Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"What?" Lucas scowled at Leonardo. "You do realize that just humping some random chick is not going to make that chick your bride, right?"

Byron frowned. "Yeah Man, if I had to marry every single person I slept with, I'd have a harem so large there wouldn't be a palace I owned that could handle them all."

He raised his eyebrows. "Of course, ever since I met Candace, I've been like a celibate monk." He rubbed at his chest. "I've been protecting this shard with my life."

Lucas pressed his lips into a tight line. He was not about to tell them he'd been 'deflowered' by Candace.

Wait. Did men have flowers to be 'deflowered'? Lucas didn't know the answer to that, but he didn't have much time to think about it. Leonardo was speaking again.

"You don't understand. She's pregnant." Leonard shook his head.

"Wait—what???" Lucas shook his head. "The Avgo shard…"

"I shot it into her." Leonardo muttered, looking absolutely miserable.

Byron and Lucas looked at each other.

"Man. Is that even possible? I thought the Avgo only goes where it wants to go." Lucas pondered.

Byron nodded. "That's absolutely correct. It knows its mother, Leo. It's not going to go to another woman." Byron murmured, rubbing his jaw.

"Wait. How did that happen?" Lucas waved a hand in protest. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Leonardo nodded. "One night, almost four weeks ago, me and Olivia were working late. I was trying to fix her wings, remember?"

At Lucas' and Byron's nods, he continued.

"It got super late. She was in some pain, so I suggested that we get a couple of drinks to relax her wing muscles a bit."

"A couple—a couple of drinks?" Lucas' eyes bulged.

"Yeah." Leonardo looked at the tumbler in his hands. "I had my usual mojito and she drank some other thing, I don't remember what…"

"Leo, a couple of mojitos wouldn't do anything to you. It would take at least a dozen of these concoctions before you even felt it!" Lucas waved a hand. "You can hold your liquor better than anyone I know!"

"That's true but for some weird reason, I got completely plastered that night." Leonardo shook his head.

"Maybe I was exhausted. Maybe I just had an off-day. I don't know, but I had no idea what hit me." He rubbed both hands at his temples.

"By morning, I woke up and she was sleeping beside me."

"You slept with her?" Byron scratched his head. "No, let me rephrase it. Did you have sex with her?"

Leonardo nodded.

"Do you remember any of it?"

Leonardo shook his head. "I just remember waking up naked and she was with me, also naked."

"And afterwards, did you sleep with her again?"

Leonardo shook his head. "I was too ashamed."

"Ashamed?" Lucas' eyes bulged.

Leonardo sighed. "It's a horrible feeling, Brother. I feel sick to my stomach. I cheated on Candace, and I don't even remember doing it!"

"Man!" Byron shook his head.

"I don't know what to tell you, Bro. How are you going to tell Candace? She's coming home in less than a week!"

"Fuck if I know!!!" Leonardo cursed. 'I was going to try and mitigate it on my end, play it down and make it inconsequential, but Olivia wouldn't have any of that."

"What do you mean?" Lucas turned glittering angry eyes at his brother.

Leonardo took a deep swallow of his mojito and gasped as the alcohol hit the back of his throat.

"She started calling me her husband in front of everyone, and since we'd been seen sleeping in the same bed, everyone began to assume I'd taken a consort."

"You could have objected and killed the noise." Byron sighed.

"I couldn't. She took a pregnancy test and the test came back positive. She's pregnant, Byron." Leonardo covered his face with both hands.

"Oh Man." Byron growled a deep frustrated sound.

"A few days after that, I got a message from Father saying that he had arranged it so that she would be my legal wife. I hadn't even told him about the pregnancy, but I figured she had told her family and between them and Father, it was a done deal."

Lucas slammed his hand onto Leonardo's jacket and pulled him closer. With his other hand, he touched Leonardo's chest, his eyes narrowing in focus. A few seconds later, he clicked his tongue in disgust.

"Tch. What the hell are you talking about Leo???"

"Huh?" Leonardo blinked at his brother in confusion.

"I can still feel the Avgo shard inside your chest!!!"

"What?" Leonardo's mouth was open, not quite understanding what Lucas meant.

Byron grimaced and reached out, grabbing onto both of Leonardo's hands. He slammed one palm into his chest and one palm into Lucas' chest.

"Feel the difference?"

Leonardo blinked and began to focus on the heart muscles of the two men in front of him. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

"Lucas' heart does not have the Avgo shard and you—"

"I still have the shard. I haven't had a chance to return it to our wife yet. Now." He pulled the hand that was touching Luca's chest. "Touch your own chest. What do you feel?"

"Feels…as if you and I both still have the shard inside us." Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut and began breathing in ragged breaths.

He hadn't been able to find his shard because it had been with him for awhile and he had gotten used to its presence. Once he touched Lucas' chest that had been devoid of the fragment however, he could tell the difference immediately.

"Oh thank God. I still have the Avgo shard. Thank you Lord!!! Thank you. Thank you." Leonardo continued muttering to himself, a tear rolling down his face.

"Believe me, you would know if you delivered that shard." Lucas laughed.

Leonardo opened his eyes. "How?"

"Not to give spoilers or anything but it honestly feels like a terrible excruciating heart attack." Lucas rubbed at his chest in remembered pain.

"Oh yeah?" Byron asked.

"Man. Not gonna lie. The pain was so intense, I nearly passed out!"

"I don't care." Leonardo covered his face with both hands. "I want to feel that pain. I need to go see Candace right now. I desperately need to see her again."

"I understand how you feel, Brother." Byron sighed. "You thought you had lost her forever but suddenly, you got a second chance to make it right." He shook his head. "That happened to me too."

Leonardo reached out and grasped both his brothers' hands. "I need to see her again. Please help me."

"What about Olivia?" Byron asked.

"What about her?" Leonardo shot an angry look at Byron.

"Didn't you say she was pregnant?"

"I don't care. I don't even know if that child is mine. What I do know is that I still have my Avgo shard that I need to deliver to my wife."

Lucas and Byron nodded.

"Well." Byron put down his drained mint julep. "No time like the present."

They got up and headed to the hangar. If they caught a ride on one of the Raptors flying to Dragon space, they could get there in less than three days.

"Leo!" Someone was calling him from behind.

It was Olivia Faraday.

Leonardo continued walking. He did not even bother to turn his head.

"Leo. Where are you going?" She called out again, more desperately.

"I'm going to be with my wife.." Leonardo responded.