Chapter 26

Hayden stared at Nora in the dark as she sat holding the little boy in her arms. Her eyes were wide open and filled with uncertainty and fear. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something but couldn't form the words.

"It's okay," Hayden said quickly to reassure her. "I'm okay....I'm fine."

"But..." a deep frown formed on Nora's lips. "How did that happen?"

"I don't know," Hayden shook his head. "But I'm fine."

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. Nora jumped in fright as Afet's voice called out to her from the other side.

"Nora?"

Noor began to shiver and whimper.

"Nora? Are you in there?"

Hayden sensed Nora's eyes land on him as he sat on the edge of the bed. He could hear her heart pounding with worry as the little boy wrapped his arms around her neck and cried.

"Nora, who's there with you?" Afet asked, knocking once more.

"Give me a second, please," Nora tried to keep her voice even.

Do you want me to leave? Hayden asked through their link.

Hesitating, Nora looked at him and then at the door.

I don't know what just happened, she said as she began to rise from the bed with Noor. But I don't think you should be here right now.

Hayden slowly nodded his head. He understood her fear. If she had been in his shoes, he too would have asked her to leave until they knew what was truly happening.

Will you be okay? Hayden asked, rising from the bed.

Nora nodded, biting her lip to keep the tears from appearing in her eye.

You can come with me....Hayden offered with hope in his heart.

"Nora?" Afet called from the other side once more.

Nora looked at the door and then at Hayden. The longing in her eyes that shimmered in the darkness made Hayden's knees weak. He would never be able to explain to her just how much she could have her way with his heart. He would do anything for the girl standing in front of him....anything. She just had to name it.

I'll be back as soon as you call me, Hayden stepped forward and carefully kissed Nora without touching Noor. I'll take you away from here.

What about Noor? Nora asked, her lips already missing the half jinn as he pulled away.

Bring him with you, Hayden said. For tonight.

"Nora?" Afet grew impatient. "Are you alright in there?"

With a snap of his finger, Hayden vanished into thin air in the darkness. The light came on in the room and the door knob turned on its own. Nora placed her arm protectively around Noor and turned to face the fey at the door.

"My goodness," Afet sighed, rushing into the room. "Are you alright? What took you so long?"

"I..." Nora shifted Noor in her arms. "I was trying to wake Noor up."

Afet's face softened as she looked at the little boy. She reached out and ran her hand through the back of his head, playing with his curls.

As if he wanted to crawl into Nora's chest like a cave and hide, Noor wrapped his arms and legs around her and muffled a sob in her hair.

Disturbed by his reaction, Afet walked around to look at the little boy.

"Noor," she cooed. "Baby, what's wrong?"

Noor hid his face and began to shiver. He shook his head as his little fingers dug into Nora's neck.

"Noor, you're hurting Nora," Afet frowned.

"It's okay," Nora stepped away. "He's just been very fussy today. It's fine."

Afet' frown only deepened. Her eyes grew concerned and her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Is everything okay?" Nora asked to shift the conversation. "Why....why did you come down here?"

Afet took in a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her arms, "Yeah, everything is okay...."

"What's wrong?"

"The guards were telling me they sensed someone coming in through the boundary."

"Oh?" Nora tried to keep her pulse low. "Who?"

"We don't know yet," Afet shook her head. "But I just wanted to come in and make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," Nora gave a small smile. "How....how are you holding up?"

With a sigh that seemed to age her, Afet looked out the window at the dark sea, "Udara has left behind a lot of work."

"Can I help?"

Afet slowly nodded, "Yes...."

"How?"

"When...when I arrived back," Afet cleared her throat. "I didn't really get a second to speak to her about Hayden and his mother."

"Okay," despite her struggle to keep it calm, Nora's heart started to panic.

"And now with Udara....gone...." Afet bit down on her lip as if trying to contain her emotions. "I just....I hope I'm making the right decision."

Nora did not say anything. She stared at the fey as she slowly swayed to sooth Noor in her arms.

"This should have been Udara's decision," Afet shook her head, her eyes watering.

Once again Nora stayed silent.

"But I know deep down she would have done whatever it took to save her people......save our people.....don't you think?"

"Yes..." Nora nodded.

Afet looked up and held Nora's gaze. The large room suddenly seemed stifling as Noor's tears soaked into Nora's hair and his body heat began to make her sweat.

"I think we should accept the help from Hayden and his family," Afet lowered her voice to make sure no one heard her in the halls.

"What....what about the people on the island?" Nora asked. "How will they react to....Hayden and his mother being here?"

"I will have to find a way to convince them," Afet sighed. "They can be stubborn....but nothing will stand for their argument if Hayden and Maya can help us save the children."

Nora slowly nodded her head.

"Will you..." Afet shifted her weight. "Will you reach out to them?"

"Okay...." Nora cleared her throat. "I can do that."

"Thank you, Nora," Afet sighed. She rushed forward and placed a kiss on top of the girl's head. "Seeing you here, standing beside me gives me courage. You're all that I have left now."

"I'm here," Nora said as the fey pulled back.

"Thank you," Afet said once more. "Now, if you will excuse me. I have to go tell the guards to find whoever it is that broke through the foundry."

"Maybe it was a deer from the woods or something," Nora tried to shake off the dread that stuck to her heart like sticky honey.

"Could be," Afet smiled, her body tired. "It won't be the first time that happened."

"I'm going to try and put Noor to bed," Nora said.

"Alright," Afet nodded. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night," Nora waited until the women stepped out to close the door and lock it.

Hayden?

Are you ready?

Nora swallowed the lump in her throat, Yes.

"Noor," Nora pulled away from the little boy to look at his face. "We're going to go on a little trip okay? I'm going to take you with me....is that okay?"

Noor's green eyes lifted as a portal opened in front of them. He watched Hayden step out and wait for Nora to take a step forward.

Growing timid once again, Noor tried to hide in Nora's shoulder. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand to get a better look at Hayden and the portal.

"He's a friend," Nora said sweetly. "He won't hurt us."

Noor looked unconvinced.

"He helped you, baby," Nora pushed back his hair. "He healed you."

Noor watched Hayden with careful eyes.

"Do you want to come along with me?" Nora asked. "I have to go with him."

Hearing Nora had to leave, Noor began to panic. He looked at her with his little eyes filled with fear and worry as his breathing labored, ready to start crying again.

"But not without you," Nora rushed to explain. "I'm going to go with you.....is that okay? Do you want to go with my friend?"

Noor looked at Hayden once more, his eyes swimming with tears and fear. Hayden knew that look all too well. The little thing was scared out of his mind to be separated from Nora.

"Hey...." Hayden held out his flat open palm towards the little boy. "I'm not going to take her away from you....I promise."

Nora carefully took a step forward. Her eyes locked on Noor, ready to jump back if he wasn't ready to meet Hayden yet.

"He's a friend," she said, soothing the boy and rubbing his back.

"Do you like chocolate?" Hayden smiled.

Nora and Noor watched as Hayden swirled his fingers over his palm and a puff of smoke appeared. Nora steps a bit closer seeing how curious Noor grew as the smoke fell apart to revive a chocolate bar.

"Oh man," Hayden chuckled. "I was going for a whole box."

"His sister is better at it," Nora whispered to Noor.

"It's for you," Hayden held up the chocolate bar towards Noor.

"Go on," Nora said, seeing how Noor hesitated. "Take it."

With timid hands, Noor slowly reached out and took the chocolate bar from Hayden. He pulled back as if he had been shocked and laid his head on Nora's shoulder.

"Should we go with him now?" Nora asked, kissing his head.

Noor slowly nodded.

With relief, Hayden stepped aside and ushered Nora into the portal. For a few seconds, he worried about how the little boy might respond to the anti gravity for the portal. But as soon as they arrived in Ares and Clare's apartment, the exhilarating look in Noor's little eyes made Hayden chuckle.

"Was that fun?" He asked as Noor stared at the portal over Nora's shoulder.

Shifting his eyes to Hayden, Noor nodded.

Suddenly, Hayden wanted to take the kid through the portal again. He couldn't stand the fear in those green eyes as he clung to Nora's neck, terrified of letting her go. But if going through the portal and summoning chocolate bars lessened the fear even just by a fraction, then Hayden would do it.

"Don't tell me you two picked up a stray," Heyder's voice welcomed the couple into the apartment.

Nora turned toward the jinn and smiled, "I broke the charm."

"Yay," Heyder said with zero emotion in his voice. "What's that little thing hanging around your neck?"

"This is Noor," Hayden took a step forward to stand beside Nora. "He's a fey."

"The one you healed tonight?"

"Yes," Hayden nodded.

"Maya!"

Noor jumped as Heyder's loud voice called out to the witch.

"Baba, can you not do that," Hayden frowned, angling his body to shield Nora and Noor.

"Aww, look at you," Birdie suddenly mocked from the doorway. "What a family man....they grow up so fast."

"Noor," Nora whispered to the little boy as she watched Birdie walk into the room. "Do you want to meet a very special friend of mine?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Peanut," Heyder's eyes narrowed. "My Birdie is 99% jinn, remember?"

"I'll be fine," Birdie ignored her father and stepped towards Nora.

Noor slowly turned and looked around at everyone over Hayden's shoulder. Birdie gasped as she spotted the dark green of his little beady eyes and the narrow tips of his ears that looked as if they would someday turn pointy like hers.

"Awwwwww, baby cakes," Birdie's voice changed, her eyes grew wider and her hands reached for Noor. "He's so cute. I want to eat him up!"

"Birdie!" Hayden scolded the girl for her poor choice of words.

"No, no. Not like that," Birdie shook her head. "I just meant that you are so cute and so adorable and so tiny that I can hold you and carry you around like a little puppy."

Nora laughed as she took a small step forward. She could feel Noor at ease in her arms as she stepped around Hayden and took another step towards Birdie.

"Hi, baby," Birdie cooed.

"Noor, say Hi Birdie," Nora smiled down at the little boy.

Noor smiled and laid his head back down against Nora's shoulder. His cheeks started to blush as he stared at the silver haired girl. Hayden wrapped an arm around Nora's waist and pulled her closer as they allowed the little boy to warm up to Birdie at his own speed.

"If you let me hold you, I'll give you ten more chocolate bars," Birdie whispered, leaning over to look at Noor through Nora's hair.

"Birdie..." Heyder hovered behind her restlessly.

"It's okay, baba," Hayden tried to ease his worries. "We're all here."

"What's going on?" Maya asked, walking in with Clare.

"Oh here we go," Heyder muttered under his breath.

"Hayden, who is that?" Clare tried to catch a glimpse of Noor.

"This is Noor," Birdie stepped aside. "He's a full fey baby. Isn't he so cute? Look at his eyes! So beautiful."

Maya's eyes shifted towards her husband.

"Don't look at me. As if they ever listen to me," Heyder snorted. "They get that from you."

"And what do they get from you?" Maya glared. "Your good looks, bad temper, cunning wit, and manipulation tactics?"

"That's a hell of a lot I contributed to this project."

"You guys, please," Hayden clicked his tongue. "Not in front of the kid."

"It'll build character," Heyder rolled his eyes. "He needs to toughen up and not hide in Nora's hair."

"He's like four!" Birdie shrieked. "All he has to do is be cute and let me hold him so I can give him chocolates and Laddu."

"Birdie, wait. Hold on a second," Maya held out her hand. "Your baba is right. You need to be carefu-"

"He won't hurt her," Clare suddenly said, her eyes fixed on the little boy in Nora's arms.

"See!" Birdie stepped forward.

"Clare!" Heyder snapped.

Clare ignored the jinn and stepped forward. She appeared beside Birdie and leaned forward to introduce herself to Noor.

"Hi, Noor," she smiled. "I'm Clare."

"Hi..." Noor whispered, surprising everyone by moving his lips.

"Oh my god," Birdie melted. "Hi, baby. Can I hold you? Please, please."

Nora was shocked when Noor lifted his head slowly and reached for Birdie. The girl gasped, swinging the boy out of Nora's arms and placing him on her hips.

"Gently," Hayden reminded his sister as he watched her skip away with the boy.

"You're not getting him back," Clare laughed.

"Clare," Maya looked at her daughter with concerned eyes. "Are you sure..."

"Yes," Clare nodded. "Noor won't do a thing."

"How sure are you?" Heyder asked.

"For god's sake, you guys had an adult fey in your house," Clare rolled her eyes. "This is a child."

"Correction," Heyder held up a finger. "A dying adult fey. This is a very alive child."

"Cara," Clare called to her daughter upstairs. "Babe, could you come down here for a second?"

Hayden took Nora's hand and moved her away from the rest as Clare turned back to look at Heyder.

"I'll have Cara sit with Noor too," she said. "Will that be enough proof that Noor won't do anything?"

"Maybe..." Heyder mumbled as Cara began to come down the stairs.

"Who's this?" The demigoddess asked, looking at Noor on Birdie's lap.

"My son," Birdie wrapped her arms around Noor and kissed the top of his head. "Look at him! He's beautiful!"

"He looks nothing like you," Cara laughed. "Good luck trying to convince people you cooked him up in your oven."

"Where's Ares?" Hayden looked at Clare. "We need to talk about what happened tonight."

"Afet wants you and Maya to come to the island," Nora looked up at Hayden. "But I....after what happened tonight with Noor."

"Do you know anything about this?" Maya looked at Heyder. "How was Noor able to pull on Hayden's jinn magic?"

"I am clueless," Heyder let out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ali should be back any second now with the books from court."

"Where's Adan?" Clare asked.

"He went with Ali," Maya couldn't take her eyes off of Birdie and Noor.

"Maya," Clare touched her cousin's hand. "I promise you. They will be fine. Let's go talk in the other room."

Along with Maya and Heyder, Nora began to hesitate too. She was relieved Noor was calm and happy on Birdie's lap. But she couldn't shake off the fear that he would start to cry once again if he didn't see her.

"Don't worry," Hayden leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Birdie will call us if anything happens."

Nora slowly nodded. She watched Birdie unwrap the chocolate bar for Noor as she began to follow everyone towards Clare's study.

"You guys made the right call bringing him here," Clare stayed back to walk with Hayden and Nora. "He's very distressed."

"Why?" Nora frowned. "He's never been like this."

"I can't tell why," Clare looked over her shoulder. "But I sense a great deal of fear in him. Something scared him."

"He saw Udara pass away," Nora felt her heart contract.

"That could explain his fear," Clare nodded slowly. "He's so young....."

As they all filed into the study, Clare paused by the door and stared at the little boy.

"What is it?" Hayden asked.

"It's something else," Clare said, almost to herself. "He's not fearful because he saw Udara pass away....there's something else."

"How long are you guys planning on staying tonight?" Maya asked, looking at Hayden and Nora. "Maybe one of the psychiatrists from campus can come speak to Noor."

"Maybe," Clare said, slowly closing the door.

"Okay....so," Heyder clapped his hands. "Evil queen is dead. Snow white is now on the throne and she wants our help to save her dwarfs. Only problem is, the dwarfs are now getting a bit too greedy? Do I have everything?"

"I don't think Noor did anything on purpose," Hayden shook his head.

"Of course not," Clare agreed. "He's a child. He has no ill will."

"Doesn't change the fact that he did start feeding from Hayden," Heyder said.

"Is that even a thing?" Maya asked. "Can they even do that?"

"Vampires drink from others all the time," Heyder shrugged. "Who's to say feys don't?"

As they all stood around talking about the problem at hand, Clare looked over her shoulder just seconds before Ares walked through the door. Their eyes met and the cold hardness on the god's face melted instantly. Nora watched as his bronze armor vanished, as if melting into his skin. The god walked up to his wife and wrapped her in his arms before gently kissing her lisp.

"What did I miss?" Ares asked, breaking away from Clare and looking around. His eyes landed on Hayden and Nora and he arched his brow. "That little thing on Birdie's lap.....did you two bring him?"

Nora nodded.

"He's harmless," Hayden said. "We had to bring him because he can't be away from Nora."

"Sounds like a leech," Heyder said under his breath.

"What's going on?" Ares looked at the jinn and then at his wife's distressed eyes. "Maya? You good?"

"Hayden tried to heal the little boy today," Maya began to explain. "But Noor...he started to pull on Hayden's jinn magic."

"Ah shit," Ares began to rub his forehead and mutter. "This is what I was afraid of."

"You knew this would happen?" Heyder's head snapped towards the god.

"I wasn't 100% sure," Ares said in his defense.

"What the fuck man?" Heyder yelled. "What does that mean?"

"Hold on a sec," Ares held up his hand. "I didn't mention anything earlier because Maya is a witch so it didn't concern her. And Hayden is half jinn with fey magic. I assumed it wouldn't happen to him?"

"What wouldn't happen to him?" Maya's impatience matched her husbands.

"A long time ago," Ares took a deep breath. "When feys were at the top of the food chain they kept jinns as servants."

"Yes, we're aware of that," Maya said. "Next."

"They remained at the top because their powers were unmatched on Earth," Ares explained. "And there was a reason for that. For why they had so much power and strength."

The air around the room suddenly began to turn cold. Nora shivered as everyone looked around at each other. No one was ready to speak the words aloud.

"Fuck," Heyder said after a pause. "They were feeding off of jinns."

Ares slowly nodded, "Yeah."

"You didn't think to share this information when we made plans to save an island full of feys?" Maya asked.

"I thought they wouldn't be able to do that to Hayden," Ares said once more. "He's half fey."

"I can't believe this," Heyder stormed towards the door. "Birdie!"

"Heyder, don't scare the boy," Clare hurried after him.

"Birdie, step away from the kid!" Heyder rushed out.

Nora took off after Clare with Hayden at her heels. She spotted Noor sitting on Birdie's lap with his eyes widening as Heyder rushed towards them.

"Baba, calm down," Hayden tried to stop his father. "You're going to scare him. Clare said he won't do anyth-"

"Nora!" Noor suddenly began to cry.

He wiggled off of Birdie's lap and ran straight for Nora, ignoring Cara or anyone else that tried to stop him.

"Heyder, he's a kid!" Ares said, walking out.

"Nora!" Noor's breathing labored as he jumped into her arms and hid in the crook of her hair.

Before anyone could say another word, a faint purple force field appeared around the girl and the child as Nora kneeled to the floor to meet Noor.

Heyder jumped back as Maya gasped and stepped forward. A small smile appeared on Clare's face as she stared at the very familiar spell the little boy had just cast.

"Nora-"

"No, Hayden. Don't!" Clare stopped him as he tried to step forward.

"What's he doing?" Birdie jumped to her feet.

"He just cast his first spell," Clare said with wonder and amazement in her eyes. "A shielding spell."

"He's protecting Nora," Cara tilted her head and stepped towards the dome of energy around the pair.

"Noor," Nora slowly pulled back as she looked around at the purple light around her. "Baby, we're okay. It's fine."

Noor's little hands clenched tightly as he held onto the spell with all his might. He began to tremble and whimper as the light flickered around them.

"Noor, stop," Nora took his fists and used her thumb to relax them. "You're going to use up all your energy."

Hayden took a step forward and kneeled beside the force field. He could feel the heat and the energy dance over his skin, tugging at his own fey magic. Slowly, he raised his hand, adding onto the shield and strengthening the light.

"I got her, Noor, '' Hayden said. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen."

Noor slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Hayden. The shield began to expand and mold around to pull Hayden inside.

"Does this remind you of anything?" Clare looked over her shoulder at Maya.

"This is not the same thing," Heyder shook his head.

"If you say so," Clare sighed and rose to her feet. "But Noor is behaving a lot like Hayden when Maya was pregnant with him."

"We...we have bigger problems," Maya shook her head. "Afet wants us on the island....how will we help if it's just me? Hayden can't be there."

"Hold that thought, sweet baby," Heyder's face suddenly paled. "I think we have a bigger problem."

Everyone in the room looked up at the jinn as he turned toward the floor to ceiling glass walls of the penthouse. They followed his eyes to the dark clouds that floated past the home in the skies.

At first Nora had no idea what everyone was looking at. She peered into the darkness until her gaze began to catch a glimpse of stars... brilliant starts that seemed to be growing closer and closer.

"What is that?" She asked.

Suddenly, everything happened all at once.

The glass exploded as Hayden and Heyder switched to their smokeless form. Ares' armor appeared and Maya threw a shield around Cara and Birdie.

Maaz! No! Heyder shouted as one of the shooting starts headed straight for Hayden and Noor kneeled on the floor with Noor.

Noor screamed as the jinn's flames collided with his and Hayden's shield. Nora's hair flew back from the blast, heating up her face with the intense heat.

Get away from them! Heyder shot forward and knocked the jinn back as Clare flapped her fire wings and Ares swung his sword at the entourage of jinns that followed behind Maaz.

"Hayden," Maya called to her son as she casted spells to put the glass back up before they were overwhelmed. "Get out of here. Take Birdie with you!"

"No, Mom!" Birdie protested, her eyes glowing silver.

"We're not leaving you and baba here," Hayden shook his head.

You idiots, we fought gods, Heyder yelled. We can handle this. Get the girls out of here!

"Cara, stay with Birdie and Hayden!" Ares said as he bent the air around his daughter and pushed her towards Hayden.

"Daddy!" Cara carried out for her father.

"Hayden, go!" Ares yelled, ripping through a jinn with his blade.

Hayden's shield expanded as he pulled Birdie and Cara towards them. Nora jumped closer as Noor wrapped himself around her. Once everyone was under the same dome of protection, Hayden snapped his fingers and they all vanished from the penthouse.   

Noor is not Nora and Hayden's son from another timeline!! Nora can only have female children. And no he is not Nura's kid either. Nura (Maaz's half jinn/half fey daughter who DIED) lived WAY before Heyder was even born!