“I love you too, bao bei, with everything I am, and I’ll do it until the sun falls from the sky.”
He saw tears glisten in her eyes so he slid a hand up her spine, curled it around the back of her head, and shoved her face in his chest.
They held on to each other and they did it a long time.
And as they did it, it hit Abel that, with what had just happened, like she said he gave to her, before he knew what he needed, she’d given him exactly that.
An anchor.
A safe harbor.
A sense of belonging.
The certainties of his world, love and life, all this inextricably mingled with loss, took new meaning.
It became nothing but a journey, a journey filled with beauty and pain.
A journey that led to her.
A journey that would never end, but now one thing would remain constant.
She’d be at his side.
He closed his eyes against the stinging he felt in them and bent his neck, pressing his lips to the top of her head.
He took in a deep breath, taking in more of her scent, letting the feel of her in his arms, the feel of being in hers, soak in deep.
Then he said into her hair, “I’m good to go back now.”
He again lifted his head when she tipped hers back. “You sure?”
He nodded.
She studied him for a moment before he felt her hands fist in his shirt at his back.
“He’s your twin,” she noted quietly.
“Yep,” he replied.
Her lips tipped up. “You’re hotter.”
That was when it happened. Something he couldn’t imagine happening so soon after he came face-to-face with the brother who, for centuries, he hadn’t known he’d had. Something he could imagine happening so soon after Delilah shared the depths of her love.
He threw his head back and burst out laughing.
“It’s true,” she said through his laughter, giving his shirt a tug.
His body was shaking and he was still laughing when he dipped his chin to again catch her eyes, and when he did, he caught her grinning.
“He looks just like me.”
“A mate can tell the difference. And anyway, every girl knows that scars are hot.”
“Right,” he said through his continuing chuckles.
“Though, I’d bet the farm she’s a biker bitch. That outfit, which, by the way, when this is done, I’m getting one just like that, screams biker.” She pressed into him. “She’s something.”
“You’re hotter.”
Her grin remained in place, but her eyes warmed, and seeing as they were already warm, the affection in them now was amazing to behold.
But she didn’t reply to what he said. She rolled up on her toes and kissed his throat.
When she rolled back, the warmth was still there, but the grin was only lingering.
“We should go back.”
He nodded.
She gave him a squeeze before she let him go with one arm, keeping the other around his waist. He did the same but with an arm around her shoulders.
Holding each other, they walked back to where they’d been.
When they arrived in the room, everyone was there. Callum and Sonia. Lucien and Leah. Jian-Li, Xun, Wei, and Chen. Hook, Poncho, Moose, and Jabber. Yuri and Aurora. Barb, Ruby, Jezza, and Flo. And Gregor.
All eyes came to him and he immediately felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the wave of loyalty and tenderness that swept over him, nearly taking him back on a foot, definitely settling firm in his soul in a way that felt like it’d be there forever.
He gladly took that feeling and turned his attention to his brother and his woman.
Cain didn’t look comfortable.
Teona didn’t look happy.
It was Teona who spoke.
“You think we could do this a bit more private?”
“This is my family,” Abel declared. “And when something important is happening, I keep my family close.”
He felt Delilah move and looked down at her to see her exchanging glances with Jian-Li. And if Delilah’s look mirrored Jian-Li’s, it was filled with pride.
Abel felt his back get straighter and he threw out an arm.
“You wanna take a seat?” he offered.
“Good standing,” Cain muttered.
Abel nodded and then got right down to it.
“You grew up with our parents.”
Cain watched him warily and nodded.
“Why didn’t I?”
“We’re twins,” Cain stated.
“Got that,” Abel returned.
“We’re anomalies,” Cain told him.
“Got that too, though, found out when I was two hundred and five when you were lucky enough to have your parents share that info with you,” Abel replied.
Cain took that hit with a subtle wince but powered through it.
“They knew of The Prophesies.”
“And how’s that?” Abel asked.
“Pop knew King McDonagh,” Cain answered. “When we were born, the king explained.”
Abel said nothing, but he felt Callum become even more alert.
“Through The Prophesies, they knew it would be you,” Cain went on.
“There were two of us. How’d they know that?” Abel asked.
Cain shook his head. “I’ve no idea. But I’ve not fathered a child. I have no idea what parents know and what they don’t. They just knew, and turns out they were right.”
Abel couldn’t argue that.
“I’m your keeper,” Cain said quietly and with total seriousness, regardless of his words. “What our parents did was necessary.”
They’d get into that in a second.
“Are they alive?” Abel asked and braced when he felt what was coming from Cain and Teona.