Chapter 1486: The Dragon’s Hearth

After nearly a year inside the Primordial Frozen Zone, Phei had discovered that paradise could be as simple as having his family within arm’s reach.

He had missed Melissa, his women and the ridiculous commotion that followed them wherever they gathered. Laughter had become a luxury when most things opening their mouths around him intended to bite. Even now, being kissed without blood drying upon his face felt like something worth taking his time over.

Gods, he could have spent another year doing precisely this.

His family certainly seemed prepared to help him try.

Since their return from the hospital, the surprise celebration for Melissa’s pregnancy had blossomed into an occasion whose organizers could barely contain their own excitement.

Decorations, exquisite food, drinks and an enthusiastic gathering awaited her, and the news of twins had made everyone considerably less willing to share. Phei lost possession of his wife almost upon arrival.

He might have complained, but whenever she found him across the gathering, she smiled with such unguarded happiness that he forgot to resent the women keeping her from him.

He had restrained his senses and perception too enough to be surprised himself.

Crossing into the Half Divine Stage had made his perception more powerful than in ways he had never thought to anticipate.

Even without deliberately spreading True Void Sense, his perception swept far beyond Infinity Chaos Hotel, reaching across vast stretches of Hell’s Paradise Island. Presences stirred within his awareness through walls and across the intervening distance, while the slightest disturbance in Mana, Essence or space betrayed movement long before it could approach him. Nothing within that reach could catch him by surprise; unless it was immensely powerful.

He wanted to open doors without knowing who stood behind them, hear a familiar voice before sensing its owner, and let his women spring their latest absurdity upon him when they pleased.

Marcus’s memories of the Realms beyond Earth, however, had made abandoning vigilance even less appealing. His family was too valuable to his enemies for him to trust their safety to a pleasant evening.

Eira had helped him reconcile the two.

The ancient Fairy could guard everyone without him being alert; under her guidance, he had learned to weave a protection of his own too.

A delicate membrane now enclosed the penthouse, its dark translucence faded into the surrounding spatial hollows. Subtle currents of Void moved through it, bound together by cold threads of Void-Ice beneath his will.

The membrane stirred with a faint semblance of Life.

Harmless disturbances passed through— say his family— could come and go without noticing it.

Beneath that stillness, it remained attentive to unfamiliar power, concealed approaches and hostile disturbances. Anything reaching maliciously towards the penthouse would touch its boundary before reaching his family, immediately rousing his resting senses.

For the rooftop celebration, he had chosen a simpler arrangement.

Eira watched the immediate surroundings rather than leaving him to stretch his new protection across every guest in the open venue. She had guarded his family countless times before he got all this power; his growing stronger hardly meant she had forgotten how.

Sienna was home as well, and he wished any intruder considerable luck with his ridiculously OP Waifu.

His Familiar had accepted with a smug smile and advised him to enjoy himself without personally examining every suspicious shadow upon the island.

Drawing his perception inward required care, as did handling the vast Essence within him gently enough for ordinary company, but he was learning.

Tonight offered excellent reasons to practise.

The rooftop lay suspended between the island’s first evening lights and the last gold of the sun.

Lanterns nestled among ornamental branches, casting their glow through pale flowers onto the polished stone. Beyond the glass balustrades, amber light lingered upon the mountains; the enormous lake shone between the city’s towers, whose windows were beginning to brighten as daylight thinned. Music mingled with conversation, and the breeze brought the fragrance of flowers and warm food across the terrace.

Long tables carried elaborate desserts, expensive drinks and enough dishes to reassure Phei that somebody had remembered Dragon Lady.

His little sister had claimed a place beside the roasted meat, her silver-white hair slipping over her shoulders as she ate. Soraya occasionally offered her something else to try. Noor watched with a delight she had yet to grow accustomed to, apparently still marvelling that an ancient Dragon could fit so comfortably into their family’s dinner arrangements.

Brian, Landon and David were there with Cherry, Rhea, Sharon, Halsey and Savannah.

An argument had developed among the boys, though the laughter surrounding it suggested nobody’s dignity would survive long enough for the subject to matter. Maddie wandered between groups, and finding time to embarrass other people with equal enthusiasm.

Roxanne, Patricia, Elena, Catrina, Emily, Delilah, Valentina, Amber and the others drifted through the celebration. Lydia had the misfortune of joining conversations while they were still respectable and discovering their true direction too late. Elsewhere, Cassiopeia stood with the Undead Queen, the Dragonkin, several Elves and World Transcendents whose presence would have emptied many gatherings upon Earth.

Here, beneath the lanterns among laughing young men, beautiful women, they scarcely distracted anyone from the food.

Maddie was proving the greater threat to a peaceful evening.

Princesses had joined them too.

Zara’s appearance amused Phei most.

She still resented him over what had happened to her brother, and he had never troubled himself to earn her forgiveness. Fortunately for her, she was not among the daughters being prepared for sacrifice under the Progenitor Plan, which removed her from people he gave a shit about and neither was she someone he wanted to get acquainted with...

Phei didn’t care about her at all.

Whether she liked him otherwise was entirely her business.

He couldn’t give a rat’s fuck.

’Okay that’s a long argument, like I care while pretending not to.’

Clara evidently had fewer reservations about troubling Zara.

A smile directed across the gathering earned an immediate look of offence from Zara, and Phei suspected the photograph responsible for her recent humiliation in their group chat had made another appearance in somebody’s thoughts.

He left them to it.

Clara had arrived with Gianna Romano, and the pair settled among Amber, Yuki, Delilah and Jade.

Gianna’s sister— Nastya— preferred to remain within easier reach of Phei.

drew neatly about her waist before following the curve of her hips, and when she moved beside him, his eyes followed rather more readily than he could pretend was accidental. The dress hugged her sensual developed and hot body enough that every step drew it tight across her ass and then released it, and the soft sway of her breasts beneath the dress made it impossible not to notice how little separated her skin from the air.

She knew it, too.

Her fingers lingered upon his arm, and she leaned close to speak over music that presented absolutely no difficulty to conversation. Her breath touched the side of his throat each time she spoke, and the warm weight of her breast pressed lightly against his arm for a moment longer than it needed to.

Occasionally her side brushed his as she laughed.

The soft curve of her hip dragged along his thigh and stayed there just long enough for him to feel the warmth of her skin through the thin dress. Catching him looking only encouraged her; innocence seemed to have become more trouble than she considered worthwhile. She shifted her weight so the dress pulled tighter across her round and big chest where the stiff peaks of her nipples showed faintly against the cloth as she turned toward him again, her smile slow and knowing.