All Hail the King (Celestra Forever After Book 6)

by Addison Moore

  “Fine, but before I go back, I’m getting in at least one good dose of arsenic.”

  “Godspeed, Emerson.”

  Ellis heads this way with Giselle in tow.

  “Skyla!” Giselle hops and skips as she closes the gap between us. “Isn’t this wonderful? Emily is drawing a picture just for you!” G is decked out in full Cinderella garb, enormous baby blue ball gown, shimmering glass slippers, her dark hair is pulled back into a bun, and every inch of it sparkles with glitter. Ellis is dressed as Prince Charming in a white suit of sorts with large brass buttons running down in two rows across the front.

  The fog is wafting in and out around us as the night grows increasingly icier, and yet Em is still racing away with her team of helpers handing her one blood-soaked mop after the other.

  My hips ache and I struggle to shift my enormous frame. “I can hardly wait to see what she comes up with. Too bad I can’t take a freaking seat. I don’t think I’ve stood this long in the last six months.”

  Ellis comes up alongside me and takes up my hand. Are we still on for tonight?

  It’s a go, I assure him. “It’s going to be great, Ellis,” I say, nodding to Em, but I’m speaking about something else entirely. “Just you wait and see.”

  Emily lets out a horrendous yelp, the same sort of sound that poor Bullet made this morning when I accidentally stepped on his tail. I didn’t mean it, of course. I’d step on my own tail if I had one. I’ve lost sight of my feet and anything that might be near them months ago.

  Emily adds a few finishing touches from the top rung of the ladder before tossing down her mop like a javelin.

  “This is for you, Skyla!” she shouts into the night before pencil diving to the ground, and everyone in the vicinity gasps and screams.

  “Good Lord.” My insides seize at the thought of Em busting a hip. “Who the hell is going to feed me all those vegan meals if she’s in traction?”

  I crane my neck and spot Em springing to her feet, much to the crowd’s delight. She heads over and fiddles with the enormous floodlight until it’s pointed at a hard angle and those bloodied scribbles start to take shape.

  The crowd begins to gasp and choke as if the picture was starting to formulate into something that actually made sense.

  A couple of familiar faces come barreling my way, and soon enough Laken is practically choking me with her arms circling my neck.

  “You look adorable,” she says, pulling back. Laken is dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, her go-to costume, I suppose. It only makes sense. She is married to the Big Bad Wolf. But at the moment, she’s with a very sexy linebacker from Host.

  “Hey, Coop.” I give him a hard wink. “Ready for a long night?”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  My stomach seizes again and I buck forward with the painful onslaught. “Where the hell is Logan?” I’m about to reach for my purse to grab my phone when Emily runs up, looking no worse for the Gothic wear. Her hair is a frizz ball and she’s got dark circles under her eyes, but that’s just par for the course these days. It turns out, baby Ella is a pistol.

  “Pay attention, Messenger.” She points hard to the house. “That’s your face up there. Your eyes are shut, and your lips are pulled back.”

  Laken groans at the sight, “Emily, that’s perfectly gruesome.”

  Em grunts again, “Skyla will breathe her last.”

  “What?” I take a staggering step forward as the picture comes in clear. “Oh my God.” There I am, face to heaven, my features bent with great distress, my hands flailing, my lips pursed.

  Laken comes up beside me. “Skyla, don’t worry about it. I’ve seen that face before. Heck, I’ve made it. This obviously has to do with labor.”

  “You’re right.” My entire body sags with relief. “I mean, I’m not going to die in labor. That hardly ever happens anymore. And God knows I’ll want to.”

  The crowd disperses, and the music grows louder. Someone calls Laken’s name from afar and she turns.

  “That’s Wes. I’ll be right back. Hey, you want me to call Logan for you?”

  “Yes, God, yes. I think I’ll hang out here and catch my breath. I don’t think I can take another person bumping against my belly. If you see Marshall, send him over.”

  Soon enough, the south side of the house is sparse with people, laden with butterflies and billows of fog that obscure that demonic version of me splattered in blood over the side of the house.

  I stagger to the woods in search of darkness, in search of peace and quiet. A dull glow emanates from behind a cluster of evergreens and I head on over. I’m not afraid of anything anymore. Not after what my mother has thrown at me. Certainly not after Gage yanked my heart out of my ass.

  I come in close and note a glowing being that looks all too familiar—in fact, she looks exactly like me.

  “Please don’t be Rory,” I mutter under my breath, and she perks to life with a gasp.

  “Skyla.” Her shoulders straighten. “Sad to see me, per usual, I see.” She makes a face.

  “That’s not it,” I say as I carefully embrace her as best I can. “I’m in active labor. I need our wily mother to show up and spare me of the pain. I am having Logan’s child. You would think this could buy me an ounce of mercy. Could you get her for me?”

  “Sure.” She pulls back and lands her hand to my bulging belly, and I let out a hard cry as a contraction grips me with unnatural force. I swat her hand away and pant my way through it, and shockingly it goes as quickly as it came.

  “Don’t touch me again. That was terrible.”

  “It looks as if your little darling adores me as much as her mother does.”

  “So, it is a girl?” I pant out a dull laugh. “Oh, I just knew it.”

  “A girl.” She gives a little wink. “You always get what you want, don’t you, Skyla?”

  “You wish.”

  “I do wish. I love you, and I love our people. There are rumblings in the heavenlies of wonderful things to come. I’m proud of you. I can’t wait to see what you have planned. Care to share?”

  “Heavens no. The woods have eyes and ears. But pay attention. If you fall asleep, you just might miss it. That’s a huge hint.”

  “Then it happens tonight.”

  “Maybe.”

  The sky rumbles with thunder. “I’d better go. I think I’ll take Shaddai far away from this place in anticipation of your vengeance. Paradise just isn’t the same without him. Little Sage just loves to ride him. I’ll be back. Look for me in the days to come. I have a spectacular gift for you.”

  “Oh, my sweet Sage. Please bring her to see me. I can’t bear being apart from her like this.” My voice grows faint as another contraction comes on strong.

  “We’ll see.” Rory zips off like lightning barreling through the trees as if they were never in her way.

  “Rory, wait! Come back.” I try to shout, but it comes out lower than a whisper.

  A horrid cry comes from me as I grip the bark of the evergreen, the serrated edges sawing through the flesh of my hands and it feels like a relief.

  “Skyla?” a familiar deep voice calls out from my left, and I groan harder as my suspicions as to whom it might belong to are quickly confirmed. “Skyla.” Gage takes me by the hand, and as much as I want to smack the hell out of him with it, I’m paralyzed with agony. “You’d better get inside.” He pulls out his phone and his fingers dance over the screen before he buries it back into his pocket. “I just texted Logan. I can carry you if you like.” He leans in close and I take in the familiar scent of his cologne, of his body, his sweet minty breath. They all belong to Chloe now and I hate him for it.

  Another contraction seizes me, and I pitch my head back and scream as much as my weary vocal cords will allow.

  “I can’t do this,” I moan as I pant through tears. “You’ve done this, Gage. You’ve caused all this misery. You’ve ruined my people. You’ve ruined me. And now I’m suffering for it in every single way.” Each wo
rd comes out an elongated whine and I hate myself for it.

  “Come here.” Gage pulls me forward by the shoulders, bracing me as he steadies his gaze into mine. His blue eyes illuminate the night, and for the first time in a year it’s as if I’m seeing him, the real him, not some trumped-up Demetri version. “Skyla. What I’ve given you is a gift.”

  Without thinking, I hock up everything I’ve got in my body and spit in his face. He turns his head and wipes it over his shoulder, over that precious West jersey I used to worship like a fool.

  “Gage?” Chloe’s voice cuts through the fog as she comes into view. “What’s going on?” Her voice is dark, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s an errant thread of fear in her voice. Chloe doesn’t realize that I would never take Gage back. A dog might return to its vomit, but I’m not his bitch anymore.

  “What’s happening?” Chloe breaks his hold on me and lands her own hands on my shoulders. “You’re about to squeeze this kid out, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, she is.” Gage tries to take my hand, but I yank it from him.

  Chloe pulls me in as if she were trying to protect me. “Get out of here, Gage. You’re only going to make things worse. I need to get her inside. If you want to be of help, get Dudley.”

  “Logan,” I pant. A brief visual of me yanking his penis off for doing this to me flits through my mind. Heck, I just might pluck off Gage’s fifth appendage, too, for the fun of it.

  Chloe scoffs. “Don’t listen to her, Gage. Logan is about as useless as you are. Tell Dudley to meet us in his bedroom.” She comes in close with an eerie grin. “I can’t wait to see how many kids you pump out of your vagina this time. I’m here for you, Skyla. I won’t leave you for a single minute. I’m sticking by your side just the way you did mine.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Another one hits and I squeeze my eyes shut. The pain is nuclear. It’s almost sublime the way it sears through me like light through a prism and hits every facet of my being, even the ones I hardly knew existed.

  Before I know it, Chloe has me inside the house and up the stairs. Another contraction hits, and we pause for a moment as the deafening sound of that player piano shrills through my bones. God, I want to shoot everyone near that menace tonight.

  “All right, Messenger.” Chloe pulls me along. “I’m getting you to bed if I have to drag you like a rotting carcass.”

  This is usually the part where I’d shoot off some smart-aleck quip about her being the rotting carcass sooner than she thinks, but at the moment she’s my only hope to get me to where I need to be. If left to my own devices, I’d have this baby right on the stairs. With my luck, it would glide down the steps and I’d have to pull it back by the umbilical cord.

  The door to Marshall’s bedroom opens, and there he is on the other side, looking dapper, glowing that effervescent ethereal glow.

  “Touch me,” I pant as he helps pull me in and Chloe shuts the door behind her, entombing us inside to the pleasant scent of something fruity, strawberries maybe, and the relaxing sound of silence.

  His hands ride up and down my body as he takes me in before he cups me by the cheeks and lands a luscious kiss to my mouth. But those feel-good vibes are nowhere to be found once again. Dammit.

  “The time has come, Ms. Messenger.”

  I give a quick glance around. The lights are dim, and candles line every free surface, flickering with the patina of romance. The covers are turned down on that enormous four-poster bed of his. Each post has the girth of a tree trunk.

  “Come now.” Marshall lifts my hands. “Chloe, get her shoes.” Chloe does as she’s told, and I carefully lift one foot then the other while he pulls my dress off in one fell swoop. As soon as the cool air hits my flesh, I feel much better.

  Chloe steps back and groans at the sight of me. “Crap, Messenger. Where did you find those parachute granny panties? And that bra? Ugh. It’s yellowing around the nipples. Poor Logan. He had no idea what he was signing up for. You do realize they make maternity thongs.”

  “Please,” I say as Marshall hitches his thumbs into the lip of my panties, and they drop to the floor in submission. “Oh my God, what are you doing?”

  Chloe zips behind me and has my bra unhooked and on the floor before I can stop her.

  Marshall drinks me in, head to toe, then back again and his lids lower just enough as if what he sees has the power to seduce him. More like send him straight back to paradise—and perhaps with the volition to stay there for good.

  “You are exquisite,” he growls it out like a sexual threat.

  “All right, fine. I just want this baby out of my body. Get Ezrina, Chloe. Tell her I want drugs, strong ones, before the next big one hits. Marshall, I want this baby out of me now.”

  “Very well.” His fingers clamp down over my nipples. He gives them a hard pinch and a twist, and my entire body bucks with something caught between pleasure and pain. I let out a hard cry of ecstasy and shudder to a quivering completion right there with Marshall’s hands still attached to my boobs. A warm trickle of liquid runs down my thigh, and I try my best to look down.

  “Oh, gross.” Chloe gags. “I bet Logan thinks you’re so adorable. I bet you’ve pissed in his mouth before.”

  I turn to face her as her lips curl with a smile. “I’d wipe that smirk off your face. I’ve pissed in your husband’s mouth before, too.” It’s true. If I have to bend over, sneeze, or get a little too excited, my bladder lets loose and joins the party. “Marshall, get me to bed.”

  The two of them help walk me over, and Marshall supernaturally hoists me up on his four-foot-tall wonder.

  “Don’t worry, Messenger.” Chloe pulls my feet apart before massaging my left foot softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Oh, yes, you are. I gave you strict instructions to go find Ezrina.”

  Marshall takes up my hand. “I’ve already sent her the news. Relax, my love, and let nature take its course.”

  “Dudley”—Chloe motions him closer—“why don’t you kiss her pink parts?” She leans in and squints between my legs. “They’re already quivering for you.”

  “Chloe.” I try to kick her off me, but she’s clamped down. “Would you stop. And for God’s sake, don’t look at my pink parts. They’re off-limits to the both of you.”

  “What?” She scoffs. “You’re the one who says you wanted to drop this kid. And if Logan isn’t here to suck your nipples, then either Dudley or I will have to take one for the team.”

  “So help me God, Chloe, if you start sucking on my nipples, I will shove your head up your own ass and watch you give birth to yourself.”

  A contraction hits as subtle as a jackhammer trying to drill its way out of my body, and my neck arches back as Marshall hops onto the bed, his mouth doling out sweet gentle kisses up and down my right shoulder. I close my eyes and feel the intense burn from my midsection until it slowly begins to subside. Chloe starts massaging my foot again as Marshall’s kisses become lingering and hot.

  “Wow, Messenger,” Chloe muses. “I bet you’ve never fantasized about having a threesome with Dudley and me. Sometimes, reality gives us things too wonderful for us to ever hope for.”

  “Marshall.” I lop my head forward again, only to find his mouth edging lower down my chest. It feels electric, dizzying, and blissful, and if he keeps this up, I might just pee myself again with glee. A dull moan comes from me just as the door bursts open and in strides Logan with one hell of a worried look on his face.

  “Get the hell away from her,” he barks, and true to form, they both promptly ignore him.

  Ezrina bustles in along with Nev, and behind them are Laken, Ellis, and Giselle.

  My entire body breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of all of them.

  “Dude.” Logan tries to shoo Ellis from the room. “She’s naked.” It takes less than a moment for Logan to evict Marshall from my person, and if I’m not mistaken, I felt a little suctioning on my left nipple as Marshall was rising from the bed.
Honestly, I don’t care. I don’t care who is hanging off my enormously engorged boobs as long as this nightmare that has taken over my body ends quickly.

  “Skyla.” Logan lands a quick kiss to my mouth while pulling the comforter over my body as best he can.

  Laken glowers at Chloe a moment. “I’ll get a sheet.” She disappears into the closet with Marshall. And if Marshall knows what’s good for him, he won’t notice that Laken has boobs, let alone dangle off them. Wes will kill him, that’s for sure.

  Logan sits up next to me with admiration written over his face, and it warms me. His deep amber eyes glow with something just this side of desire, and I can feel his very being pulsating with love.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. I wondered why for the life of me I couldn’t get back here. Skyla, it was as if my truck was possessed.”

  “It was.” I glower at Chloe. “Most likely by her husband. Good thing my mother probably intervened. But you didn’t miss it. You’re going to hold your baby girl in just a little while.”

  “Wait a minute.” Chloe gives my toes a pinch. “Didn’t I pump out a kid on this very day a few years back?”

  I groan, “Chloe, we were all just at Tobie’s birthday party a little while ago.”

  She checks her phone. “If you shoot this kid out of your ass in the next four hours, our children will have the same birthday. Isn’t that great? The universe is connecting us in so many ways. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She gets right back to massaging my foot.

  “Chloe, you can go now. I’ve got plenty of help. And I’ve got one serious bone to pick with the universe when I get off this medieval runaway baby train.”

  Laken runs my way and lands a cool sheet over my body, helping to tuck it in artfully as if it were a dress.

  “Skyla!” Giselle beams. “You look like a Grecian goddess. I learned all about those beautiful women at Host. And you would be the prettiest of them all. I’m going to stay. I want to watch my niece as her head pokes between your legs just like on that cake Emily baked.”