The Serpentine Butterfly

by Addison Moore

  “No, it’s none of that. I’m fine.” My belly begins to swirl as if a washing machine were turned on inside me, and I can feel the babies stretching, and kicking—and slowly, ever so slowly, a blue glow appears from underneath my dress.

  “Shit.” Gage is not amused with the Las Vegas review going on inside my stomach.

  My sky blue tummy brightens, illuminating a brilliant ethereal shade of sapphire, reminiscent of the spirit sword. It’s a swirling electric movement of color and light, rotating endlessly in a clockwise pattern. Such a radiant, dazzling, cobalt that the entire structure around us glows the beautiful hue.

  Demetri steps in with his shaking hands and places them over the large hump of my belly. “Your child is powerful—I’ve never seen this kind of energy before.” He looks up sharply at me. “I will grant you up to half of my kingdom, Skyla. Just name it, and it will be yours.”

  Anything? “For Gage to live a very long, long life.” I don’t even hesitate with that one.

  Mom coos as if it was the sweetest of sentiments. Little does she know it’s a very real need.

  “That’s not for me to grant.” He looks to Gage as if it were entirely up to him. Obviously, he doesn’t understand how my mother in the sky works.

  I consider it a moment. Speaking of my mother and her kangaroo court, I do have a very real need.

  “Then I know what I want,” I say with confidence. “But I’d like to ask for it in private.”

  Hell’s Wedding Bells

  GAGE

  Demetri stares at Skyla as if she’s just caught him by surprise. You can catch Demetri by a lot of things—most of them having to do with something nefarious, but surprise is not one of them.

  Skyla and I have jumped through his latest hoop in the name of holy matrimony, so I’d say he owes us a little wedding gift in return. I know exactly what my old man owes me—some of those vibratronics that make Skyla sway like a reed whenever Dudley is around.

  Chloe pipes up, “Oh, oh, oh! I want something, too! No fair if Skyla gets something and I don’t. You don’t want to play favorites, do you, Dad?”

  Chloe is laying it on thick, and as for playing favorites, wasn’t she paying attention to the ceremony? I felt like a dick when Demetri spouted off about me. As much as I don’t agree with Wesley’s politics, I still care for the guy on some level. I believe he’s looking for love and acceptance like the rest of us. I believe he’s lost his way, but that he can be redeemed. Can’t he?

  Demetri nods to Lizbeth who’s busy cooing into Skyla’s dimming belly. For the love of God, I can’t have Skyla glowing like a traffic light, albeit a blue one. This had better be a one time only stunt of his.

  “Lizbeth, dear—” he strums the words cool and soft as if he’s trying to seduce her. He doesn’t need to go far if he is. Lizbeth looks a little more smitten with him than usual this evening. “Would you tend to the guests and help them into the main dining hall? The buffet should be up and running, but you may want to supervise. It’s been so long since I’ve hosted such an extravagant soirée.”

  “Why, it would be my pleasure.” She sticks her fingers into her mouth, letting out a sharp whistle that cuts through the noise and effectively herds the masses—both the living and the dead—into the cavernous room next door.

  “Wesley, Chloe”—he gives a slight bow—“if you’ll excuse us for a moment, we’ll join you again shortly.”

  Chloe steps in a little too close and flicks my collar. “Don’t be long, big boy. Wouldn’t want you to miss the first dance.” She smacks her lips at Skyla. “Welcome to the family, Bitch-Face, and, yes, now that my powers are extrapolating, I heard all of your asinine thoughts. Don’t stand so close to me next time.”

  Demetri leads us farther down the corridor until we hit a door that expands and retracts as if it’s struggling to breathe.

  “It’s like seeing an old friend,” Skyla muses as Demetri holds the door open for us. Skyla was held captive here for a while. It’s not shocking that she recognizes the breathing hardware. Inside, a wall of candles lights up the cobweb-riddled room, complete with creaky floors and partially downed green velvet curtains.

  “You should really get Bishop to clean up the place.” Skyla pumps a bleak smile. “Now that she’s sworn into a lifetime of remedial chores in the name of all that is marital domestic bliss, redecorating this dump should be priority number one.” She glances to me. “Plus, it might keep her off that overgrown rock we live on.”

  “Is that what you’re going to ask for? Put a lid on Chloe and all her comings and goings?” I’m impressed. Most people would have asked for something far less innovative and potentially crime stopping. It is Chloe’s fault the entire world has turned its spotlight on Paragon after that stunt she pulled on Logan’s birthday. And the fact those lights still hover over the Cove has turned the entire island into somewhat of an unwanted tourist attraction. Scratch that. Circus attraction is the more appropriate term.

  “No, actually,” Skyla hugs her protruding stomach, which has thankfully dimmed the light show, “I want this.” She fans her hands out.

  “This?” Demetri expresses my sentiment exactly. “This room?” His entire face lifts an inch, amused.

  “This place.”

  “The mansion.” His head pulls back. “Consider it done. I’d like nothing more than both of my sons to live in the same neighborhood. It is a bit of a fixer as you’ve pointed out, but I must say the phantasms that haunt the place do prefer it that way. And they will be a bear to evict, but those are mere details.” His chin ticks up a notch. “Congratulations to you both on your first home.”

  “No.” Skyla shakes her head, much to my relief. “I want the entire Transfer.”

  “It’s a realm, Skyla.” Demetri is further amused by the request. I’m not so much amused as I am baffled—fucking baffled to be exact. But that’s Skyla. She’s full of surprises.

  “Then make it my realm.” Her voice rises a notch.

  “It’s doesn’t work that way. The Countenance achieved this centuries ago on their own volition.” He frowns at the battered décor a moment. “Not that they’re bothered to do much with it. The laboratory is a nice perk, though. I suppose that’s why you’re interested.”

  Not true. The lab Logan built for Ezrina makes this one look like it belongs in the Stone Age. Besides, Ezrina pilfered the shit out of this place on her last day. A little petty theft from the workplace was both necessary and deserved on her part.

  “Okay.” Skyla glances at me a moment before staring off at the broken window, her wheels churning a million miles an hour. “How about Tenebrous? I want the Tenebrous Woods.”

  “What?” Now it’s me stunned and seeking an explanation. “You hate that place. It reeks of shitty history—countless Celestra died in those tunnels.”

  “I know.” She closes her eyes a moment. “But I want it. I want Tenebrous,” she reasserts, this time with a renewed sense of confidence.

  Clearly, something is happening that I don’t understand. Perhaps it’s her way of ensuring it’ll never be put to use again. In that case, it makes total sense.

  “The Tenebrous Woods.” Demetri’s smile melts from his face, first time, if ever. Skyla must have really thrown him for a loop. “It’s where we conduct the Barricade meetings.” He nods to me as if the thought of disrupting those haunted roundtables would throw me into a tailspin.

  “We could live without them,” I offer.

  “Nonsense.” He gives a tired blink. “We’ll simply host them here. Wesley won’t like it. He prefers to keep his home separate from his office. And, of course, you have your own realm—Paragon in Nocturne.” Demetri nods as if agreeing. “With the Videns”—he continues—“Wes does like for me to keep things even, a realm for a realm, and now all that he’ll have is his home.”

  “Are you talking about our Wesley?” Skyla balks. “Listen, I know you like to play the role of sugar daddy—I’ve seen this firsthand with my mother—but, trus
t me, your little Wes doesn’t need to be handfed from a silver spoon. A dominion here, a realm there—you can see how this much coddling could result in spoiling your eldest son—perhaps turning him into a megalomaniac. And the entire world is suffering because of it.”

  He doesn’t look too impressed with her line of thought. “And gifting you Tenebrous will alleviate this?”

  “I can’t make any promises when it comes to Wesley. But as far as my gift, yes, I would like Tenebrous. And I’d like an all-access pass to bring down whomever I please, and the power to transfer my keys if need be to eligible people.”

  “Yes.” He plucks at his chin. “In the event your friends decide to throw a party.”

  “Exactly.” Skyla closes her eyes a moment as if he hit the nail on the demented head.

  What in the hell are they talking about?

  “Done.” He lifts a finger, and the stale air stirs around us. “You have roaming privileges as of now. I’ll file the necessary documents with the Justice Alliance, and it will be yours by daybreak.” He glances at her stomach, and his lips curl with approval. “Anything for the mother of my grandchild.” He gives a sharp look my way as if he’s waiting for us to admit to twins. We won’t, so there’s that. “And you, Gage?”

  I look to Skyla, my mouth opened, my voice already cracking as I struggle to get the words out. There is one other thing that I’d like to tag onto the mad vibratory skills he’s about to impart on me, like the completion of that birthday gift from last year he’s yet to payout. In a couple of months, I’ll have another birthday, and then he’ll owe me two lifetimes—not that it were possible. Hell, the first one may prove to be a pipe dream.

  “Skyla, why don’t you go see how your mother is faring?” Demetri expands his ever-blooming smile. “These vellum sewer rats have been known to border on aggressive when things don’t go their way.”

  “Gee, wonder where they get that?” She hikes up on her tiptoes and gives me a kiss before waddling out of the room.

  Demetri sheds a simple smile as soon as the door clicks shut. “I sensed your need for privacy. I take it the vibratronics are a surprise for your beloved?”

  “No, she’s well aware, and very much looking forward to them. It’s just—there is one more thing.”

  “Speak.”

  “My birthday last year—you said you’d give me a long life in exchange for a body. I gave you one. Where’s my guarantee I’ll be pumping air through my lungs well after I’m old and gray?”

  “Yes, that was the exchange, wasn’t it?” A rustle of unsettled, unearthly voices magnify from the hall before dissipating again. “It looks as if someone is getting a room.” He bares his teeth, proud of the earthly euphemism. “But back to the task at hand. Yes, I can gift you what you desire. It is against your destiny, Gage. Both you and I realize that, or I assume you wouldn’t have asked. I can give you what was promised. A long life, Skyla, I’m assuming, will remain by your side. You can raise your child—your children together.” He eyes me a moment too long as if trying to call my bluff, but I don’t give in.

  “What’s the catch?”

  “You’ll have to alter paths on the day you were set to separate from the planet.”

  “Meaning?” My stomach ties up in knots because I don’t like the sound of altering my path.

  “You must take your rightful place as my heir and run the new dominion. You’ll vow to remain loyal to me and carry out the path of righteousness that ushers the Fem and Countenance alliance to fulfillment. You will be the leader of both—Wesley to serve beneath you in accordance to the law. Of course, the Barricade will be forever his, as will the Videns remain your people.”

  “I’m not following. I run the dominion. That’s it?”

  “You’re further off track than you realize. Not only do you run the kingdom, you will side with the Fems and the Countenance. Therefore—”

  “Therefore, I’ll be Skyla’s enemy.”

  “Now, now, she could come into full compliance and lay her people at your feet. Once the Sectors bow to our majesty, we can all live in harmony the way it should have been all along.”

  “You want the Sectors to bow down to you and me? Have you met Marshall Dudley? If the rest of his kind are anything remotely like him, you are in for a shit surprise, my friend. Besides, I can’t be Skyla’s enemy. She’s the love of my life. Ain’t happening.”

  “Then I’m afraid neither is the fulfillment of your wish. Enjoy the remainder of your days, Gage. I’ve requested and seen your final hours. Time flies, my son, and they will be upon you before you know it.” His gaze falls to the floor a moment. “Think things through. There is your expanding family to consider. You have the power in your hands to remain on this planet—heavenly air in your resurrected lungs until well after you should have been old and gray. All you have to do is say yes.”

  Heavenly air? Resurrected? Why do I get the feeling the fine print is what I should be reading?

  “I’ll be alive?”

  “Alive, yes.” His brows hike. “We are all eternal beings, Gage. Life after life is promised to all in some capacity.”

  “No, it’s not. Hell equates death.”

  “You are bound for dominion. Accept this extension of time for the sake of your wife, your children—your kingdom.”

  Extension of time.

  “It is tempting.” I would love to be on this planet right alongside Skyla and the kids.

  He steps in close, the whites of his eyes glint in the darkness. “That sounds a lot like yes to me.” He strides away. “The vibratronics will kick in when you see Skyla. They are exclusive to her and will end upon the birth of my grandchild.” Demetri leaves the room, and the door clicks shut behind him.

  I stagger to the fireplace, the air in my lungs stills to nothing. “Shit!” I kick a basket full of pinecones clear across the room, and a fire roars to life in the mouth of the charred pit.

  I can’t be Skyla’s enemy.

  Can I?

  * * *

  By the time I get back to the party, there’s a band playing. They all look relatively alive and human, and yet, I’m not that impressed. The dim chandeliers flicker on and off as the Transfer’s residents spin in ghostly circles to the music. I spot Skyla near the buffet with Logan, both of them huddled and whispering feverishly. I pause a moment, watching them like this. I’m sure she’s already mentioned her newest acquisition for her people, Tenebrous. I’m almost half-afraid to ask what her plans are with it. Partially because I may not like the answer, and partially because I’m afraid she won’t give it—at least not to me anyway. In some respects, Skyla and I are already on opposite sides of the angelic sphere. What could be so bad about adhering to a few different rules as long as our marriage remains intact? I would never do anything to harm her people. If anything, I would drag my feet, slow down Demetri’s demented plans to a crawl. Skyla would want me around for the kids, wouldn’t she? I know she’d want me to be there for our children. I swallow hard. I’m not looking forward to breaking this bit of news to her—at least not the prospect of me considering the position.

  A hard slap falls over my back, and I turn to find Ellis with his glazed over grin, and my sister with her much more perkier, lucid smile.

  “Come here, you.” I pull her into a deep hug. I wasn’t expecting to see any family here outside of Skyla and Lizbeth, so this is a treat.

  “Heard you were tying the knot again, and I wouldn’t miss it! Mom is going to be so mad!” She giggles because I think we both know she’s not going to be that torn up about it other than the fact that I did the deed twice. I’ll admit, Skyla might be onto her.

  “And I heard there would be a killer spread.” Ellis smacks me in the stomach, his eyes glued to the carving station. “If you need me in the next few hours, I’ll be in that direction.”

  “Wait!” Giselle pulls him back just as Skyla and Logan make their way over. Skyla wraps her arms around me and gasps once she feels those good vibrations oozi
ng off me.

  “That’s right, baby,” I whisper with a greedy grin. “And they’re all for you.”

  “Sweet.” She closes her eyes a moment. Her pleasure gauge just kicked up a notch. Pleasure Gage. I like the sound of that one better.

  “Ellis has a very important new job.” Giselle nudges him to tell us all about it.

  “Oh—right.” His eyes grow big as he subtly shakes his head at her.

  “Don’t be shy! You’re going to be famous, remember? Everyone is going to know Ellis Harrison sells the best grass in the West. Isn’t that right?”

  “Shit,” he mumbles, his chest rattling with a dull laugh. “That’s right.” He scoops her in. “Let’s divide and conquer. You hit the surf, and I’ll hit the turf.”

  “Grass?” Logan is about as amused as I am. “Please just deny it. I don’t want to have to hear how passion met opportunity.”

  “Oh, but it did!” Giselle squeals. “His father introduced him to the board and everything. Ellis is going to have the biggest pot farm in all of Washington State!” Her lids hood, her smile is traded for tight lips. “And before any one of you gets all uppity and smug about it, it’s all legal, and you can’t do squat about it.” She nods to Ellis as if to ask if she quoted him correctly.

  Shit. “So, when do we get to see this field of green dreams?” I wonder what would happen if I accidentally on purpose lit the place on fire. It might make for one mellow night on Paragon, or at least behind the gates.

  “For you guys? Anytime, man. Anytime.” He high-fives me before hitting the food lines with G.

  “Crap,” I mutter. “I think I just saw both of their futures mapped out in front of me in one weed-filled haze, and it’s not pretty.”

  Coop and Laken come up with Liam, Lexy, and Nat—so much for keeping it small.

  “We’re here strictly for the two of you,” Laken is quick to assert. She pulls Skyla into a hug.

  “Sorry for the lack of an invite.” Skyla doesn’t let go of Laken’s hands. I’m glad she finally has a friend with a good head on her shoulders. “We hardly got the invite ourselves.”