Chapter 187 Just Getting Started
Coban’s POV
By the time we reached the door, something already felt wrong. Not danger wrong. Not enemy wrong. Just wrong.
The hallway itself had gone too quiet, like the air had been sucked out of it. No voices was heard. No movement at all. No chaos. Which made absolutely no damn sense considering the room on the other side of that door currently held two supernatural toddlers, several women, and whatever the hell kind of power those boys had been building lately.
I grabbed the handle first and twisted. Locked.
My brow furrowed immediately.
“The hell?” I muttered.
Caden stepped forward beside me, already reaching past my arm. “Move.”
He tried it himself, jiggling the handle harder, testing it like maybe the lock would just reconsider. Nothing. Locked tight.
Lucian stepped up behind us, folding his arms with that patient but irritated expression he got whenever things refused to cooperate with him.
“You try knocking?” he asked dryly.
Caden shot him a look. “You think toddlers locked the damn door?” He shook his head like he really couldn't believe he asked that.
Darien walked up next, already rolling his shoulders like he was preparing for something physical. “Enough. Step back.” He spit out.
I moved aside with Caden as Darien planted his boot against the wood and slammed into it.
The door didn’t even rattle. He stared at it. Then tried again. This time Lucian joined him, both of them hitting it with enough force that any normal door would have splintered. This one didn’t budge.
“What the hell is this thing made of?” Lucian muttered.
Then it happened. At first it was just a glow. A faint shimmer that slipped through the cracks in the frame. Then it grew. Bright and blinding. Golden light spilled through the edges of the door and beneath it, flooding the hallway like sunlight pouring under a threshold. The color was warm but powerful, thick like liquid gold, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up instantly.
Caden slowly straightened beside me. "You seeing this?” he murmured.
Before I could answer. Everything stopped. Not the light. Not the hallway. Us. My mouth opened to say something but nothing came out. Nothing.
It felt like the air itself had pressed against my throat and locked it shut. My lungs worked. My heart beat. My eyes moved. But my voice was gone.
I glanced sideways at Caden. His jaw moved. No sound. Lucian tried to curse. Silence.
Darien tried again to slam the door. His body froze halfway through the motion.
We were completely locked down. Like someone had flipped a switch and muted four grown men.
The golden light burned brighter for another long second. Then, Click. The lock turned. The door slowly pushed itself open. And just like that, whatever invisible force had wrapped around us released. Air rushed back into my throat.
“What the fuck.” I said as my eyes were blown wide. I didn’t even finish the sentence. I was already moving.
I shoved the door the rest of the way open and rushed inside with Caden right behind me while Lucian and Darien thundered in at our backs.
Then I stopped so fast Caden nearly slammed into me. Because the sight in front of me made my brain completely short-circuit.
“Uh. Uh. Uh what the actual fuck.”
Two grown men. Two fully grown, heavily muscled warriors. We’re floating near the damn ceiling. Not hanging. Not lifted. Floating. And not just floating. They were flipping. Somersaulting slowly through the air like weightless astronauts, spinning head over heels while completely unable to stop themselves.
And the cause of it sat right in the center of the room. Cassian and Atlas. Both of them glowing. Not softly glowing. No. Their entire little bodies were lit up with that same golden light we’d just seen through the door. It poured off them in waves, shimmering across the room like sunlight reflecting off water.
Both boys had their chubby little hands lifted into the air. And they were giggling. The kind of mischievous toddler giggling that meant someone,usually it was us, was about to regret something.
Cassian wiggled his fingers. One of the floating men spun faster. Atlas clapped his hands together and both men flipped upside down. They shrieked.
“STOP DOING THAT!”
“I’M GONNA THROW UP!”
“OH GOD. PLEASE MAKE THEM STOP!”
The entire room was chaos.
Several of the women had backed themselves against the far wall, wide-eyed and pale. One had her hands over her mouth. Another was crouched behind a couch like it might protect her from airborne men.
Darien blinked slowly. Lucian rubbed his face.
Caden muttered, “I knew it.”
And standing calmly near the boys, she was completely unfazed, was Trixie.
She had one hip cocked, arms crossed loosely over her chest, and she was watching the entire scene with the most proud mother expression I had ever seen. Not concerned. Not scared. Proud. She noticed us standing there.
She shook her head. Then smiled like this was just another Tuesday.
I dragged a hand down my face.
“Trixie,” I said slowly, “why are there two men doing gymnastics on my ceiling.”
She shrugged. “They started it.” She huffed.
Above us one of the men spun again. "WE DID NOT!”
Cassian squealed happily and flicked his hand. The guy corkscrewed sideways mid-air. Atlas burst into laughter. The golden light around them pulsed brighter. That’s when both boys noticed us. Their little heads snapped toward the door.
Two identical grins spread across their faces.
“DA DAAAA!” They shouted it together.
My heart nearly exploded on the spot.
Caden stepped up beside me, staring up at the airborne men with a slow grin spreading across his face. "Well,” he said casually, “looks like the boys are practicing.”
Lucian leaned against the doorframe. "I’m impressed.”
Darien crossed his arms. "Remind me never to piss them off.”
Cassian pointed at us. Then raised both hands. The air in the room shifted. I felt it immediately.
Golden sparks danced across the boys’ fingers as the two floating men suddenly stopped spinning. They hung in the air. Completely still.
Then slowly, very slowly, they began drifting across the room like balloons.
Atlas clapped again. One of them floated sideways into a curtain. The other drifted toward the chandelier. The entire room erupted in laughter.
Even Darien lost it.
Caden rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Think they can aim that?”
Trixie smirked. “Oh they can do more than aim.”
Cassian looked back at the men and squealed again before lifting both hands high. The golden light flared brighter. And suddenly the two airborne men shot downward. Not violently. Just enough to land squarely on their asses on the floor.
They groaned.
Atlas clapped proudly. Cassian beamed like he’d just conquered the world. Caden burst out laughing.
I shook my head slowly, staring at my sons glowing like miniature suns in the middle of the room. “Well,” I muttered. “We’re screwed.”
Trixie laughed softly. "No,” she said, walking over and scooping Atlas into her arms while Cassian toddled toward me, still glowing.
Her eyes sparkled with pride.
“We’re just getting started."