Faith (Soul Savers Book 7) (46 page)

I hurried over to
Sheree to take our crying girl, but I couldn’t quite figure out
how to hold her itty bitty body in my arm that suddenly felt like an
ape’s, too large and unwieldy to be safe.

“Like this.”
Sheree smiled as she settled the bundle into the crook of my arm.

Our baby quieted as
soon as I held her. Her lids opened wider, and then she blinked at
me.

And from that moment
on, I would never be the same man.

God help anyone who so
much as tried to lay a finger on her.

I sat on the bed next
to Alexis as Carlie and Sheree cleaned and checked the younger twin.

“She’s so
beautiful,” Alexis whispered as her fingertip traced over our
daughter’s tiny nose.

“Of course she
is.” I pressed my lips to her temple. “Look at her
mommy.”

Tears rolled over
Alexis’s cheeks as she looked up at me. She lifted her hand to
my face, and with her thumb, wiped away my own tears.

“And not only you
two,” I said as Sheree brought over our other little bundle.
Alexis took the first baby while I held the second. “Meet the
other love of my life. What am I going to do surrounded by
three
of you?”

Alexis’s eyes
widened, understanding. “
Seriously?
”

“Look for
yourself, if you don’t trust me.”

She peeked under the
blanket. “Wow. Not that it matters anymore, but …
wow
.”

As I held the baby in
one arm, I slipped my other behind my wife’s back and hugged
her and our daughters to me. Alexis shivered under my arm.

“If only Dorian
were here, everything would be perfect,” she said with a
sniffle.

“He is, my love.
He’s in our hearts. Maybe one day in our lives. Until then …”

She sighed and nodded.
“We give praise for the blessings we have.”

“Exactly. And for
me, that would be you. All of you … you are my everything. My
heart. My love. My woman. My children. My world.”

What
could be sexier than a hot man holding a baby? My own Mr. Beautiful
holding two babies.

Every time I walked
into a room to find Tristan holding one or both of our newborns, I
fell in love all over again. When he leaned in and kissed a tiny
forehead, my heart melted. And when he got up with them in the middle
of the night because they wanted to walk, not feed, or when he
volunteered to change a dirty diaper? I absolutely died.

We’d spent the
last few days since the birth on what I deemed a family honeymoon in
our beach house at the Keys. We needed time to adjust to parenting
newborns, and our babies needed time to acclimate to life outside the
womb. We weren’t alone, of course. Vanessa and Owen, Blossom
and Jax, and Sheree and Carlie each took turns “guarding”
us, although I knew they really wanted to spend time with the babies.

Because there was no
real danger anymore. We’d won the war. The Daemoni had
essentially disappeared from the face of the Earth. Along with my
son. A reality I’d come to acknowledge, although not fully
accept, months ago. One day, I vowed to myself, I would get my son
back. I just prayed his soul would stay intact until then.

Soon, we would be
returning to The Loft, which ironically provided more creature
comforts than the house here. Owen had magically created a system to
give the beach house somewhat fresh water for the bathroom and
cleaning diapers, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. Neither
was the generator running on magic. Besides, we had a lot of work
ahead of us to turn the people of The Loft into a full-scale
community, hopefully on Earth’s surface sometime in the future.

In fact, Tristan had
gone through a portal to The Loft this morning to help with
preparations for the babies. So I was surprised when I padded into
the Caribbean room, wearing a t-shirt and stretchy yoga pants, to
find the large body standing by the open sliding doors, the
sandy-brown head leaned over the bassinet the twins shared as a
breeze fluttered through the sheer curtains around him.

But then my heart
jumped into my throat when my mommy-exhausted brain caught up and
identified the mind signature. At the same time, Vanessa suddenly
appeared beside me, the rush of air she produced lifting the ends of
my hair.

“I sense
Daemoni,” she hissed as she stepped farther into the room, her
head cocked as she scrutinized the figure in the other opening.

I hurried inside and
clamped my hand on her arm to stop her. My heart raced as I walked
past her, closer to the bassinet and the sliding glass doors. My
throat and tongue felt full of sand.

“D-Dorian?”
I whispered.

The breeze settled, and
the curtains fell still, hanging to each side of the doors. My son
stood in front of the babies’ bed, no longer a child but a
grown man. He wore a midnight blue suit, as though he’d come to
a business meeting, making him appear even older. His light brown
hair was perfectly coifed, although … he had the scruff of a
beard on his jaw! My hand covered my mouth as I stared at him, tears
welling. He looked up at me with hazel eyes that sparkled with gold
and a small smile on his lips.

“Hi, Mom.”
He spoke quietly, not to wake the babies.

Although I, too, sensed
Daemoni, I didn’t feel as though we were in any danger. I
rushed to him and threw my arms around him.

“Dorian! Oh my
God!” I whispered. Tears flowed as I held onto my son, afraid
to ever let go of him again. “I knew you’d come back!”

He held me for a long
moment, but then stepped out of my embrace. He gazed down at the
blanket-burritos before him.

“I had to come,”
he said as his gaze swept between the sleeping bundles. “To
welcome my sisters into the world.”

God, my heart. I swiped
at the tears and moved to stand at his side. “Dorian, meet
Brielle Sophia and Elliana Katerina.”

“Which is which?”

I pointed to the one on
the left. “That’s Brielle.” I paused, my brow
furrowing for a brief moment, then pointed to the other. “That’s
the baby of the family, Elliana.”

He chuckled quietly.
“Are you sure? They look exactly the same.”

“I’m their
mother! Of course I’m sure.” I gnawed on my lip as he
looked sideways at me. I sighed, my shoulders dropping. “Okay,
so we have to color code their blankets to tell them apart. The only
thing different between the two is Elliana has a little birthmark on
her hip. Otherwise, yes, they look exactly the same. But trust me,
they’re not. When they’re not sleeping, they’re
like night and day.”

My body automatically
tensed when he reached a finger out to stroke each of their tiny
faces. My son or not, he still exuded Daemoni energy, and my motherly
protective instincts pricked. I couldn’t help myself from
monitoring his thoughts, although they remained pure, authentic. The
babies slept through his touch, and I let go of my breath when he
pulled away.

“I brought them a
present,” he said as he stepped backwards, onto the screened-in
lanai. He produced a tiny white puppy in his hand when he returned.
She jumped into my arms and slid her blue tongue over my cheek.

“Sasha,” I
whispered, and then I looked at Dorian and shook my head. “No,
Dorian. She’s yours.”

“She’s not.
She’s already been ordered to protect them. They’re her
masters now.”

“But—”

“Mom.” He
sighed and then lifted his hand to my jaw. I couldn’t help but
lean into it. “I don’t need protection. From anybody. I’m
the most powerful creature on this Earth. You don’t need to
worry about me anymore.”

I pressed my hands on
his chest and pushed him outside. I slid the doors closed so we
wouldn’t wake the babies, but I felt Vanessa’s eyes on us
from inside the room.

“I do worry!”
I snapped at him. “You have no idea how much your dad and I
worry. What are you doing, Dorian?
Why?
”

“I’m taking
care of my people, Mom. Because they’re my people.”

“But they’re
not!
We
are your people.
We
are your family! What are
they doing to you?”

He shook his head, his
eyes soft as he gazed at me. “Nothing. They’re doing
nothing to me. I’m the one in charge.
I
lead
them
.”

I blinked. I breathed.
“Well then, lead them to the Amadis. They can be saved, Dorian.
So can you!”

The gold in his eyes
darkened with sadness. “No, they can’t. Not all of them.
It’s too late for many. But somebody has to lead them. Somebody
has to keep them in line.”

I pressed my hand to my
chest. “But why you? It doesn’t have to be you. You don’t
belong there!”

His large hands
encircled my small wrists, stilling me. He looked into my eyes,
trying to drive home his reasoning. “It can
only
be me,
Mom. If not me, then it would be Victor or Edmund. Is that what you
want?”

I stared at him, unable
to breathe.

“Do you want
either of those two leading your adversaries who want to end you?
Those who want to kill your daughters?” He released my wrists
and frowned. “That’s what they want to do, Mom. That’s
why it must be me.
I
can control them.”

My throat worked to
swallow what felt like a dirty sock that had suddenly lodged in it.
My heart sank as his truth settled into me, into my bones. My bottom
lip trembled as I fought against it, not wanting to accept it.

I wrapped my arms
around him, tried to flood him with love. “I’m so sorry,
Dorian. So sorry it’s you.”

“I wish …”
He pulled away from me, his expression still full of sadness. “It
doesn’t matter what I wish. This is how it is.” His gaze
shifted, looked through the screen and the water beyond the half-gray
and half-green brush. He shook his head. “I have to go now.”

My eyes widened. I
didn’t want to let go! “Don’t you want to see your
father?”

He sighed as he looked
back at me. “I can’t stay any longer.”

He leaned in and tapped
his lips to my forehead, but before I could respond, even to say
goodbye, he disappeared with a pop. I caught a brief glimpse of him
on the lawn before he shot into the air.

“
Love you,
Mom. Always.
”
The words whispered in my mind.

Love you, little
man. No matter what.

And then he was gone
for good. I wrapped my arms around myself in a hug as tears silently
rolled down my cheeks.

“You know there’s
still hope for him,” said a tiny voice from behind me.

“Yeah, I know,”
I said with a sigh as that same hope settled back into me.

Then I realized I
didn’t recognize that voice. I spun around. An unnaturally
cute, young girl, early teens perhaps, with bright pink hair and
clothes to match stood next to the bassinet.

I threw the sliding
glass door open. Where was Vanessa?

“Who are you?”
I demanded. She had no mind signature.

“I’m Pinky.
Stacey’s me mum.” And that explained why. She was a
faerie. “They’re so cute. I love babies. Mum sent me to
see if you need help. I can watch over them, or …” Her
eyes glinted as she looked out at the patio where Dorian had been
moments ago, and a smile played on her lips. At the same time, her
cheeks turned a rosy pink to match her top. “Or I can watch
over Dorian. You can make him my mission.”

I sensed the crush on
him, which would partially explain her motivation, but I tilted my
head and narrowed my eyes. “In exchange for what?”

She giggled, a musical
sound, as her eyes crinkled. “You’ve already paid up,
Alexis. The fae folk are the ones in debt.
We
owe
you
.”

I blinked several
times, and then I nodded. They did owe us for freeing them. And that
could be quite convenient.

“Yes,” I
hurried to say. “Keep a close eye on him. Make sure he stays
good … as good as he can be.”

She let out a little
peep of excitement. “Thank you! I promise to watch him closely,
every minute of the day and night.”

With a quick peck on my
cheek, she disappeared. I smiled, but then I blew out a sigh. Poor
Dorian. What had I done to him?

“You’re
okay?” Vanessa asked from the doorway when I padded over to the
bed.

I threw my arms up and
let my hands smack down against my thighs. “I don’t know.
But I will be. Some day. For now, I guess I’m as good as I’m
going to get.”

Since the babies slept,
I took advantage of the peace and lay down. My body rarely had time
to regenerate in the last three days, constantly feeding and changing
diapers between the two of them. Sasha came in and curled up on the
bed next to me. I sank my fingers into her soft fur and drifted off.

When I awoke to little
whimpers and fusses, Tristan was leaned over the bassinet, picking up
one of our bundles—Brielle, I thought, by the sounds of her.
And I knew without a doubt it was my husband this time. He looked up
at me and pressed a finger to his lips before he snuck away with the
crier. He’d check her diaper, but she probably wanted to eat.
I’d barely lay back on the bed when Elliana awoke with a loud
cry. Yep, that was definitely Elli.