The Jokura brothers army-crawled along the Hawaiian jungle floor as they approached the MacRae hut. They hustled through an exposed area and then concealed themselves behind the root of a Koa tree. When they lifted to a crouch, they peered through the darkness and saw the vague outline of a tent-like structure.

They waited in silence for dawn.

"You got me out of bed in the dead of night for one damn tent?" Bane eventually whispered, once he was more certain of what he was looking at.

"Two," Kale corrected under his breath.

Kale was clearly not happy to have any unexplained tents in the Zone of Protection.

"The second one is hardly standing. It's practically buried in mud!" Bane hissed back.

Kale suddenly collapsed back to the ground and pulled Bane down beside him.

Bane, after rubbing his likely-to-be-bruised elbow, questioned him by contorting every facial feature. Kale told him to wait a second with one finger.

When the Jokura brothers were bold enough to peek their heads out again, a fairy-male—winged, dark hair, pale skin, glasses, and an average build—stepped away from the tent with something—a weapon maybe?—in hand. He was heading in their direction.

Kale pulled his sword. Bane did the same. The fairy-male looked toward the slight ring of their blades. Kale and Bane were upon him before he could do anything about it, though. They brought him to the ground with ease.

A shovel and a bucket of water fell of the fairy-male's hands. Not weapons, per se, but they could have been used as such if he had a chance to attack first.

Bane secured his flailing limbs while Kale positioned the tip of his longsword at the fairy's throat. "Who are you and what are you doing on our land?"

"Release me and I'll tell you!"

The tip of Kale's sword made contact with the fairy-male's skin. "We do things my way! Understand?"

The fairy stopped struggling. He was no match for Kale's strength or determination and seemed to come to terms with that.

And just when they thought they had things under their complete control, a blur of motion came in from behind.

"Ow!" Bane yelped. Something hard and rough shattered across his eye socket. He lost his balance and tumbled upon the splintered wood that had done the damage.

Kale lifted his sword, pointing it quickly at any sign of movement.

With one hand cradling his eye, Bane managed to get his feet beneath him. He took a ready position beside his brother.

Bane's sword arm then slackened. He exchanged a baffled glance with his brother. A girl?

Then their eyes darted toward an entirely unexpected sound. Is that a baby crying?

"What in heaven's name is going on out here?"

A fem-fairy with untamed red hair emerged from a shelter with a screaming baby in her arms. She did not hesitate to approach Bane and Kale. "Christopher MacRae said the fairies here aren't hostile."

"Obviously he was mistaken," the blonde with the broken stick added.

Her glare moved from Kale to Bane with so much contempt that Bane had to lower his eyes. It would have been easier to stomach if she had been a regular fem-fairy, and not ridiculously, unearthly, mind-blowingly beautiful.

Kale finally lowered his sword. "You're here with Chris?"

"Yes," the fairy-male insisted, his eyes widening for emphasis. He was now on his feet, flicking mud off his shirt and slacks, the whole ensemble a bit too stuffy and formal for jungle inhabitancy.

"Then I'm going to have a little talk with him."

Kale took off, the anticipation of a showdown clearly flexing through his wings, muscles, and senses.

"Wait!" Bane called after him. "He's probably sleeping."

"So?" Kale continued his launch toward the hut. "Look. There's a light on in his room. He must be up already."

Bane swooshed into the air and landed in front of Kale, hands lightly pressed to his chest to dissuade him. "He might be . . . busy."

"With what?"

Even though Bane could feel blood dripping into his eye, he could still feel it lift slightly as he smiled. He turned Kale around by the shoulders. "C'mon. We'll talk to him later. Let's get out of here."

Kale seemed about to protest, but after a few steps in the opposite direction, the "intruders" seemed to reroute his train of thought. "Don't worry. We'll be back," he felt the need to say, regardless of their reason for being in Ilima.

Bane gave them an apologetic smile, but it did little to ease the tension. The three fairies had their glares set in the realm of unforgiving.

Did it matter? Yes. The error was theirs and the "first impression" would be a lasting one.

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Chris would have been fully asleep had it not been for one thing—the sun. His room was bright and he could feel the rays of intense heat on his bare back. The finicky part of his brain, which he had to admit was quieter than usual, was telling him he should have been up hours ago.

Everything about the night prior was irresponsible. Chris and Cassie had stayed up all night getting better acquainted, over and over again. Cassie just had so much energy and passion for him. It wasn't easy keeping up, but he pushed through, time and time after, and gave her a night to remember. For the record books, truly. He had never lost count before. And she had at least twice as many climaxes as he had! He didn't think it was even possible for something like to occur. But, when it came to the girl of his dreams in the flesh, there was a first for everything.

At dawn, they finally crashed into a deep sleep, coiled around each other like two who had officially become one.

Five more minutes, his aching muscles begged. He ignored the sun coming through his eyelids, kissed Cassie's bare shoulder, and drifted back to sleep.

The day progressed and grew warmer still. Eventually, an all too familiar buzzing sound was enough to jar him to full consciousness.

"See! He's home!" a boisterous voice shouted.

Ryan! Oh shit!

Chris eased Cassie off his arm, pulled the sheets over her naked body, and grabbed the first articles of clothing he could get his hands on. He was still fastening his pants when he heard the first knock.

He closed the bedroom door to a crack and threw a tunic over his head on his way to the front door.

Simona's grin was waiting there on the other side of it. "I heard you were back. How was the wedding?" She wandered inside the hut like she usually did and set the twins' bag on the table. Then she did a doubletake at the window. "What are the tents for?"

Chris ran his fingers through his tangled hair. It was overgrown and a touch curly. Damn humidity. "Uh. . ."

Simona peered at him. "Chris, you look terrible. Is everything all right?"

He glanced at the bedroom door over his shoulder and kept his voice low. "Yeah, I just woke up. That's all."

"Woke up? It's practically noon!" Simona also glanced at the bedroom door probably because Chris just did.

Simona was going to find out what he was hiding . . . in his room . . . eventually. But how should he put it exactly? Is now the right time?

Simona didn't interact with Cassie very much the first and only time they met, but Simona certainly knew Joe better than everyone else in Ilima did. She may have even loved him once. And here she was, first thing in the morning.

All right. It's more like afternoon.

No matter the time of day, he didn't have a chance to practice his story on someone less likely to tear it apart. He was hoping for Bane first. He had never met Joe and only heard the story of how they met Cassie through the filter of Chris's guilty conscience. It was the Kanaloan "prison" version; Cassie could do no wrong and Chris was doing everything in his power to atone for his sins against her. 

"I had trouble sleeping and . . . I'm recovering from an injury." He pointed to his back, shrugged, and made an "I don't know" gesture with his hands.

Before an awkward silence had a chance to settle in, the bedroom doorknob rattled. It captured Simona's eyes. And Chris's blood pressure and heartrate knew exactly what was coming next.

"Chris?" Cassie peeked from the crack and then opened the door, enough to reveal herself. She was at least covered, wearing one of Chris's oversized button-up shirts, but it was closed only to her chest and her legs were bare to the upper thigh.

When Cassie's and Simona's eyes met, wide with mutual shock, Cassie wrapped her arms across her body. "I'm sorry, I'll just . . . go." She retreated into the bedroom and shut the door.

When Simona's eyes drifted back to Chris, he forced a smile. "Simona, a word, outside." He began walking before she gathered her wits, placed his hand on her shoulder, and guided her from the hut.

He was moving fast—Simona tripped a few times trying to keep up—and was gaining some distance. All the while, reality was sinking in. The Ilimans might not appreciate the outcome of his Pyxis endeavor.

"Trouble sleeping, huh?" Simona blurted as Chris released her. She didn't wait for him to speak first.

He put his hands up in attempt to calm her down . . . and protect Cassie. Simona could say or do anything to him. He would take it without complaint as long as she left Cassie out of it. 

"It's not what it looks like."

Simona's eyes bulged out at him. When she looked away, she shook her head and let out a blip of dry laughter.

Chris's hands then waved as if he were trying to smear away his first answer before the ink dried. "Okay, it is what it looks like."

"What happened to your brother? And the wedding you supposedly went to?"

"There was no wedding."

"I think that's kind of obvious!" Simona shouted.

"Andromeda made sure of it," Chris said, lowering his voice, hoping Simona would do the same. "Thousands of her soldiers crashed the wedding. Joe and my father . . . who knows? They may not have escaped."

"And you couldn't even let the blood dry, out of respect? And what happens if they are alive?" she went on. "They'd probably come back here! Do you think everyone can live together again, happily ever after?"

"I haven't really thought that far ahead."

"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into? What you're getting us all into?"

"I'm taking things one day at a time. So please, no lectures right now. All right? And can you try to be supportive? For Cassie's sake? She's been through so much. . . ."

"I'll try," Simona said, her tone finally yielding to some degree. "But it's not that easy. Supporting your decision is like turning against your brother. You're both like family to me."

"I understand that."

"And the Princess of Pyxis? It's bad enough that you're here, but as a pair? How much more trouble do you think you could bring to this island?"

"I know, I know, I KNOW!"

Chris turned around and paced away, his fingers back in his hair.

"Sorry, Chris. I'm done now. You have a lot on your plate. For now, I'm happy if you're happy."

He stopped walking away, inhaled, exhaled, and then turned back around. "I am. I've always had my reasons to stay away from her. But I couldn't. It was pointless to even try. I love her and for whatever reason, she loves me too."

"I see that," Simona said, "and I think that's the most honest thing you've ever said to me."

He shrugged. "Better late than never, I guess."

"Yeah, something like that."

Simona looked amused all of a sudden and bobbed her nose at something behind Chris.

He turned to see Cassie making her way through the foliage with cautious wonderment. For a moment, she consumed Chris's entire awareness. She had found an old dress of hers, a pretty floral selection, one that made him realize how hopeless he really was back at a time when he wasn't supposed to be looking. Her dresses were in a sack underneath his bed. Even though they kept her memory painfully close, he never had the heart to get rid of them. She always looked incredible in rags, layers, cloaks, borrowed clothing, his shirts . . . but now. . .

"Hello, Simona," Cassie said as she took Chris's hand. "It's nice to see you again and I apologize for behaving so mindlessly earlier."

Simona waved her off. "Don't mention it. Hey, I have an idea. Chris, if you don't mind, why don't I show Cassie around? Ilima didn't exist the last time she was here."

He considered the suggestion and nodded when Cassie nodded. "That's a great idea, but please be careful."

"I will do my best to make sure your fem-fairy deprived comrades don't bother her."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

He pecked Cassie on her temple and then left her in Simona's care.

"The kids are at the lagoon," Simona said as they were leaving.

"That's what I figured." He began his stride in the opposite direction. "I'll go say hi."

He gave them a quick wave good-bye and then went to find his kids. He wondered how they would take the news.

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