Chapter 176

Chapter 0176

“You’re coming home, son,” Cora says, crossing her arms and glaring at her eldest child. ” Because

if I let you stay here, you’ll drink yourself silly with your cousins and then be

useless to me in the morning.”

“Mom!” Jesse begs, sending an anxious glance towards Daphne, who pretends not to notice the

whole conversation.

“Jesse,” Roger says, his hands on his hips, his voice low and dangerous. “Get in line. Your mom

wants you home, so you’re coming home. If it were up to me I’d leave you here, because you

always rile the small ones into rebellion, telling them all sorts of nonsense about free will –”

“They deserve to know the truth!” Jesse protests.

“But your mother wants you home. So?” Roger points emphatically to the front of the line.

Daphne, to her credit, does her very best to suppress her smile and pretend that she’s incredibly

interested in the trim that adorns the bottom of dad’s armchair. Ben has no such grace and watches

eagerly, laughing. But Jesse, realizing that he’s lost this battle, just groans and pushes himself to

his feet, slumping to the front of the line.

“Good boy,” Roger murmurs, patting Jesse on the head. Jesse just scowls and smacks his dad’s

hand away.

Then Roger whistles again and each of my six cousins straightens their shoulders, standing at

attention, and then – at their father’s signal – begin to march out of the room. 1

“Bye!” Cora calls over her shoulder towards us, completely ignoring the military precision with which

her kids are swept out into the hall. “Love you, see you tomorrow or the next day or whenever!”

“Bye!” we all call, and it’s only when I look over at Luca and Jackson’s shocked faces that I realize

how weird it is. I burst out laughing myself, because I mean I’m just so used to the way that Cora

and Roger handle their wild pack of kids that I don’t even notice it anymore.

—

“You guys are such a weird family,” Ben sighs, pulling himself up into Roger and Cora’s abandoned

chair. “I love it.” Daphne grins, nodding along with him.

“Who needs a refill?” Rafe asks, smiling happily and getting to his feet. “Daphne?” He raises an

eyebrow at her empty glass of wine.

“Nope, nope!” Mom says, getting to her feet herself. “You’re all off to bed!”

“What!?” Rafe gasps. “Mom, it’s our first night home, we’re not going to bed –”

“Oh yes you are!” she says, giving him a super sweet grin.

“Why!?” Rafe protests, throwing out his hand.

“Because I am sleepy,” mom says, pressing a demure hand to her chest and making dad laugh.

“And if I don’t stay up to supervise you, Cora is right – you’ll drink yourselves silly and be all useless

tomorrow. And we have things to do!” She reaches up a hand, ruffling Rafe’s hair. “Haircuts, first of

all.”

“Mommm,” Rafe groans, slumping his shoulders and looking around with embarrassment. “You

can’t just make everyone go to bed because you’re tired.”

“Nah, I should go anyway,” Luca says with a sigh, getting to his feet. I sit up straight in surprise.

“What?” I say, staring at him. “You’re not staying here with us?”

“Nah,” he says, giving me a pretty smile and a shrug. “I have my own family here in the city, after

all. And I have to get to the gym tomorrow, let my uncle yell at me and beat me into shape before

the fight. And her Highness is right,” he says, nodding in deference to my mom, who smiles at him,

“if I stay here, I’ll have way too much fun. I have to concentrate.”

Guilt sinks in me as I watch Luca thank my mother for her hospitality and shake my father’s hand,

realizing that unlike Jackson and Ben and Daphne, Luca does have family here – and I’ve kept him

from them on his first night back from the academy. God, how selfish am I?

“Luca,” I say, getting to my feet as he turns away from my parents. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think

–”

“No worries, Ariel,” he replies, shaking his head at me with a smile as I move to his side. He wraps

an arm around my waist as he nods to the door. “Walk me out?”

I nod, eager, wanting to finish my apology even if he says it’s all right. We walk together out into the

hall and I pull the door to our cozy living room shut behind us, standing with him in the darkness of

the corridor. There are guards, of course, at either end – but otherwise we’re alone.

Luca’s face breaks into a devilish smile.