Kingdoms of Gold

17 | Plans

Alistar and Malachi had shown up minutes later. I was clutched in Brynjar's hold when Malachi grabbed one of my arms and hauled me up. He too checked for injuries before thoroughly yelling his frustrations out.

I'd sat back down in Brynjar's lap and listened to Malachi as he paced back and forth, tugging at his hair. None of it was directed at me, but rather what'd happened. I'd be yelling back at him if I didn't find his antics more amusing.

And when I'd laughed at him, he glared at me and yelled about my inappropriate laughing. It only triggered more laughter, and more yelling from Malachi.

Alistar had teleported him and Malachi to where they were staying. I could've gone with both of them, but Brynjar was going to shift back and fly. I hadn't gotten my private flight yet.

This wasn't nearly the same as flying over the city I lived in, where the buildings stretched to the sky in unbelievable heights, twinkling till dawn. This was still beautiful, nonetheless. The trees blocked most of my view from the glowing ground. We passed over more villages, built similarly to the main town we visited the other day but not nearly as large.

Brynjar landed on the coast, sand spraying into the air around us. He shifted before I could slide off his body, catching me before I landed on my ass.

Draped on the porch of a small house was a pair of pants Brynjar's size. He slid his legs into it as I walked up the wood stairs, trying my best not to glance at him. It was near impossible and I got a glimpse of his cute ass.

Mirai opened the door, her eyes running over me. There was a sliver of anger that passed over her face before she replaced it with humor. "You gotta stop this Houdini act, unless I get to join next time. It's getting old and I'm tired of being stuck babysitting the kids."

"Next time I disappear will be because we're having a girls night." I glanced around the home, cringing when wooden wind chimes clicked outside. "Where are we?"

"Serene's lover home. Apparently she's been keeping her little hanky-panky a secret for the last two decades. Everyone's in the living room." Mirai maneuvered through the house as if she'd been staying here for years, easily finding the living room. "I come bearing Token."

Valentino was at my side before Mirai had even finished speaking, his arms wrapping around me. "Are you okay?"

I sighed into him. "I'm as good as I can be. Only a few cuts."

He nodded. "I felt your panic down the bond, then it completely shut off. We all freaked. Things only got worse when the queen was murdered."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left." I hadn't meant to create such panic, to make everyone worry. This is why they always told me to stick by them, chaos and trouble followed me everywhere. Maybe I was trouble.

"No. This wasn't your fault. You should have every right to take a walk alone. There's nothing you should be sorry for." He pressed a kiss into my hair. "Go talk to Alistar. He's taking things pretty hard."

I peeled away from Valentino with a nod a propped myself against the wall next to Alistar. "You wanna talk about it?"

He pulled me to his chest and buried his face into my shoulder. A cool breeze wrapped around me as he teleported outside, a few dozen feet away from the home on the beach. We sunk into the damp sand.

He let out a shaky breath, ruffling my hair. "It's my father and brother all over again."

"Neither were your fault. This isn't your fault." The words would do little to ease his guilt. There were somethings people had to work out on their own, this was one of them. But I'd be here with him the entire time.