"It is spectacular," she whispered softly. "Truly this place is amazing. I hope that one day you will be able to see this through my eyes, see the beauty of the world like I do. It's a special place that you live in, this place on the other side of the Veil."
"Of course it is," Ansell said with a grin. "But we've lived here our entire lives. We know it rather well. Now, I believe that's our ride pulling up." He pointed. A silver vehicle came along the road, much like a car but silent, smooth and appearing to have no windows.
"Wow," she whispered again and shook her head. Grinning, she looked up at her men and said, "I think that I'm going to like it here. We might end up spending a great deal of time here." If only for the sake of being completely and fully safe. Here she didn't have to worry about the bastard that wanted her dead and instead she could simply relax and enjoy her men.
"We can come here any time that you want, love," he told her, squeezing her hand. "But we need to ensure that the one after you is stopped. We can't have him going after someone else out of anger because you've thwarted him."
She sighed and nodded. "I know and damn if I don't hate it. I don't want to go back. I know how cowardly that sounds but I really would rather just hole away with the two of you somewhere and let the world pass us by. Silly, I know. Really, I know how that sounds but it's how I feel at times."
"And that's fine, Lacey," Zhubin said quietly. "You've been under stress for five years now from this guy. Take this time that we're here and just let that life go for the time being. We'll go back, refreshed and ready to look at this from a new way. We will find him. We will make him pay. And then we will get on with our lives without his interference."
"Good. That's what I needed to hear, I think. I needed to know that we would do whatever it took for us to all be together. We will find a way. Somehow and some way. We will figure this all out. I just know it." Hopefully at least.
"Absolutely." He smiled, lifting her hand to kiss her fingers. "Come, it's just a short ride to the house and then we will meet the parents. No panicking. Slow, deep breaths and remember, mom is likely more terrified of you than you are of her." He let out a laugh at that and shook his head.
"All right." She looked into Zhubin's eyes and sighed. "Whose vehicle is this?" she asked with a frown. "The one coming for us? Is it one of your parents?" She wasn't a typically trusting woman at all and they would know that.
"It's one of theirs, yes," he said, letting her hand go. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. "It's likely Sam coming to pick us up. He runs the household and tries to keep my father on a schedule. Sometimes it works, most times not so much, especially if Mother is around."
"Sounds like someone else I know." Only it was more them trying to keep her on a schedule. She was notoriously late, always had been and likely always would be. If not for these two men she would never make it anywhere on time. Hell, likely not even her own funeral.
The vehicle slid to a smooth stop and a slim male stepped out. "Master Zhubin, Master Ansell." He clicked his booted heels slightly and tipped in a bow. "Welcome home, sirs."
"Hiya, Sam." Ansell grinned and move to the back of the vehicle to toss in his bag.
"Sam, this is Lacey. Lace, this is Sam. You need anything and can't find me or Ansell, you ask Sam. Even weird shit this man can find. I don't know how and I do not ask any more," Zhubin told her.
"A pleasure, miss." He smiled at her and gave another slight bow.
"Nice to meet you," Lacey returned with a smile. "How long have you known Zhubin and Ansell, and would you be willing to give me some nice wonderful details about their lives? I would very much like to know any and everything that you would be willing to tell me."
"I'm sure that I have no idea what you could mean, miss," he said. But his lips were twitching and the glint in his eyes said he knew a lot. "I've known them both since they were quite young. I've worked for the Lady and Regent for a number of years. I'm sure that if you ask the Lady she will gladly tell you everything you'd like to know. She may even have video of some situations."
"Oh but you see, a mom would never give up the really, really good stuff on her sons. I would love to be able to get the really and truly good stuff on them," she teased happily. "And who better than an impartial third party?"
"He's hardly impartial," Ansell said, coming up behind her. "Especially after that thing we did when we were, like, fourteen. I'm amazed his eyebrows grew back, actually."
Sam frowned at that. "That story I don't think should ever be repeated. You two were a menace to all of society until you finally matured. Or pretended to mature, I suppose would be the better description for you two delinquents."
"Oh now see I want to be able to hear that story even more now. You can't say something like that and not tell me the story. I mean it. Really, come on. I very much would like to hear at least this story. Please?"
"I will tell the story," Zhubin said with a chuckle as he shut the back of the vehicle. "But we should get moving. I'm starting to feel hungry and knowing what Mum will have ready for us I'm definitely more than ready to roll. So let's all load up and I will tell you all about the day Sam lost his eyebrows and most of his hair."
Laughter poured from Lacey and she leaned back in the plush seats of the vehicle. "Well then I very, very much look forward to hearing all about that day then. Please don't leave out any details, no matter who it might incriminate."
Ansell settled next to her with Zhubin across from her in the limo-like backseat. Sam got behind the controls with a mutter and they were moving. "Oh it incriminates me and Ansell a lot. We were bored, as boys tend to get when forced to stay inside on nice days doing schoolwork. So while our tutor was droning on we started to plan."
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "We had it all figured out. Big bang, lots of noise, light and screams. But no one would get hurt. After our lessons we gathered everything up. Ran out and got it set, someplace where nothing could burn and where no one was supposed to be."
"Notice he said ‘where no one was supposed to be,'" Ansell put in with a shake of his head.
"Yeah, that didn't work too well. There were people around but well away from the area. We were in countdown when Sam comes wandering out. He goes right up to it, we're at T-minus ten and he leans over to see what's on the ground. We're both huddled behind a tree terrified this is about to go horribly wrong."
"I jump out and call to him he looks up, straightens and boom!" Ansell throws his hands up.
"Sam went flying ten feet back and the light show is going off. Everyone is watching that as we"-Zhubin pointed to himself and Ansell-"go racing over to Sam. He's lying there, no eyebrows and his hair gone and the top of his head smoldering slightly."
"We got in so much shit over that," Ansell muttered, leaning back. "I still flinch any time I think about it. We were on kitchen duty for two months, helping the maids for another three and still had to do whatever Sam wanted of us for a further six months."
Her hands covered her mouth, laughter danced in her eyes as she looked from man to man and then when Sam looked back and caught her eyes she couldn't help herself. Lacey burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her sides hurt from the great gasps she was taking to draw air into her lungs to laugh some more. "Oh God." She breathed those two words out in her laughter. "That's utterly priceless. I can so see it too."
"Sadly, Sam wasn't as amused, neither were Zhubin's parents. Oh, the shit we got from that. And we pretty much lived in full terror for a month. We didn't know what Sam would do to us but we were resigned. It actually wasn't all bad," Ansell admitted.
"And what did he end up doing to you? How did he punish the two of you?" Lacey asked curiously and moved so that she was settled back against Ansell once more, his arms wrapped around her and keeping her close just as she liked.
"He turned us into his bitches for the six months," Zhubin said. He gave a huge grin and chuckled. "Whenever he said to jump, we asked how high. If he said to do something we had to do it, no questions asked. We went where we were told, when we were told and did whatever he asked. It was absolute hell."