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“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US SOONER?” TERRA ASKED SHEN THE FOLLOWING MORNING.
Shen averted his gaze and sheepishly rubbed his neck. “I planned on informing you as soon as I got back, but...”
“But Aries summoned us to the bedroom,” Terra filled in for him with a huff. He leaned into his bulky mate and sighed. “I understand the circumstances. Thank you for telling me. It must have been rough discovering that on your own...”
He wished now that he had insisted on going with Shen. If he had, perhaps he could have comforted the shisa somehow. But unlike Rune, he couldn’t erase or change memories... All he could do was heal bodily wounds.
Shen wrapped his arms around the angel and held him close. “Are you wishing you had come with me?”
Terra stared up at him with wide eyes. “Are you a mind reader, too?”
Shen chuckled and shook his head. “No. It was just a feeling.”
“Well, your intuition is spot on.”
Shen was quiet for a moment, but Terra could feel his heart racing behind the stoic face he showed. Just as Terra was about to ask what was wrong, his mate opened up. “Terra, I think someone was in the Mayweather’s house with me last night.”
The thought chilled Terra to the bone.
“Someone was there?!”
He nodded. “Right after I found the bones, I heard the floor creak. Someone was there, but they vanished.”
The angel’s heart sunk. “Gods, I am glad you’re safe.”
They embraced quietly, savoring the moment of being in each other’s arms. Terra felt safe with Shen. He didn’t know if it was his mate’s powerful shisa’s ward at work or his buff physique that made him feel that way, but Terra didn’t care.
“We could have lost you last night,” Terra dared whisper.
Shen pulled him closer and held him tighter. “Do not say that. I’m here, see?”
A single tear slipped down Terra’s cheek. He nodded and buried his face in Shen’s chest. “I know, but we need to be more careful. I... I do not want to lose any of you.”
“Uh... did something happen?” Aries asked as he appeared in the doorway, standing in his underwear.
Shen smiled at him. “Sort of. Will you gather the rest of our mates in the parlor? We have much to discuss...”
––––––––
THEY OTHERS MET UP in the living room a few minutes later.
To calm everyone's nerves before Shen told them the news, Terra retreated to the kitchen and quickly put together a tray of steaming hot cups of tea and snacks to go with it. He carried them and placed the tray on the table in between the living room sofas where his mates waited, eyeing what he prepared.
"That smells lovely," Rune commented, reaching for a cup.
"Thank you," Terra blushed, "it's chamomile tea. The gentleman at the store directed it to me. He said it was a great aid for stress... and now seemed like as good a time as any to open the box. Such strange little packets they come in..."
Aries snickered and collected his own teacup with a biscuit to go with it. Once he had what he wanted, he sat back and got comfortable between Rune and Brava.
Terra scooped up a teacup for himself after serving everyone else, and sat across from the others with Shen. The shisa seemed more tense than when he had told Terra the news. He used his free hand to draw little relaxation circles on Shen's muscular thigh. It seemed to ease a little bit of the tension, much to Terra's relief.
Shen told the others what he found at the Mayweather's home. When he finished his story, Aries placed his teacup back on the tray. When he looked up, his face was paler than usual.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Aries shook his head, his hands clenched into tight fists. "First, they killed the Mayweather's and now their dogs... This is unforgivable."
"I am sorry. If we had only known they were hiding so close by, we might have been able to deal with them before you got involved..." Terra murmured.
He imagined how hard it must have been for Aries to learn the news. To think, before Jarris reopened the portal connecting their worlds, Aries never had to worry about monsters lurking in the dark. Not ones from Nitehelm, at least. His life had been disturbed in the worst of ways by people he had never met. Now, his community was under attack, being picked off one by one. The angel couldn't blame him for harboring any ill feelings towards the black magic wielders.
Although their presence had brought four mates his way, the evildoers were making life on Earth hell for the humans they targeted.
"I wish I had more power," Aries gritted out. "I would march over there and take them on myself."
"Do not be so hard on yourself," Shen reassured him. "It was and is our job to handle them. If anyone is to blame for these failures and oversights, it's us."
Terra knew Shen was right. He had a feeling Rune and Brava knew it, too.
Their job had been to deal with the threats as quickly as possible without getting any humans involved. Yet they failed to do those things.
"We cannot dwell on the past," he said. "All we can do is move forward to correct our mistakes. We will formulate a plan and deal with them soon."
"Why don't we do it tonight?" Rune suggested. "We know where their hideout is. Plus, Brava handled the other one well enough on his own. There should only be one left, right?"
Terra nodded. "That is correct."
"Then it's settled. Tonight, we come up with a game plan," Aries said, eager to join in.
Terra had a feeling it would be a very long night.