by SJ West
“Yes,” Zane tells me, “we’ll be the ones staying behind while the rest of you go to the wedding.”
“I’ll come get you when it’s over,” Malcolm tells them as he watches Lucas flip the old-fashioned waffle maker open. Even though we have a machine that can make waffles with the push of a single button, my husband refuses to use it. He claims that waffles need to be made in a waffle iron to taste good. “I’m sure people at the reception will want to see the babies.”
“Speaking of the wedding,” I say, “I should probably pop over to Papa’s house and see if he’s eaten anything this morning.”
“Knowing Andre as well as I do,” Malcolm says, “I’ll bet you can find him in his office, pacing back and forth nervously. That’s probably where you learned that bad habit.”
“Do you think he’s that nervous about marrying Olivia?” I ask, not remembering my father ever being nervous about too much in his life.
“Of course he’s nervous,” Malcolm says as if I should know better. “Weren’t you on our wedding day?”
“I think I was more anxious than nervous. Either way, I should go check on him.”
“Tell him I’m making my special waffles,” Lucas says. “He’ll come back with you for those.”
I smile at Lucas. “I’ll be sure to pass the good news along.”
I phase to my papa’s study in his house and find him doing exactly what Malcolm predicted.
“Papa,” I say, gaining his attention since he didn’t notice me phase into the room.
My papa looks up with a troubled frown on his face.
“Have I made a terrible decision?” he asks me earnestly. “You can tell me the truth, Anna. I can take it. Am I making a monumental mistake by marrying Olivia?”
I walk up to him, saying, “Only if you don’t love her, Papa. Do you doubt your feelings for her?”
He immediately shakes his head. “No. My love for her isn’t in question here. It’s the fact that I’ll be ruling Nacreous by her side. What if her people don’t like me? What if they think I’m only marrying her so I can share her power?”
“No one is going to think that,” I assure him.
“I have nothing of value to bring into this marriage,” he declares despondently.
“You’re bringing yourself,” I adamantly remind him. “And if you ask me, that’s worth more than a world made out of gold. You have years of knowledge to pull from, and even if you didn’t, you’re the only one who makes Olivia happy. She loves you, Papa, and you love her. That’s all that matters.”
“Of course, you’re right,” he says, shaking his head at how he’s acting. “I’m just being foolish and paranoid.”
“You’re not a fool. You’re just a human.”
My papa smiles and opens his arms. “I could really use a hug right now from my daughter. I think that will fortify me for the day to come.”
I walk into his arms and rest my head on his chest.
“I’m going to miss having you live in my city,” I tell him, tightening my arms around him to accentuate my statement.
“I’m still only a teleport away,” he reminds me. “If you call, I’ll be here.”
“I know, but it’s still not quite the same.”
“Nothing stays the same in life. If it did, none of us would ever go anywhere or experience new adventures.”
“Well, this is definitely a new adventure for you, and one I’m looking forward to seeing you take with Olivia by your side. Have the two of you talked about having children?”
“She already has two sons, but we have discussed having one of our own together. Olivia worries that she’s too old to go through another pregnancy.”
“That might have been true a hundred years ago, but with today’s medical technology, she isn’t too old to carry a baby to full term. I think you should do it. Any child the two of you bring into this world would be lucky to have you both as parents. I know I always feel like the luckiest girl on Earth to have you as my papa.”
He hugs me tighter, letting me know how much my words mean to him.
I pull back and tell him, “Lucas is making his special waffles for us. I think you should come home with me and be with your family this morning. Then we can all go to Nacreous together.”
“That sounds wonderful, actually. I don’t suppose Jered has returned to the palace?”
Unfortunately, I have to shake my head. “We haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks, actually. Ever since Silas disappeared from his jail cell in Stratus, Jered’s been searching for him.”
“He has to know Helena probably has him with her. Odds are she was the one who rescued him.”
“We’ve tried to tell him that, but I think he needs to prove to himself that there’s nothing else he can do to help his son. You know as well as anyone that he can’t let go of his guilt where Silas is concerned. I know he’s been back to Hell to look for him, but he hasn’t seen any sign of him there.”
“I still believe Silas is wherever Helena is right now.” My papa sighs. “He’s too good a soldier for her to leave behind.”
“Then Jered definitely won’t find his son until Helena wants him to.”
“I fear all we can do is wait.”
“I just hope Jered figures that out soon.” I loop an arm around one of my papa’s. “Let’s not think about that right now though. Today is supposed to be a happy day for you. I would rather concentrate on making sure you get married and have the best day of your life.”
After we finish breakfast, we have just enough time to get ready for the wedding. Since I’m Olivia’s Matron of Honor, I put on the dress she picked out for me. It’s an aubergine-colored, floor-length chiffon dress with one ruffled shoulder. A slim, diamond-encrusted belt encircles the waist.
“I thought no one was supposed to look more beautiful than the bride,” my husband teases as he grabs his black suit jacket off his side of the bed.
“Well, you haven’t seen the bride yet either,” I point out.
As Malcolm walks around the bed to my side, he says, “I don’t have to see her to know you’ll be the most beautiful woman at the wedding.”
I smile as I turn to face him, adjusting the dangling diamond earring in my left ear.
“I do believe you are buttering me up for something with all that flattery, Emperor Malcolm. What is it that you want?”
“You make me sound so devious.” From the devilish way Malcolm smiles at me, I know I’ve guessed right about him. “I want nothing more than your promise that I can rip that dress away from your body later and pleasure you for at least a little while.”
“A little while?” I ask, aghast, placing my hands on my hips, feeling somewhat offended. “I’ll have you know I expect it to last more than those words suggest.”
“Then a very long while,” Malcolm promises, yanking me into his arms.
I place the index finger of my right hand over his pursed lips as he dips his head down to kiss me.
“Don’t,” I tell him. “If you kiss me, we may end up missing my papa’s wedding, and I refuse to be even a second late for it. You can rein in your passion for me until this evening. I have faith that you have enough willpower to do that.”
Malcolm groans in disappointment. “I believe you give me too much credit. Where making love to you is concerned, the only willpower I possess is making sure you’re fully satisfied before I find my own satisfaction.”
“And I do appreciate that thoughtfulness,” I say, wiggling out of his embrace. “But today is for my papa and Olivia. We’re going to make sure everything runs smoothly and that they are happy. Your happiness will just have to wait.”
“As you wish,” Malcolm says, not sounding even slightly happy about my declaration.
I laugh and hold my hand out to him. “Come on, love of my life and father of my wonderful children. Let’s go find Lucas and head to Nacreous so we’re not late.”
When the three of us phase to Nacreous, we discover that we’re early.
Only the servants are bustling about the ballroom of the palace where everything has been set up for the wedding.
“Empress Anna,” one of the female servants says as she walks up to us, “Empress Olivia asked me to watch for your arrival and to bring you directly to her chambers.”
“Go on,” Malcolm tells me before kissing me on the cheek. “Lucas and I will stay here. The others should be arriving soon.”
“I guess I’ll see you at the altar then,” I tell him. I turn to the servant. “Lead the way.”
When I get to Olivia’s chambers, I find her in a state similar to the one my papa was in earlier. However, unlike him, she notices my presence in the room right away and ceases her pacing.
“Am I making a mistake?” she asks me worriedly. “Am I forcing Andre to live the life of a royal?”
I smile and proceed to calm her wedding jitters just as I did for my father. I then help Olivia get dressed and do everything a dutiful future step-daughter should do. Bianca Rossi and Kyna come to Olivia’s rooms just before the ceremony is set to begin. Since the Empress of Alto is presiding over the ceremony, she comes to confirm that Olivia isn’t having any second thoughts about the marriage before we proceed.
“Oh, good grief, no,” Olivia assures her. “I am not stupid enough to let a good man like him go. Is he having second thoughts?”
Bianca smiles. “Absolutely not. In fact, he asked me if I could speed things along a little faster.”
Olivia breathes out a sigh of relief, and I know then that everything will go smoothly.
“Have you had any luck finding Lorcan?” I ask Kyna. I know for the past three months the world has been on the lookout for the wayward ex-Emperor of Stratus. After being accused of the atrocities that befell Virga and Stratus, Lorcan has remained in hiding. Although most of us believe Abaddon—the demon that possessed the real Lorcan Halloran—has probably ditched the body and found a new host by now.
“No, we haven’t seen him,” Kyna confirms.
“I heard the down-world people of Stratus threw you a party when you became empress,” Bianca says.
“They did!” Kyna says happily. “It was one of the best days of my life. Brutus and I have been able to do so much to help them since we took over.”
“From what Brutus has told us,” I say, “he’s never been happier.”
“I wish I could have taken a picture of his face when Cara was born,” Kyna says with a smile. “Between her birth and finally putting things right in Stratus, our lives couldn’t be more perfect.”
Having Kyna in control of Stratus means there are now five cloud cities willing to share their technology with their down-worlders. All we need now is for Levi and Mammon to admit defeat and join us. Levi is finding it increasingly difficult to come up with plausible excuses for Helena’s absence in Nimbo. I understand his conundrum. He doesn’t know if Helena will ever return to retake her throne. He has to perpetuate the illusion that they are still together in case she does.
The wedding ceremony is quiet by royal standards. There are only about five hundred people in attendance because Olivia was afraid anything bigger might frighten my father away or make him ask for an elopement.
As I stand beside Olivia, holding her bouquet, I suddenly feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I can feel someone in the crowd of guests watching me. When I turn my head away from the proceedings, I immediately find the person whose gaze has alerted me to their presence.
She’s an older blonde woman who still possesses the beauty of her youth even though a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes mark her age at being somewhere around sixty. She is staring at me, but not unkindly. There is an urgency in the stiffness of her shoulders that tells me she wants to speak with me as soon as possible.
After the ceremony is over and my papa is walking proudly down the aisle with his wife holding onto his arm, I pull Malcolm aside and tell him about the woman. I have no idea if she’s a friend or a foe. For all I know, she could be someone Helena has sent to spy on me. To what end, I have no idea, but I feel being overly cautious is the best course of action.
Malcolm looks out at the crowd to find the woman in question so he can judge her for himself, but she’s already walking over to us as we continue to stand by the altar. Ethan and Roan also approach, since they were assigned to join us at the wedding in case we needed extra protection.
“Excuse me,” the woman says to me, “I’m Evelyn Grace. I know your father.”
“Which one?” I ask, getting the feeling from her that she’s not as human as she appears.
“Lucifer,” she clarifies.
I feel Ethan and Roan come to stand just behind Malcolm and me.
“And what is your business here?” Malcolm asks. “I assume this isn’t a social call.”
“No, it isn’t,” Evelyn replies. “I have something in my purse I believe you should both see.”
“What is this about?” I ask.
“It concerns Helena,” she answers in a conspiratorial voice.
“Give me your hand,” I tell her, holding mine out for her to take. “I would rather not disrupt my father’s happiness with any business that pertains to her.”
Evelyn seems to understand why I’m making my request and doesn’t argue. She places her hand in mine, and I grab ahold of one of Malcolm’s arms. I phase us to the ballroom in my own palace on Cirrus. Ethan and Roan phase in right behind us.
“What do you have to show us?” I ask her, feeling my heart race inside my chest.
Whatever Evelyn is about to reveal to us, it can’t be good. People you don’t know rarely seek you out to deliver good news.
“I should preface this,” she says, raising the small white beaded clutch purse in her hand, “by saying that I don’t live on Earth. I live on a planet called Sierra. Helena and Cade spent some time there in a cabin I own. Did Lucifer tell you about it?”
“No,” I say. I can only assume that it’s where my father had his talk with Helena about their relationship.
“After she left my planet, I had a security system installed because I wasn’t sure if she would ever show up there again. I didn’t want to have a surprise waiting for me if I decided to use it for my own purposes.”
Evelyn opens her purse and pulls out a black rectangular object.
“I haven’t seen one of those in a long time,” Malcolm comments. “Your planet must not be as developed as Earth.”
“No, we’re not. We’re still using cellphones to communicate with one another.”
Evelyn slides her finger across the screen before handing it to me.
“You need to watch this video footage my security cameras recorded last night. I think you’ll find it very interesting. Just touch the screen when you’re ready for it to begin.”
I look at the screen in my hand and see a still picture of Helena. She has her back to the camera, but I can still tell it’s her. No one else has such gorgeous long blonde hair. Though I find it strange that she’s dressed all in black instead of her signature red. She appears to be wearing a black turtleneck sweater and pants. Perhaps the change in the color of her wardrobe shows that she’s still in mourning over Cade.
I tap the screen with my index finger to start the video. Helena is sitting on a piano bench in what appears to be a study. She places her fingers on the keys and begins to play a piece of music. It’s a sad song, and I can only imagine she’s thinking about Cade as she plays it. I can see her shoulders shake slightly, and I know she’s crying without having to see her face. When the song comes to an end, Helena slides to the edge of the bench and turns to stand up, providing us with a side view of her face and body.
All four of us involuntarily gasp. I immediately tap the screen to freeze the video.
There, for all of us to see, is a pregnant Helena.
“Is that Cade’s baby?” I hear Ethan ask from behind us in total shock.
“If I were to guess the answer to your question,” Evelyn says, “I would have
to say it’s his. When I took Lucifer to confront Helena, we found her and Cade in a compromising position.”
“I didn’t even know she could become pregnant,” I say, feeling like the world has suddenly started to spin out of control again.
“Apparently she can,” Evelyn says. “Unless she’s started stuffing pillows underneath her shirts, I would say she definitely has a bun in the oven and that Cade is the baby’s father.”
“But what will it look like when it comes out?” Roan questions. “Helena looks human, but will the baby?”
I shake my head. “I have no idea.”
“You should watch the rest of the video,” Evelyn encourages me.
I tap the screen again to pick up where we left off. I can’t see Helena’s face clearly, but her expression makes her look dead inside. She stands from the bench but turns back toward the piano. In one swift, super-human movement, she stretches her arms out, pushing the baby grand piano so hard it breaks through the iron and glass walls it’s set in front of, causing it to fall outside the cabin. Helena lets out a scream mixed with both anger and pain just before she phases away.
“Did you follow her phase trail?” I ask, feeling an urgent need to know where she’s gone.
“No,” Evelyn tells me. “I didn’t see this video until this morning. By then, all traces of her had disappeared.”
I hand her back her phone. “Thank you for coming to us and letting us know about her condition.”
“I know you cared about Cade and that he loved your family like it was his own. I didn’t know him for very long, but I could tell what a good person he was. I’m just sorry he got involved with Helena. From the looks of it, I think she’s sorry now too.”