Lottery King 10, page 29
Raeva had visited each of my sisters in turn and offered each of them all the benefits of a fae life. Each of my sisters, their spouses, and their children had been blessed with the gift. Luckily, Aaron had a smidgen of fae blood like us. Danny had a touch of siren in him, which Emily had laughed about for days after the discovery. Abby also had barely a touch of fae blood, and they’d all moved to Isle Ayers with me when my first three children were still toddlers.
The island had always been crowded, but eventually, my nieces and nephews had moved on to live their paranormally-long lives traveling the world. They all held places of honor and respect in both worlds as members of my family.
“Is Isla bringing lemonade out, too?” Katie asked as she finally reached me.
“Yeah, the strawberry one you love,” I said.
“Yay!” Katie giggled and groaned as Finn helped her settle onto the ground.
I smiled up at my double-time brother-in-law. I hadn’t known it at the time, but Gemma’s brother, Finn, had been drawn to my sister since the first time they’d met. He’d been trying to distract himself at my New Year’s Eve wedding with the pretty, pink-haired mermaid, but then he’d bumped into Katie in the buffet line.
My sister, being entirely herself, had started to vent a little too openly about her asshole first husband. Finn had been over the moon to learn Katie was available, and they’d barely spent a single day apart since then.
Now they had two beautiful half-merfolk sons, and a little girl on the way.
In fact, Katie and Nyxx were due to give birth just a day apart from each other.
“Don’t start without us!” Emily called.
“Hurry up!” Katie yelled.
“Wait for me!” Ivis’ and my son, Zaryn, called as he closed his book.
Zaryn was the quietest of my children, and he was highly devoted to his studies just like his mother. This time next year, he’d be away at University to continue his education.
His brown curls bounced over his light green forehead as he jogged over to join us, and he sat down beside Ivis and his baby brother, Rhene.
I couldn’t stop smiling as my sisters, wives, and children all gathered around Raeva and me. The goddess greeted each member of my family as if they were her family, too, and I guessed they were in one way or another.
Finally, everyone settled into their spots on the collection of huge blankets spread across the perfectly manicured lawn. I looked around at all the most important people in my life, and a bittersweet sadness filled my heart.
“I wish Mom and Dad were here,” Katie murmured with tears in her eyes.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said.
“Ugh! These hormones are killing me!” Katie swiped at the tears on her cheeks with annoyance. “Finn, get me something to eat, please?”
“I’m coming, my lady!” Isla called as she hurried across the lawn.
There was practically an army of maids and kitchen staff lined up behind my witch housekeeper, and each of them carried a silver tray filled with enough food for all of us.
I smiled my thanks, but my mind was on missing my parents.
About a week after Raeva had visited each of my sisters, she’d come back to me and explained what she’d done. She suggested I come with her to offer the gift to my parents. I jumped to accompany her as soon as the shock of such a benevolent gift to my siblings had passed.
I’d arrived at my parents’ doorstep with Raeva at my side, and she’d, of course, offered them both the gift of clarifying their fae blood and a paranormally-long life. My dad had considered it, but he refused to do it without Mom.
Mom hadn’t wanted that, though.
Her eyes had filled with tears as she shook her head. She couldn’t imagine something like that, but she’d poured gratitude for such a gift out for the rest of her wonderful life.
My parents had both passed away peacefully in their sleep at the ripe ages of ninety-six and ninety-three with all of their children at their bedside. That was twenty years ago, and even though I knew they held a place of honor in the celestial realm, the grief still hit me hard sometimes.
Now, after so many years of watching the humans I’d known in my previous life age and die, I could understand their choice better. Not that I would have given this up for anything.
Absolutely fucking not.
“Daddy?” Sloane’s little hand slipped into mine. “Why are you sad?”
“I was just thinking about Grandma and Grandpa,” I assured my sweet daughter, and I stroked a hand down her golden hair that was so much like her mother’s.
“Does it make you sad they’re dead?” Sloane asked.
“Sloane,” Vallia chided our daughter softly. “Is that a kind question?”
“It is,” I assured Vallia. “She’s concerned for me, that’s very kind.”
“I suppose so.” Vallia smiled lovingly.
Sloane looked up at me with big green eyes, and she toyed with the ribbon on her sleeve.
“Missing them makes me sad,” I explained to my five-year-old. “But remembering them makes me happy.”
“What?” Sloane’s cherub-like face scrunched up with confusion. “You’re sad and happy? That’s weird.”
“Feelings are a lot more complicated when you’re all grown up,” Ivis explained as she cradled our young son in her arms.
“True,” Helena sighed as she stroked the feathered wings of our twins, Jade and Opal.
Phinnian settled down beside his much younger siblings, and he kicked his long legs out in front of him. His chocolate-brown wings drooped lazily as he propped himself back on his hands.
“When you’re bigger,” Phin explained. “There’s room for bigger feelings, and they start all clumping together at the same time.”
“Ew.” Sloane pouted. “That sounds icky.”
“It can be,” Poppy laughed as she smoothed our son’s teal hair down. “But it also makes for some of the strongest love you’ve ever known.”
“Mom,” Talon sighed and pushed his mother’s hand away.
“You can play with my hair, Mommy,” Alina said.
The purple-eyed ten-year-old tucked her iridescent wings behind her as she curled up against Poppy’s side, and Poppy gave our daughter a kiss on the top of her wavy blue hair.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Poppy murmured.
I chuckled and gave Poppy a playful grin as she stuck her tongue out at me.
We enjoyed a leisurely picnic all together, and a fair amount of our conversation was spent reminiscing about the events of fifty years ago.
“What kills me is how much we gained from the convergence,” Helena mused as she braided Jade’s long, caramel-colored hair.
“Like what?” my eighteen-year-old daughter asked.
“Greater skill in our magic,” Helena replied, and she snapped her fingers.
A large and well-controlled flame rose out of her fingertip like a welding torch, and Helena let it burn for a few seconds. Sloane stared in amazement at the burning flame.
“That came from the convergence?” Opal asked as she mimicked her mother’s flame.
“Ugh, have I taught you nothing?” Helena rolled her eyes at our twins.
“Harpy flames reemerged because of the convergence,” I explained. “We went over this.”
“She never pays attention to history lessons.” Jade rolled her eyes at her twin.
Opal responded with a petulant look, and I chuckled at the way they were so completely opposite from each other. Even their coloring. Jade’s wings were light and rich, while Opal’s wings were a deep shade of cool brown that reminded me of tree bark.
“What else did Auntie Raeva give us?” Sloane asked.
Raeva laughed, and the joyful sound warmed me from the inside out like it had for the last five decades.
“Auntie Raeva gave us long lives,” my oldest sister, Jessica explained.
“And what a gift it has been,” her husband, Aaron, said. “Jake really shit the bed on that one.”
“Aaron!” Jess slapped her husband’s arm playfully.
“He’s right, of course,” my sister-in-law, Abby, laughed. “He could have had all this.”
“But now he has…” Emily’s face contorted with uncertainty as she looked at Katie. “Where is he now? Is he still alive?”
“I have no idea,” Katie admitted simply. “I never kept tabs on him.”
I kept the information to myself, but I knew Jake had gone down a very different path than he would have. He’d spiraled after Katie kicked him out, and he was honestly lucky he hadn’t ended up penniless.
“I miss Uncle Robin.” Sloane pouted.
“He’ll visit again soon,” I chuckled.
My best friend, Robin, had come to spend a month with us for Christmas, and he’d just left the day before with his wife. He and Rae had ended up as absolute soul mates, and I still marveled at how perfectly it had gone for him.
Robin hadn’t been among the humans in my life whom Raeva had offered long lives, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. It took a few torturous sessions of denying her a good orgasm before she agreed to give Robin the same gift she’d given my family.
We enjoyed our lunch, and when my youngest child, Rhene, woke up in Ivis’ arms, he smooshed his little, light-green fist against his brown eyes as he yawned.
“Rhene! Rhene!” Sloane bounced as she hurried over to the little boy’s side. “Do you miss Uncle Robin, too?”
“Unca Robin?” Rhene asked, and he perked right up. “Where? Where?”
“Daddy should call him, right, Rhene?” Sloane grinned mischievously as she took Rhene’s little hands into hers. “You want Daddy to call Uncle Robin and Auntie Rae?”
“Yeah!” Rhene shouted, and he tried to scramble out of Ivis’ lap.
“Alright,” Ivis laughed. “Hang on, little man.”
“We can call Uncle Robin later, guys,” I chuckled. “I promise.”
“Fiiiine,” Sloane grumbled.
“Rhene needs to be changed,” Ivis said. “But then he can come play with you, okay, Sloane?”
“Okay!” Sloane cheered right up.
“I’ll come, too,” Zaryn decided. “I need to pick another book.”
“Done with that one already?” Phin looked impressed. “Didn’t you start it yesterday?”
“No.” Zayrn shook his head without an ounce of smugness. “This morning.”
Phinnian gave his brother a look of admiration before he laid back to soak up the sun.
Ivis stood up and started to walk off into the house to tend to our almost two-year-old son. Sloane skipped behind her, and her golden hair bounced the whole way. Zaryn walked behind them at a more leisurely pace, and I could see the gears turning in his head about what book he would pick next.
It was a good thing I had so much money, or that boy would have read me out of house and home.
“What would you do without being able to make mirror calls?” Poppy giggled.
“He’d make you do them all the time!” Gemma laughed.
“Ugh.” Poppy grimaced.
I laughed as I recalled the first time I’d made a mirror call. Shortly after Raeva unlocked my fae blood, Poppy brought up the question of what it had done for my magic. We learned it hadn’t done a whole lot to change my mirror magic, but it was stronger than before. The big change had been the fae-based peripherals like mirror portals and mirror calls.
And the skill was something that made living way the fuck out in the middle of the ocean away from everything else a bit easier. I was free to come and go without having to rely on anyone else to get me there.
All in all, my life was about as perfect as perfect could be.
I couldn’t imagine the space for more love, and yet, I knew there would be more when Nyxx gave birth.
But I did expect that her first child would be my last.
This place was chaotic enough with thirteen little minions with mirror magic running around harassing each other the way siblings would always do.
Besides, Echo, Phinnian, and Talon were reaching the ages where they were starting to seriously consider settling down with their own partners. I expected grandchildren would be on the horizon before many more years passed, and I couldn’t get past the idea of having children who were younger than my grandchildren. It was a very human thing to think, but I just couldn’t get past it.
I chuckled as my children got up and organized a game of mirror tag with one another. It was a clever game my three eldest children had developed somewhere around their tenth birthdays, and they’d happily taught it to each of their younger siblings.
I looked around at my sisters, wives, in-laws, and the goddess, and I felt an overflowing sense of rightness and pure joy. I still had centuries of this beautiful life ahead of me. It could only get better from here.
It was so fucking good to be king.
The End
Cast of Characters
Aaron Price: Human Jessica Price’s husband.
Abby: Human Samantha Ayer’s partner. Brown hair. Brown Eyes. Runs a dance school for kids.
Ace: Sone Driver in Yangon City, Myanmar. Short black hair. Brown eyes.
Achilles: Fae The famed Achilles of Greek Legend. 2000 years old. Long gray hair and beard. Pale blue eyes. Translucent wings.
Ahanu: Skin-walker Ancient teacher. Captured and tortured by Koschei.
Airric: Merfolk Citizen of Neirnan, brother of Pearl. Gray-blue hair. Dark blue eyes. Green scales, fins, and tail.
Alexander: Gorgon Deceased. Leader of the Machités gia tin Elefthería. White-and-red snakes. Gray eyes. Possessed the power to turn creatures to stone.
Alina: Half high fae Michael and Poppy’s daughter. Wavy blue hair. Purple eyes. Iridescent, Tinkerbell-style wings.
Amy Ayers: Human Michael’s mother. Brown hair. Hazel eyes. Dentist.
Anh: High fae Ancient teacher and mentor. Vietnamese. Dark gray chin-length hair. Brown eyes with amber flecks. Possesses the power to sense the talents and abilities of paranormals.
Artemis: High fae Convenience store clerk. Neon green hair. Vine tattoos. No wings.
Bambi: Half fawn-fae, half high fae Flight attendant on Michael’s private jet. Brown hair. Green eyes. Pointed ears. White freckles. Black deer nose and tail.
Birch: High fae Valet triplet. Bright green hair. Brown eyes. Dragonfly wings.
Blaine: Vampire Helicopter pilot.
Buckley: Witch Butler and groundskeeper of Kiska House. Silver hair. Blue eyes.
Calliope: High fae Lord River’s daughter. Light-brown hair. Green eyes. No wings.
Captain Ross: Witch Captain of Michael’s yacht, the Majestic Seas. Balding gray hair under an ever-present captain’s hat. Gray eyes.
Claude: Vampire Lady Vivianne’s progeny. Jet black hair. Shiny green eyes.
Corso: Unknown Deceased. Ancient teacher.
Cove: High fae Advisor to the king. Long, light-blue hair. No wings.
Danner: High fae Interviewed on the Eternal Realm news report. Bright red, wavy hair. Orange eyes. No wings.
Dedan: Kinnara Butler of the house in Yangon City, Myanmar. Large, feathered macaw wings. Slicked back, black hair. Warm brown eyes.
Dinah: Aswang Hepe Kendi’s daughter. Filipino. Long black hair. Red-brown eyes. Round face, full figure.
Doctor Silas: Witch Ancient teacher. Scholarly-looking old man. Looks to be in his sixties. Short gray hair. Brown eyes. Volunteered to assist in the research into Vallia’s past.
Doris: Merfolk Housekeeper of the house on Vaeletta Island. Seafoam-green hair. Golden-yellow eyes. Seafoam-green scales.
Echo: Half aswang, part high fae Michael and Dinah’s daughter. Long black hair. Russet skin.
Emily Williams: Human Michael’s second-oldest sister. Black hair. Bright blue eyes. Calculus professor at UCLA.
Ena: Shadow Nymph Royal guard.
Eric: Witch Doctor Silas’ apprentice and assistant. Tall, thin, lanky, and young. Short, auburn hair. Brown eyes.
Eva & Ellie: Gorgon Mrs. Baros’ daughters. Blue snakes. Blue eyes. Possess the power to turn creatures to stone.
Fallon: Seraph Chosen leader of the seraphim army. Long golden hair. Bright blue eyes. White-feathered wings.
Finch: High fae Poppy’s father. Dark blue hair. Purple eyes. Bumblebee wings.
Firo: Dragon-folk Head of royal security. Orange-and-blue streaked hair. Slitted eyes. Seven feet tall.
Flint: High fae Poppy’s brother. Wavy, shoulder-length, vivid blue hair. Purple eyes like his sister’s. Bumblebee wings.
Flora: High fae Cook and maid of Kiska House. Wavy pink hair with streaks of gray. Green eyes. Butterfly wings.
Frinti: Unknown Ancient teacher. Location unknown. Description unknown.
Gabe: High fae Rune’s assistant advisor. White hair. Bright green eyes. Dragonfly wings.
Garrett: Werewolf Royal chauffeur and bodyguard. Thick brown hair. Elongated canines.
Gemmaline “Gemma”: Merfolk Lord Finn’s sister and commander in the merfolk armies. Aquamarine hair with curtain bangs. Magenta eyes. Indigo scales around her eyes and wrists. Possesses the power to transform another being into a merfolk for a short period of time.
Gerald: Gnome Head chef of the king. Light-brown hair with a man bun. Four feet tall. Possesses the power to taste lies.
Goddess Raeva: Celestial Creator of all paranormal beings. Source of all magic in the world. Conducts the royal lottery. Thick, curly, brown hair. Gold eyes.
Gregor: Merfolk Soldier in Gemma’s merfolk army. Short mint-green hair. Green eyes.
Grey: Selkie Scout in the selkie team. Thick, scruffy brown beard and hair. Brown eyes. Broad shoulders. Turns into a sea lion in his selkie form.
Gwenna: High fae Maid at the California house. Pink-and-blue striped hair. Blue eyes. Middle-aged and plump.
Henter: Merfolk Soldier in Gemma’s merfolk army. Short-cropped black hair. Brown eyes. Mostly black scales, fins, and tail that shimmer with red and orange. Possesses the power of extreme strength when swimming.
Hepe Kendi: Aswang Chief of Bahay Island. Filipino. Long black hair. Red-brown eyes. Large diagonal scar on his chest. Possesses the power to subdue ocean waves and transform into having large bat wings.
