by Eve Newton
I nod. “Of course.” I turn around so that I can lean my cheek against his chest. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” he says back. “Have you thought of a name yet for her?”
I pull back slightly. “You? Isn’t that something we should all discuss?”
He shrugs and looks away. “I was kind of under the impression you thought of her as just yours. You know...”
“No, I don’t know,” I say. “Why would you think that? She is ours.”
There is an awkward silence before he speaks again. “You aren’t sure she’s To’Kah’s, are you?”
I grit my teeth. We’re heading down a dangerous path now. “It has to be,” I say shortly. “Not only the timing of it, but to save his life.”
“You know that if she doesn’t turn out to be To’Kah’s, he doesn’t have to claim her,” he says. “You are Empress now; you can protect him from your family’s wrath if she’s not his.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. I suppose he’s right. I never even thought about it in that way. I’ve been trying to convince myself that she is To’Kah’s, because we needed it to be to save him from the fire pit, but I’m not sure. How can I be?
“I guess,” I say slowly.
“She’s going to come soon,” he states. “We need a name.”
“We’ll all talk about it later,” I agree and then go back to resting my cheek against him.
“There you are,” Rex says, approaching us with long strides, irritated that he can’t Astral straight to us. To’Kah follows him, far more cautiously and I sigh. He shouldn’t be here. The trauma of being thrown into it must be weighing on him, but he won’t talk about it. Not to me and not to Rex either.
“Do you mind?” Pres snaps at him. “I was spending some time alone with my wife.”
“Well, you didn’t say now, did you?” Rex snaps back. “I’d have been happy to give you some time if you’d told me.”
“Stop!” I shout at them. “Just stop this right now. I don’t know what is going on with the two of you, but I’m done with this sniping. Sort it out before you show your faces to me again!” I stamp my foot and then have great satisfaction in using my Empress power to Astral away from them and the magick-dampening pit.
With a huff, I sit in the armchair in my office and glare out of the window. Rex and Pres have always butted heads, from day one, but it is getting to the point now where it’s annoying me. I can’t have that feeling hanging over me, over us, so I do hope that they get their issues aired and sorted now.
“Princess. You wouldn’t have this problem if you just came to me.”
“Fuck off.”
“Such dirty words,” he chuckles. “I like it. Makes me think that you’ll be filthy in bed.”
I gape openly at my slight reflection in the window.
“How dare you!” I shout at Blayne in my head.
“Are you, Princess? Are you filthy in bed?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I retort haughtily.
“Oh, I would...I’m sure the things you can do to a man will make him forget himself.”
“Leave me alone. Go and get your kicks with my sister, or something.”
“Don’t push me away, and don’t push me towards Savannah. I don’t love her.”
“You don’t love me either. You don’t know me.”
“I want to know you. Meet me at your parents’ house on Earth.”
“No, I can’t.”
“You can, actually.”
“Rexus wouldn’t like it,” I point out.
“If you think mentioning my brother will get me to back off, you are sorely mistaken. I hold no loyalty to him. I don’t know him.”
“I’m not a one-man woman,” I say with glee, hoping that if anything, this will make him back off.
Silence.
I start to think he’s taken himself off to lick his wounds when his voice resounds in my head again.
“I’ll accept that, as long as they accept me.”
Silence from me.
How do I even begin to take that in? Not going to happen in any lifetime with my three husbands.
“Your triplet is a lot to live up to. I doubt you have it in you,” I say.
Then, I cut off communications by standing up and Astralling to find my Uncle. I need to see him, make sure he is really doing okay now that he isn’t Emperor anymore. Or dead, as he expected to be.
Chapter 7
~Delinda~
I find him on the roof of the Fortress, in a deck chair, sipping on what appears to be a cocktail of some kind, sunglasses perched on his nose and reading a book.
“Uncle. D?” I ask him in surprise. “Everything okay?”
He looks up at me and gives me a big grin. “Perfect,” he replies, putting his book down.
I feel a stab of pain as the baby kicks me, then rakes her talons across my womb and then kicks me again. She is getting agitated and way too big to be inside me now.
“Yeah?” I ask and sit down heavily on the wall of the roof, that stands about three feet high.
“Are you okay?” he asks in concern, pulling his glasses down his nose and peering at me over the top of them worriedly.
“Yes,” I pant. “The baby is just getting so big.”
He looks at my belly and then his eyes widen. I look down as well to see my bump undulate wildly, and very freakily, as it seems the baby has started a synchronized swimming routine.
“Indeed,” he mutters and puts the cocktail next to the book. “What can I do for you?”
“I just came to see if you’re okay, you know, with not being Emperor anymore...or...you know...uhm...dead.”
He snorts with amusement. “I’m fine, girl. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Are you sure, because...”
“Delinda, you have enough to worry about without directing your concern towards me, unnecessarily. I knew that being Emperor was temporary and I couldn’t be happier that you have taken your role here finally, as you were meant to. The fact that I didn’t have to die in order for that to happen is just a bonus.”
“But you said you were ready to rest,” I press because he is acting way too weird for my liking. I have never seen him quite so chilled out before.
He sighs. “I was in order to stop being Emperor. Now, I’m happy that you didn’t have to kill me to take the Power.”
I bite my lip. Something isn’t sitting right with me about this. His eyes have clouded over, even though he is giving me a bright smile. “Okay,” I murmur because he doesn’t want me to push at this, that much is clear.
“Aaah!” I cry out as another wave of pain tears through my belly.
Uncle. D is on his feet in under a second and kneeling in front of me. “What is it?” he asks, back to his usual efficient self. Thankfully, because I’m about to go into a meltdown.
The pain is unbearable.
“Not sure,” I pant. “The baby...”
As I say that, a puddle of liquid forms at my feet, causing Uncle. D to scoot back, a look of horror on his face.
“Delinda, I think the baby is coming,” he murmurs.
“Uhn,” I groan, panting through the pain and forgetting all about the humiliation that my water broke practically all over my uncle. “Get my husbands,” I growl as the pain subsides.
“Synthyia first,” he says calmly and grabs my arm to Astral me to my bedroom. He helps me onto the bed and then gives me a solid smile as he Astrals off.
I scrunch my face up as another contraction hits me with full force and I try to concentrate on reaching out to my husbands with our bond.
Unfortunately, it seems that they have mastered the art of mental blocks and none of them are accessible to me, even Pres.
“Damn you!” I screech as the pain intensifies. “Where are you?”
It’s odd that they don’t seem to be in this Realm. If they were, they’d have come running by now. Although I did tell them not to show their faces until th
ey’d sorted out their issues, but still, where the Hell are they?
I’m panting, sweating and screaming by the time Synthyia and Uncle. D return.
“Fuck’s sake!” I roar. “Where are my husbands?”
“I’ll track them down,” Uncle. D says calmly. “You just concentrate on this.”
I grunt my response as he Astrals off, and let Synthyia bustle around me, stripping me off and getting me ready for birth. She casts a ward around the room which I protest to.
“It’s for the best,” she murmurs, which just chills me to my core. “Your uncle will let me know when he has returned.”
I just nod, because I can’t speak now. The pain is excruciating. How am I supposed to want to do this again, knowing that this happens?
I think a word with my husbands is in order. I’m going to have to tell them that there will be no more babies. Plain and simple.
“FUUUUCCCCKKKK!” I roar, making Synthyia flinch from the sheer force of it. “Get her out of me! NOW!”
~Rex~
WE GLARE AT EACH OTHER from across the dining table in Delinda’s parents’ house on Earth. It was the only place To’Kah could think of where we could go to hash out this issue without bothering Delinda with it further. She is getting highly pissed off with us, so I agree that something needs to be done about it.
“Well?” Pres asks, his arms folded across his chest. “Got anything to say?”
“Do you?” I snarl.
We have been at this for half an hour now. It’s getting annoying and frustrating.
Not to mention, I feel really creeped out, like I’m being watched. I resist the urge to look over my shoulder. If it was Remiel, then we’d know about it, I’m sure. Although that does beg the question as to where he is. If Aefre came back to Earth, did he come too?
I’m pondering this when Pres’s pissed off huff draws my attention back to the matter at hand.
“Look,” To’Kah spits out. “You are going to have to settle whatever this is, now. I want to get back to Delinda.”
“So do I,” I inform him.
Pres glares at me and stands up to walk over to the window. He stares out over a snowy garden. I can see the wonder in his eyes, and it softens me slightly.
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” I say quietly, just to break the tension.
He turns to me with a smile. “Very. I can see why Delinda likes it.”
“Then let’s sort this out and get back to her,” I say.
“I don’t even know what this is,” he blurts out. “You just seem to attack me and dismiss me at every turn. You take every opportunity to belittle me in front of Delinda. Are you jealous of me? Is that it? Or do you hate me? I can’t think of any other reasons why you would do this.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. Bless him. “I’m not jealous of you,” I say, trying to keep the scoff out of my voice. I don’t think I succeeded, though as he glares at me.
“Then what?”
I can feel To’Kah’s eyes on me, wondering what I’m going to say. I sigh and stand up, going over to Pres and reaching out to cup his cheek.
He blinks at me but doesn’t pull away.
“I don’t hate you,” I whisper to him. “In fact, quite the opposite. I’m very fond of you and you know that I want you. I guess my frustration with you is because you won’t give me what I want from you. I’m not used to waiting and I’m definitely not used to chasing so damn hard.”
I hear To’Kah’s snort of amusement from behind me and try not to let it affect me. I keep my eyes focused solely on the bright blue ones of the man in front of me.
I see his eyes soften and he gives me a watery smile. “Oh,” he says. “I’m sorry. I get to the point where I think I’m ready, but then, I don’t know...I just...”
“It’s okay,” I say, letting him off the hook. “I know it’s a different experience and that you are still so innocent, well, in a way.” I give him a salacious smile. He returns it knowing that Delinda has corrupted the shit out of him since she took his virginity on our wedding night. I lean in and brush my lips against his in a chaste kiss, nothing that Delinda will freak out over. “I’ll wait and when you finally do let me take you, I swear to you that you will enjoy it.”
“I have no doubt,” he says, lowering his eyes. “But I need to do it when I’m ready, not because you or Delinda has pressured me into it.”
I step back, dropping my hand instantly. “Pressure you?” I ask cautiously. “You feel pressured?”
His eyes snap back up to mine. “Yes,” he says quietly. “In a way. You both want it so much; I feel guilty about not giving it to you and when Delinda looks at me in that way...it’s a lot of pressure.”
I nod slowly. I know that look in my wife’s eye. The desire that swims there, the way she licks her lips enticingly.
“Just picture that look and imagine it increasing when I slide my dick into you,” I whisper to him, unable to help myself.
“Rex!” To’Kah snaps at me. “He just said he felt pressured.”
“Sorry,” I grin at him to show that I didn’t mean any harm. “Just giving some facts.”
“I know,” Pres moans, closing his eyes. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Then you just say the word and I’ll be there,” I tell him and slap my hand on his shoulder. “No pressure.”
“And no more picking on me?” he asks.
“Promise,” I say, giving him a squeeze before I let him go.
He lets out a breath and then nods. “I will stop being so sensitive,” he says. “I know not everything you say to me is a barb.”
I nod. “We good?”
“Yes,” he says with a smile that lights up his face and makes me wish that I hadn’t just told him I’d wait. He’s killing me here.
“Then let’s get back to our wife and give her the good news.”
“Not just yet,” a deep voice says from behind us, making me turn quickly and put my guard up. “The four of us need to have a little chat.”
Chapter 8
~Pres~
I gulp as we come face-to-face with Delinda’s father, for the first time without her protection. Or Aefre’s. This isn’t going to go well; I just know it.
“What can we do for you?” Rex asks, briskly.
“Sit,” Remiel says sharply, pointing to the table that Rex and I vacated and that To’Kah is still seated at.
“We really need to get back to Delinda,” Rex says, but does as he is told anyway and so do I as Remiel starts growling at us.
Remiel casts his gaze upon each of us in turn, going from menacing at me to downright terrifying as he reaches To’Kah. “Which one of you is the father of my grandchild,” he asks so quietly, I’m not sure if I imagined it or not.
“To’Kah,” Rex says straight away. “We’ve already gone over this.”
“I don’t believe you,” Remiel states coldly, his bright blue eyes boring into Rex in such a way that he flinches. “And let me make something very clear, lie to me again and you will all end up in that pit, regardless of what my daughter has to say about it.”
Rex and I exchange a glance that has To’Kah snarling at us. “You don’t think I’m the father?” he bellows at us, ignoring Remiel completely as he stands up so suddenly, his chair goes flying backwards, and he stalks towards us with his fists clenched.
“It’s not that,” Rex says calmly, also standing up to face off with him.
I remain seated and watch Remiel’s face. His eyes are narrowed shrewdly, watching us make complete dicks out of ourselves over this. Which is precisely what he wanted. He wanted to pit us against each other to try and draw the truth out of us, whether it be the truth about Delinda’s baby or any other truth we’ve been keeping from each other. Like the fact that Rex and I don’t think that To’Kah is the father. Although we have never discussed it between ourselves, nor have we ever said it outright to Delinda, I’m certain that Rex thinks he fathered her child because of his Chosen connection to her at t
he time, as do I. It’s completely possible, especially in light of how quickly Delinda’s pregnancy has progressed, who is to say she wouldn’t know after only two days?
“Then what?” To’Kah roars at him. “You? Him?”
I take offense, as does Rex.
“Why not?” Rex snarls. “I have a fully functioning dick that came inside her plenty on our wedding night and the night after.”
I choke back my noise of horror that he dared to say that while her father, the most powerful being I’ve ever come across, is standing right here.
The chill that descends on the room makes them step back from each other and remember that Remiel is still here.
As the silence grows, Remiel says, “So you believe that my daughter has lied to us to keep her Guardian alive?”
To’Kah’s face goes pale, even as his eyes flash with anger at the ‘Guardian’ remark.
“No,” I say, standing up and approaching with severe caution. “We don’t think she knows herself for sure but is going on what she knows has happened.”
To’Kah’s eyes burn into mine with the sting of betrayal.
I feel terrible, but what else can we do in the face of this danger? And make no mistake that we are all in danger here. Remiel doesn’t give a rat’s ass what Delinda thinks about him throwing us to the death fire.
The simmering tension ratchets up a notch.
I can hear the clock ticking away on the mantelpiece.
My breath is starting to come in small pants.
My hands are sweating.
Those scary-ass eyes land on me with interest.
He has completely dismissed the other two and singled me out as the weak link.
I gulp and lick my lips.
I’m just about to crack under the pressure of Remiel’s ice cold eyes on me, boring into my head as if he thinks I know something, when I jolt forward at the sudden screech in my head.
“PRES!”
“Delinda!” I cry, looking around and suddenly feeling the rush of emotion from her as my mental blocks drop completely.
Remiel’s eyes narrow and he snaps his fingers.
The pressure that I feel boring down on me, eases up and I realize that he had dropped a ward over us. A ward that Delinda has now completely busted through in her panic to reach me.