Chapter 1279: A Swan Broken Twice

Phei swallowed the bitterness trying to climb into his throat before continuing. "But I haven’t stopped looking, and I’m not going to. Sienna told me Hayashi and Ashworth are already searching too. They’re both stronger than I am, both of them know things about this world I don’t, and if there’s a road to Althea that I couldn’t see, then one of them will."

Elena pulled back just enough to look at him, tears bright across her lashes.

Phei brushed one away with his thumb. "I’ll find her," he promised, his voice becoming quieter rather than louder. "I don’t know how long it’ll take, and I’m not going to insult you by pretending I know where she is when I don’t. But I will find your sister."

Elena nodded before another tear slipped free: "Those disgusting Maxtons," she whispered, anger breaking through the grief as she pressed her face against him again. "I hate them. I fucking hate them."

Phei’s arm tightened around her shoulders.

There was nothing useful to say against that, he hated them just as much too, if not more.

The Goddess had remained quiet until then, watching him with eyes that possessed far more tenderness than accusation, her fingers rose and touched his cheek.

"Phei." He looked toward her. "Failing to find Althea does not mean you had to hide yourself from us," she said softly, her thumb moving once beneath his eye. "You disappeared yesterday as though you believed you had no right to stand before us until you could bring her back."

Phei’s mouth tightened.

The Goddess saw enough. "This is not your fault," she continued, drawing closer rather than allowing him to retreat behind humor. "You did not take her and neither did you hand her to those people. You searched for her and from what Sienna told us, you nearly destroyed yourself refusing to stop. What exactly were Elena and I supposed to blame you for?"

Phei glanced toward Elena.

She immediately shook her head against his chest.

"Mom’s right," Elena murmured, wiping impatiently beneath one eye. "I was angry you wouldn’t talk to us. I wasn’t angry at you for Al."

Phei released a slow breath.

"Yeah." His hand moved along the Goddess’s back before he gave her a faint, self-mocking smile scratching the back of his head. "That was shallow of me."

There had been other reasons he had remained in the car that morning, other things moving through his head after the possession and everything Anarctica had left behind, but he did not drag them into the moment; not every feeling required an autopsy.

The Goddess understood enough anyway.

She kissed his cheek and Phei kissed her forehead in return before guiding both women toward the couches.

He had not lied about Sienna, the morning before he disappeared with Melissa, Sienna had told him that she’ll send Hayashi and Ashworth after Althea. Phei had briefly wondered how she managed to get Ashworth to agree so readily, then realized the question was stupid enough to deserve abandonment.

He had seen how Ashworth acted around Sienna at the birthday.

More importantly, Sienna was the Nether Goddess. People considerably more terrifying than Ashworth had probably spent entire eras discovering that when the Nether Goddess requested something calmly, debating whether she possessed sufficient social leverage was rarely the intelligent response. Eira had already ruined Phei’s comfortable belief that the composed older man was merely some frighteningly capable family manager.

The bastard was an Immortal.

Of course he was.

And apparently being Phei’s family manager was also as immortal with just his power reduced to been reduced to lower realms, it looked like his family required enough suppressed cultivation and Immortals to make ancient monsters reconsider their tone.

If those two could not find a trail either, then Phei’s growing suspicion that Althea had been hidden beyond ordinary reality became considerably harder to dismiss.

He helped Elena sit beside her mother and squeezed her shoulder once before straightening.

Only then did he his eyes warm to another presence his soul found so hard and impossible to ignore.

Silver.

Maya stood near the far end of the couch, where she had apparently chosen to remain while Phei dealt with Elena and the Goddess.

She was watching him quietly; Maya and quiet possessed a complicated relationship.

Phei’s expression softened almost immediately.

He had greeted half the room, kissed women, healed Noor and Emily as she bullied Landon, comforted Cassiopeia and then walked directly into the wound waiting between himself and the Ashfords.

And Maya did not interfere.

’Unacceptable, my love.’

Her silver hair spilled over one shoulder as she looked toward him, both hands resting together before her. There was no accusation in her face. If anything, Maya looked as though she had deliberately decided his attention belonged elsewhere first and was perfectly willing to wait.

That made Phei want to cross the room faster.

He did.

Maya’s lips began curving when she realized where he was going.

Phei stopped in front of her. "Why are you standing all the way over here, love?"

Her brows rose delicately. "I am approximately seven meters from where you entered, which does not seem sufficiently distant to qualify as all the way over here." Phei stared but Maya continued with perfect sincerity. "Also, Maddie ran at you, Sierra followed, then everyone began hugging and kissing in a very poorly organized sequence. I considered joining, but there were elbows involved and I value my face. Then Elena needed you, which was considerably more important than my desire to be kissed, so I waited."

Phei’s mouth curved... Maya looked at him for another heartbeat before adding, more quietly, "I knew you would eventually notice me."

That did something small and painful to his chest.

Phei reached for her immediately before his arm circled Maya’s waist and drew her into him until her silver hair spilled across his shoulder. She gave a startled breath before both arms wrapped around his back, and Phei bent his head to kiss her slowly.

Maya softened against him.

The kiss remained gentle, warm and long enough for whatever patience she had displayed to receive proper compensation. When Phei finally drew back, her eyes stayed closed for another second before opening.

"There," he murmured, thumb stroking her cheek. "Administrative problem resolved."

Maya’s lips twitched. "It was not an administrative problem."

"Emotional imbalance then?"

Her face warmed. "You remembered that?"

"I remember everything you tell me."

Maya stared at him, then, because apparently she had decided he had already caused sufficient damage, she quietly buried her face against his chest.

Phei laughed beneath his breath and kissed the crown of her head.

While his hand rested against her back, the Spiritual Bond answered once more. He felt the connection settle gently into place, another clear presence joining those he had already gathered since entering the penthouse.

Maya.

Phei’s hold tightened by the smallest amount.

He would know where she was and he would know if something happened to her.

After once having an entire world somehow convince him to forget Maya Scarlett existed, Phei found the extra certainty deeply satisfying.

Maya lifted her head just enough to study his face. "You look less sad."

Phei’s fingers paused in her hair. "Do I?"

"A little." Her expression softened. "Still sad. Less alone inside it."

Phei looked at her for several breaths before kissing her forehead. "You’re dangerous when you start sounding wise."

"I am always wise. People become distracted because I use many words."

"Many words."

Maya’s eyes narrowed faintly.

Phei wisely kissed her again before the lecture could mature. "I love it when you talk too ,much, I just know I am home.

Laughter stirred nearby around his family.

Something inside his chest loosened, yes Althea was still missing; that truth had not changed.

Yet perhaps the empty place beside his hand did not have to remain empty forever.

Somewhere, hidden beyond a fold in reality, buried inside a severed place, trapped behind an ancient power or carried somewhere Phei had not yet learned how to reach, a little girl who once stood beside a broken ice swan might still be waiting.

And this time, Phei intended to learn how to reach places the world itself could no longer see.