Page 71 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

“Can I suggest a movie?” I asked, twisting to look at the others. “It’s a bit of an acquired taste, though.”

This seemed to pique Vili’s interest. “What movie, kitten? I love odd films.”

“Ever heard of Labyrinth? It’s an old movie with singing, puppets, and amazing costumes,” I explained.

Gareth’s mouth popped open in surprise. “That was Callie’s favorite movie. I haven’t seen it in ages, but I can promise I remember all the words to the songs. That girl would sing them at the top of her lungs randomly throughout the day, especially during farm chores.” Gareth chuckled, rubbing his forehead. “God, I can still see her feeding the chickens, telling them they reminded her of the babe.”

“What babe?” Warrick asked, his face showing true confusion.

“The babe with the power,” I answered.

“Okay, what the hell… neither of you is making sense. What power could a baby possibly have?” Warrick said, exasperated.

Gareth grinned like a fool as he leaned in and pretended to whisper in Warrick’s ear, “The power of voodoo.”

“Voodoo? Now I know you two are messing with me,” Warrick shot back. “There isn’t a baby in the world who can practice voodoo.”

“Oh, but one might if they were kidnapped by the Goblin King,” I defended.

Warrick started to say something but stopped and pulled out his phone to look at something. “Fantastic, it’s available on streaming so I can figure out what the hell you two are going on about.”

Yun-Sun smiled and caught my gaze, giving me a wink, making me think he knew exactly what Gareth and I were doing. “Looks like your pick wins, sweetheart. Do we need anything before this movie starts?”

Ulysses set me on the couch and stood. “Let’s at least get the remnants of dinner out of the way so we can make the couch into a bed.”

“Smart man,” Warrick said with a clap of the hands. “Tonight is a night of epic Omega snuggles. I can feel it.”

“It’s almost two hours long so we might need to rotate through the movie,” Gareth pointed out. “Unless we want to decide whoever sits next to her now gets the fringe spots when we go to bed.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Vili suggested, holding his hand up in a fist, ready to go.

Leaving the guys to determine the best course of action, I carried empty containers into the kitchen. Ulysses held the trash open for me, and I dumped my load into it.

“Hey, before you head back, I think you should have this so you can charge it for tomorrow,” Lysse said as he pulled open a drawer and handed me my phone.

I’d totally forgotten the damn thing since I hadn’t needed to worry about checking in with Crew or Eli if I went somewhere. Taking it from Lysse, I tried to turn it on, but true to his prediction, it just blinked low battery and shut off.

“You don’t think Randall still believes we’re together, do you?” I asked. “It makes no sense. I found my scent matches, and anything that happened before that would be over. Why would he even try to get me to come back to him and forget about you guys?”

Ulysses tucked me to his side and pressed a kiss to my head. “Just reading the messages he left you, it’s clear that Randall might not experience being told no all that often. There could be other factors we don’t know about or possibly a mental illness that makes him obsess or cling to things in his life. No matter what he threatens, there is nothing anyone could do to convince us to walk away from you.”

He let out a heavy sigh, nuzzling his cheek against my hair. “If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have given you the damn thing back until you wore our marks. Then it wouldn’t matter what anyone said or did, you’d be bound to us by a ritual that no one can break or dispute. All that aside, keeping you safe and knowing you have your phone with you tomorrow is more important.”

“Then I’ll charge it tonight, but I won’t turn it on until we get to the studio. I don’t want anything to ruin the perfect night we’re having,” I decided, setting the phone on the counter. “It can wait until the movie is over.”

With a sweet kiss on my lips, Ulysses led me back to the living room, where everyone was waiting for me to join.

“Get over here, Care Bear,” Warrick urged, patting the spot between him and Vili. “I need you here to protect me from the Goblin King.”

Grinning, I skipped over to them and leaped into the couch nest they made. Snuggled up between my two sunshine Alphas, all the worry that revolved around my phone faded away. It had been at least a year since I’d seen the movie, and I was just reminded how much I loved it. The moment Magic Dance came on, Gareth and I sang along, trading parts like we’d done this for years.

When the lightbulb went on for Warrick, he laughed, enjoying the joke. “Nicely played, you two. I walked right into that and didn’t even know it.”

“That’s what made it all the more perfect,” I admitted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Is that so? You like teasing me, is that it?” Warrick accused, then pounced, tickling me until I begged for mercy. “Mercy, you want mercy? Well, it’s gonna cost you, Care Bear. I demand a million kisses. I’ll even be nice and let you pay it off in installments.”

I gazed up at Warrick, his citrine-colored eyes shimmering with love and laughter. “That will take me a lifetime to pay back.”