To see that stoic bastard tip his head back and laugh like that was super unsettling. Sometimes I wondered if Mera wasn’t the long-fabled lost witch of Solaris System. She had that way about her.

“Shadow,” Mera growled. “You do not want to fuck with a pregnant person.”

“You really don’t,” Len called out from nearby, his voice filled with concern. “Can someone seriously tell us how much longer she’ll be pregnant?”

Mera had enough at this point, all but jumping on her mate before using her powers to hold him down while she searched his pockets. Shadow let her, his eyes eating her up in a way that was probably dangerous to any of us standing nearby.

Finally, she found what her nose had sniffed out, pulling free a white paper bag, her hands near trembling as she hugged it to her chest. “You found one,” she sniffled. “Aw, mate, I love you.”

She kissed him then before wiggling her way down, both of them careful of her stomach.

Shadow pulled her close as she opened the bag and removed a weird green… stick? “What the hell is that?” Reece asked, in his usual asshole, tactless way.

“Deep fried pickle,” Mera said, still tearful. “I swear to fuck I’ve been desperately craving these and no one in the dining hall has a clue what I’m talking about.”

She took a bite and then moaned, and as flames sprang into Shadow’s eyes, I knew my friend was about to disappear from the room. Sure enough, after Mera’s second bite and second moan, Shadow’s energy whipped through the space, and by the time I blinked again, he was gone. Taking his Sunshine with him.

“The only surprise there,” Alistair said, letting out a warm laugh, “is that she wasn’t pregnant the first day they met.”

“Those two stubborn souls had a lot of shit to sort out,” Len said, twirling more lights across the tree, using sparks of fae magic. “Fuck, if it doesn’t make me happy to see them like that. I think Shadow’s turning us all soft.”

Lucien punched Len, a solid hit on his shoulder. “Speak for yourself. Nothing soft about me.”

It sounded a lot like Len coughed out Simone, but before a war broke out, Reece let out a low, rumbling huff of air. As much as he pissed me off—and why the hell was I still standing in the same room as him?—I knew that sound well enough that I had to look his way.

What is it? Galleli asked, so at least I didn’t need to.

Reece shook his head. “The desert lands are uneasy; their sands of time drift through my energy. They’re calling me into the depths of the Delfora, and I can’t get a straight answer from any of the other dynasties about what has been unearthed.”