me, and I loved seeing the amusement dancing in his eyes.
At that moment, it almost felt normal, like the world would be fine again with my parents holding up the fallen sky. But everything had changed, and their return hadn’t lifted the impending doom over my head.
“Uh, Mom, sorry,” I said. “It was an effective way to get their attention when you and Dad were away.”
“We’re back now, and we’ll have none of that,” Mom said sternly.
“Of course,” I said, flashing her another grin. “I’m just glad you and Dad are back.”
Mom extended a hand, palm up, and I reluctantly handed over the whistle to her.
My siblings darted to the rail of the terrace and looked down at us.
“Commander?” Cassidy squinted, the wind catching his unruly, wavy hair. Shit, I’d thought of getting him a haircut weeks ago and hadn’t gotten around to it. I hoped Mom would pay attention to his clean face rather than his hair.
“It’s Commander!” my little brother shouted with exhilaration, pumping his fist into Emmett’s arm. “What did I tell you? Commander is back!”
Emmett, my oldest brother, frowned at the punch and stepped away from him.
Dad slanted a sideways glance at me. “Commander?”
“Uh, they insisted,” I said.
“Evie!” Emmett waved his hands like an awkward maniac. He wasn’t a boy anymore, but he wasn’t a man yet.
The lone twin, Asuka, shouted my name as well, and my heart lurched in guilt and pain. Asuka still looked hollow and haunted, as he had ever since Nox had been taken.
“Do you see Dad and Mom?” Fawn asked in her usual quiet voice as Cassidy helped her stand higher to see us. “There. I told you that they’d be coming with our sister.”
Silence momentarily held my siblings in check before they bellowed, “Mom! Dad! Mom!”
“Don’t you shout,” I barked at them. “People are sleeping!”
The knights around us traded a look, and I realized that my voice carried in the air even louder than my siblings’, and I’d also blown the whistle.
Tears glinted in my parents’ eyes, and we quickened our pace toward the mansion that sheltered my siblings. The little buggers turned around and ran toward the stairs.
We met midway, laughing and crying, and strode back to the garden terrace with its ivory and ebony columns. Fae lanterns hung from the trees, illuminating the golden table. We sat on the cushioned chairs near the fire pit, the ocean breeze on our skin.
My siblings ran into my parents’ arms, weeping in joy, and the seven of us shared another tight hug.
When we broke the embrace, Rydstrom nodded at my siblings with a doting smile, and they beamed at him. The Night King wasn’t that terrifying when he was with my family.
His lips brushed over the crown of my golden hair.
“I’ll pick you up later, love,” he said, his voice low and sensual, and my body shivered in anticipation.
The Night King suppressed a smile as he dipped his head, kissing me lightly on the lips, and stalked away. He was giving my family and me some private time.
The guards and the humans who had been with my siblings also cleared away, and now only my family was left on the terrace. My senses stretched out. Rydstrom was gone, but the knights who were assigned to guard us weren’t far away, though they stayed out of sight.
“Dad, Mom,” Emmett whimpered. “Where have you been? We thought you were gone for good.”
“We’re back now,” Dad said. “We won’t leave again.”
“Commander brought Mom and Dad back, as she promised.” Cassidy grinned in admiration. He still worshiped the ground I walked on. Well, I’ll let him. That clever little bugger was often useful. “Mom, this is the king’s mansion, and it’s huge. I have my own bedroom! I also have my personal guard and servants. We’re royalty here!”
Cassidy was the vainest of all my siblings. Some things never changed.
“The humans are servants?” I asked. I’d heard the rumor that humans were at the bottom of the food chain at every court in Elfame.
“They’re the descendants of the changelings here,” Cassidy said, jerking a thumb. “My guards explained about the changelings. They’re humans who were exchanged for fairy kids.”
Then, everyone started talking at the same time, eager to inform and educate my parents and me about this new world.
“It’s always night here in the Night realm,” Emmett said.
“I like it. I have no problem with night all night long,” Cassidy said.
“We should stay here until the war ends,” Fawn chimed in. “This is the safest place