Feros and the Underworld Prince (39 page)

“
Really!? Oh, thank gods!” Sara exclaims while letting out a sigh of relief.

“
So when were you planning on telling me that you had moved to Fogquartz?” I ask.

“
When you were done or when you wanted to come home for a break. I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you how close we are when you wouldn’t have been able to come and visit.” Sara explains. I guess that sort of makes sense…

“
Alright. I don’t have time so I’m just going to bring Addie with me to my next class. I’ll bring her home later.” I tell her.

“
Okay, I’ll cancel the search party. See you later.” Sara replies and hangs up. I notice that I received another text from Lila while I was on the phone.

DAUGHTER!? You and Chezarei had a baby!?

No, Adelaide is adopted and is actually Cheza’s half-sister. It’s really complicated but Adelaide doesn’t know about the sister thing so Cheza is her mother as far as Adelaide is concerned, and I’m her father. By the way, why were you in town during school?

…
I wanted to get something good for lunch so me and some friends kinda skipped fourth period…

Lila… just don’t make a habit of it!

Thanks Cole:) Ttyl!

I head back out to the classroom to fetch Addie.

“
Thanks for watching her, you guys.” I say once I see that no part of Addie has been eaten.

“
No problem, Cole; she is really like, too cute!” Stacy says. The three girls seem to be warming back up to me.

“
Where’s her mother?” Kacey asks, slightly suspecting in tone.

“
Currently waiting. See you guys later!” I say as I take Addie by her hand and lead her to my English class.

“
Look! Isn’t that Feros!? What is he doing with that child!?” I hear a woman whisper as we pass by.

“
Feros totally kidnapped that little girl…” I hear a guy whisper.

“
Alright sweetie, you’re going to get that feeling of falling again, but don’t worry; I’ve got you.” I tell Addie as I pick her up.

“
Okay Daddy!” Addie replies and I touch my triskele.

Addie has her eyes shut tight and is clenching my shirt in her hands as we arrive in the classroom. Cheza still isn’t in class yet so I come up with a devious plan.

“
Hey Addie, we’re going to play a little joke on Mommy, okay? Just hide under the table until she sits next to me, then pop out and surprise her.” I tell Addie.

“
Okay Daddy!” Addie exclaims.

“
Watch your head.” I tell her as I grab the top of her head and gently press it down so that she doesn’t hurt herself.

“
*Gasp* What is Feros making that little girl do under the table!?” I hear a girl behind me ask. I notice that I’m getting a lot of dirty glances in my direction.

“
GET YOUR MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER! WE’RE PLAYING A PRANK ON HER MOTHER, YOU SICK BASTARDS!” I shout and everyone starts looking guilty. I knew that public opinion of me was low, but this is ridiculous. Cheza walks in the room a minute later.

“
Hey, where’s Ada?” Cheza asks.

“
Aw… she’s under the table. We were planning to surprise you.” I reply, disappointed. My guess is that Sara called her.

“
Hi Mommy!” Addie says as she crawls out from under the table.

“
Ada…” Cheza says using her strict tone.

“
You can’t be running off on your own. You could get hurt, and then daddy would get hurt killing whoever was responsible, do you understand?” Cheza says loudly enough for everyone in the classroom to hear.

That was probably a smart move on her part; now that the knowledge of Feros having a daughter is out, the added threat of death to anyone that harms her isn’t a bad thing. Then again, you would think that an additional threat would be unnecessary with my reputation.

“
Yes Mommy… I promise I won’t do it again…” Addie replies while looking at the floor.

“
Well, now that that’s settled, let’s go to lunch!” I proclaim.

“
YAY!” Addie yells as Natasha walks in the room.

“
What’s Adelaide doing here?” Natasha thinks.

“
From what I’ve gathered, she followed my scent from the elementary school. Apparently she, Sara, and Tia moved into town.” I explain.

“
Yeah, I know. The house they’re staying at belongs to Carla’s family. I would have said something, but Carla told me not to. Following your scent all the way here is really rather impressive for a werewolf her age.” Natasha informs me.

“
Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’m taking Cheza and Addie out for a family luncheon so we will be leaving now.” I tell her.

“
Okay, the prompt for tonight is embarrassing misunderstandings.” Natasha thinks.

“
Alright. If at least five people don’t write about how they mistook Feros hiding a three year old girl under a desk for a prank as something sexual, give everyone in the class a failing grade.” I tell her as I pick Addie up.

Cheza grabs my arm as I touch my triskele and port us to my room. We drop off our bags before I port us onto the pathway that leads into town. I set Addie down on the cobblestone path so she can walk. It’s not like she’s heavy, but she is cumbersome in a way… perhaps it has to do with bulk. I feel her tiny hand grab ahold of mine and I look down to see her grinning up at me as she holds onto Cheza’s hand as well. When I look at Cheza, I see that she too is smiling at me and I realize that, for the first time in a long while, I’m truly happy.

Is this why men let these short people live in their houses? For happiness? I lead everyone to the café and bistro that Travis and I went to. We sit down and the same brunette waitress from before comes over.

“
I’ll have a 7-UP.” I tell her.

“
Good choice!” She smiles back and we both laugh. We place the rest our order and our sprite waitress walks off.

“
So what was that?” Cheza asks, somewhat vexed.

“
I came here with Travis and ordered a Sprite, the lemon-lime soda, and the waitress thought I was hitting on her because she’s a water sprite.” I explain.

“
Oh, okay…” Cheza says, now looking somewhat embarrassed.

The waitress comes back with our drinks and takes our order about five minutes later. The door dings open about four minutes after that and a sudden crash behind me causes me to turn around in my seat. I find three guys around the waitress while one roughly grasps her wrist as she tries to pull it away.

“
I’ll be right back.” I tell Cheza as I stand up.

“
Cole… I still want to eat lunch so try not to kill anyone.” Cheza complains; I smile at her in response and walk over to the altercation.

“
Let go of me!” the waitress demands.

“
Hello, I ask that you please unhand my waitress now as I would like to have my lunch in the near future.” I politely ask.

“
Fuck off, this doesn’t concern you!” the guy holding onto the waitress says.

I scan the three guys and see that they are a wizard, a snow elf, and… a dryad? Or maybe a wood elf? His aura looks like a tangled mess of brown tree roots; he’s also the one that is grasping my waitress.

“
Well, seeing as you are interrupting my lunch with my family, I’d say it does concern me.” I reply.

“
I don’t give a shit!” the wood elf angrily says.

“
Leave.” I reply after allowing my face and tone to fall.

The wizard’s aura starts to flare up so I quickly pop him in the face with my right hand.

“
Surprise spells are hardly sporting.” I let him know from his position on the ground while blood dribbles from his nose. The other two guys start squaring up for a fight so I quickly engage my helmet.

“
Leave.” I repeat in the creepy voice. The guys stare wide-eyed at me for a moment before they help their friend up and leave. I retract the helmet and help the waitress to her feet before returning to my seat.

“
Congratulations on not killing anyone.” Cheza says nonchalantly.

“
Thanks.” I reply.

The waitress walks over with our food a few moments later.

“
Thank you for saving me. I’m Jessica.” Jessica introduces herself.

“
I’m Cole.” I reply.

“
Umm… are you?” the waitress timidly asks.

“
Yes, I am Feros. Hold your pens, ladies! I will not be signing any autographs today, no matter where you want them!” I stand up and announce to the otherwise empty café. I’m a little surprised when she giggles politely instead of making a hasty retreat.

“
I know that those stories can’t all be true. Anyway, enjoy your meal!” Jessica says with a smile before walking off.

I sit back down and find Cheza angrily eating her food. We eat our meal in silence and Jessica comes out with a cup of gelato for Addie.

“
I’ll be right back with the check.” Jessica says with a smile in my direction.

“
Yummy!” Addie announces as she digs into her cup.

“
Slow down Addie or you’ll get a—” I start to say.

“
Owie! Owie Daddy!” Addie complains. I rub her back until her brain-freeze goes away.

“
The next time that happens, roll your tongue in an O, like this.” I show her. “And then press it to the roof of your mouth. The bottom of your tongue should be warm enough to warm up the roof of your mouth and end your brain-freeze.” I watch for several minutes as Addie looks adorable while trying to roll her tongue.

“
I can’t do it Daddy…” Addie pouts.

“
Hey Airi, can you do something like send her the muscle memory for rolling her tongue? I assume that my Drive pumped some of my blood into her when it fixed Addie’s neck wound in the warehouse so I should be able to do the same thing that I did for Cheza, right?”

(You are correct. I’ll instill the image now)

“
Try again sweetie. Like this.” I tell Addie and stick out my rolled tongue; it takes her a couple seconds, but she finally manages it.

“
I DID IT!” Addie squeals.

“
See? I knew you could do it!” I tell her.

Teaching this kid to ride a bike or ice skate is going to be really easy… well, the bike part will be; I doubt sending her the muscle memory on my failed attempt at ice skating will be at all helpful. I pay our bill and we head out the door.

“
Bye Cole! Come back soon!” Jessica exclaims as we leave, causing Cheza to glare at me. I shrug in response as if to say ‘what do you expect me to do?’

“
We should probably head to the house now. Do you know where it is?” I ask Cheza.

“
No, it’s not like I’ve ever been there.” Cheza pointedly replies. I think she might still be a little upset about Jessica…

(You think?)

“
Alright Addie, you are going to feel like your falling again; just remember that I won’t let anything happen to you.” I tell her as I hoist her up.

Addie nods and buries her face in my shirt as I grab Cheza’s hand. I touch my triskele while picturing the living room from the virtual tour of the house that Sara gave me.

“
Hey guys.” Tia says from the couch.

“
Adelaide. Would you care to explain why you ran away from school?” Sara says in a tone that frightens me slightly as a residual from my childhood; it causes Addie to start cowering into my shirt.