Chapter 14

It had been longer than Cleo realized since she'd been in Dalcaine. Dessa's eighteenth birthday the week of the Summer Solstice, to be precise. Lyv was going to absolutely hate her for taking so long to come visit, but hopefully the five bottles of specially made wine, box of delicate chocolates, and a fierce hug for her cousin would make up for it.

She and Ollyn kept to the clouds as they crossed the rolling hills between the territories of Aarden and Ayveri. Even though the world of Laria and Cleo herself was known all throughout the three lands in this world, Cleo still liked to keep to herself. They still knew just whose daughter she was, what kind of magic thrummed through her, what was hidden behind her golden eyepatch

Until Ollyn decided he'd go rogue and dive, undoubtedly letting anyone who was in viewing distance know who was there.

The motion had Cleo flinging backward before her hands gripped the saddle and she was able to brace herself. Squinting against the wind, she searched for what had Ollyn changing directions...before finding another deep red dragon dozing on the ground below them and the female and male leaned up against her side.

Ollyn let out a roar of excitement, leveling out and lowering even more, which had the second dragon practically jumping up and roaring in response. Somehow, he was going faster then, making Cleo call out a warning that was lost on the wind. That or he was just ignoring her. She figured the latter.

It was Elys's knowing grin she saw first. Even though he was far from it, Cleo still lovingly called him kid, a nickname she'd gotten from Jai and Gideon. Elys hated it when she did, which made it all the better.

And then there was the stunningly beautiful female at his side, one who everyone always thought of as the perfect combination of her legendary mother and father. Dessa Jai had always been the light in everyone's eyes, including Cleo's. She'd made sure to come to Ayveri right around the time Lyv had been due, her large belly leading the way anytime she came into a room. In doing that, she was able to be there when Dessa made her grand entrance in the world, waiting right outside their room with everyone else in their family until the newborn cries filled the palace and snow began to drift outside.

Cleo made sure to be around as much as she possibly could, taking up the same mantle to Dessa as Kalla was to Cleo herself. When she was little, she'd even steal her away to Arloerin, though Lyv and Jai always knew. Elys was the one to give her away. She loved that female something fierce and yet still loved to embarrass her just as she did Elys.

They were both doomed now that they were in the same place at once. Oh, how she couldn't wait to embarrass them both. A thought that had Cleo laughing as Ollyn landed just a few dozen feet away.

Eria, Dessa's bloodrite bonded dragon, bound over without even looking where her tail swished. The dragon hummed happily as Cleo went in to scratched beneath her jaw in the place she was known to love before the dragon went off to say her hellos to Ollyn.

Dessa was smiling so wide as she ran forward. "Cleo!" she yelled in excitement.

Cleo jumped down from Ollyn, opening her arms just as her little cousin launched herself into them. "Hey, sweet girl," she said, then kissed the side of her head before pulling back and taking her face in her hands. "How've you been? Still causing a ruckus with Milena and the dragons?"

"Of course," Dessa grinned, sapphire eyes twinkling with mischief. "Momma still blames you for teaching me how to jump from one dragon to another mid-air."

"Something you then went on to teach Lenora..."

Both of them laughed, hugging each other tight again.

"So that's where she thought of that absolutely ridiculous idea...which I had to witness just a little while ago."

Cleo looked around Dessa at the disgruntled male watching them, arms crossed over his broad chest, glaring with mismatched blue eyes at the two of them. Sometimes, she still had a hard time not thinking of him as the little six-year-old she'd met all those years ago. "Hey there, kid."

Elys rolled his eyes, something Lyv was known to do, but then his own smile lit up his scarred face as Cleo stepped around Dessa to get to him.

"How've you been since you left Arloerin a few weeks ago?" she asked him, holding him tight. "Looks like Lyv didn't kill you for the tattoos like you thought, huh?"

"She's madder at you than she is at me," he answered before pulling back and kissing her cheek. "And nothing too eventful happened. Not until I got back here and that one decided she was going to be mean."

Cleo wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, making sure Dessa didn't see the look in her eye. "You looked cozy enough to me when I was coming in," she said, then lowered her voice so only the two of them could hear. "No progress with that beautiful mate of yours, huh?"

Oh, that blush of his was more than worth the annoyance from him. "It's barely been a day since I've been back, Cleo."

"And yet you already want to kiss her just like you've seen yourself do plenty of times in those visions of yours...plus a lot more than that. It's a little harder when she right here in front of you after imagining her to still be that little thirteen-year-old you left behind, right?"

"Cleo."

"But then again, those visions of yours showed you what would happen..."

"Shut up, would you?"

Cleo threw her head back and laughed. "I've really missed teasing you, kid, even if it's only been a few weeks."

"And it seems like I get to tease you about Kav now, too, huh?"

"Picked up on that, huh?"

"Yep. And I'm the one who told him he should make you wait when you were finally going to tell him yes to marrying him. Since he keeps changing his mind on when he will again, I can't even tell you when that'll happen. Too bad, right?"

"Why you little sh-..."

Elys laughed again just as another thunderous roar sounded from up above and Arsais's form appeared from the clouds. Apparently, they'd brought the littlest Dalcaine princess along. Lenora's excited laughter could be heard before she could even spot the three-year-old sitting in the saddle in front of Milena. Milena, the female version of Gideon through and through, with Eamon, her mate and Jai's little brother, behind her.

"Cleo!" Len screamed in excitement as soon as Arsais landed.

Cleo was just as excited to see her, especially when it had been months since she had, and rushed forward to scoop her into her arms, peppering her face with kisses. Gods, she was looking more and more like Lyv with every passing day. "How are you, sweetie?" she asked, poking at her burgundy braided buns on top of her head. She glanced over at Dessa, who had stepped up beside Elys. She and her baby sister were dressed identically. "I see your sister's gotten you your own riding leathers, huh?"

"Yep!" Lenora chirped. "Now, all I need is a dragon! Oh, there's Ollyn! You didn't bring Odanth, though? How come?"

"He wanted to stay home, so I let him. That way he can watch over Arloerin while I'm here visiting you," she told her, then kissed her cheek again before setting her on her feet. "Go say hi. You know he loves you just as much as all the family dragons do."

With Len running off to the dragons, Cleo was able to turn that knowing smirk on Milena and Eamon.

"So," she began, practically seeing the shining mating bond between them even if they hadn't been holding tight to each other's hands. "Mating bond's settled into place pretty nicely, huh?"

Milena's grin was wicked even as Eamon's face flamed. "Oh, yeah. And it's so much fun watching how uncomfortable it makes Daddy. Momma loves it, too."

"Oh, I bet," Cleo laughed, then stepped forward to hug them both. It was Eamon she turned her teasing on then. "Now I know why you were so eager to get back here a few months ago. She's even more beautiful than she was the last time I saw her on Dessa's birthday."

Eamon groaned out his embarrassment. "Cleo..."

"You boys know how much I love you. And how much I love pestering you about the females in your lives. Eamon with Milena. Elys with..." Cleo turned toward the Seer, one finger on her chin. "Ah, let's see. There was the mage Chryseis, right? You do know she's still pining over you, even though it's been over two years. She likes to talk to the females in the city guard, too. And about quite a lot of the things you two did..."

A step forward from the male, mismatched blue eyes narrowing. "Cleo," he warned.

"And then there was Georgianna four years, that beautiful naiad from Searis who liked to talk just as much..."

"Cleo."

This time, the steeliness in Elys's deep voice made her own catch in her throat.

Because he was no longer looking at her, but at the female behind her who had gone to wrangle her little sister from the dragon cuddles. The female who was hearing all of this, the corners of her lips pulled down in a frown, eyes cast down on her boots. Cleo could practically hear Dessa's heart hammering in her chest, see her mind racing at the thought of Elys with other females...

Shit.

Cleo stepped forward, hand raised. "I..."

But Dessa was already on the move, lifting Lenora into her arms and setting her on her hip as she went to retrieve her leather jacket. She wouldn't meet anyone's eye. "Would you mind if I headed back to the city? We owe Momma two chocolate cheesecakes, so I need to go pick those up."

"Des," Elys said to her, stepping forward as if to try and stop her. "Wait just a moment..."

She wasn't going to let him stop her as she called for Eria to come and lifted Len into the saddle. The little girl seemed confused as to why they were leaving so suddenly when one of her favorite people just came for a visit. "You can head back with Cleo. I'm taking Len with me," she told him, shrugging on her jacket. "I'll see you later, all right?"

When she couldn't quite seem to get it on right, Elys reached forward to help her. He barely touched the leather before she yanked her arm away from him.

But it was the little flicker of magic that Cleo seemed to be the only one to notice in that movement. The anger that sparked the darkness they knew Dessa possessed and yet she didn't know quite yet herself. A darkness that was so like Cleo's it had her own shadows perking up in interest.

Elys dropped his hand, eyes flickering over to Cleo.

Maybe ...yes, he'd felt it, too. Saw it in a vision when his eyes flashed white for just a split second.

Knowing there was nothing he could say to get her to stay, he took a step back. "All right. We'll see you at home. Just...be careful."

With only a nod to the rest of them, Dessa jumped up into the saddle and had Eria taking off before she was even fully fastened in.

"What the hell, Cleo?" Elys growled, whirling around to glare at her. "Why would you bring that up?"

She winced, grimacing. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," he said, running his fingers through his hair as he glanced back up at Eria just before she disappeared into the puffy white clouds up above.

"I'm sorry," Cleo said again. "I apparently know how to make an entrance and ruin a good mood, don't I?"

Milena came up to her side then, looping her arm through Cleo's. "I wouldn't worry too much. I'll talk to her once we're home and alone. Maybe I can coax some thoughts out of her...without revealing too much, huh?"

Cleo looked sideways over at her, raising a brow. "Hold on...does everyone other than Dessa herself know what the two of them are to each other?"

She grinned, poking her thumb at Eamon. "This one let it slip a few months ago before we were mated ourselves. I had my suspicions before, though. He just confirmed them."

Elys let out another growl as he glared at his best friend. "I thought I told you never to speak of it?"

Milena answered for him. "I can be very persuasive."

Eamon nodded in agreement. "She can. She's really good at it, too."

"She'll be fine," she continued. "I know my best friend. Plus, she tells me everything. It's not like she hasn't went out on dates from time to time, though nothing ever turned that serious. Close to it and yet nothing ever happened. She'd give me all the dirty details if it had."

Elys turned that glare onto her then, but Milena just stared right back, almost challenging.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, Seer of Ikreus," she warned.

He didn't say a word, just looked back up at the clouds.

"All right," Cleo said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Let's head to Ayveri. I want to see my cousin."

"And then we'll get to the real reason you're here," Elys finally said, leaning down to scoop up his jacket from where it was laying on the ground. "Let's go."

***

As soon as Cleo jumped down from Ollyn, Lyv's excited squealing reached her ears, which made her do the same as she ran forward. The cousins met in the middle of the palace courtyard in a fierce hug since they hadn't seen each other in months. Just as beautiful as ever, Cleo clutched Lyv as tight as she could. Both of them looked as if they were in the mid-twenties for human years, though Cleo just a little older. Lyv's own features seemed to slow their aging as soon as she hit twenty-five, which made it fun to see others stare at her and Dessa, a mother and daughter seemingly just a few years different in age.

"You didn't tell me you were coming!" Lyv said, pulling back to smile at her.

Cleo grinned. "I thought I'd surprise my favorite cousin."

"I'm your only cousin."

"And therefore, my favorite."

Lyv let out a snort, rolling her eyes as she stepped back.

But that just let Cleo get an eyeful of that beautifully handsome mate of hers, standing just a few feet behind them with his arms crossed over his chest. The sleeves of his tunic were pushed up to his elbows, leather pants tight in all the right places. Even as he strode forward, Cleo wiggled her eyebrows with every step

"Stop looking at me like that," Jai grinned at her before scooping her up in his arms. "You're making me uncomfortable."

"Whatever!" Cleo laughed, squeezing him tight. "A beautiful male like yourself should be used to females fawning all over you."

"Of course, but I've got that one to get them off me with that dagger of hers."

Lyv let out another snort from beside them as Jai set Cleo back down on her feet.

Gideon and Thia appeared then. Just as Lyv did, Thia excitedly squealed before rushing forward to hug her, but her mate and husband was grumbling at how over half the lady gang was back together and how chaos would reign once again over the capital city of Ayveri. Ever the melodramatic male. Still, Gideon was grinning even as Cleo half-heartedly punched him in the stomach.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after letting her go. Absentmindedly, he reached over to grab Thia's hand, looping her arm through his.

"I can't just come for a visit? Do I have to have an excuse?"

"Of course, you can," Lyv told her, then smacked the back of her hand against Gideon's stomach. "Shut up or else I'm going to sic Ro on you."

"And I'd happily die of dragon cuddles."

It was Elys who answered for her, though the male still looked pissed at her for what was said before with Dessa. He stood with his back to them all, arms crossed over his chest as he stared out through the palace gates. Of course, she knew he was waiting for Dessa to appear, chocolate cheesecakes in hand and Len jumping along beside her.

They were nowhere to be seen.

"She came to ask if I've seen anything about what Empress Sophea's plans were to infiltrate Arloerin and find its weaknesses."

Lyv watched him with worried eyes before turning to Cleo. "What is he talking about?"

"Exactly what I said," Elys said as he spun back around and stalked toward them. "But, of course, what weakness would Sophea find in the people of Arloerin? None. Absolutely none. Because everyone loves Cleo, even when she's saying things she shouldn't be saying."

"I said I was sorry!" she called out to him, even as he disappeared inside and yanked off his jacket.

Eamon had the nerve to snort. "Oh, yeah. This is going to be fun."

Milena reached up and smacked the back of his head, grumbling on how he needed to keep his mouth shut. That just made him poke his fingers into her sides, tickling her, as they followed a grumpy Elys inside.

"What in the world was that about?" Lyv asked, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at Cleo. "Already causing trouble?"

She winced, lips curling upward. "Maybe? I might have been teasing Elys about his female friends in Laria..."

That seemed news to Lyv, too. "You can't be serious. Female friends? I'm going to kill that kid..."

"Well, he's obviously not a kid anymore..."

Both Jai and Gideon snorted out laughs, then shrank back when Lyv glared at them again. She was always glaring at them for something. Both her and Thia were. This was nothing new. "You two aren't helping!"

Cleo turned a pouty lip to her favorite cousin, one that had Lyv rolling her eyes. "Do I owe you a chocolate cheesecake now, too? Because Dessa and Lenora are already at Sherine's picking up two..."

And even though her entrance wasn't quite what she was expecting, especially when she was already causing trouble, Lyv nodded, pointing a finger at her. But then she dropped it and looped her arm through hers then, guiding her up the stairs with coming up on her other side. "Of course, you do. But you're going to help me eat it right along with Thia, Laurel, and Allel once she's back from Palrion with Mik in a few days. The lady gang, back together again, though the only one we'd be missing is Kalla."

"And you know she'd be here in a heartbeat if I asked her to."

Lyv's grin was wicked as she winked at Jai behind them. "Oh, I know. Then what would these males think of us?"

Just like always, Gideon was the one to answer. "They'd bring the whole world to its knees. Again."