Chapter 6
Bram
Ijogged over to where our daughters were, desperate to see their costumes. Oh gods, my heart was going to actually explode. Helia gurgled happily as I scooped her up. The vines on her headband peeking through her wispy red curls were the cutest things I'd ever seen.
"There's my little princess," I murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead before leaning over to Salem, who was joyously lounging in Sloane's arms. "And you, my fierce little dragon."
Salem babbled something that sounded suspiciously like she was agreeing with me, and I couldn't help but grin.
"That's right, girls. You're both going to be absolutely magnificent.
Beautiful, powerful, unstoppable." I stood, bouncing Helia gently as my voice took on that commanding tone I usually reserved for demon court proceedings.
"You'll rule both here and in Besmet, with wisdom and strength.
The world won't know what hit them when you two come of age. "
Goldie's laughter rang out behind me, warm and melodic. "Bram, love, maybe we should calm down on planning our daughters' world domination for a couple more decades? They can't even walk yet."
"It's never too early to set proper expectations," I replied seriously, though I couldn't suppress my own smile.
Sloane nodded. "He's right, Red. Leadership skills start developing—"
A tremendous crash interrupted the impromptu lecture on raising future rulers.
I stared at the carnage before me: a flipped table, candy everywhere.
Helia was still babbling contentedly in my arms as if the complete destruction of our Halloween display was perfectly normal.
My eyes narrowed. There could only be one person responsible for this, but where was he?
I handed Helia to Saige as a kid in a T-Rex costume raced past us with his buddies, all of them laughing. I can only imagine…
I walked over to the mess. "What in the seven hells happened?" I demanded, stepping carefully around scattered candy.
From beneath a tangle of orange tablecloth and what appeared to be half our candy supply, Faris's muffled voice emerged. "There was a... situation."
"A situation?" Goldie repeated, though I could hear the barely contained laughter in her voice.
Faris finally extracted himself from the mess, his vampire cape now twisted around his torso like some sort of Gothic straightjacket. His normally wild hair stuck up at even wilder angles, and he had a piece of candy stuck to his forehead. "A very small, very terrifying situation."
"Terrifying?" I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"There was a child," Faris began dramatically, gesturing wildly.
"That's how the best horror stories start," Cam deadpanned.
Kai laughed. Faris ignored them. "An innocent-looking child in what I initially thought was a simple ghost costume.
But then—" He shuddered theatrically. "It started expanding, and I realized it wasn't a ghost at all.
It was a sheet with holes cut out, but underneath was this massive, inflatable dinosaur costume.
A T-Rex, Bram. An enormous, bobbling, roaring T-Rex wearing a tiny ghost sheet like some sort of prehistoric phantom! "
Sloane snorted. "You got spooked by a kid in a dinosaur costume?"
"It was the combination!" Faris protested, attempting to untangle his cape.
"The unexpected duality! The cognitive dissonance of expecting a spooky ghost child and getting a bouncing prehistoric predator instead!
My reflexes kicked in, I may have jumped backward with supernatural speed, and the tablecloth got caught on my cape clasp and—" He gestured helplessly at the destruction.
"You're telling me," I said slowly, "that a child in a ghost-dinosaur costume managed to take down a blood mage?"
"It was very startling," Faris mumbled, finally freeing himself from the tablecloth.
Goldie was openly giggling now as Faris tried to salvage his costume and dignity. Once he straightened his cape, he squared his shoulders, clearly ready to take on the world—as long as there was no more "unexpected duality".
Faris flashed that trademark smile at me, completely unbothered by the chaos he'd just caused.
"Bram! I need your help with candy distribution.
Apparently, I'm not to be trusted alone with the setup.
" His grin turned positively wicked. "But that's fine because I have much more important things to focus on anyway. "
"Such as?" Goldie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Can't tell you!" Faris practically vibrated with excitement. "It's a surprise for later. But trust me, tonight is going to be absolutely perfect." He winked at me specifically. "Right, lover?"
I groaned at the nickname but nodded reluctantly. I had no idea what the lunatic had planned, but I went along with it because it was important to him.
"I'm so excited," Goldie proclaimed. Her round cheeks were flushed pink, but I couldn't tell if that was from the cooler weather or whatever she might be hoping for tonight.
I bent down and kissed her, loving the way my heart still raced, like it was the first time.
Pulling back, I whispered in her ear, "I'm going to devour you later, Goldie.
" A fucking promise. She gasped softly, and her eyes heated.
So responsive. Always. My cock twitched, and I stood up straight, knowing I needed to get a hold of myself.
Now was not the time. Goldie looked up at me with a knowing smirk.
"You good there, Bram?" she taunted with a small laugh.
"Oh, I'm excellent," I lied as a gust of wind blew her scent right into my face. I had to put some space between us, right now. "I'm going to just go over here and, um, clean this up."
"Mmmhmm," she mused, but I had already turned to my task.
I needed a distraction. As I worked on restoring order to the candy, I couldn't help but notice Cam leaning against the porch railing, his Thor costume doing absolutely sinful things to his already impressive physique, while Kai stood close enough that their shoulders brushed.
"You know," Cam murmured, his deep voice carrying just enough for me to catch, "that black cat costume really brings out your eyes."
Kai's laugh was warm, intimate. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Thunder Daddy."
I watched as Cam's hand ghosted along Kai's arm, the touch brief but charged with electricity that had nothing to do with his magical abilities.
They'd been dancing around each other like this for months now—stolen glances, casual touches that lingered too long, heated banter that made the rest of us clear our throats.
When are they actually going to stop tiptoeing around each other and just fuck already?
Though if I were being honest, I couldn't exactly judge them. Faris and I had been doing the same for how long now? And despite all of the fooling around we did, we still hadn't actually fucked.
That was okay, though. I had a plan for that, which involved my throne, my crown, my Queen, and my psychotic blood mage.
A group of kids approached, their excited chatter pulling me back to the present. I distributed candy with practiced efficiency, accepting compliments on my "costume" with dry amusement. If only they knew.
Behind me, I could hear Goldie cooing to our daughters, Sloane grumbling good-naturedly about his ridiculous dragon suit, and Faris explaining the finer points of vampire lore to anyone who would listen. This beautiful, chaotic, utterly perfect family we'd built together.
My heart clenched with the sheer magnitude of love I felt for all of them. Whatever surprises tonight held—whether it was finally taking that next step with Faris, watching Cam and Kai stop dancing around each other, or simply enjoying our first Halloween as parents—I was ready for it.
Gods, I loved them all so fucking much.