“Yeah…so, the Queen of Spring is still alive and in a deep sleep. Once I restore all twelve crystals, she will restore Faerie.”
Liam’s face relaxed for the first time since we’d gotten here. “So you do have a way to restore Faerie…”
I nodded. “And when I do, you and your brothers and whoever else can come live there.”
Elle sucked a breath in at the same time as Liam. It was basically treasonous, what I’d just said. I didn’t care.
“They’ll kill us. They hate us.” Liam shook his head in exasperation. “You can’t be that naïve.”
I straightened my back. “I have favor with the queen. She will grant me this one wish. I’m sure of it.”
Especially if I was waking her up and saving the world, right? I didn’t even know if she was nice, but I was hoping so.
Liam scowled. “And why would she listen to you?”
Okay, time for the big bomb drop. “I’m her niece. She and my mom were half-sisters. We didn’t end up with any royal magic, but we’re still family, and she’ll listen to me. I’m sure of it.”
Liam’s gaze sharpened, as if realizing something, but then he shook himself. “And my mother? Who will take care of her while my brothers and I live in Faerie?”
Fuck. The linchpin.
“I’ll figure it out. You just have to trust me.” Silence descended over the room. “Help me find the other crystals, and I’ll make sure your family and friends are safe. Forever.”
He sighed. Sunlight filtered into the room, and a little boy’s laughter could be heard just beyond the hallway. People were waking up. It was now or never.
“Liam. Trust me.”
It felt like the air had charged with electricity as Liam and I locked eyes.
Finally, he sighed again. “Okay. You want to meet everyone?”
My heart melted into a puddle before Elle stepped in front of me. “After I get an ice pack and some pain tonic,” she growled.
Liam chuckled. “Pain tonic on Earth is called Advil.”
Elle waved him off, opening the door. “Whatever. I’ll take five.”
We moved into an open living room, where five sleepy-faced boys, ranging from about five to fourteen and all carbon copies of Liam, sat on the couch. When they saw us, they stiffened.
“Hey, guys…” Liam seemed unsure of what to say. “These are my fae friends. From Faerie.”
The littlest one gasped. “Fae from Faerie are bad,” he said, snuggling into his older brother, who watched me with a suspicious gaze.
I shot Liam a look. Who was a stereotyping asshole now?
He laughed nervously. “Not all of them. Lily and Elle are good people.” He pointed to each of us as he spoke so that they could learn our names.
A boy who looked about seven stood. “Good people who can cook pancakes?”
Elle grinned. “You get me an ice pack and Advil, and I’ll make the best pancakes you ever tasted.”
The boy grinned. “Deal!”
He tore off into the house, and Liam watched Elle with an unreadable gaze, like he hadn’t been sure until now that she was a normal person who wasn’t hell-bent on murdering him.
The fourteen-year-old stood, wings snapped out as he stretched his hand forward to shake mine. “I’m Tye.”
I shook it and smiled.
“That’s Cain, Colton, Trever, and the one who went to get the ice is Brian.”
I waved to them all.
“And our mommy is Larissa,” the littlest one, Cain, said. “Is she awake? Can I lay with her?”
Liam nodded. “Sneak in and be quiet. See if she wants pancakes.”
I felt like I was living in an alternate reality. I followed Liam into the kitchen, where he wrangled four of his brothers into chairs and made the oldest help him get juice for them before showing Elle where the eggs and pancake mix were.
Domestic Liam was sexy.
Thirty minutes later, we were all finishing our fresh pancakes, after hearing a riveting story about the similarities between the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom and the Pokémon fandom. What the fuck were Pokémon? I had no clue, but I listened, nodded, and laughed when everyone else did so I didn’t look stupid.
Liam scrambled some eggs and poured cereal into four bowls, which caused me to frown. Everyone had just eaten a ton of pancakes—how could these boys possibly eat more?
“Will you help me?” he asked, juggling two cereal bowls in each hand. Elle and I swooped in and carried the eggs and cereal to the front door, which he opened. It led out onto a large front porch.
I froze, and a little bit of milk sloshed over the edge of the bowl from my abrupt stop. Elle did the same beside me. Five Sons of Darkness sat around a small coffee table, smoking and chatting.
Liam set the eggs down on the table. “How did the night go?” he asked them, indicating that we should also set the bowls down. “Any more surprises?”
A strikingly handsome fae with small black horns protruding from his head glared at us. “You mean besides them?” His gaze flicked to Elle.
She all but threw the bowl of cereal before him. “Are you the one who hit me?”
His eyes roved up her body slowly, causing a blush to creep onto her cheeks, but he didn’t answer her.
“That was a misunderstanding,” Liam told everyone. “My friends forgot to mention they were stopping by.”
Smooth. Although no one seemed to be buying it, and each use of the word friend punched a hole into my heart. We were soulmates. Hell, I would even take fuckbuddies or ex-girlfriend right now, but friends? Ouch.
“Do these friends have a purpose here?” the one who hadn’t answered Elle asked before picking his spoon up and shoving cereal into his mouth.
Liam ran a hand through his blond hair, and I wondered if he knew how sexy it was when he did that. Probably not. “My friends and I have an arrangement. We get to keep our crystal if we help them find the others.”
Friend. Again. Kill me.
Every single one of the Sons started to talk over each other at
