Chapter 1286: Snatched Morning and the Cold Goddess Wife

The next morning, Phei had barely finished breakfast with the entire family before the atmosphere inside the penthouse changed.

It had been a noisy meal, the sort that became inevitable when too many people with too many personalities shared one enormous table after several days of disasters, disappearances and secrets.

Landon was still defending the previous night’s heroic contribution to household security through repeated consumption of expensive food, Maddie had been arguing with Soraya over something neither woman seemed willing to explain properly, Maya had somehow wandered through three separate conversations without ever finishing the first, and Phei had spent most of breakfast occasionally looking toward Melissa with a happiness he was beginning to suspect everyone would notice if he kept failing to control his face.

Melissa still had not shared the pregnancy.

The Goddess knew now, and the secret had become strangely warmer for being held between the three of them through the night, but Melissa had made no move to announce it at breakfast.

Phei respected that.

He wanted the explosion when the family eventually learned, wanted every laugh, tear and ridiculous argument over whether his unborn child needed twelve godparents and an army before possessing fingers, but it remained Melissa’s moment to choose.

He had just set down his cup when the penthouse doors opened and Sienna entered.

She did not pause or look around the room and offer the basic courtesy generally expected from someone entering a home filled with people who knew her.

Her dark hair flowed behind her as she crossed the living space with that cold, effortless grace which made ordinary walking seem suspiciously beneath her. He could feel that Nether energy that clung to her like a second skin the room refused to name, a quiet, bottomless cold that made the morning light look borrowed. The black-violet depths of her eyes swept across the enormous room once, taking in everyone without granting most of them the dignity of acknowledgement.

"Good morning, Mom."

Melissa smiled immediately. "Morning, Sienna."

Sienna’s gaze shifted. "Madam." she bowed slightly.

The Ashford Madam inclined her head, amusement flickering through her eyes. "Sienna."

"Mother."

Mother answered with a warm smile that softened Sienna’s expression by perhaps one degree before the Nether Goddess continued moving. Maya received a small wave and Roxanne received another.

Sienna reached Dravenna and stopped.

Dravenna was seated comfortably with one leg crossed over the other and a cup still near her lips, slowly raised her eyes, so, Sienna stared at her but she said nothing, nothing needed to be.

The question in Sienna’s face possessed remarkable clarity: Why are you still here?

Dravenna sighed so deeply one might have believed she had carried the suffering of several generations personally. She lowered her cup onto its saucer and leaned back in the chair. "I was waiting for them to finish "preparing"."

Sienna’s brows moved faintly. "They already did."

Dravenna’s expression became blank.

Phei looked between the two women, mildly entertained.

Dravenna glanced toward him, then Melissa, then the Goddess, apparently deciding whether they wanted to ask precisely who the they were and what they already did meant before determining that life occasionally rewarded restraint.

"Right," she muttered, pushing her chair back. "Then I suppose I’ll go."

She had barely risen before Sienna spoke again. "Wait."

Dravenna stopped halfway upright and slowly looked toward her.

"We’ll go together."

That made several people around the table glance toward Sienna with considerably more interest but Sienna ignored them.

Her attention finally settled properly upon Phei: "Dragon. Come."

Phei stared at her: ’Hello? No greeting, explanation to your husband but just ’Just Dragon, come’.’

Apparently being married to an ancient goddess came with summons now. He pushed his chair back and rose, though Sienna suddenly turned toward the rest of the room as if remembering an almost forgotten detail: "Hopefully you’ve said your goodbyes."

Silence spread around the table.

Maddie’s fork stopped halfway toward her mouth, Sierra’s brows rose, Victoria looked toward Phei.

Phei looked toward Sienna. "That sounds significantly more ominous than I think you intended, right?"

Sienna did not answer and she just reached Melissa first and took her hand.

Melissa blinked. "I’m coming too?"

"Yes mom."

Before Melissa could ask anything else, Sienna caught Phei’s hand with her other one. She gave Dravenna a small nod and black-violet Nether flooded silently beneath Sienna’s feet as darkness rose around the three of them in smooth folds, carrying a cold so profound that the nearest glasses misted before the Nether swallowed their figures entirely.

In Phei’s perspective it was not travel like his portals. much of it was burial.

The Nether did not carry them so much as close its throat around them and folding three living bodies out of morning as if the room had never been allowed to keep them. Space seemed to soften around Sienna’s presence, the room bending inward for a brief breath before the darkness collapsed upon itself and left nothing behind.

The entire table stared at the empty place.

Maddie slowly turned toward Dravenna, so did everyone else.

Dravenna looked around at the collection of expectant faces and shrugged. "I’ve learned that asking her for explanations usually produces fewer explanations."

Then jade light ignited around her and for an instant, the silver-haired Dragoness was wrapped in brilliant green radiance, fine scales of light flashing across her arms and throat while the shape of something ancient stirred behind her eyes. The jade brilliance gathered around her body, curled inward, and Dravenna disappeared with it.

Silence returned.

Landon lowered his fork: "Should we be concerned?"

A lot of shit beyond his wildest dreams and imagination kept happening in this place the boys and everyone else no longer seemed surprised or ask any questions.

Maddie pointed toward the empty space where Phei had stood. "He said goodbye to nobody."

Maya’s lips parted and her eyes widened. "Oh."

Sierra looked toward her. "What?"

Maya stared at the place where Phei had vanished: "He didn’t say goodbye to me either."

Maddie slowly put down her fork and the table’s peace entered its final moments.