Page 111 of Beauty At Stake
“Yup. They'd explode around me.” I made a face that got them giggling. “It was so embarrassing.” Then I went serious. “Magic can be wonderful but it can also be dangerous. The Goddess gave it to us to improve our lives and protect us. So, we must be very careful with it.”
“Like I used mine to protect myself,” Caelum said.
“Yes, my love.” I cupped his cheek. “You made us so proud. But now you know how powerful your mór is, and so you must be extra vigilant. Remember how you once attacked me by mistake?”
Caelum grimaced. “I'm sorry, Mom.”
“You already apologized for that. I don't say it to chide you, but to remind you that when you don't keep control of magic, especially when you lose control of your emotions, it can hurt people you care about. That's what happened with your uncles tonight. Do you understand?”
“What's all this crying about?” Star's voice came from behind me, his tone teasing.
I turned to see that he had removed his bloody shirt and replaced his suit jacket so that he was bare-chested beneath it. It made him look like an exotic dancer. And I don't mean the cultural variety.
“Uncle Star, are you okay?” Rowan asked.
The children shifted their stares from me to Star.
He crouched and held out his arms. “I'm fine. See? Your uncle just got mad at me because I said something naughty.” He winked at them. “But we've made up and are friends again.”
That soft, mother part inside my heart melted to see Star interacting with my kids. I had to mentally slap myself to remind that weak heart that I would never have children with this man. And that was fine. It was more than fine—it was great. He needed to have kids with a woman who could devote herself to him and Hell. A Demon woman.
Just not that Fal . . Free . . . what the hell was her name? Frelada! That's it. The Seren-lookalike. Not her. She was annoying. And not Antaura because she wasn't right for him. Star needed someone who could be as gentle as she could be tough. He needed . . . nope! Not doing that. It wasn't for me to say what he needed. None of my business!
“Uncle Sever!” Rowan called out and darted around Star.
Sever scooped her up and kissed her cheek. “It's all right, children. I did something bad, and I've apologized for it. We can't be good all the time, but when we make a mistake, we should apologize and try to correct it as soon as possible.”
“Mom says you don't know how to control your mór yet,” Falcas, my little man, said. “That makes it an accident.”
“Yes, but you should apologize for anything bad that you've done, even if it was accidentally.” Sever looked at Star. “Again, I'm so sorry, Astaroth.”
“It's all right.” Star stood up and squeezed Sever's shoulder. “Out of the mouths of babes, right? It was an accident.”
“Thank you. That's very generous of you. And . . .” Sever glanced at me. “I know I don't have to thank you for this, but just the same, thank you for saving Seren.”
I looked back and forth between them as I stood up. What the hell? Had that fight actually made them friends? What were they—Australian? If they went to drink a beer together, I was leaving.
Star looked at me. “You're right. You don't have to thank me for that.”
Sever looked back and forth between us, much as I'd done with him and Star. “I see. At least it seems manageable now.”
Star grinned, but it was sardonic. “Yes, I believe I'll be able to move past it.” He shifted his grin into something genuine for the kids. “Goodnight, children.”
“Goodnight, Uncle Star,” they said in unison.
Star snorted. “You've got a little Von Trapp family going on.”
Sever surprised me by saying, “They don't sing.”
But I shouldn't have been surprised. There are movies in Heaven. I watched them there. I couldn't remember if I had watched “The Sound of Music,” but it would have been appropriate to the setting.
Star chuckled as he walked away. Away from my family and me. I wondered if it was the last time we'd speak about our attraction. I both hoped and feared that it was.
Chapter Forty
“You need to start training,” my father said to Sever later that night.
It was so late that it was early in Thailand, but my father, being from a time zone thirteen hours behind, was as fresh as a daisy. The children were not. All of them were asleep, sprawled on a couple of beds in one of the guest rooms. Even Miri was tucked in among them, with Cat sleeping on the foot of the girls' bed, guarding our babies. I know she's only named after my mother, but having her with them felt as if my mom were watching over her grandchildren too.
