Crucible of Fate

exactly the same.
    “So this is just temporary? Until when?”
    “Until you can make the climb without being winded.”
    “I can do it now.”
    She studied me. “Let’s wait a few more days, all right? Humor your doctor.”
    I scowled at her.
    “The semel-netjer would like a word. I’m going to get him.”
    “Thank you.”
    She breezed out, and I turned to Yuri. Cupping his cheek, I noticed the bruise there, the dark circles under his eyes, and the new scar over his right eyebrow. There was a line through it now, the brow almost cut in half. I wanted to know what had happened.
    As I opened my mouth to wake him, Logan walked into my bedroom, followed by Jin carrying his son.
    “Let me see your child,” I ordered.
    Jin smiled wide and bent over. I took in the carbon copy of him, except that he had Logan’s angular jaw and sharp Roman nose. The rest—the eyebrows that quirked, the long lashes, full lips, and black hair—was all Jin.
    “Wake him up so I can see his eyes.”
    “No,” Logan and Jin said at the same time.
    “Problem?” I teased.
    “Your steward is throwing us out,” Jin said playfully. “We are not to come back until he , meaning Ilia, has learned to control his power.”
    “What’d he do?”
    “Apparently before I got back a week ago, when Ilia was here with Yusuke and Crane, a lot of your staff were dragged through their shifts on a regular basis.”
    “Oh, lovely,” I said sarcastically. “And Kabore wants you gone? I can’t imagine why.”
    Jin passed Ilia to Logan before he sat and hugged me. “Thank you, Domin.”
    “For what? You saved me, not the other way around.”
    “No,” he said, holding me tight. “Crane reminds me who I am; you sort of ram the truth down my throat and shove me toward the right path.”
    I eased him back so I could look into his face. “There’s only one place on the planet you belong.”
    “I know. It’s just that you, much like Logan, don’t let me get away with anything. I appreciate you helping me through my crisis.”
    “Thank you for saving my life.”
    “You saved mine too,” he assured me. “Ask Logan.”
    “Get up,” the semel-netjer grumbled at his mate.
    Jin rose and Logan moved by, passing Ilia over to him. The second his hands were free, Logan ran a hand through Jin’s long glossy black hair, as he always did. Logan could not keep his hands off his mate.
    “So what did you do?”
    “I didn’t kill you for taking Jin into the catacombs and again when we got inside and found my naked mate wrapped around you.”
    “Thank you. I should be dead.”
    “Yes, you should,” he said, putting a hand on my cheek. “But I have grown fond of your face after these many years.”
    “And?”
    “And it would upset my mate if I eviscerated you, and I never upset my mate.”
    “It’s good to know.”
    He patted my cheek and then got up. “Crane named Kabore the new maahes of the tribe. That’s what you wanted, right?”
    “Yes.”
    “Crane’s coming home with us, but you knew that.”
    “Yes, I did.”
    He cleared his throat. “I’m also taking Koren.”
    “Oh, that’s a tragedy.”
    He grunted. “You did good by him, too, both you and Yuri.”
    “We try.” I grinned up at him, throwing the covers off and then moving to stand up.
    “What’re you doing?”
    “I’m gonna hug you good-bye.”
    “Okay.” He seemed pleased. “Let’s see if you can get up. You’ve been lying around for two weeks, did you know that?”
    “You’re such an ass!” I scolded the semel-netjer.
    Logan made a noise and pointed at Yuri. “Don’t wake him up, please don’t wake him up. The man has been running around—”
    “He’s been making everything perfect for when you woke up after he knew that you actually would be,” Jin soothed. “And I remembered when I saw him discipline your khatyu and your sheseru that—”
    “What were Yuri and Taj fighting about?”
    “They disagreed about how many of your khatyu should be garrisoned in Ipis.”
    “You lost me.” I was still a little muddled. My brain felt like it was stuffed with feathers.
    “Just don’t worry about it,” Logan chimed in. “Yuri won, and I agreed with the number. Until the two djehus get that tribe in order, they need backup.”
    “The djehus?” I was confused.
    He nodded, helped me sit up, which was harder than I thought it would be.
    “Be careful with him,” Jin cautioned his mate.
    Logan arched an eyebrow.
    “Don’t say something