“Hadyn kept them from me,” Edena assured her quickly, as if she could read her mother’s thoughts and knew the source of Seraphina’s building fury.
“Barely.” He staggered back and collapsed to sit cross-legged on the floor. Hard.
Raking a hand through his short auburn hair, he let out an exhausted breath, then winced as he grazed his knuckles against his bruised cheek. He glanced up at her with an adorable frown that was identical to one Max had used when he lived with her and she used to confound him with her strange “Amazon” ways. “Where are we?”
Seraphina didn’t answer his raspy question as she stepped over his legs and glanced around, looking for Maxis to join them. He should have been here by now.
How far behind them could he be? What was taking him so long?
Afraid something would tear her babies from her again, she kept her hand on Edena’s. “Where’s your father?”
“I knew that was him!” Edena smacked at her brother, who grimaced and shoved lightly at her so that she wouldn’t hit his shoulder again. “Told you!”
“No you didn’t.”
Ignoring his ire, Edena met Seraphina’s gaze with sadness in her eyes. “They attacked him and he sent us here while he fought them. I don’t think he was able to follow.”
Blaise cursed.
It was only then that her children realized there were others in the room with them. Edena pulled back as Hadyn rose to his feet to put himself between them and his uncles.
Seraphina smiled at the sweetly protective gesture that was so similar to what Max would have done. Though to be honest, there wasn’t much the poor boy could do right now in his wounded condition, except fall down and trip them on their way to attack her. But God love him for trying.
She let go of Edena to gently take Hadyn by the waist and scoot his enormous teen body aside.
Rubbing his back, she smiled proudly at him to let him know how much she appreciated his sweet thoughtfulness. “Edena, Hadyn… meet your uncles. Blaise and Illarion.”
“Hi.” Blaise gestured toward the wall.
Bemused by that, Hadyn scowled at her and Edena.
Illarion ignored them all. Screw the pleasantries. We need to get to Max. Where is he?
Hadyn’s frown melted to a mask of shock. “Anyone else think it odd that one uncle can’t see and the other can’t speak? Is there a reason for that?”
Blaise shot a jolt at him that left him yelping. “Careful, whelp. I don’t need my sight in this form to spank your ass. As for the voice, Illarion had his vocal cords cut by moronic humans trying to stop him from breathing fire when he was a kid. Be glad they didn’t get their hands on you.”
He immediately hung his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend either of you. I’m an insensitive idiot who doesn’t always check with my brain before I engage my mouth, especially when I’m hurting. If it makes you feel any better, in the last twenty-four hours, I had three demons try to eat me for dinner, a dozen Arcadians kick the crap out of me, and my sister scream my eardrums to bleeding. Pretty sure I lost some testosterone along the way. Definitely a shit-ton of pride and dignity.”
“Hadyn! Watch your mouth!”
“Sorry, Ma.”
Shaking her head, Seraphina went and grabbed Maxis’s battle sword from the hanger that secured it to his wall near the door. As she started to leave, Illarion caught her. What are you doing?
“You and Blaise watch the kids. I’m headed after Maxis.”
“That would be a profoundly bad idea.”
Seraphina glanced over her shoulder to see Fang standing in the now open doorway. “Excuse me?”
He stepped aside to show her the tall, dark-haired Arcadian Sentinel behind him. Only this wasn’t his brother Vane. It was another Drakos.
One she’d never met before. Dressed in medieval chain mail and yellow surcoat, and with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, he had an aura of regal refinement and fierce, arrogant warrior. While most Sentinels chose to hide their facial markings with their magick, his were more than apparent.
Fang gestured between them. “Seraphina Drago, meet Sebastian Kattalakis, Prince of Arcadia.”
Her jaw went slack as she realized that this was one of the royal princes. A direct descendant of Lycaon, the Arcadian king who’d founded their race.