Chapter 30 To Be Here
Seri
Zane’s arrival at the breakfast table was announced by Brumous’ excited bark and the subsequent shuffle of paws against hardwood.
I glanced up from buttering my toast to see my red-headed husband saunter in, hair still damp from a shower, looking irritatingly refreshed for someone who’d been unconscious when I left him less than an hour ago.
His eyes found mine immediately, a gleam of mischief already dancing in them as he slid into the chair beside me.
“Morning, gorgeous.” He dropped a light kiss on my lips. “Where are my wings and beer?”
“It’s eight in the morning.”
“And?” He stretched like a satisfied cat, revealing a sliver of chiseled abdomen above his belt that made my belly flutter.
“And normal people don’t have buffalo wings and alcohol for breakfast.” I pushed a plate of bacon and eggs toward him. “You’ll have to settle for this.”
“Like we’re normal people.” He made a show of sighing dramatically before spearing a strip of bacon. “Tyranny. In my own home. Denying a man his basic needs.”
“Brave of you to complain about the woman who nursed you back to health,” Koa scoffed into his coffee.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Zoodle.” I leaned closer and kissed his cheek.
“Hard to keep a good dhampir down.” He gave a shrug that didn’t quite hide how pleased he was by my attention.
Next to Koa, Kaori hid a smile behind her napkin. Papa, at the head of the table, observed us with quiet interest, like an anthropologist studying a newly discovered culture.
Beneath the table, I felt a cold nose nudge my knee. Brummy had positioned himself strategically between Kaori and me, his intelligent gaze moving between us as if calculating his odds of receiving treats from each of us.
A wise move on his part, it turned out.
All it took was him sitting with perfect posture and making his blue eyes wide and imploring. Kaori glanced down, then back at the table, feigning innocence even as her hand disappeared beneath the tablecloth. A moment later, Brummy’s tail thumped appreciatively against the floor.
“You shouldn’t encourage begging,” Lucian said, but there was more resignation than rebuke in his tone.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kaori replied serenely even as another piece of bacon vanished from her plate.
“Don’t bother.” Koa waved one hand. “Seri does the same thing. We’ve all given up trying to enforce table manners around here.”
“He’s still recovering,” I defended, reaching down to scratch Brumous behind the ears. “He deserves treats.”
The wolf’s eyes closed in bliss, leaning into my touch while gazing soulfully at Kaori, clearly recognizing a soft touch when he found one.
“Yeah, the sweet little murder puppy whose doubled in size in a week,” Zane said around a mouthful of eggs.
“He was underweight to begin with!”
The conversation flowed around us as Mrs. Wentzel brought out more platters of food. Zane ate with the focused intensity of someone making up for lost time, downing three helpings of everything. Between bites, he shifted his attention to me.
“So what’s the play with Amabel? Interrogation at dawn? Midnight beheading? Ooh, we could do one of those walk-of-shame things through the apple orchard!”
The question sobered the mood instantly. I took a sip of my orange juice, buying time to organize my thoughts.
“I don’t want to see her or question her, and I certainly don’t want to be part of whatever happens afterward.”
Zane and Koa exchanged a glance, a silent conversation passing between them.
“You sure, beloved?” Koa asked. “You don’t want to ask her anything? Say a final word?”
“No. I want nothing to do with her.”
There was a difference between the twins, at least in my mind. Eluned had been born unstable, her already fragile grip on reality further distorted by Dark forces and Arabesque’s trauma-laced upbringing. Everything about her had been manipulated and weaponized by her own mother.
Amabel was different. Cold. Calculating.
Every move she made was deliberate, every attack precisely planned.
Her assault on Casimir hadn’t been a crime of passion or insanity, but a carefully orchestrated ambush.
There was a clinical cruelty to her that made her more like Arabesque than Eluned could ever have been.
“She made her choices.” I pushed a piece of bacon around my plate. “As hard as it is to admit, some people are lost causes, and Amabel Harrow is one of them.”
“You’re right,” Zane agreed with a smirk. “Eluned was a mess. Nothing was firing right in her brain. Amabel’s different. When I peeked into her mind—”
“When you what?!” I screeched. “Tell me you didn’t use your telepathy, Zoodle!”
He at least had the grace to look sheepish.
“It was just for a second, sweetheart—”
“You idiot!” I stood up and whacked him on the shoulder. “After two deep telepathic dives in two days, both layered with swan song? Are you trying to kill yourself?!”
“It was barely a glimpse, bunny!” He rubbed his shoulder and pouted up at me.
“No more telepathy until I officially declare you’re recovered. Your brain needs a break.”
“My brain is perfectly fine.” He tapped his temple. “All systems operating within tolerances—”
“That’s an order, Zane Dorian Cimmerian, not a suggestion!” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “No telepathy. None.”
He opened his mouth, but I raised my eyebrows, and he gave me a sharp salute with mock solemnity.
“Yes, ma’am. Operation: Stay Outta Heads commences now.”
“Don’t ma’am me,” I muttered.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, moonbeam.” His wink made me both melt and frown.
“You handle them well.” Kaori’s eyes danced with laughter.
“Someone has to, especially this one.” I ignored Zane’s theatrical gasp of offense.
“I promise, Seri. No more heroics until I’m back to full Zane power.”
“Good.” I nodded, satisfied. “Because if you collapse again, I’m going to be very upset with you.”
“And we all know that’s the real nightmare scenario,” Koa smirked, making Kaori laugh into her napkin.
Then Addison appeared to ask if he could take “Senor Lobo” for a walk. The fourteen-year-old had grown increasingly comfortable at Evermere, and his bond with Brummy seemed to be helping him overcome some of the trauma that still haunted his eyes.
The second Brummy heard the ‘W’ word, he bounded to Addison’s side, tail wagging like a propeller.
“Of course, and thank you.”
“Anytime, Lady Seri.” Addison nodded, a rare smile brightening his face.
As Koa, Zane, and Papa began talking about what to do with Amabel, I pulled the baby monitor from my pocket and laid it on the table.
“Kaori, Papa, you are welcome to the garden or the library or whatever you want to do. Zoodle, Koko, you can handle Amabel. I am going to Simmy now.”
“Abandoning us for your favorite husband?” Koa teased. “I see how it is.”
“Yeah, our Simmy’s too pretty to resist, even half-dead,” Zane added.
“He’s not half-dead,” I protested with a scowl. “He’s recovering.”
“And he’ll recover faster with you there.” Koa kissed my temple. “Go on, sweet girl. We’ve got this.”
“Yeah, buttercup. Your boys will handle the icky bits.”
I kissed each of their cheeks and smiled at Kaori and Lucian before heading to the kitchen to prepare a breakfast tray for Casimir, but Mrs. Wentzel intercepted me at the doorway.
“I already have it started, Lady Seri.” She shooed me away from the refrigerator. “You just sit tight.”
I knew better than to argue with Mrs. Wentzel, so I perched on a barstool, watching as she arranged everything on a tray: Fresh fruit, yogurt, toast, a little dish of blackberry jam, another of butter, and a mug of rich bone broth.
“There,” she said, handing me the tray.
“He’s going to complain about no black coffee,” I told her with a grin.
“He’s going to eat what I make for him.” She gave me a no-nonsense nod. “Now go take care of that husband of yours.”
Thanking her, I made my way upstairs. On the landing, I paused by the wide window overlooking the grounds. In the distance, Addison collapsed in a pile of giggles as Brummy paraded around with a mangled soccer ball in his jaws, his tail wagging in pure joy.
“They’re good for each other.”
For all the darkness we’d faced, there were still these bright, precious moments. Moments of joy, of something approaching normalcy.
With a small smile, I continued to our bedroom. It was time to help one more piece of my world heal.
#
The bedroom was quiet except for Casimir’s steady breathing as I carefully set the breakfast tray on the desk where Koa usually sharpened his knives.
I moved toward the bed, my eyes fixed on my husband.
His golden hair was sweaty and sleep tangled, and I itched to brush it, but didn’t want to wake him.
I perched on the edge of the mattress, not wanting to disturb him, but unable to resist being close.
My fingers hovered over his hand, which lay palm-up on the sheets.
The steady rise and fall of his chest reassured me, even as I worried about what would happen when he woke.
Angelo’s warning echoed in my mind, that Casimir might wake in panic, desperate to confirm I was alive.
As if sensing my presence, his eyelids flickered, a butterfly’s wing-beat against his too-pale skin. I held my breath, watching the first signs of consciousness stir behind his face. His brow furrowed slightly, lips pressing together as his breathing changed rhythm.
“Simmy,” I whispered, laying my hand on his forearm.
Casimir launched from prone to crouched in the center of the bed in one fluid motion so swift, my eyes barely tracked it.
His body coiled like a spring wound too tight, muscles bunched, his fingers curled into claws.
But it was his eyes that froze my blood.
Wild, unseeing, the green almost swallowed by black pupils blown wide.
His chest heaved with rapid, shallow breaths, and a sound tore from his throat—half growl, half whimper—that shattered my heart into jagged pieces.