“‘Jerks’ isn’t the word I would use,” Eleven managed through a tight jaw, her eyes flashing up. My own eyes widened because suddenly a man stood behind her, a pair of gold eyes briefly meeting mine before looking back down at a stone-still version of my guard. I felt a defensive flare in my chest, but Atlas had wrapped his arm around me and settled me on his knee, so I watched with curiosity, wondering if I needed to step in. I figured my mates would at least give warning if we needed to… not that Eleven would need it. It was very clear she was capable.
“And what word would you use, Eleven?” the man asked, amused, his smile anything but nice. It wasn’t mean either… there was just a lot there between them. I saw Eleven clear the expression from her face before she turned and looked up at the man.
“Overbearing asshole.”
My eyes widened as Atlas put his head down on my shoulder, amusement radiating through our bond.
“Now come on, we aren’t that bad,” another voice chimed, my gaze moving to a man that looked identical to the first. Okay, so they were clearly twins. And younger, if I had to guess. Out of all the men, I was pretty sure they looked the most like me, with their brown hair and gold eyes. It was a bit unsettling.
“You’re the worst,” Eleven declared, her eyes darting over their shoulders to her three teammates, who were seemingly scared of the men talking to her. I mean, unless I was imagining the way they seemed to be making themselves as small as possible.
“Why the hell did you come with them?” a third voice sounded. My brows raised, watching a dark, long-haired man stride over, his hair pulled back in a braid and a sword strapped to his back. “We invited you as a guest, not to work.”
“And I rejected your invitation, several times,” she explained, her eyes narrowing. “Like I always do and always will. So stop acting surprised.”
“Pretty sure it’s treason or something to talk to us like that.” The second twin chuckled making Eleven’s mouth twitch up just slightly.
“Leave her alone, it’s not worth it,” a fourth voice, darker than the others, had Eleven straightening slightly, her jaw clenching at the man rounding the table, who had my eyes widening. Not only was he huge—like Atlas huge—but he had a scar running down the length of his cheek to his jaw and neck. It was extremely intimidating.
“That’s not true,” the first twin voiced.
“He’s not wrong. It’s not worth it.” Eleven’s gaze was set on a place over one of the twins’ shoulders as the fourth man examined her expression before shaking his head and stalking off towards the other side of the table. Without comment, the third man with the long hair followed, leaving only the twins.
“Come on, Ven,” the first encouraged her. “You know he’s always a grumpy bastard. It’s not you.”
“Oh, it’s me,” Eleven assured and then looked back over at her team. “I need you guys to go sit down. I’m working right now.”
“My parents are having you working today?” a fifth voice asked, smooth and rather polished, almost professionally so. I watched with interest as a man with lighter, almost gold hair reached them, examining her with interest. Also a bit of affection, but I was almost positive that she didn’t notice that.
“I requested a shift,” she leveled.
“Of course you did.” I reared back as the sixth man finally made an appearance, sitting on the edge of a chair and not even making her flinch. I felt shock radiate through me at how he just appeared, though, as he reached out and tugged on a piece of her hair while watching her with intense, almost unnerving focus. Honestly, he seemed a bit odd.
“I don’t know what you mean by that.” She narrowed her eyes.
“I mean that you would do anything you could to actively distance yourself from us, and you think an assignment, working for our parents, proves something when it only gives us more access to you.” His dark eyes narrowed on her expression, which turned slightly pink.
I was so fascinated with everything that when cheers exploded again, I was authentically confused until Eleven straightened up and distanced herself, all of them seemingly upset with that as well, although I couldn’t understand why. My eyes moved to where my fathers came from the back of the room, eventually revealing my mother, her eyes locking with mine as she flashed a bright smile. I stood up, unable to help but return it. When Eleven bowed and my men offered the same courtesy, I nearly did myself.
Henry shook his head, and I looked over to find that my brothers hadn’t, my action causing them to notice me with confusion. I almost laughed because seeing my similar confused expression on the twins’ faces was a bit freaky. Music started up once again as my mother reached me and pulled me into a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you decided to wear it. You look gorgeous.” She flashed a smile, her royal blue gown made of the same material and making her look almost glowing.
“I love it,” I admitted.
“I can’t wait to reintroduce you to everyone.” She squeezed my hands and offered me a small, almost mischievous smile. “Now, are you interested in freaking your brothers out?”
“Yeah?” I asked, wondering what she had in mind. Wrapping an arm around my waist, she led me over. I could feel my mates stand, and I knew they weren’t far behind. I watched as Nuriel spoke to the man with the angry scar on his face.
“We were worried you wouldn’t make it,” Nuriel admitted. “I was surprised you guys made such good time coming back.”
The man’s eyes darted to Eleven. “We couldn’t miss the festival.”
“Well that and to welcome your baby sister back home,” my mom said nonchalantly, causing half my dads to shake their heads as if they had known she would do this. All of my brothers looked at me as confusion and then realization followed by shock dawned on their faces.
“Did you say baby sister?” the angry one with long hair demanded.
“Yep.” My mom flashed a smile. “She’s come back to us.”
All of them stared at me as I turned red in the face, making me look up at my mom, who was staring at me with pride and affection.
“Holy fuck.”
Honestly, I didn’t disagree with his statement.
15
Anani
Well, this was a bit of a cluster fuck.
Honestly, our flight hadn’t had a lot of experience dealing with the crown directly, so sitting up here was odd as hell, but add on the fact that now we were dealing with the crown princes of the Dreki realm, and I had a feeling this evening was going to be anything but relaxing. Not that I’d assumed it would be that way in the first place, especially with how gorgeous Maya looked. Something that every male in this room outside of her fathers and brothers no doubt noticed. My fingers tightened into a fist as I stood close to her, ready to tug her against me, not knowing how the princes would react to the news.
I didn’t think they would hurt her, but they also didn’t have a very pristine reputation for being sane or normal in their reactions to shit. Sorry if I was cautious. I wasn’t the only one, either. Everyone was cautious around them, and with good reason.