70. Bells a plenty

[Sinclair]

I watched Maeve as she scanned through the pages in Nia's book, trying to gauge her reactions as she did so, but found that her face was emotionless. Her typically mood revealing eyes was a mixture of grey, blue, and green, making it impossible to see how she felt. *'I've never wished I could read her emotions as much as I wish it right now.'*

"Please stop staring at me Sinclair, you're making it difficult to concentrate," Maeve said with a sigh as she put the book down in her lap, shaking her head as she gazed up into my eyes, searching them for a few long moments before her eyes went wide in shock as she jumped to her feet. "I forgot to feed kitten!"

"It's alright. I've had someone looking out for Nya since we came here. She's fine, Maeve."

"Oh, really? Thank you- Wait- How the fuck did that someone get in my house? I never gave you a key." She asked, narrowing her eyes as she watched me.

"Uh oh, Sinclair's in trouble." Ciaran giggled out, then apologized when Bast shot him a look of disapproval, shaking her head at him.

"Well, you will need a new back door handle, which I will pay for and install," I said, holding my hands up in a show of surrender as she sat back down, but didn't lessen the intensity of her glare in the slightest.

"Fancy pushing your luck, do you?" Maeve said, making Azeneth and Ciaran start giggling again, silenced this time by Damien, who gave them a warning look.

"I thought you said you had a dog?" Bast asked.

"I did say that, but I don't. I have a kitten." Maeve said with a shrug before turning her attention back to the book. "This is both helpful and terrifying."

"Well, what's it say?" Damien asked as he kneeled on the other side of Maeve's border, reading over her shoulder.

"Dark fae can bring death with a single touch, as we already knew, and have witnesses," Maeve said, mumbling softly as she continued to read, then tossed the book down with a sigh, shaking her head. "What a load of bollocks, there was nothing new-," She started to say but cut herself off as she looked at the page the book had fallen open to, gasping out as her heart started pounding in a mixture of fear and excitement.

"What is it?" I asked her, trying to read the page over her shoulder, but couldn't as she had pushed herself back against the wall and was too engrossed with what she was reading to answer.

"The Anodyne," Maeve read out loud, pausing for a moment while inspecting the book curiously. "This wasn't in the binder either. I think this book has a spell on it because I swear this page wasn't here a minute ago." She said, then set the book down next to me.

"It does have a spell on it, as do most witches' belongings, as I've learned. I assumed that was the reason Mercy made copies rather than stealing the book itself, as the spell would cause the pages to shift and change themselves as it saw fit." Damien said with a shrug, chuckling when he saw the look of bewilderment on Maeve's face. "Because of what you are, it seems the book wishes to help you, rather than not."

I waited for the twins to drop the border so I could pick up the book, reading the page aloud after giving it a once-over "Only a small group of fae in recorded existence have toed the line between light and dark, earning themselves the name anodyne. The anodyne can harness both the healing power of a light fae and the destructive power of the dark fae." I said, shaking my head as I read the passage before looking back at Maeve with a shrug. "Though many a fae has tried to become anodyne, ultimately they fail, as only a pure-intentioned fae can become one. That's all it says for that, but there are a few entries here that were written by a witch named Julia in the early 1900s."

"Can we see?" The twins asked as they jumped off their chairs and sat on either side of me, resting their heads on my shoulders as they took turns reading the entries.

"I met a girl I believe to be a fae today, and I must say, she was quite a peculiar woman, and unlike any fae, I'd ever met. Though I'd always made a point to kill every fae I've run across, I cannot bring myself to kill her, as I'd much rather study her and learn what makes her so different from the others." Azeneth read, furrowing her brows in confusion as she looked up at Ciaran, who shrugged and began reading the next passage.

"I have followed the girl at a distance for a while now, proving that my urges not to kill her were well-founded, as what I've found is most unnerving. It appears this girl can control both the power of a light fae and the power of a dark fae. I watched her heal a man on his deathbed, then walk into the woods and bring a tree down with a single tap of her finger, providing firewood for multiple families. I can no longer watch from a distance, as I must learn how this girl was able to achieve such an unbelievable thing!"

"It appears the girl is still as trusting as a light fae, as she had no issues with answering any inquires I had and told me the most incredible tale. The girl was faced with an impossible decision when she happened across two young girls being harassed by a group of men, intent on harming them. Rather than walking away, she traded herself for the freedom of those two girls and died from that sacrifice, but when the men saw that she was unable to die, they trapped her for months until they'd grown tired of her. When she saw that they were bringing other girls into their prison, she killed one of the men to let those girls escape, but did not escape herself, as she did not kill that man for her safety, but for the others. She thought this act would have turned her into a dark fae but found that she stopped somewhere in the middle instead."

"It appears that if a fae takes a life or gives their life, out of a selfless act to save others, with no concern for him or herself, they are no longer light, but they are not dark. I have decided to call this most unique species the anodyne, as the acts that imbued them with these gifts were altruistic in nature, and allowed them to remain a healer while gaining the abilities of a destroyer." I read the last passage aloud before looking over at Maeve, smiling softly as I watched her. "You aren't a dark fae, Maeve. What you did, giving up your life and power for all of us, was entirely selfless in nature. You're an anodyne!"

"How do we know that's what I am? I haven't tried healing anything, and I'm not going to touch any of you until I know that I won't hurt you." Maeve said, then gasped out in happiness when Bast left the kitchen, returning a few moments later with a pair of leather gloves. Maeve happily put them on, then bit her lip as she hesitantly touched the table, a small squeal of excitement leaving her lips when she saw it didn't turn to ash as the other half had.

*'So excitable. In the time we spent apart, I wondered why I was so happy with you, but now I remember. We are very alike in essence while still being near complete opposites, and that is something I love most about you. You manage to make me forget my centuries, allowing me to live in each day.'* I thought when I saw Maeve's reaction, smiling.

"We're gonna go find something to test it with!" Azeneth said as she tugged at Ciaran's sleeve, making him groan with a roll of his eyes as he took off his jacket and set it carefully on the back of a chair, then straightened his vest before nodding to Azeneth.

"Like father, like son." I laughed when I saw this, shaking my head as I sat down at the table, taking Maeve's hand in mine.

"Oh, you have no idea!" Bast giggled as she moved the curtain to the side so she could see as Azeneth pulled Ciaran through the yard.

"I did something in the last few months, but I wanted to wait until I'd done it before telling you," I said, looking back and forth between Damien and Bast. "I am ordained."

"What? Really? When did you have the time to do that?" Bast gasped, doing a double-take as she grinned happily.

"Here and there. After what happened at your wedding, I knew you would push it to the side, and I didn't want you to decide against it, so I wanted to wait until we'd taken care of Edward to tell you." I said, then chuckled at Damien as I could see he struggled with what he wanted to say. "I am on paper as your elder brother, as my last documents stated I was in my seventies."

"I was curious about that but wasn't sure how to ask. How do you guys keep what you are a secret but still have jobs and own companies?" Maeve asked.

"There are vampires in the government who create new identities for us every few decades. Once we've been in one place for too long, we either leave the public eye for a few decades or move to a place where we are unknown with new identities." Damien responded with a chuckle as he shook his head at me. "Sinclair Edge, huh?"

"No, I choose the surname Alexander."

"What name are you going to pick when it's time for a new identity? Wait, is Sinclair your real name?" Maeve asked, then looked across the table at Bast, giggling as they traded looks of curiosity and amusement.

"The name I was born with was Alexander Sinclair, so I switched the names as Lucifer did. I have not considered what I wanted my new name to be, as it's something I try to avoid thinking about." I said with a sigh, trying to hide the disdain I felt at the very notion, but instead turned my attention to Maeve with a smirk. "You will need a new identity, seeing as how you no longer age. What name will you be picking? And you as well, Bastet. Will you both be switching your names as Lucifer, and I have? Aoife and Isabella?"

"That's not a half-bad idea. I don't think I'd mind using my middle name in my next life." Maeve said with a shrug after considering it for a moment.

"Fuck, no!" Bast gasped, shaking her head vigorously. "I didn't think about that. I'm not going to stop aging for a few more years, so I don't have to think about it yet. Speaking of, how do you hide from the world that you don't age when you're as famous and rich as you are?"

"Seeing as how I am famous and rich, people assume I use that fame and fortune to prolong my youth, as most in my social status do," Damien responded with an indifferent shrug. "I let them think such things until they start to get suspicious, and that is when I step back."

"Youth? Is that what you have?" Maeve snorted softly, then laughed out as Damien glared at her.

"We found a squirrel!" Azeneth gasped as she and Ciaran ran back into the kitchen, nearly tripping in her haste if it weren't for Maeve grabbing her arm and holding her up before she could fall. "Thank you!" She beamed up at Maeve, then climbed onto her lap so she could lay the creature carefully on the table. "I don't hear a heartbeat," She mumbled, her big green eyes low in dejection as she looked at the lifeless critter.

"It does look dead, so I guess no harm is done if I can't heal it," Maeve said, biting the inside of her lip as she pulled off the glove, hesitating as she hovered her hand over the squirrel, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

"You can still heal!" Ciaran gasped, bouncing up and down excitedly as we heard the squirrel's heart began to beat.

*'Yes, she can still heal, but it does not look the same way it looked before. When Maeve healed before, her hands would light up like she held the sun in her hands, but now it's like a purple hue.'*

"That proves that you are indeed an anodyne, as Sinclair said. No, don't touch it. It might have rabies!" Damien gasped as he grabbed the squirrel before one of the twins could touch it, then walked outside, where he set it down in the grass, watching it as it skittered away.

"Aye, looks like it. This will take some getting used to." Maeve said with a nod, then pulled the glove back onto her hand before motioning with her index finger at Ciaran, telling him to come to her. "I haven't had the chance to thank you two for helping me. I bet you thought I forgot, didn't you?"

"We didn't think you forgot. We just thought you were too overwhelmed with everything that happened," Azeneth responded as she made room for Ciaran to sit on Maeve's lap, grinning as Maeve pulled them both into a tight embrace.

"I don't think I can keep up my end of the deal anymore, as I don't know if I can return to the faeverse. To be candid, I don't think I'm welcome after what happened with Leena."

"It's okay, we know," Ciaran said, shaking his head before resting it on Maeve's shoulder, taking her hand in his as he began inspecting it curiously. "Does it hurt to have a power like that at your fingertips?"

"Hmm, no, not at all. I don't know when I became like this because I didn't feel any different, but I learned in the faeverse that when a fae is born and raised in the homeland, we don't come into our powers until we leave. So, I know it was sometime after I came to America."

"What do you mean, born in the homeland? Are you saying all fae come from Ireland?" Bast asked, propping her elbows on the table, watching Maeve curiously.

"Aye, by one way or another. Fae originated in Ireland. It seems a bit backward to me that we don't have power in the homeland, but we do anywhere else, but that's what I learned. That's why they said I was so powerful. Because I was born in the epicenter of our power and lived there for two decades, when I came into my power, it was stronger than a fae born elsewhere."

"Leena said she buried herself in Ireland. If you don't have power in Ireland, how was she able to come back?" Damien asked as he put a kettle on the stove, prepping a tray for tea, setting cookies in a separate plate for the kids.

"I asked about that, and they said once the power is unlocked, it won't leave again until we either die for good or give it to someone else," Maeve said, readjusting the way she was sitting for the kids who stayed on her lap as they ate their cookies, rather than sitting back on their own chairs.

"Since you took Edwards's power, does this mean you have the power of an elemental?" I asked her, watching the way she interacted with the kids curiously. *'Those children don't much like very many people and would usually isolate themselves in a book, or with each other. They seem to genuinely enjoy being around Maeve, more so than their own parents. I wonder why this is? Do they feel some sort of kinship with her, or do they simply enjoy her company?'*

"I assumed that when I took his power, it would die with me. I'm sure I would have set something on fire if I had elemental abilities, right? I really hope I don't. I've already got to learn how to live with the power of an anodyne, and I'll lose my shite if I have to get used to anything more." Maeve responded with a scoff, thanking Damien with a smile as he set a cup of tea down in front of her.

"You don't have elemental abilities. We already checked," Azeneth said with a grin before dipping her cookie in Maeve's tea, smiling happily as she bit into it.

"Of course you did," Maeve said with a scoff before looking up at me, "Can we go to your house? I want to see if I can find anything in your library that might be of assistance."

"I'm quite sure I'd remember if I had a book about fae or anodyne, but yes, we can," I said with a nod, leaning back in my chair as I waited for her to finish her tea so that we could leave. *'Though, my library is vast, and I do not know of every single book I have. It is more than possible that there are books there that could help. It may take days upon days of searching to find them, however.'*

"Where do you live, Sinclair?" Bast asked me between sips of her tea.

"Not far from Maeve's home, about an hour from here."

"Is it rude to ask how you afforded a house after being prisoner for the last few decades?"

"Not rude, I suppose. I've owned this house for much longer than I was a prisoner, passing it down through my identities as time went by."

"How did you get new identities if recreants were in hiding until a few months ago?"

"We didn't, not in a legal sense. I would change my name, but didn't have any documents to support that change, should I need to."

"Sinclair has been alive much longer than I have, his wealth far surpassing mine. I know you're curious what it looks like, and though I've never seen his house, not to mention not knowing that he had one until now, I imagine it is true to his age." Damien said as he sat back down at the table, watching the twins as they took turns drinking Maeve's tea, ignoring the cups of tea he'd set in front of them. "Why are you drinking her tea? What is wrong with yours?"

"It's decaffeinated, and we don't want decaf tea," Ciaran said, scrunching his nose, pushing his teacup away.

"I have a vast library. Perhaps we could use the assistance in sorting through the books?" I asked Maeve, smiling as she responded with an indifferent shrug.

"I've missed your house more than I thought was possible. I mean, who misses someone else's house?" Maeve said with a grin, shaking her head in disbelief before looking down at the twins who watched her curiously. "Sinclair's house is like visiting the past. It's so cool. You're going to love it. I used to wander around for hours at a time, trying to discover everything there, yet I still never saw anywhere near all of it."

"Really? It sounds very cool!" Azeneth gasped, her bright green eyes going wide as she started bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Do you have a lot of old stuff there, like stuff that's even older than daddy?" Ciaran asked, unable to hold back the excitement growing in his eyes as he watched me.

"There are things there that are much older than both of us, yes. When I was released from my imprisonment, I began restoring some of my property, but Maeve told me to stop, as I was destroying the history of the objects by doing so." I said, then leaned forward, waiting for the twins to do the same so I could whisper to them. "I believe Maeve enjoys the mysterious and scary things, and that is why she loves to wander my property. Some would say it looks haunted and cursed, while Maeve finds it wonderous and fascinating."

"That explains why she likes you," Azeneth whispered with a giggle of amusement, making Damien snort softly with a shake of his head.

"I've thought the same thing on multiple occasions," I whispered back with a chuckle, winking to them before motioning my head towards the stairs, telling them to get ready to go. "We will likely be there for hours, as I don't think you'll find any shortage of artifacts to engross you, so we should leave while we've still a full day ahead of us."

"Okay!" They agreed in unison before jumping off of Maeve's lap and running upstairs to get ready.

"Ciaran, you should probably dress in jeans and not a suit," Bast called after them, then sighed. "Azeneth, you too. A dress probably isn't the best idea either." She said, then smiled as she and Damien followed them up the stairs.

"You really undersold your house. It's way more than just artifacts," Maeve said as she stood and walked around the corner to the foyer, slipping one of Bast's sweatshirts over her head, brushing her hair out over her shoulder as she walked back into the kitchen.

"It's not easy to find a way to describe it, as you well know," I responded as I leaned forward to put my hands on her hips, pulling her, so she stood in front of me, pressing her body to mine as I leaned against what was left of the kitchen table. "Are you alright?"

"Not at all, but I can't very well have a panic attack in public," She responded with a shrug, putting her hands on my shoulders, then leaned forward to kiss me. The way she kissed me showed me in all the ways how a dark fae differs from the light. As a light fae, innocence even while an adult was apparent and inevitable, even while doing the most devious of things. But now, it seemed as if she had an insatiable hunger, one that presented itself now, making it hard to remind myself that we were not alone and could not do all of the things I wished to do. I could tell she was having a difficult time reminding herself of the same as she grabbed handfuls of my vest, moaning against my lips as she leaned into me.

"Maeve," I breathed out, closing my eyes as I pulled back. *'Why did I invite them to my house? I should have left well enough alone, so I could have Maeve to myself.'*

"Aye, I don't know what happened, sorry." She murmured with a nod as she leaned back, wrapping her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Don't be. We will revisit that soon." I chuckled into her hair, resting my chin on the top of her head, putting an arm around her shoulder, and another around her waist. We stayed like this for a while until we heard the children running down the stairs, telling us it was time to go. "Are we ready?" I asked as I stood, taking Maeve's hand as we walked into the foyer where the twins were zipping up their jackets.

"Yes!" Azeneth grinned as she opened the front door, swinging it wide open, motioning for us to leave.

"I don't think I've ever seen them this excited to go somewhere," Bast snorted as we walked to the garage, helping the kids into the backseat while Maeve and I waited against my car.

"If Sinclair's house is as filled with as many relics and wonders as they've made it sound, they will find many a thing to fill their hours with exploring." Damien chuckled as he opened the passenger side door for Bast, nodding to me before sitting in the driver's seat.

"They are going to lose their minds," Maeve commented, leaning back in her seat as she watched out of the window, gazing out into the trees as they flew by.

________

[Bast]

"Be careful, make sure you stay where we can see you," I said over my shoulder as we drove up Sinclair's long narrow driveway, bringing the old and magnificent castle-like house into view. I couldn't help but gasp as I looked around the yard. Every inch of the property brought up a thirst for adventure, as it was nothing less than terrifying, the way the dark and ancient house towered over us, casting a shadow of darkness over all that surrounded it. It was as if the sun itself was terrified of touching the house, as barely a ray of sunlight shone through the thick forest, hiding the house from public view. Though the outside of the house looked dilapidated, it was like being transported centuries in the past once we stepped inside.

"Woah!" Azeneth and Ciaran mumbled as they looked around the foyer, taking in the grand chandelier, which cast a hauntingly beautiful haze over the circular staircases beneath it. It seemed as if no matter how long I looked around me, I never ran out of things to notice, each one seemingly more beautiful and enchanting than the last. The first thing I noticed was the pillars, the intricate details, and the carvings, leaving me awestricken, while the sight of the parlor to my right left me speechless. Though the outside of the house gave me the impression that the inside would be decrepit, I was surprised to find that the interior was immaculate, lit with candelabras lining the walls.

I couldn't help but imagine Sinclair in the past with Damien, inviting him into the parlor to chat with a cigar and brandy. *'Too bad Damien didn't know about this house. Otherwise, I could imagine him and Sinclair spending time here during the early years of their friendship.'* I thought as I wandered past the staircases, realizing that this house was much older than Sinclair had made it sound. I was under the impression that it was an old Victorian house, but as I looked around, I knew it was much older, maybe even from the mid-Georgian period. *'If this house is really from the Georgian period, then it was built around the same time that Damien became a vampire. Holy shit, the history in this place is like a historian's wettest dream.'*

"Mommy, you're wandering!" Azeneth called after me in a mocking giggle as she and Ciaran ran to my side, taking my hands as I walked into the library, walking past roman statues standing on either side of the doorway, smiling when I saw the mahogany bookcases both lining the walls and creating aisles down the center. The thing that excited me most about the room was that I could see a second level with about five extra bookcases surrounding a small seating area. Compared to Sinclair's library, Damien's was like a tenth of the size, as the room we'd just entered was easily triple the size of Damien's library. *'The kids will never want to leave!'* I thought as I looked down at them, grinning as they began browsing the bookcases, trading looks of wonder and amazement as they pointed out multiple covers to each other.

"I know you've found a place guaranteed to engross you for weeks on end. Why don't we see the rest of the house before we settle down in one place," Damien said from behind me, holding a hand out for the kids, setting Azeneth on his hip before taking Ciaran's hand in his.

"Sinclair, is this what houses were like before you were a vampire?" I asked him as he led us up the left side of the staircase, smiling as I ran my hand up the railing, loving the feeling of the wood underneath my hand.

"It depends on when you are asking. The time at the beginning of my time as a vampire, or the time just before I became a recreant?" Sinclair asked with a soft chuckle, trying and failing to hide the sadness I saw in his golden eyes as he cast a glance at me over his shoulder. "This house has many a secret passage, so many in fact, that I do not believe I've discovered all of them. I've owned this house for many many a matter of years, but over time it has been updated throughout the centuries, there are very few things left that show the true age, but throughout this house, you can see how designs changed throughout the periods."

"I see that, yes. There are designs from the Georgian period and the Victorian period, not to mention the parts I've noticed that are even newer. The ambiance in this house brings me back to a time I didn't think I could reminisce if I tried to." Damien said as we looked into a few of the rooms until we stopped on one that must be Sinclair's bedroom, as it looked like it had been the one most recently visited.

"Daddy, can we have beds like that?" Azeneth gasped as she wriggled out of Damien's arms, running towards the giant four-poster bed in the room, gawking as she played with the canopy, pulling it over the side of the bed. I could tell that the bed itself was antique, as the wooden frame it was made from showing its actual age.

"If you wish a bed like that one, it would need to be made by hand, as it is impossible to find a carpenter capable of making something so detail-oriented in this day and age," Damien responded as we made our way back down the stairs and into the library where I started browsing the shelves along the right side of the wall.

"Can we look around outside? We saw a lot of cool stuff on our way up the driveway." Ciaran asked, jumping up and down excitedly as he looked back and forth between Damien and me.

"We're staying in the library, for now, so not right now. We can go back outside in a little bit." I said with a smile, motioning towards the bookcases to the left of me. "Why don't you see if there's anything you want to read?"

"Okay," They agreed as they walked hand in hand to the bookcase and began browsing through it curiously. It didn't take them long before they picked out what they wanted to read and ran to the couch to sit.

"What are the chances you'll be willing to part with some of these books?" Damien asked Sinclair, then chuckled with an understanding nod when he heard Sinclair snort in amusement at the question. "Yes, I assumed as much."

"Maeve, the mythological section is over there. If there is anything on anodyne, it would be there," Sinclair said, motioning towards the bookcase in the far left corner of the room before pulling a book off of the shelf he was standing in front of, sitting on the chair across the twins, flipping through the pages carefully.

After browsing through a few covers, I decided to help Maeve look through the books, smiling when I saw one for Irish folklore. "Here, what about this one?" I asked, pulling it carefully off the shelf as it looked like it would fall apart without the utmost care.

"Irish folklore? It sounds like it could be it." Maeve agreed as she carried it to sit next to Sinclair, carefully blowing the dust off of the cover before turning the first page. After reading silently for a few minutes, Maeve chuckled softly, shaking her head as she turned a couple more pages. "It's describing fae and dark fae. The only difference is that they think we are tiny winged creatures who guard the doorway between this world and the afterlife."

"It would be so cool if you had wings!" Azeneth giggled without looking up from the book that she and Ciaran were reading.

"Cool for you, maybe, but it just seems like it would be entirely uncomfortable," Maeve said with a shake of her head before sitting in Sinclair's lap, propping the book on her legs, resting her head on Sinclair's chest. Sinclair smiled at her when she did this and set his elbow on the arm of the couch so he could continue reading.

"That looks really comfortable," Azeneth mumbled when she saw this, then pulled me to sit down on the couch with her, laying across my lap the same way Maeve laid on Sinclair. "It is really comfortable."

I would have thought Ciaran would be jealous that he couldn't join her, but his response was an eye-roll as he stood to get a different book to read on his own, as he couldn't continue reading the same book as Azeneth.

"It doesn't tell me anything more about anodyne that Nia's book didn't tell me," Maeve said with a sigh as she sat up and set the book off to the side. "It doesn't say anything about anodyne at all, but the witch did say that is the name she picked for it, so it's probably known by another name."

"You keep saying it, instead of us. Is it so bad to be an anodyne? I understand that you'll miss being a light fae, as it isn't just in terms of power that you will change, but from what I understand about your kind, your very nature changes as well. At least you do not lose your healing abilities but have now gained the dark fae abilities as well." Damien offered as he browsed through the mythology section where I'd found the Irish folklore book. He pulled one of the books off of the shelf and began pacing as he read through it.

"I'm not saying it's the worst thing, but when I thought it would turn me into a dark fae, I was fully prepared to accept that, but I would never have thought I'd turn into a mixture of the two."

"Sinclair, would it be possible for Damien and I to get married in your house? I know that's random and maybe a bit weird, but no matter where we go, we'll never find somewhere that resonates with Damien's past as much as your house does." I said, smiling as Azeneth and Ciaran jumped up with excitement as they looked from Sinclair to Damien, trying to gauge their reactions to what I'd just said. "Our first wedding catered to me and this current age, we already knew it would be small when we did it again. If Sinclair agrees, I honestly don't think we'll ever find someplace better than here." I added when I saw Damien's reluctant happiness as he tried and failed to find the words to respond.

"If that is what you wish, I've no problem with it. When would you like to marry?" Sinclair responded after a moment of silence.

"Octavia and Mercy will be back by this time tomorrow, as I know you'd like your sisters to be in attendance. Our marriage license is still valid, as well." Damien commented as he came to sit down next to me, pulling Ciaran onto his lap before putting an arm around my shoulder, searching my eyes curiously. "We could marry tomorrow if you wish?"

"I do," I said with a grin before leaning forward to kiss him. *'Oh my god, by this time tomorrow, I'll be Bastet Isabella Edge!'*