Vudu adjusts me, my footsteps stumbling a little until he gets me placed right where he wants me. A hard surface lands beneath my feet, and my nerves start to skitter around me at what I’m going to find. Briefly, I wonder if I’m just going to be living with Delta and her mates. I know they said they have a mansion, but...I’m not sure I want to intrude like that.
“Alright, Little Mate. You can look,” Vudu tells me quietly, his hand brushing softly against my cheek as he steps back.
I drop my hand and open my eyes, only to find all three of my mates in front of me, blocking my view. I huff. “Oh, come on. The suspense is killing me!”
They chuckle, and then as one, they move aside, and I’m left to take in the house in front of me.
It’s a dreamy historic-looking house set between trees whose leaves are turning into shades of yellows and reds. The walls are white shiplap, and it has an arched tin roof, with a wraparound porch in the front and a rose garden adorning the bay windows that curve around the side of the house. It’s two stories and large but not palatial, and my taking it in soon morphs into gaping at the beautiful and unique looking house that sits proudly in front of me.
“What is this place?” I ask in awe, taking it all in.
“It’s where the previous Guardians lived,” Delta tells me, drawing my eyes to where my sisters and their mates are standing off to the side.
“The graveyard and Gate is just down that way,” Medley points, and I look to see a slightly sloping hill and a quaint, pretty graveyard below.
“My ancestors used to live here,” Toreon adds, surprising me.
I turn to glance at him in surprise. “They did?”
He tilts his head down and slips his hands into his pockets. “They did. It’s where my very great Matron lived before she fled back to Hell. The Guardians took up residence here in order to be close to the portal once the Gatekeepers were gone.”
“Do you like it?” Ire asks, and I realize for the first time how nervous everyone seems, even my sisters.
I can’t help the grin that overtakes my face. “I don’t,” I say with a shake of my head, fumbling for the words to express how I feel. I quickly backtrack as I watch disappointment ripple through the group. “I love it!” I correct, hurrying to fix my mess up. “Something this beautiful can never just be liked, it deserves so much more than that,” I explain, giddiness and excitement sparking through me as I tell them how I feel.
This is home.
Maybe that sounds weird to just know something or recognize something like home when I haven’t even stepped foot inside, but goosebumps crawl up my arms as I take it all in, and there’s this peace and calm to the house and all the land around it that makes me feel warm, welcome, hopeful.
Home. I’ve never truly had one before, but I recognize it immediately.
Understanding dawns on everyone’s faces, relief and smiles spreading through them as my sisters squeal and share a hug.
“Truly?” Toreon asks, his golden eyes darting over my face like he wants to read my thoughts, and I nod excitedly.
“Yes. It’s beautiful. I know it’s going to be perfect, and I haven’t even been inside yet,” I tell him.
“Well...about that,” Delta breaks in, and I look over at her curiously.
“What?”
“Just remember that there were generations of bachelor Guardian dudes living in it for the last few centuries, so it needs some homey touches and a good scrub,” she explains. “But we can help you,” she rushes to say.
“Actually...” Medley intervenes with a secretive smile that she shares with Alder and Flint. “We already took care of that.”
Delta looks over at her with confusion. “You did?”
Medley beams. “Mama! Daddy! Come meet everyone!”
Immediately the door to the house bursts open, like Medley’s parents were just waiting with their ears pressed against it on the other side. “Hell’s Bells, what took you so long?” a middle-aged woman with frizzy red hair calls. She’s wearing a sundress and a bright yellow apron, her face lined beautifully from years of smiles and laughing.
“Patience, Mama, I had to let them see the house first!” Medley calls back.
Mrs. Bell comes tromping down the front steps, and I notice Mr. Bell following after her. He has a bushy graying beard, and