Lottery King 8, page 7
“Honestly,” Nyxx sighed deeply. “I’m exhausted, too. How about I show you to our rooms, we can get some sleep and then meet up with Isla this afternoon?”
“Whatever works for you,” Isla said graciously.
Gemma and Nyxx turned to look at me like they wanted to make sure I was okay with their need for sleep, and I blinked dumbly for a second at the idea they would need to check with me for such a thing.
“Go,” I said insistently. “Get as much sleep as you want. You don’t need to ask permission or anything.”
“We know that,” Nyxx said with an affectionate roll of her eyes.
“I think Nyxx and I were just wondering if you needed sleep, too?” Gemma said with humor in her voice.
“Oh, right,” I chuckled. “That makes more sense. No, I feel good. I slept pretty well on the plane, and I’m sure there’s an assload of paperwork on my desk.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Cove said with a slight smirk.
“See?” I grinned.
It was so good to be home.
I kissed Gemma and Nyxx both and ushered them inside to get the sleep they needed and deserved.
“I’ll see you both later,” I said.
Gemma blew me a kiss, and Nyxx led the sexy mermaid upstairs to our rooms while I wondered where my wives were. I guessed they were probably sleeping, and they’d wake up with Gemma and Nyxx suddenly beside them.
I smiled as I imagined the way their faces would light up, and how they would rush downstairs like children on Christmas morning. Except instead of shouting about how Santa had come, they’d throw themselves into my arms.
“Your majesty,” Firo cleared his throat to gain my attention.
“Yes, Firo,” I replied, and I turned to all the business that waited for me.
“I’ve had a team bring Sveta and Lorenzo to the mansion down the street where the ancient teachers have been set up.” Firo pointed at the wall of trees that gave my mansion some privacy from the rest of the cul-de-sac.
“Great, thank you,” I said. “How are they settling in?”
“The team reported they’re getting very comfortable,” Firo said, and there was a curious smirk hidden behind his professional mask.
“Uh-huh?” I chuckled.
“I never went to any human universities, your majesty,” Isla spoke up. “But from what I understand, the mansion is a bit like a frat or sorority house.”
“Yadira seems to have taken a leadership role,” Cove explained. “She filled in for Sveta up until now, and they’re all very happy to be together.”
I nodded as I thought of the ancient Jinn teacher and her exotic brown eyes. I hadn’t had the chance to meet with her more than once after we’d liberated her, Rijah, and Anh from The Rising’s camp, but she’d definitely given off a strong sense of order and leadership.
“They’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sveta and Lorenzo, your majesty,” Tristan added.
“Well, I’m glad they’re all so excited to be together again,” I said. “Make sure they have whatever they need.”
“Certainly, your majesty.” Cove nodded.
“What about Doctor Silas?” I asked as I looked around, and I realized he, his assistant, and Vallia were nowhere to be seen. “Where will they be set up?”
“We offered for the doctor to stay in the mansion with the other teachers,” Cove said. “But he insisted on being closer to where he would be working.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him,” I said with a wry grin.
Doctor Silas had insisted on the same thing when we’d found somewhere for him to stay and work at Koschei’s castle. Then he’d spent the majority of every day right in his office. From what Rune had told me, he’d been so tired at the end of his days, he wouldn’t have even made it all the way to the second floor bedchamber we’d originally offered him.
“Isla has taken care of that task quite handily,” Cove said.
“Oh, yes, your majesty.” Isla grinned proudly. “I received your instructions from Rune, and I’ve set up a lovely workspace in the backyard.”
“That’s good,” I said with a little laugh. “I assume you’ve arranged their sleeping quarters as well as a workspace?”
“Oh, of course, your majesty,” Isla said, and she’d never sounded so smug before. “I’ve arranged everything. You know I’m quite skilled at making the best of small spaces.”
Isla waggled her eyebrows on the last two words, and I knew she’d converted some small structure into a complex of some kind that would be several times larger on the inside than made sense. I chuckled and couldn’t wait to get a look at it for myself.
“Would you like to see it, your majesty?” Isla asked eagerly.
“I would,” I said.
Isla made a sharp sound of pure delight that I could only describe as a squeal, and she gestured for me to follow her. I grinned at Tristan, Cove, and Firo, and I noticed that Rune had escaped at some point. He’d probably gone off to take care of some more business of some kind, but I hoped he had escaped to his rooms for some well-earned sleep.
Isla bustled quickly through the front doors of my mansion, through the enormous entryway, past the open-concept kitchen and living room, and out the back doors that led to the wide patio beside the lagoon-style pool.
It felt so incredible to be home again, and I realized how at peace I felt to be back here. It was sort of odd how easy and simple it felt, when less than a year ago, I didn’t even know a damn thing about this world, the goddess, this place, or that the Eternal Realm was even real.
I took a deep breath and caught the salty fresh smell of the saltwater pool. It felt like music in my heart, and I never wanted to go away from home again.
Isla glanced over her shoulder to make sure I was still with her, and she smiled brightly as she stopped walking. I tried to figure out why she had paused when I was still following her, but an incoming, elated squeal was my only warning.
A pair of warm arms wrapped around my chest and elbows with a brutal force that I immediately recognized.
“You’re home!” Poppy laughed against my back.
In the next second, Helena, Ivis, and Dinah all swarmed around me with enormous smiles and bright eyes. I was suddenly wrapped in the loving hugs of my four wives, and I was overcome by an even more powerful sense of coming home.
As I was surrounded by the warmth of the four beautiful women I’d missed so terribly the last two weeks, I realized it wasn’t the house I’d longed for. It was them.
It had been wonderful to have Gemma and Nyxx with me, and to enjoy some quality time with just the two of them. But, holy fuck, I had missed Poppy, Helena, Dinah, and Ivis more than I’d realized.
I laughed as I tried to raise my arms to hug them back, but I was trapped in their grip. All I could manage was to bend at the elbows and touch them lightly with my fingers.
“Let me hug you!” I laughed.
“Oh!” Poppy giggled.
Finally, she released me, and she came around to give me a tearful smile. I locked a hand around the back of her head and pulled my fae wife in for a deep kiss. The second I let go of Poppy, Helena locked her hands on either side of my face and kissed me with burning passion. Ivis eagerly swooped in next for her kiss, and then I searched instinctively for Dinah.
My Filipino bride had taken a single step back and turned to the side so when I laid eyes on her, I got my first sight of the little swell on her lower abdomen.
Her baby bump was small still, and if I didn’t know what I was looking at, it could have been dismissed as just a bit extra on the curvaceous woman’s body. But I knew that was the growing bump of our child, and I sank to my knees before Dinah.
“Ooooh, hello, baby,” I cooed without even realizing what was coming out of my mouth.
“He is small still,” Dinah laughed.
I cupped my hands gently over the little bump and looked up at Dinah’s beautiful red-brown eyes. She was glowing with life and love, and I suddenly wanted every one of my wives to be filled with my children.
Shock at the involuntary thought worked through me. I hadn’t expected such an idea to push through my mind, but now that it had, I couldn’t wait to be surrounded by the beautiful children I would share with these incredible women.
“We missed you so much,” Helena murmured, and she laid a hand on my shoulder.
I pressed a kiss to the little bump on Dinah’s belly as I stared up at Helena.
“I missed you all so much, too,” I said as I stood up. “Did you see Gemma and Nyxx?”
“They were already asleep when we woke up,” Ivis said. “They came in so quietly.”
“We tried not to wake them,” Dinah said.
I took a moment to look at their clothes, and it did look a little like they’d gotten dressed in a rush and in the dark.
Poppy and Ivis wore pretty and simple sundresses in colors that weren’t in their usual shade ranges. Poppy and Ivis’ sections of our closet were right beside each other, and I wondered if Poppy had accidentally grabbed her dress from Ivis’ side by accident. It was a muted shade that reminded me of green tea, and it was definitely something Ivis would have chosen. Meanwhile my half-dryad wife wore a bright pink that just barely managed not to clash with her green skin.
Dinah had on a pair of ripped jean shorts that caught me off guard and a black tank top, and I made a note to let her know she could buy whatever clothes she wanted as her body changed to accommodate the swell of my baby.
Helena had managed to look the most put together, which was probably because so much of her section of our walk-in closet was made of deep earth tones and creamy neutrals.
I took a long moment to gaze lovingly at my four wives, and Poppy just kept giggling and blushing like a smitten teenager.
“What is it?” I chuckled at her giggly expression.
“Nothing,” Poppy said, but she blushed even deeper. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Uh-huh.” I narrowed my eyes playfully at her. “Well, Isla was about to show me the newest addition for our research teams.”
My four wives turned to look at the plump witch, and she replied with a friendly wave.
“Don’t let us stop you,” Helena said in that sultry voice of hers that I’d missed so much.
I smiled and gestured for Isla to continue on, and I gazed around the grounds of my mansion.
Aside from the new garden scapes, the backyard looked the same. Firo’s training gym and apartment stood exactly where I remembered it, and the paths that led through the garden made me think of the first time I walked them with Ivis. I had so many memories filled with love from this place.
I brought my mind back to the moment as Isla hurried around the pool, and that’s when I noticed a new little garden shed. It was one of those prefabricated structures my dad had always wanted to buy from Lowe’s or Home Depot. This one was way nicer than any of the ones my dad had ever considered, though.
All four of my wives smiled at me as I inspected the ten-by-twenty-foot shed. Doctor Silas, Eric, and Vallia stood near the little porch. The doctor and his assistant were looking curiously at the little cabin. Eric’s expression was one of serious doubt, while his mentor had a more interested smile on his mustached face.
Vallia wasn’t looking at the cabin at all. Instead, she was staring out over the garden paths just beyond the new construction’s location. I couldn’t help but notice her feet were bare in the lush green grass of my yard.
Every time I’d seen her on Koschei’s island, she’d worn leather ankle boots that looked like they were held together with chewing gum and a prayer of desperation. I wondered if they’d finally fallen apart or if she was just happy to have something warm and green under her feet. If Vallia had really grown up in Ireland like her accent suggested, she probably had run through all kinds of green fields in her youth.
She turned and caught me looking at her bare toes. They curled up right before my eyes, and I looked up to offer her a friendly smile. Vallia blushed and avoided looking at me, so I turned to look at the cabin again.
It had a little front porch, several windows, and it appeared to have enough vertical height to accommodate a loft area. I knew Isla well enough to know the place would seem impossibly huge when we walked into the simple front door, and I was right.
Helena, Poppy, Ivis, and Dinah walked in behind me. Doctor Silas and his assistant followed us next, and Eric’s jaw practically hit the floor.
“Goddess,” Doctor Silas breathed in amazement.
Chapter 5
Just as I expected, the ten-by-twenty-foot, prebuilt shed was far bigger on the inside than it should have been.
The entire first floor was a huge open area that looked like something out of a Victorian-era romance novel about a mysterious detective. It was easily closer to fifty wide by eighty feet long, and the ceiling was taller than the roof looked from outside. The ceiling was fifteen feet tall with large wooden rafters running across the width of the space. Eight wooden beams acted as support beams, and they ran in a straight line down the center of the space. They were solid wood posts that Isla would have struggled to wrap her arms around. Several long tables and desks had been set up with top-of-the-line computers. All the boxes of documents, files, and other evidence from The Rising camps were stacked around the room like it was still being set up, and bright morning sunlight streamed in through the dozen windows on the walls to my left and right.
Even the windows had been magically expanded to twice the size they appeared to be from the outside, and a few decorative plants had been hung from the rafters or placed in tall planters by the windows. The entire back wall was covered in bookshelves that were half-filled with leather-bound journals and modern textbooks. A wooden ladder sat right in the center of the wall, and I knew it would lead up to a long hallway of bedrooms for the doctor, his assistant, and all the other members of the team who were staying here while they worked.
Several shadow nymph guards were busy hooking up the computers and running power cables at the other end of the cabin. They silently acknowledged my presence and continued about their work.
I could hear the faint sound of footsteps upstairs, and I figured some of the researchers were busy settling into their rooms.
“What do you think, your majesty?” Isla asked, and she looked at me with a hopeful expression.
“You’ve outdone yourself, Isla,” I said. “This is incredible, and I really appreciate the effort you put in.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Isla said with a little blush across her plump cheeks. “I saw no reason our people shouldn’t be comfortable while they do such important work.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said, and I turned in search of Doctor Silas and his assistant.
The scholarly-looking witch stood in the doorway with Eric, pale and shocked, beside him. For a second, I worried the lanky young man might faint right before my eyes, but Doctor Silas nudged him hard with an elbow.
“Look at this!” Silas hissed.
“That’s the relative dimensions magic you told me about,” Eric mumbled.
“It is indeed,” The doctor grinned widely. “Whoever does this craft is quite powerful, your majesty.”
“Oh, it’s just little ol’ me,” Isla said shyly.
“My housekeeper, Isla,” I said proudly. “Doctor Silas studies and quantifies the power of paranormals as part of his work.”
“I’d be quite honored if you’d allow me to study your powers, Miss Isla,” Doctor Silas said in the most subtly charming voice I’d ever heard.
“Oh, well…” Isla blushed again. “I’d be happy to assist however I could.”
Doctor Silas walked over closer to my housekeeper, and he began to describe his work. Isla listened eagerly, and I caught her eyes wandering at least once.
Helena and Poppy’s eyes went wide with interest, and they turned to look at me. I could tell they were hearing the slight flirtatious tone between the two witches.
Isla noticed me watching, and I gave her an encouraging nod and smile. That only made her blush even harder. Eric had begun to focus on whatever task he and his mentor had arranged for the young man to begin with. He sorted through some boxes, and I noticed Vallia hadn’t come inside with us.
I walked back toward the door and saw the blonde woman was still admiring the gardens. But now she seemed solemn and almost lonely. I felt my wives huddle around me, and we watched Vallia for a moment.
“Is she alright?” Ivis asked in a gentle tone.
“This must be so much change for her all at once,” Dinah said in a sympathetic voice.
Dinah knew all about that, and I trusted her assessment of the situation. I also knew Vallia was fighting against all kinds of frustration and hopelessness in her journey to try and figure out who she was and where she’d come from. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her.
“Vallia!” I called in a friendly voice, and I waved for her to join us.
“Your gardens are beautiful, your majesty,” Vallia said.
Then she looked beyond where my wives and I stood and got her first glance into the cabin’s insides.
“What?” Vallia whispered.
Poppy, Helena, Dinah, Ivis, and I stepped aside to allow Vallia the space to walk inside, and I couldn’t help but smile at the look of amazement on her beautiful face.
“I… don’t understand…?” Vallia’s tone was the very essence of confusion, and she looked around the large space twice before she hurried back outside and looked at the outside of the cabin with even more shock. “What?”
I chuckled at her baffled expression as Vallia came back into the cabin.
“What magic is this?” Vallia asked me.
“Relative dimensions, my dear!” Doctor Silas called from the middle of the room. He glanced at Isla with a bashful smile. “Or at least, that’s the term I prefer to use.”
“The dimensions are relative to their location?” Isla said.
“Exactly.” Silas grinned.
“I don’t understand,” Vallia whispered to me.
