Book 18: Carrying the Load

Zayn

It’s well past 9:00 in the evening when Tali and I walk up the steps to his home. The first thing I see with full clarity after a hell of a long day, mostly in my wolf form, is Fallon resting in an oversized armchair with Koa draped over her lap. He’s fast asleep. Andy hangs off one shoulder, his dark eyes bright and honed on the picture book she’s reading. Gracen is perched on her other side, resting his elbow on her shoulder, his cheek squished against the top of Fallon’s head.

She yawns, which makes the little boys yawn, and turns the page.

“Hey now,” Tali whispers, which startles both boys. “How’d you weasel your way into staying up an hour past your bedtime?”

Andy fidgets, but I expect as such from him. Little wizard boys are essentially whipped into submission from birth if they’re unlucky enough to be s