by J. L. Madore
Seth spun. “What business is it of yours?”
Hark looked at him like he was the one who’d flown over the cuckoo’s nest. Didn’t he see her?
“My building. Want them out. They stink.”
He couldn’t argue there. Leviathans came from Serpentines. They were snake demons and not the most hygienic nesters. “Have you seen a baby?”
“I not stupid. Many babies.”
“What about a newborn . . . maybe kept apart from the others . . . in the care of a blonde woman?”
“I see that.”
It was stupid to jump in with both feet. Still, he couldn’t stop the burgeoning hope. “Take me to him and I’ll exterminate your building.”
“No more stink people?”
He nodded. “Guaranteed.”
He offered her all the conviction he could while she eyed him up and down. “Fine, birdman. You come. You see too.”
His ghostly guide shot off a split-second before he up-and-overed the half-wall and crossed the courtyard behind her. “Moving in,” he said, materializing at the door. “I’ve got an inside line on my son.”
He didn’t have time to explain—they had to trust him. The best thing about his brothers was that they would. There was no doubt in his mind they were moving in from all sides.
Grabbing the door of the abandoned building, he cranked it open. Hark, back-flatting against the brick, followed him in.
The precision of the infiltration spoke of the thousands of years they’d had each other’s backs.
The interior of the sanitarium brought him up short. The rich colors of twenty-foot fabric swaths, the ambient glow of the chandeliers, the spice of incense burning up ahead.
W.T.F.? He pushed the Martha Stewart mindfuck out of his head and jogged along the wall of the vast common room. The worst part of this was that the enemy had the advantage of all the hiding spots, while he and Hark were out in the wide open, with a target on their backs.
Here I am, it said. Pick me off.
The sound of a baby crying up ahead jarred his heart rate.
I’m coming, little man. Hang in there.
He followed the sound of the child into the darkness of patient resident corridors. Light burst behind him and he knew Hark was on the case. It was a damned good thing that years of training had him checking sightlines and clearing corners because his mind wasn’t in it.
His beast lost its grip, infuriated by the boy’s distress.
His protective instinct detonated within, his Mark exploding into a brilliant green glow. Yep. Without a doubt, that child was his. His! And Thrash had dared to take him from them.
The bitch would suffer.
“Cafeteria, east wing,” Zander said over the comm.
“Entering now,” Seth said, running, watching his footing, searching for tripwires or booby traps of any kind.
Women screamed ahead and his bowels all but liquified. The only thing that kept him level was the constant drone of the baby’s cry. “It’s a community room,” Zander said. “I repeat, there are Serpentine civilians in here.”
“Thrash is rabbiting,” Kyrian said. Heavy breathing filled the comms as they waited for more to go on. “Carrying a bundle in her arms.”
Zander growled. “Get her, Greek. Danel and Phoenix, back him up.”
Seth and Hark pushed past the crowds, the Nubian holding up his Moonstone to light their way. The brilliance of the heavenly light forced the demons back into the shadows, leaving a cluster of citizens in the center of the room.
“Stupid birdman!” the young ghost yelled, pointing down a dark corridor, deeper into the residential rooms.
“The blonde’s on the run,” he said. “She has my son.”
“Fooled the fool, she did.”
Seth cursed his snarky Yoda. “You’re saying she doesn’t have my son?”
“Many babies. Come. You see.”
Seth looked from the corridor to the exit, torn between wanting to join the chase and the look in the ghost’s eyes.
Zander cleared the common area, riled up and lethal. “What’s the holdup? Thrash is on the run.”
Seth raised his gun and headed down the corridor after the ghost. “You go. I have to check something out.”
Zander fell into stride behind him, with Hark bringing up the rear. “Mind cluing me in?”
“I’ve got a ghost telling me Thrash is decoying us.”
Zander didn’t say anything more. If this was a mistake, it was his to make. His kid. His call.
He followed the apparition past an old nurse’s station to what would have been a patient ward back in the day. And yep, there were, indeed, babies.
The women tending to the children fled as the three of them burst in, leaving three playpens of small children and babies.
“Three, stupids,” the ghost said. “See. They stink.”
“We’ve got you covered,” Zander said, stepping to the far side of the playpens, forcing the women further into the shadows. “Is he there?”
Seth drew a deep breath, terrified to look too closely at the children. What if he couldn’t tell? What if he didn’t recognize his own son?
He thought about Thea’s suffering and kicked himself in the ass. He needed to ball-up and grab the fucking reins.
Two toddlers lay in the first playpen and four infants slept on the cushioned mat of the second, the third had three more, and—his breath caught as he locked onto the little angel he sired.
It wasn’t the golden hair of his angel mother or the olive skin that mirrored his own, that made him certain this was his son. When his eyes locked on, the kid stilled his heart and mind.
He felt the child within him.
He felt the boy’s hunger . . . his need.
He felt his son shift the very foundation of his soul.
His Mark burst into another round of pub-sign illumination and he sheathed his guns. He reached down and picked up the swaddled bundle. The motion of claiming him from his nap jostled him awake and he blinked.
Strange silver-blue eyes swirled up at him. They shimmered and caught the light like nebulous gas. “Did that bitch do this to him?”
Zander leaned in and took a look. “Maybe it’s natural. After all, he’s the first child born from a Nephilim-Powers mating. He doesn’t seem to be suffering in any way.”
Seth reached out with his magical side and agreed.
The boy was now content—utterly happy to be in his arms. Seth shifted position and cradled the tiny dude while trying not to forget his own strength. Yeah, the eyes were weird but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, right?
Zander positioned himself before the line of Serpentine women and drew his dagger. “Gregor’s sons—your husbands and brothers—allied themselves with the Shedim rebels. They targeted a member our family, a pregnant female, and took from us. No quarter will be given. They will die for it.”
One female waved a hand through the air. “You can’t hold every male responsi—”
“Serpentines will live,” Zander continued, cutting her off. “Leviathans will be hunted and killed on sight. That second phase of your Darkworld nature was forbidden for good reason. Raise this generation wisely, ladies. Teach your children that rebellion serves no one.”
Seth didn’t give two shits about the lives of the people who’d done this to Thea and their son. He would spend his days tracking down and dispatching every Leviathan aberration until extinction took hold.
Phoenix jogged into the room and signed the update on tracking Thrash. The bundle she’d had was bogus.
They knew that, thanks to Ghost Girl.
Seth held up his son, so his twin could see. “He’s pretty fucking spectacular, don’t you think?”
That he is, my brother, Phoenix said, checking that Zander and Hark still had the room secured before leaning in to take a closer look. Let’s get him home. His mother has waited too long to meet him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Thea paced the wide corridor of t
he clinic, her entire body both numb and firing at once. She peeked out the door and then returned past the recovery stalls, to the operating room. “They said he’s unharmed, yes?”
Austin rose from the arm of one of the sofas in the waiting area. “Yes. Zander said he seems unharmed. Seth and Hark are bringing him home. I’m sure they’ll be here any moment.”
“And Thrash?”
“Kyrian and Danel tracked her back to a war camp deep in the woods up north. Zander and Phoenix are headed there now. When everyone gets there, they’ll take care of her for good. She won’t hurt you or your son again.”
Thea felt guilty for the surge of pleasure. The animals who’d kidnapped and tortured her and her child would pay for their transgressions. Seth, Phoenix, and their brothers-in-arms would exact the harshest justice their positions would allow.
“What’s tak—”
The gentle creak of the door had her spinning and bolting down the corridor. Seth strode through the entrance, a wrapped child cradled in his arms. Standing to his full six-foot-seven height, wings back, and eyes clear and focused on her, she truly saw him for the first time.
This was the warrior and beast—the father—united and committed to bringing their son home.
Racing as she was, she almost ran straight into him. He opened one arm and pulled her against his frame, preventing her from falling. “Look, little buddy, this is your mom. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Thea didn’t feel beautiful. Tears stained her cheeks and dampened the massive sweatshirt she wore. It was Seth’s. He’d stayed in her room for the hours she’d been recuperating, and when Ronnie came in to tell her he had a lead, she’d put it on to feel close to him and lend him strength.
She swiped her face with the floppy sleeve and held out her arms. “May I hold him?”
“Yeah, you can.” Seth transferred the precious boy into her arms. Staring down at the sleeping child, her worries dissolved.
“He has your cheekbones,” she sobbed, “and your nose.”
Seth nodded, tracing a gentle finger down the baby’s cheek. “And his mouth is all you . . . and the hair.”
She leaned against his side, thankful Seth was the size of a tree and just as strong. “Thank you. Oh, thank you for bringing him home.”
Seth wrapped a heavy arm around her and nodded against her head. “There was no other option.”
“I hate to break this up,” Drina said, from the far end of the corridor. “I’d like to examine him as soon as possible.”
“Right,” Seth said, escorting them toward the purple-haired Reaper. “I don’t want to sound any alarm bells, Doc, ’cause it’s totally cool, but check his eyes and see what that’s about.”
Thea studied the forced upturn of Seth’s tight smile, her heart racing. “What’s wrong with his eyes? They never let me see him . . . have they done something to him?”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t think so, but in all the races in all the realms, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
As if their son knew they were talking about him, he blinked awake. The silver-blue swirl of his eyes stunned her. Simply stopped her heart short. They were astoundingly beautiful, but she’d never seen anything like it either.
Quickening her pace, she brought him to the doctor. “Why are his eyes like this?”
Doc Drina took the baby and her expression gave nothing away. “Let me check him out, then, maybe we’ll know more.”
Thea started to tremble as Drina placed her son in Nio’s little incubator bed. She feared her legs might not support her much longer, but she didn’t want to take her eyes off her child.
“S’all good, angel,” Seth whispered close to her ear. “He’s fine. I know it. This is just nerves hitting you.”
Her legs buckled, and she dropped toward the floor.
“I got you.” Seth swept her off her feet before she hit the tile. He turned, carrying her away from their son.
“Shh, don’t panic.” He pulled her tighter to his chest and side-stepped into the first recovery room. After propping up the pillows, he sat her at the head of the bed and brought over one of the plastic visitor’s chairs.
“He’s fine. Let’s focus on you for a sec. How you doin’?”
“Me? I’m . . . why do you ask?”
He squeezed her hands and his smile eased. “You got awfully pale there for a sec. Kyrian and Drina both said you’d make a full recovery, but still . . . you’ve been through a lot.”
Full recovery. She wondered what that meant. Would she ever feel like she did before? Would she ever talk to a stranger without remembering? Would she ever forgive herself for what could have happened to their baby?
“I’ll have scars . . . from the spikes.”
Seth frowned but it seemed to be more about anger than repulsion. “I’m sorry. That sucks. I know how hard it is on Austin to wear a reminder of a terrible time.”
“I should wear a reminder. We almost lost our child because of me. Can you ever forgive me?”
Opening up his massive arms, he leaned forward and hugged her. “There’s nothing to forgive. If anything, it was my fault you felt so alone. Of course you wanted to connect with a male. I honestly didn’t understand how much of an asshat I’d been until I realized the danger.”
“And now . . . you’ll be his father? You’ll acknowledge him as your son?”
Seth cupped her jaw and tilted her face to look at him. “He is mine.” He used the Alpha tone she’d heard Danel and Zander use when speaking about their mates. “No harm shall befall him, or his mother, as long as I exist within the three realms.”
Thea didn’t know what that meant exactly.
He was claiming her . . . as the mother of his son?
What did that imply? She didn’t have the mental clarity to think it out. Her son was her priority at that moment. “What should we name him?”
Seth shrugged. “I have a few ideas.”
Zander’s shitkickers crunched through the crust of snow as he and Hark joined their brothers. Man, there were times he envied Kang and his crew living in Georgia. He rubbed his hands together, cupped them, and blew warm breath into his palms. “Okay, what’ve we got?”
Kyrian handed him a Tim’s cup and he palmed the piping hot coffee.
“How do you boys have coffee in the middle of nowhere?”
“When Danel’s on a stakeout, there’s coffee. End of.”
Zander met the Persian’s whiskey-colored gaze and the guy shrugged. “Everybody’s got their thing, Z. Mine just happens to be java. Could be worse.”
Yeah, and considering he had a piping-hot cup warming his palms, he wouldn’t complain. He cracked the tab on the lid and clicked it back into place. Blowing into the little opening, he watched the steam rise into the late afternoon air. “I put a call out to Brennus and Bo. I doubt they’ll get it in time, but here’s hoping.”
What about Seth? Phoenix signed.
Zander swallowed a mouthful of caffeine ambrosia. “He’s staying with Thea and the baby.”
He’s passing on the fight of his life?
“It knocked me for a loop too. Priorities change, though. Our boy is growing up.”
Zander sipped at his coffee and considered their options. They were severely outmanned and outgunned. Still, there was no way they would put off taking these assholes down. They needed the win. They needed to send a message.
When the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, he turned to see who was joining them: Colt, Rayvn, Drake, Meck, and Colin came through the trees, looking like the biggest mismatch of Darkworld badasses he’d ever seen.
Zander and his brothers met the five with a jaunty round of fist-bumps. “Just in the neighborhood?”
“We’re your backup,” Rayvn said, a wide grin bustin’ loose on the Dragon’s face. “A little birdy called and said you were revving up for a tough fight, and no one RSVP’ed for the party.”
Zander chuckled, shaking out the tension in his shoulders. “Might t
his little birdy have a name?”
Rayvn shrugged off his jacket and laid it over a low branch before unbuttoning his shirt. “Didn’t say, but I can tell all y’all that the little lady is forbidding any more injuries flooding back to the clinic.”
Colt checked his magazine was full and sighted a tree trunk in the distance. The red laser cut through the falling darkness and highlighted his target. “There may also have been promises of home-cooked meals.”
“And,” Meck added, “if we prove ourselves in battle, we’re getting deputized for future engagements. We might even get our own vests.”
“Is that so?” Zander shook his head, unsure whether to be angry at the meddling in his Otherworld calling or amazed at the power of a Texan woman with determination.
Colt stretched his neck and let his Ice Demon side ascend. His eyes glowed bright turquoise and he took his gloves off his hands. “How much force are we using here, Sumerian? Are we law keepers focused on Thrash and the latest head of the Leviathan snake, or are we having fun?”
Zander set his coffee back in the cardboard carrier tray. “It’s your lucky day. This is total annihilation. I’m so fucking sick of these assholes coming at us. Pipe bombs and stealing our kids go waaaay over the line of all’s fair. This is a culling of the enemy, my brothers. Burn the bodies and keep the heads.”
“I can’t be the one to kill Thrash,” Kyrian said. “I killed Cassi’s father, I can’t kill her sister too.”
Zander nodded. “Not an issue, Adelphos. For her part in both Austin and Thea’s suffering, I’m looking forward to lopping off her head myself. If you boys get there first, that’s fine, but there will be no mercy given to the female.”
He registered the surprise in the gazes around him but none of them held hesitation. Good.
“All right,” he continued. “This is for Seth and his family.”
Kyrian drew his twin SIG forties. “Let’s get’er done. I, for one, want to get home and meet my nephew.”
After Drina gave his son a thumbs-up to leave the clinic, Seth took him and his mother back to the house and got them settled. Drina had no idea what the swirling with the little dude’s eyes was about, but she didn’t think there was anything to worry about—at least, not yet.