{Reipon}

Andrew sneezed into a tissue.

“Uncle Andu! Someone t’inking ’bout you,” Pax called from the tree growing in the center of the living room. Its multiple trunks of charcoal gray climbed high through several stories of the Shadow’s Villa. The toddler employed this as a means to travel between floors.

Only three years old, but more closely matured to five, Tameka and Xelan’s son combined adorable smallness with incalculable intellect.

“See!” Lamassau stomped in from the hallway. The only green Tritan pointed a long finger at the toddler. “This is what I’m talking about. How does he even know that idiom?” Since everyone started co-habituating together, the Chef suspected Pax of putting on an act. “He’s diabolical, I tell you!”

Said sinister child hung himself upside down on a branch. Pax’s red curls swung with him as he showed all of his tiny teeth. “Hee!” With a grin that would do his dad proud, the baby Progeny fired his little fingers like guns at Lam.

The Chef gasped, clutched his chest, and spun to the wooden floor to his dramatic end. “Brought down in my prime!” Tritans bared sharp quills for teeth when they smiled. Even the conspiratorial wink in Andrew’s direction couldn’t temper the ferocity of the sight.

Andrew tasted Lamassau’s intentions. Sure, this was invasive. Downright rude. But after the hell Lucas subjected Andrew to, Conscience’s conscience couldn’t care less. His ex-lover left behind the shattered fragments of Andrew’s heart and some trust issues.

I hope Tumu returns safely. I wonder if I can convince Andrew to make snacks. After this game, it’s time to put Pax down for a nap…

Okay. Maybe Andrew’s conscience cared a little. Lam’s innocent intentions shamed him. Leaning across the diorite counter separating kitchen and living room, Andrew offered, “Who wants Pil shrimp wraps?”

Despite his convincing act as a corpse, the Chef perked at the mention of food. With a hand raised, he called, “Me! What about you, Pax?”

The toddler’s face was purple from hanging upside down for so long. In a voice giddy from the blood rush, he requested, “Sweet tatos.”

Andrew grinned at him while shaking his head at the incredulous cuteness. “Those are your mom’s specialty, kiddo. We’ll—”

“I can make some,” Twenty-One volunteered from the stairs.

He dwarfed the Lamian Prince beside him in bipedal form, who offered, “I’ll help. I’m starving.”

Both men pounded down the extra wide staircase with heavy combat boots and five hundred pounds of muscle between them. Twenty-One blended in with the warrior caste of Icarean society, dark brown eyes and long black hair. Only his size, almost as formidable as Nox, set him apart. Iuo was a black and blue-eyed gentleman who moonlighted as the Vast Collective’s very own Porn Baron.

Yes, that’s an actual title.

So far, only Twenty-One and Puk starred in a film over the last two months. Miy volunteered, but the Shadow agreed it was best to keep the endangered species incognito until after they won the war. A rumor spread throughout the villa that Pablo and Lynn commissioned a private filming session for a professional home movie. Supposedly it involved a trapeze.

Desperate times called for desperate distractions.

Andrew invited both men into the spacious kitchen with him. The big guy fetched ingredients from the higher cabinets made from a matte black material. The snake prince grabbed some sweet potatoes to peel.

While cleaning the shrimp, Andrew laughed at Lamassau’s attempt to retrieve Pax. “Come on, kid. You’ll faint at this rate. I can’t even see those freckles on your cheeks anymore from all the blood in your noggin.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Enjoying the casual family vibe, Andrew asked his two sous chefs, “How is everything upstairs?”

They glanced at each other before answering in a way that prompted Andrew to check their intentions after their answers. Iuo went first. “The residences are still free of Imminent carvings, spyware, and people. Aside from Bethany, who is still unresponsive.”

“The recreational floors are clear as well. Except that woman keeps shouting at me to free her.” Twenty-One’s face scrunched in distaste as he set the potatoes on the flameless cooking surface. “Triss is truly tenacious.”

With their answers ringing as truth, Andrew still scanned their intentions. The gnawing pricks of anxiety all over his skin itched at him until he gave into the impulse.

Pax likes extra sour cream in his potatoes. The calcium will strengthen his bones. I should start the bacon.

To say Twenty-One was a surface thinker insulted his military skill. The Icarus lived millions of years with a suppressed nacre in the warrior caste. He was still coming along, but his kind intentions, once more, left a twinge in Andrew’s guilty heart.

But that didn’t prevent him from testing Iuo.

My people will never forgive what I’ve done. Even so, I pray to Elden one day they see that the truth saved this Vast and wonderful Collective. And may history prove more merciful in its account of my deeds.

Shit.

Was everyone here a fucking saint?

Well, of course they were. They were Shadow.

Irritated in his shame, Andrew went extra aggressive on mincing the shrimp into a paste.

Fuck Celindria.

Fuck Imminent.

And fuck Lucas!

How could that Icarus live with Andrew for two years and lie to him every day? The man even betrayed the Progeny’s location on Cinder that fateful day when Nox killed Xelan. The day he brutalized Rayne.

And why—dear Elden—why did Andrew still want to hear from him? To listen to what the Icarus had to say?

“Keep your faith in me a little while longer.”

Was Andrew a bad person because he wanted Lucas’ last words to mean something?

John died because of this shit—

A warm tininess wrapped around Andrew’s leg.

Pax squeezed his tawny freckled face against the adult’s tactical pants. The child promised, “It’ll be okay, Uncle Andu.”

Only then did Andrew glance at the other faces in the room that he forgot even existed. For a minute there, it was only him, the knife, and his survivor’s guilt. The other men unabashedly watched and withheld nothing from their concerned and understanding expressions. Iuo gripped Andrew’s shoulder. Twenty-One patted the other bicep.

And then there was Lamassau.

The crazy Tritan abruptly hopped onto the counter and scrambled across it to kiss Andrew on the forehead. With a cheeky wink, he jumped back off. “Listen to the kid.”

Andrew averted his eyes and looked down at the shrimpy pulp on the cutting board.

Time.

He needed time they never seemed to have enough of—

“Can you believe they only sent two hundred to stop us—Hey guys!” Sagan walked into the room looking amazing in that dress.

Tameka, who filed in behind her, answered, “Well, at least they didn’t install any pitfalls on the likelihood of their deaths—Oh, come here, my handsome little man! Let me squeeze you for a bit!”

“Mommy! Daddy!” Pax released Andrew to run into his mother’s waiting arms. “Sweet tatos.”

Xelan ruffled his son’s hair and kissed his crown, where Tameka held him in her arms.

Sagan focused on the eats spread across the counter. “That sounds wonderful. I’m starved.”

“You’re always hungry, amos.” Korac fixed her with a melt-worthy smirk.

She poked his nose before kissing him and teased, “Aren’t we lucky my appetite for you is truly bottomless—”

“Stop!” Xelan shuddered. “Please, we talked about not doing that around me.”

Andrew hid a snicker.

Sagan pecked Korac another kiss. “Sorry, Wingmaster. I’m off to retrieve Pehton’s team. I’ll be back in time for food, so don’t eat without me.” The Seamswalker backed into a conduit with a finger pointed accusingly at the group. “Again.”

Twenty-One bowed his head to Korac, who nodded at his soldier as he retreated up the stairs. The former Icarean General’s intentions lay bare as if he couldn’t contain his concerns.

Sagan looked so tired. The nightmares are getting worse. I’ll draw her a bath after dinner…

Remorseful, Andrew closed Korac’s intentions out. The couple deserved their privacy.

Still whipping the potatoes, Twenty-One asked, “Where’re the rest of the teams?”

Tameka sat Pax down on the counter and tied his shoes while answering, “Sagan took them upstairs first. Everyone needs a shower.” She glanced over at the nearly finished meal. “Thanks for cooking, guys.”

Iuo drained the potatoes and muttered over the water pouring, “Always happy to play house-husband.”

Xelan mused, “I’ll get you an apron with ‘Kiss the Chef’ printed on it.”

“Make that two,” Lam ordered.

Everyone laughed.

Andrew snuck away from the conversation to hide under the open stairs. He tried to rely on this coping mechanism less lately, but every now and again, he tested it. The coin flipped in the air before landing on the floor.

Side.

Again.

Ever since Silence arrived at the pit in Cinder, even before she betrayed them and stole Rayne, the coin stood on its side. Time to find a new way to explore the Probability Matrix. Or this shit rendered Andrew useless. There was too much at stake. The Shadow and Rayne. Plus, whatever Para, Karter, and Chris endured under Celindria’s command these last few months.

Until Andrew regained control, pain, violence, and death awaited each of them.