“I don’t need you to stand up for me,” I muttered, irritated that he’d defused the situation using his Spirit Fae King presence.
That felt like cheating, and I didn’t cheat.
“I’m not standing up for you,” Exos replied, glancing over his shoulder at me. “I’m protecting our objects, which is the whole point of this exercise. If you two blow up in an inferno, it’ll defeat the purpose of this test.”
Well, he had me there.
I dipped my chin in subtle acknowledgment, then looked at Kalt. For whatever reason, this guy decided to be best friends with my moody brother. I’d never understand it. But I caught him giving Lance a look now that told him to cool it. My brother just rolled his eyes and turned toward the Spirit Quad with Mortus, Exos, and Cyrus following.
Vox smiled at Ophelia, then guided her toward the Air Quad, where he had classes to lead today.
Sol nodded at River—a Water Fae and my best mate from the Academy—and led him toward the Earth Quad to go help with some classes.
And I started toward the neutral campus area with Kalt. Only, after a few steps, I realized we’d forgotten an important piece.
No, not just important, but the key piece to all of this.
Our queen.
I turned to find Claire looking off in each direction, nibbling her lip. “Come join us in intramural class, sweetheart,” I said softly. “We can play a game of Fae Ball.”
Her blue eyes lit up at the prospect. “I haven’t played that since our Academy days.”
“Then let’s go relive the experience. Afterward, we can spar a little.”
She wasn’t pregnant yet, which meant playing was absolutely allowed. And the way her face beamed at me said it was the right approach.
I wrapped an arm around her while my other hand cradled the Firebird egg.
This trial would be easy as fae pie.
And soon, Claire would be growing with my child.
I couldn’t fucking wait.
THE BED WAS cold without my mates, making me pleased this series of trials was coming to an end.
“They really are something,” my mom murmured, observing my mates from the kitchen window. They all stood outside discussing their kitchen assignments.
Titus appeared disgruntled over something. Sol looked half-awake. Vox’s expression held a touch of arrogance—as the main chef of our mate-circle, he totally had this task in the bag, and he knew it. Meanwhile, Exos and Cyrus looked just like they did thirty hours ago: handsome, polished, and ready to win.
We were waiting on Lance and Kalt, who had taken the night shift to observe and were napping through the morning hours while my mom, Mortus, and River took over.
The utter devotion to these trials warmed my heart. If I had any reservations about having a baby before, they were gone now. Because I realized how much support I had, not just from my mates but also from our family and friends.
“I’m ready,” I told my mom. “I’m really ready.”
“I know you are,” she replied, smiling softly. “You’re going to be an amazing mom, and those mates of yours are going to make great dads.”
I smiled. “Yeah, they really…” I trailed off as a swirl of flames danced along the field, heading directly for Titus. My elements engaged to throw up a shield, only my fire mate triggered his first, blasting off a wave of power in the direction of the source.
Lance.
“Ah, hell,” I muttered, going to the door to stop the two hotheaded males from battling in the front yard. Again.
The last time this happened, they destroyed two of Sol’s trees and blew out the windows to the house. Vox had been furious about all the glass, while my Earth Fae mate had threatened to bury Lance alive beneath the replacement roots.
Cyrus sighed audibly as I stepped outside, his hand forming a wall of water that protected himself and my other mates.