“Well tell me this, Darius,” Seth said seriously, looking him square in the eye. “Did. You. Laugh?”
Silence followed as Darius glanced at me, knowing full well he hadn’t laughed, and I tried to look pissed off over that fact as the others all fell apart. Caleb broke first, shoving me playfully as I tried to hold out on my indignation over what had been a perfectly valid joke, but I gave in as Seth leapt on top of us and I found myself at the bottom of a dog pile a moment later.
I felt Darius leaping onto the pile as the air was driven from my lungs and I kicked and punched before he managed to drag the others off of me and toss them on their asses, stealing the spot Caleb had been sitting in and tugging me into his lap.
“Papa has been getting regular reports on Nymph movements and he has the locations of several known ragamuffins who the false king has given lodgings to near The Palace of Souls. We could sneak up on one of them like two geese looking for a gander,” Geraldine suggested, her eyes bright.
“Maybe you should go without Grus,” Orion suggested as Max got to his feet, seeming more willing to do it now that Geraldine was up for tagging along with him. “So that you can keep your mind on the task of seducing the Nymph instead of her.”
“Oh good gracious, you’re right, oh shameful one,” Geraldine cooed, instantly dropping back into her seat. “Papa will give you their location and I will stay here so as not to distract you from your gallant work.”
“Great,” Max grunted, heading towards the door. “Anyone wanna come with me then or am I just going alone?”
“Fine, I’ll come,” Darius said, getting up and placing me back in my own seat, while keeping a hand on my shoulder like he was planning on forcing me to stay behind, but I wasn’t really interested in sneaking up on Nymphs and watching Max do his thing, so he needn’t have worried about that.
“You boys have fun,” I called as Seth and Caleb got up too, the four of them exchanging grins at the thought of their little hunting trip.
“You coming, Lance?” Darius asked as they made it to the door, but he shook his head.
“I think I found something in this book earlier, but I need a bit more time to make sense of it so I’ll finish that,” Orion replied, his grabby little hands already curling around the gemstone book possessively and I couldn’t help but grin at him for being suck a geek.
“You’re too cute.” Darcy kissed him on the cheek and he smirked at her.
“I think I’m gonna go for a swim and have a nap then,” I announced, looking between the girls. “Wanna join?”
“I’m in,” Darcy agreed as Lance opened the book and stuck his nose into it, seeming to have forgotten we were here already.
“Well ruffle my feathers, I can’t say no to some girl time with my queens,” Geraldine gasped and I grinned as we walked to the door.
“I’ll text Sofia and Angelica,” Darcy said, taking out her Atlas and I smiled, peace washing over me as we headed down the corridor.
This place might have been a temporary reality away from the war raging up above us in Solaria, but it was a haven I was damn happy to enjoy for as long as I could. Because down here with my sister, Darius and my friends, it was as if time had stopped and everything was so perfect I just wanted to press pause and stay here forever.
I twirled the Imperial Star between my fingers as I lazed in one of the bubbling pools in the bathhouse, sighing contentedly and daydreaming about going for a fly later on today with Tory and Gabriel. We sometimes cast rings of fire in the air and raced through them, the three of us tossing spells at each other to try and throw each other off. It was a game of dirty tactics and all of us ended up in fits of laughter by the end of it, and none of us had any idea of who had won the most rounds by the time we trailed inside – though Gabriel always insisted he had seen that it was him.
I was getting well used to his little pranks with his Sight, and it was damn hard to get one up on him, but Tory and I were managing it more often by learning to act unpredictably around him. We’d even managed to cast an illusion on his shirt once after he’d been out flying, and when he’d put his wings away and pulled it on, the words Crabby Gabby had illuminated on the back of it. He’d worn it halfway through dinner before he’d figured it out and cursed us, promising to deliver vengeance swiftly. It was almost impossible to remember a time before he’d come into my life, and I wanted to make up for all the years we’d lost.
Tory lazed beside me while Angelica, Sofia and Geraldine sat in the bubbling tub opposite me.