, he knew reverse psychology was the best way to get what he wanted out of Harvey and the hot-headed dumbass always fell for it.
Who’s going to tell Papa, Harvey was already eager to jump the baby train.
Before Papa can fill Angel’s head with more baby nonsense, a loud bang from behind startles me. Hazel strides in, tucking her dagger away and muttering about incompetent assholes under her breath.
Stopping to take in the scene before her, she grits out, “Oh, for Lucifer’s sake, please don't tell me I walked straight into mushy stuff. Listen, it’s been a long ass week, and if I have to be around you babies tearing up, I’m going to lose my shit—” Hazel stops abruptly when her gaze finds Papa.
With confusion burning in her eyes, she turns to ask me, “Is he your...”
“Papa? Yeah, that's him.” I smile excitedly.
Sharp dark eyes turn to slits as the siren directs her glare at my father. “Look who decided to show up. Care to enlighten us what made you finally share your divine presence with us peasants Mr. big bad Grim Reaper.”
I wait for Papa to answer her, but he keeps grinning at Hazel like she isn't trying to stab him with her eyes.
Why is he smiling like an idiot?
Grace and I forgot our anger as soon as we saw Papa but I can see Hazel is not afraid to tear him a new one even when she has never met the man and wasn't personally affected by his absence.
She saw how much him leaving hurt us and that's enough for the siren to demand answers.
Suddenly Papa throws his head back and starts roaring in laughter. I watch with wide eyes as he loses his ever-loving shit and nearly falls to his knees because of how hard he is laughing.
“Oh, Heaven is going to love this,” Papa murmurs with a mischievous look in his eyes and wipes the side of his eyes. “I see there are some new additions to the family.” He smiles at Jackson before fixing his cheeky gaze on Hazel. “And aren't you a little hellfire... mate .”
Wait what?!
Papa slowly walks closer to a frozen Hazel, who's watching his every step with a calculative look.
My mouth falls open when his dark essence seeps out of him and circles Hazel eagerly. Papa watches her in awe and chuckles when Hazel gasps as his Divine brushes the exposed skin of her arms.
I’m about to warn him about Hazel’s no-touch rule when both their eyes flash black for a quick second before returning to normal.
Woah .
“No. Fucking. Way.” Hazel quietly exclaims, her eyes not straying from Papa as the excited essence finally settles back into Papa. Hearing Hazel curse, Papa chuckles; his eyes practically shooting hearts at her.
I’ve never seen a couple who screams ‘made for each other’ the way they do.
A loud, hysterical laughter breaks my focus from the uh… couple? to Seiji, who is rolling on the floor, dying of short breaths.
“Of course, they are mates!”