over Riah’s arm – completely oblivious to the world.
I smiled and shook my head. The only thing more adorable than Saffie and Riah…was Riah and Olli. I liked the way he held Olli like a human baby and how he was constantly just rubbing his belly. There was a bond there and I was here for it.
Riah reminded me a bit of my brother Haven. Big, muscular, macho powerful guys who were absolute teddy bears on the inside. Handsome, terrifying…and might cuddle you to death. I had no doubts that Riah was unnervingly lethal. He had that same kind of aura as Haven. Actually, I was fairly certain my brother was scarier. But not by much. Sure, I wasn’t afraid of Haven now that my memory was back, but before when I met him as Tennessee, he was the single most terrifying person I’d ever met.
But Riah was a close second.
There was just something…so very not human about him. Which really, that was literally the case as he was Seelie fae and in fact not human at all. Like not even a little bit. Haven and I were barely human with all the angel blood in our family but this guy was straight up other. That stunt he pulled with bringing Savannah back to life was entirely unsettling. Amazing. Incredible. Yet unsettling. There was more to this fae than we knew.
“Saraphina, I shall not perish in the few moments you are outside.” He grinned and tucked her hair behind her ear with the hand not holding Olli. “Go. Initiate your Coven-mate. I shall be here rubbing bellies.”
Behind him, Warner cursed. “Why did I have the urge to volunteer to be next just now?”
“Probably for the same reason I did,” Lennox said with a wink.
Gigi shrugged. “Are my chances higher if I’m a penguin?”
Riah arched one eyebrow and glanced at them, then over to me. “I will have to learn to choose my words more carefully around this group.”
“Even then it won’t matter. They have skills.” I shrugged. “Come on, Saffie. Haven sent me to get you. We’re ready.”
She nodded and gave Riah another quick kiss and then skipped toward me. But then she froze halfway and spun back to him. “Riah—”
“I will check on Savannah.” He gave her a sideways grin. “Go, Saraphina.”
Saraphina. I loved the absolute stubbornness to not call her Saffie like everyone else. Plus her name just sounded so damn fancy when he said it with that slight accent and soft cadence. Then again, I had a thing for soft spoken guys with accents.
“Come on, Saffie. This will only take a minute and then you can go sit with her yourself.”
She sighed and nodded, then hurried over to me. When we pushed through the back door, we found the entire Coven watching us from the circle.
“Oh, Tim!” Saffie cried and skipped over to give him a hug. “I forgot I was in The Coven for a second. Sorry to make you wait.”
Uncle Tim chuckled. “It’s all right. You’re here now.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Where do I go? This is only my second one.”
“Go to Haven – Tennessee.” I pointed to where my brother stood watching us from the far edge of the circle. “He’ll tell you.”
Glittery wings popped out of her back and then she was gone.
“That just must be so convenient.”
I smirked and hooked my arm around Uncle Tim’s. “Are you okay? For real.”
“I’m fine.” He sighed and led us toward the circle. “I just…wasn’t expecting this.”
I scoffed. “No one was. Has this ever happened before?”
He frowned. “Pretty sure no.”
“See. You’re special.” I leaned into his shoulder. “But how are you? Are you happy you got Marked again? How are you handling this all?”
“I have no words for the happiness I feel right now,” He said softly. “After everything I’ve been through I was happy to be alive, to be able to be a part of yours and Haven’s lives…but this…I can’t…it’s just…”
“Happy?”
He looked down at me with unshed tears in his eyes and nodded. “Never in my dreams did I imagine life would go this way.”
“And you’re not super bummed you’re not Judgment anymore?”
“Honestly? No,” he breathed and shook his head. “I am tired. I’m not the person that Card needed anymore. Death changes you and the way you want to live, especially now that I have you both back. But the Hermit? That’s something I am very excited to dig into.”
We stopped at the edge of the circle. I gave him a hug