Laken wraps her arms tighter around my chest. “Wes, look.” She points to the floor, and past the glassy expanse I spot Ahava with its sparkling waterfalls in triplicate, the vast lake that spreads out from it, and in the distance the grassy knolls that lead to the Elysian Fields. It’s all there, paradise under our feet. And I’d give anything to be there, anywhere but here.
I glance up in time to catch Candace Messenger glaring at me.
“He’s brought her with him,” she says it bored as she shoots a glance to the Sector to her left. “A wanton play for sympathy, I suppose.”
Laken clucks her tongue. “I’ll have you know, I demanded to be here. And Wesley doesn’t need your sympathy. He’s innocent.”
The seven light up with a soft chortle, and a rush of humiliation fills me. I’m pretty sure I’ll need their sympathy.
Candace shoots her gaze behind me as her face brightens. “Skyla, you’ve neglected to bring your better half.” A bubble of laughter comes from her, and I turn to find Skyla striding over with my brother by her side. “The court will take a moment to review the matter. You may relax and mingle.” Candace taps a crystal cut gavel over the marble table she’s seated at, and Laken and I meet Skyla and Gage halfway.
“Laken”—Skyla’s eyes bulge in disbelief—“I can’t believe you’re here. Can I speak with you a moment?” Skyla whisks her off as I step in closer to my brother, his face hardened, his hands stuffed in the front of his jeans.
“Either you’re pissed at me, for me, or you’re just not feeling up to court today. Which is it?”
“I’m not pissed at you or for you—but yes, I want to be here for you. I’ll most likely be your only advocate.”
A pool of relief spears through me. “Thank you.” I glance to Skyla who seems to be genuinely gushing over Laken’s blooming belly. Maybe she’s not slamming me after all. Who knows? It might be my lucky day yet. “So what has your panties in a knot?” Gage looks as if he’s about to drill someone a new one. I take that back. He looks well past the point of rage.
“Logan. He says he’s taking Skyla back. He wants me to step away from the relationship.”
A sharp cackle comes from the holy huddle up at the marble pulpit, and we turn in time to see Candace applauding while glaring in our direction.
“I take it she approves.” I can’t help but point it out. It’s always been obvious she’s not a fan of my brother’s.
Gage glares right back at her, and I’m afraid for him for a moment. “She’s the instigator.” He turns my way. “But don’t worry. I’m not giving away my family on a whim. I’m nice, but I’m not that nice. So you worried about this?” He ticks his head back to the murmuring whispers behind him.
“No. I’d rescue Laken again and again. I love her. I’d do anything for her, and I think I’ve made that loud and clear. Have you spoken with Demetri?”
He gives a single nod. “We’re moving ahead. It will be fast and bloody. Don’t expect a big fat hug from my wife once this shit goes down.”
A peal of thunder goes off along with his expletive and Gage winces.
A dark laugh strums through me. “Skyla has never greeted me that way. So in that respect nothing will change.” The word bloody rings out in my mind. “You sure you know what you’re getting into? She may not want to gift you a big fat hug anymore either. Logan will look mighty appetizing once you pull that pin in the grenade.”
Gage flinches as if the words had the power to backhand him. “Skyla and I are solid. We’ve already decided that Faction business stays outside the bedroom door. It’s the new normal. It has to be.”
The room grows quiet, and all eyes move to the rear as Cooper Flanders himself strides in, dusty Levi’s in place, a sweatshirt that reads Coach and then West Paragon High Dawgs below that. He looks lowly and humble and, dare I say, affable. And as much as I want to hate him, make him fry for what he’s putting me through, I nod in his direction instead, and my lips betray me with the slightest hint of a smile.
Coop steps in as Laken and Skyla head this way. “You’re going down, Wes. There is not a sin of yours that you won’t pay for. Justice will be done whether it’s here, today, or on Paragon tomorrow. You’re not getting away with anything.” The hatred in his eyes is palpable, his words spewing venom and smoke. I’ve known Cooper long enough to understand he fully intends on delivering revenge. With anyone else I wouldn’t worry about it, but Cooper Flanders has a head on his shoulders like no other. He’s smart and cunning when he needs to be. After all, he stole Laken from me once. I’ll never underestimate him again.
Skyla and Laken step up just in time to hear the tail end of his tirade, and Laken openly takes up my hand.
She looks to Coop with a marked sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry you feel so strongly. Wesley is the true love of my life, and he always has been. I get that this is hard for you to hear, but present circumstances let me know it’s needed. I loved you at one time. I understand that. But I also understand that I’m no longer that person. My heart and soul have reverted back to my first love, and that’s where they’ll stay.” Her chest bucks as her eyes swell with tears. “You’re so kind and handsome.” Her lips tremble with a quiet laugh. “I want you to find happiness and love. You deserve it, Cooper. You really do.” Her voice is low and sweet, and I think everyone present knows she means every single word. “It’s just not going to be with me.”
Coop ticks his head back as if he were steeling his resolve, and then his eyes flit to the judges seated before us. A gavel sounds, and Candace nods our way as we step forward.
My heart drums in my chest. My adrenaline spikes as fight-or-flight kicks in. I’ve never been in any real trouble. I’ve never been held accountable for my actions either.
Candace narrows her gaze at her daughter, and Skyla sighs as if she senses something sinister coming her way.
“My precious one,” Candace says it without any of the emotion one might associate with the sentiment. “You bring him here.” Her pale eyes harden. By him I can only assume she means Gage. Poor guy. It’s bad enough to have an average mother-in-law hate your guts, but this one takes the celestial cake.
“He’s here for me.” I clear my throat, suddenly remorseful I said anything at all. I should have stayed out of it. If bringing two beautiful boys into the world didn’t warm her to him, then certainly nothing I say or do will deliver a change of heart.
“For you.” Her affect falls flat, and the heat of a thousand hellfires emits from those crystalline eyes. Candace Messenger is beautiful, the original to her daughter’s replica, and yet they’re as different as night and day on the inside. I like Skyla. I want to like her mother, and yet nothing in me is moved to do so.
Candace looks to her cohorts as her chest thumps with a laugh. “Trust me, the feeling is mutual.” Her heated gaze drifts to Cooper. “State your accusations against Wesley clearly so the court can discern the matter.” That slightly veiled disinterest in her eyes gives me the feeling they’ve scheduled this matter just before a coffee break they’re anxious to get to. I’m hoping it’ll work in my favor. I have a feeling it will. And once things go my way, I’m taking Laken back to bed and starting the day off properly with our morning ritual in which I worship her body. Everything I’ve dreamed of over the last few years is now a reality. For some reason, the universe has shone its light over me and gifted me my heart’s desire in every single capacity. And once our child arrives, my every dream with Laken will come true.
Candace huffs a dull laugh my way before nodding to Coop. “Please begin.”
Cooper steps forward, dressed as if he were playing the part of every man. His natural humility and strong presence lend him a genial quality, and suddenly I’m feeling like an ass for listening to a damn bird who suggested I show up looking like a mafia hit man.
“Your Grace, your Honors”—he nods to the seven—“Wesley Edinger is not only a deadly threat to the Factions that oppose him, but he’s a direct threat to my wife�
��s wellbeing. Not only has he taken advantage of the fact my wife suffered a severe trauma to her memory, but he’s forced her to commit adultery time and time again.”
Laken bucks. “Oh my God.” She throws her arms in the air, wild with exasperation. “Expect divorce papers in the morning. You won’t have to worry about my adulterous ways anymore.” Her face grows red with fury as her hand protectively cups her stomach. You can practically see her blood pressure rising to unsafe levels. I knew bringing her here was a shitty idea.
“I see.” Candace looks to her cohorts, and there’s something about the way their eyes magnetize to one another that lets you know there’s a conversation happening we’re not privy to. She turns to Coop. “Infidelity, although a capital sin, is not something the Justice Alliance deals with. Is there another charge you’d like to bring forth before we conclude the matter?”
Coop’s chest expands, his shoulders pull back, that look on his face seems cocksure about something, and it makes my stomach turn. But unless he’s got a stick of dynamite in his pocket, I doubt he’s about to blow any of us away.
“Yes, there is something else.” He looks to both Gage and me. “Kresley Fisher. Wes coerced her into altering her features to look like Laken, and I believe it was under false pretenses. She’s suffering on Raven’s Eye in Laken’s place. Wes switched them without giving it a second thought. Kresley is one of our own, and she is subjected to government testing that you yourself deemed so unacceptable you rescued the dead that were sent to suffer in our place.” He shoots me a sharp look. “Wesley Edinger set her up to suffer and never looked back. And why would he? He’s too busy making my wife his own to care about the suffering of another Nephilim soul. The government might be responsible for holding Kresley captive against her will, but Wes is solely responsible for her torment. He is callous to the suffering of others, so long as he’s getting a steady diet of his heart’s desire, and the only thing Wesley Edinger desires is my wife. He’s a devil, and a menace. The blood of Kresley Fisher should be solely on his hands.” He looks to Skyla, still lost in his fury. “And mark my words, unless he is stopped, Kresley Fisher is only the tip of the iceberg. He will imprison each and every soul on our planet who is in opposition to him. He will burn down the universe to secure what he has—my wife in his bed.” He takes another step toward the massive marble structure separating us from the seven glorious beings who seem to be less than moved by his entreaty. “I humble myself before you all. I implore you to heal my wife and restore her memory as it was before. If she were in her right mind, there is not a chance she’d be caught dead in the Transfer with that monster.”
“Stop!” Laken roars so loud the air quivers in response. Her hand slips from mine as she takes a few bold steps forward herself. Something tells me this is going to end on a high note. “How dare you insinuate that I’m not in my right mind.” She looks to the court with her chest gyrating in and out as she struggles to catch her breath. “I apologize that any of you had to listen to this. I can assure you I am very much in my right mind. I love Wesley, and I always have.” She turns a moment and spears me with a look that sends a rife panic in me before turning back to the court. “I do not, however, agree with what he’s done to pull me from Raven’s Eye. Although I don’t agree with Cooper’s harsh words against Wesley’s character, I do fully agree that Kresley’s case needs supernatural attention. If anything good comes from this, I hope it’s her deliverance from suffering. Although I don’t remember Kresley, or anything from my time at the Ephemeral Academy, both Skyla and Cooper have assured me that I had no friendly feelings toward her whatsoever. But I don’t care about any of that. What I am concerned with is that there is a girl who has been on that island a hell of a lot longer”—the room vibrates as a low strum of thunder rattles through us—“a lot longer than any of us would like. So please, if you may, supply us with the miracle of Kresley’s release.”
Candace takes a dramatic breath before looking each of us over. “Cooper and Laken, once again you’re both in synchronicity with your desires. However, if you’re looking for miracles, you’ve come to the wrong council. The throne room is in another direction. The divine spirit who lives in each of you is the only portal you need for miraculous intervention. Cooper, your passion for your wife does not escape my sympathies.”
Shit. I close my eyes a moment. The last thing I need or want is Candace teaming up with Coop. Is it because I look like my brother that the woman has no affinity for me? I take a deep breath and gird myself as I look her way once again. I will not lose Laken. Nothing that happens today will change that.
Candace studies me a moment before going on. “Cooper, I am genuinely sorry for the insurmountable grief you are living through. The only solace I can offer is that Laken’s memory is malleable and has potential to be restored. But more importantly than that, she has the ability to see the here and now and evaluate for herself once again the attributes that drove her away from Wesley in the first place. Love doesn’t change. Her heart will direct her like a watercourse, flowing her affinity and devotion to where they truly belong.”
I swallow so hard I’d swear it was audible. I push all of the words Candace just spoke out of my mind. There’s no way I’m going to give anyone the pleasure of suffering because of them. Laken loves me. That’s all I have to know.
“Wesley.” Candace perks up. Those bowtie lips knot up with a mischievous smirk as if she were about to kick my balls through a goalpost from the opposite end of the field, and I believe she is. “Kresley Fisher—it appears you had it in your heart to rescue her at one point but have fallen short.” She rakes me up and down with those clear haunting eyes as if she were reading me like a book. She’s right, of course. I had every intention on helping get Kres back. “Perhaps I can offer a little motivation for you to do exactly that. Kresley is with child. Your child.”
This ethereal world around me ceases to exist for a moment. It feels as if the floor has opened up and I’ve fallen right through. Holy hell. A child. A child with Kresley. Shit. And just like that, a ripe rage rips through me. My child, a child I instantly love as much as Tobie—Tobie who has a viper for a mother and still has the power to entangle my heart with grief and joy—its life is in danger.
“Wes?” Laken staggers back, and her face quickly morphs from shock to elation. “That’s wonderful. Another sibling. Can you believe it?” Her cheeks pique with color. Laken is enamored with the fact our brood is expanding so quickly. “We’re getting Kresley out as soon as possible, no matter what. This is the fire you’ve needed. I won’t let our child’s brother or sister linger in that hell another moment.”
“Yes.” The word expires from me as if someone just took both my lungs out. “Of course.” I look to Candace in disbelief. “How will I get her out?” Despite popular opinion, I’ve given the matter an intense amount of thought. “Freeing Kresley puts an automatic bounty on Laken’s head. I can’t do that. She’s carrying my child as well.” My stomach knots up all at once as if I’ve ascertained the power to sucker punch myself.
“Is she?” Candace arches a brow, and my blood runs instantly cold.
Skyla lets out a mean whoop, hopping up and down as if she just won a prize—and I’m certain she would consider the fact Laken were carrying Cooper’s baby, the mother of all prizes. There’s another irony in there, but I’m too overloaded to figure it out.
“Skyla.” Candace rolls her eyes dramatically. “Enough jubilation. Wesley’s seed is powerfully fruitful these days. I wouldn’t have that stepmother of yours throw a party just yet.”
Everything in me loosens. As far as I’m concerned, that was as good as Candace telling me that the baby in Laken’s belly is mine. It is, regardless of its DNA. Laken and I are together again, and there’s not a thing Coop can do to stop it.
Cooper takes a breath and expands his chest twice its girth. “So no punishment for Wes? He destroys two lives and gets away with it?”
Candace shoots those glassy ey
es my way, her expression hard as flint as she presses me with consideration. “The council and I will confer a moment. Please keep your voices down.”
The seven of them converge in a circle, and as their illuminated beings collide, the room explodes with light as bright as the sun. Skyla wastes no time in pulling Laken to the side and begins gesticulating away in an animated fashion.
Gage knocks his shoulder to mine. “You’re okay, dude. No matter what they say, I’ll be here for you.” He steps in front of me as if to shield Coop’s prying eyes, but Coop’s head is bowed at the moment as if he were praying for mercy. Either that or anticipating defeat, and he should be. Gage shakes his head ever so slightly. “I don’t know how, but I’ll help you get Kres. No offense, but you should have taken care of it months ago. What the heck were you thinking?”
“I was thinking about getting her out. It’s impossible without—” I look to Laken and cringe at how this entire disaster has blown up in our faces. “Look, I had no choice but to do what I did. Laken is my chief concern. I stand by my decision.”
“And now your decision is affecting two people, Kresley and your kid.” Gage rocks back on his heels, his head pitched to the nebulous expanse above us, a navy night encrusted with far too many stars to belong to our solar system. “I think I have an idea.” He runs his hand over his face as if he’s still trying to talk himself into it. “It’s not a good one, but it might work.”
“Getting Kres out is only half the battle. I don’t think I can ever convince Laken to live underground. The Transfer is a prison, and as it stands, she’s already looking to get out as much as she can. Give me a hint. I’m dying to know what’s on your mind.” In truth, I need a hint of hope, anything will do.
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