need for a deep sleep. One more week and it’ll be done.
Wyatt and Estella stopped in the doorway and watched Val. Death’s son smiled wide even as his own exhaustion showed in the fine lines around his eyes and his slumped shoulders.
Death stood and moved silently to Wyatt’s side. “I’ll put Pela to bed. Why don’t you get some rest, son?”
Estella tugged on Wyatt’s hand. “Come on. I’ll tuck you in.”
Wyatt grinned at him. “Do you hear this? She’s bossing me around.”
Death gently hugged Wyatt and Estella. “She’s very smart, and you should listen to her.”
Estella nodded gravely and tugged Wyatt again. “Come on. Bedtime.”
Death watched them walk up the stairs and disappear around the corner. When he turned back to Val and Pela, the little girl was already asleep. Luna watched him from her spot beside the chair, tongue hanging from her mouth.
Scythe had disappeared. Death suspected the dog had gone to Death’s room to sleep on his bed. Again.
Val patted Luna’s head. “Want me to carry Pela?”
Death nodded and took the tablet Val handed him, setting it on his desk. His study was cluttered with notes, lab tech, and toys. For some reason, the twins loved playing in here with him, so their toys were strewn across the floor.
A small nest of Druffle took up one of the corners. The small balls of fluff multiplied quickly, and his friend, Leti’s, nest had somehow spread to every home in the neighborhood. Pops and a few of the others had installed the Druffle in Death’s office while he was away. I really need to thank them, he thought dryly.
Val nimbly dodged a set of blocks, and Death led them up the stairs to the twins’ nursery. Wyatt and Morgan’s home was a nice sized two-story that fit in well in the Blue Solace neighborhood.
When Death had followed his son to Charybdis Station, Wyatt had insisted that he live with them. Now, Death would miss breakfast with his grandchildren and seeing Wyatt every night before bed. He would even miss seeing Morgan in the morning with his conditioning hair mask covering his head as he helped Estella get ready for school.
Change is always inevitable, he told himself.
Morgan met them at the door of the nursery and took Pela from Val with a smile. Luna followed Morgan into the nursery without a backward look. She liked to guard the twins at night.
Val turned to him, green eyes soft and bright. He took Death’s hand and led him back downstairs to the small bedroom connected to his study. Scythe laid in his favorite spot on the bed with his head resting on Death’s pillow.
After shutting the door, Val turned around and crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Something’s bothering you.”
Death smiled softly. Of course, he would sense it. “Come look at the stars with me.”
Val gave him an uncertain look. “Veri, you can tell me anything.”
Death shivered at the tenderness he heard in his mate’s voice. It was hard to resist him. “Just a little longer.”
He had a private entrance to the backyard, and Scythe looked up when the door opened. He jumped from the bed and followed them out.
Wyatt and Morgan’s small backyard was nicely landscaped with a small play area for the twins. Occasionally, one of Leti’s pets would find their way through the gate, but at the moment, the area was free of llamas and goats.
Death sat beside the swing set and pulled Val down with him. He curled against his mate’s side and looked up. The iridescent atmospheric shield that surrounded Charybdis Station was a glittering white sheen over the deep star-studded black of space.
Scythe flopped beside him and rolled to his back again, tail thumping against the grass.
Death rolled his eyes, then paused. As usual, two transparent and slightly shimmery figures could be seen from the corner of his eye. If he turned to look at them, they would disappear, but if he was patient, he could see them in his peripheral vision.
Spirits could be quite shy around him, even though he was one of the few that could see them. For the past month, these two spirits had been following him.
They must have sensed his attention, because they quickly darted away, disappearing from view.
No more distractions, he told himself.
“Sometimes it’s strange to live on a space station,” Death said, breaking the silence. “In all my cycles as Death, I always spent most of my time on the Crellic home world of Genarg. Before I melded with