Standing in front of their families were Dante, Rathik, and Bogden. They were staring at the floor, but their bodies tensed when we walked in.
Lucifer pointed at the carpet in front of our families. “Stand there, please.”
We did. Only a fool disobeyed Lucifer.
He stood between the boys and us, smiling happily. “Everyone has been apprised of the situation. I understand that this is not what you may have planned for your child’s future, but this is not something that can be altered.”
“Except by death,” Baba Yaga muttered.
“Say that again, I dare you,” Kenta said, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
“Enough,” Lucifer snapped. “Do not make me issue punishments because you’re being childish.”
Loralie reached over and grabbed my hand, her pulse raced so hard I could feel it through her hand.
I understood her fear. She had unintentionally bound Baba Yaga’s only son as her future mate. Baba Yaga was not someone you wanted to have as an enemy.
“We didn’t choose this,” I said, surprised and thankful that my voice came out strong instead of shaky.
“We know,” Mom said behind me. “No one is blaming you, Frances.”
Doctor Frankenstein burst into the room, her eyes wide and mouth open. “I need to observe them!”
Lucifer sighed, ran his hand down his face, and asked, “How did you find out?”
She scoffed. “Like word of monsters merging wouldn’t be spread like wildfire by gossip.” With a fast spin, she turned to face us, then set her hands on each of my cheeks. “I always knew you were special. You are my greatest creation.”
“Hey!” Dad snapped.
She ignored him. “We might need to upgrade your parts. You already popped a stitch because of the wear and tear you recklessly cause. I’m not sure how much magic your body will be able to channel.”
“You can talk to them later. We are having a serious discussion,” Lucifer said.
She pouted. “Luci, you’re so mean.”
Luci? Had she really just referred to the ruler of the Underworld as “Luci”?
He pointed at the door she’d left open.
After stomping her foot like an angry child, she walked out and closed the doors behind her.
Lucifer ran his hand down his face while muttering in another language, recomposed himself, and raised his head. “Okay. So, here we go. Everyone knows what’s happened and their parts in this situation. Now, let’s hear from anyone who wants to speak.”
Baba Yaga opened her mouth.
He interrupted her. “No threats or suggestions of killing any of the six children or I will have a private chat with you later.”
She closed her mouth.
“We’re sorry we dragged you into this,” Tsukiko whispered to the guys. “We didn’t do it on purpose. If there’s a way to separate you from us, we’ll try to find one.”
“There isn’t,” Lucifer said.
“They don’t have to stay near us, right?” Loralie asked Lucifer. “They could go on with their lives and—”
“We don’t want that,” Bogden said, interrupting her.
“You haven’t even asked how we felt,” Rathik said. “You just started apologizing. Though, that is pretty typical for you three.”
“They always assume the worst,” Dante said.
“How do you feel?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat.
“Did any of you open your gifts from us?” Dante asked, folding his arms across his chest.
We all looked down. I shook my head and saw Loralie and Tsukiko do the same out of the corner of my eye.
“Did you throw them away?” Rathik asked.
“No,” Tsukiko said. “We just put them in a box.”
“In the closet,” Loralie added.
“Girls!” Sakura gasped. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“I swear, there has to be someone doing this to us just to torment us,” Loralie whispered.
“What do you mean?” Loralie’s mom asked.
“Terrified of fire,” Loralie said and pointed at me. She pointed at Dante. “Phoenix.” She pointed at Tsukiko. “Terrified of snakes.” She pointed at Rathik. “Naga.” Her hand dropped.
“Immortal,” Tsukiko said and pointed at Bogden. “Death,” she said and pointed at Loralie.
Loralie’s eyes narrowed at Tsukiko, but Tsukiko just smiled at her.
There was silence in the room for a heartbeat or two. Then, every single adult burst into belly-clutching, tears-streaming laughter.
Chapter 42
TSUKIKO
I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen our families laugh so hard.
The fact that it was about something serious regarding us really irked me.
Growling, I snapped, “I’m glad this is so funny for you.”
Grandfather wiped his eyes and said, “Child, we are not laughing at you.”
“A little bit,” Dad said.
“We are laughing at the irony and the humor in the situation. You three bound yourselves to males who embody your worst fears,” Grandfather finished.
“It’s not funny,” Frances said, folded her arms across her chest, and dropped her head.
She was about two seconds from crying.
I reached towards her hand to grab it, but Dante walked forward and distracted me.
He squatted down so he could look up at her face. “We were touching most of today, remember? Did I burn you? Were you hyperventilating?”
She sniffled. “No.”
“You were doing what most of the day?” Frances’s dad asked.
“What if in the future, we decide to have a kid?” Frances asked.
“Over my dead body,” Frances’s dad growled.
“You’re already dead,” Dante’s dad said with a wide smile. He was a handsome phoenix with almost white flames for hair. The amount of power he had in order to have his hair made of flames that were so high in temperature was mind boggling.
“What if the baby goes phoenix and I drop it?” Frances finished.
“You’re infertile,” Dr. Frankenstein said from outside the door.
Lucifer groaned and dropped his head while shaking it. “That human is such a pain in my feathers. Doc, you might as well come in since you’re already eavesdropping.”
“Gathering intel,” she corrected as she came back inside.
“I’m...what?” Frances asked.
“Your parents had me make you, remember?” Dr. Frankenstein asked, her tone the most gentle I had ever heard it.
Who knew the doc had a bedside manner?
“So, it won’t be a problem, but that makes another problem,” Frances said and looked at Dante.
Dante smiled. “It’s not a problem. If, in the distant future, we decide we want a child, we could adopt or something.”
“We could always make one,” Dr. Frankenstein said, her eyes bright and smile almost splitting her face in half. “I’d love to try to make a phoenix hybrid.”
“Had you asked us, instead of assuming the worst, we would have told you that we are fine with this. We have been trying to convince you three to date us all year and besides, you didn’t do this out of malice,” Bogden said.