“What’s your narrative?” There’s a dare in her eyes. She’s baiting me with her words. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m falling for it.
“We had everything. You were my family before we ever met. I knew you. I saw your face in my thoughts, in my dreams. I waited for you.” I nod to the girl whose likeness she’s all but stolen. “Chloe was in the running before that. And to tell the truth, had you never infiltrated my thoughts it would have been her.”
Her body bucks as if it were involuntary.
She closes her eyes a moment. “Chloe has a lot to say about that. Neither of us is sure if we’re buying it, but we’re on the road. Let’s see where it leads?”
“Fine.” It comes out angry as if they were forcing a confession out of me, but I think we all know nobody forces me to do anything. “I had an eye on Chloe. Nothing serious, but you can’t deny she’s a beautiful girl. That’s why, when she befriended me the way she did, it felt natural. But by that time, I already knew I was destined for another. It was you, Skyla. My heart bought everything about you hook, line, and sinker. I was done. There was no turning back. There was nothing forced about it. So you see, if you truly believe I drank the Kool-Aid Demetri’s been dishing out as far back as my birth, you would be wrong. I have complete command of my thoughts, my desires, and my actions. I operate as a free agent. I decide when I hold on and when I let go.”
She gives a long blink. “Like when you hold onto your sanity and when you let it go like a cheap party balloon? And here it’s blown up in all our faces.”
“Yes, well, I think we all know the rest of that story.” I pull my plate back and consider my meal. “We had the boys, Skyla. Beautiful, perfect beings created in our likeness.”
“Your likeness.” She glances away. “They’re your doppelgängers. How I miss them.” Her features pull down. “You have no idea what it was like for me to hold them yesterday if for the briefest moment.”
“We were so happy the day they were born.” I try to steer her away from the darkness that so easily wants to creep in. I want to hold onto this delusional truce for as long as I can. “We cherished every second.”
She nods. “And we had Lexy document just about everything. It was precious. Can you imagine if we weren’t caught up in these celestial games? If we spent a lifetime growing old side by side and watching the boys grow? What if we had Sage? What a full, magical life that would have been,” she whispers, staring off to the floor, tears pooling in her eyes.
And in that moment I can feel it, the official letting down of the guard. After all these tumultuous months of me brooding, sulking, breathing hate, breathing fire, the walls are crumbling. How much more fortitude will it take to maintain my position? I don’t know the answer to that, but I can rest assured I will find it and deliver. This woman right here, the soul before me, is the reason I exist. And knowing what I do about the blip of human life, eternity is where it is. I can justify every last action, including the fact I snuffed the life right out of her.
Yes, Skyla—I bear hard into those dark eyes—I did it all for you.
“We already had magic,” the words whisper from me weak with passion. In this small blissful moment, it feels as if we had recouped some of that magic indeed. I had never doubted Skyla’s undying affection for me, not even in the moment she promised to hate me most. But I had made her doubt my affection. I put her in a painful position so that she would not be in an infinitely more painful position for eternity.
A deep sigh comes from me as we stare one another down.
“Chloe”—I search her face as if searching for her spirit—“when I gifted you my attention, you laid down arms for me, for my purposes. And Skyla, you abandoned ship and handed Logan the keys to the kingdom. You rolled over into my arms without looking back. Then I shredded your heart, Chloe. And Skyla, I destroyed both your heart and your body for my purposes, for the only purpose or reason I would ever hurt you.”
Her nostrils flare—which one did the action, I don’t know.
She gives a curt nod. “Yes, Gage. A riddle of the ages.”
I press out another sigh. The rife look of disappointment on my face is impossible to hide.
“The answer lies in the riddle,” I say. “You are smart girls. You can figure it out.”
“No, Gage.” Skyla shakes her head. “I cannot figure you out that easily because I have a feeling the most important key to that conversation was conveniently left out.”
“There are some things that are not for you to know.” I wanted to add right now, but I’m not one to get ahead of myself.
She leans in, a cutting mixture of disdain and anger crossing her face. “That’s where you are wrong. I have been charged with ruling the Nephilim sphere here on this planet. That is my destiny, my task. Not yours. You stole it. You are a thief. The night you appeared to me after your brief internment with death, the first words you said to me were, ‘I came to kill, steal, and destroy.’ And you have certainly kept your word.
“At the time, Gage, I had no idea it was me you would inflict all three of those punishments on. You are parading around in the crown meant for my head. You sit on my throne. You are holding a scepter that was fashioned long ago for me. All things are for me to know. There is no knowledge you can keep from me that I won’t find out.
“You prevail in the battle, but I win the war. Enjoy your short-lived victory, Oliver. That metallic stench of Celestra blood in the air that you perfume yourself with will soon be replaced with the blood of your people.
“Maybe I did need to die to have the blinders completely fall off. You have spent the last two years trying to push me off of my pedestal, I should have figured the planet was never far behind. Goodbye, Gage. I would ask you to leave my presence, but this new version of me is all about being in control. I won’t wait to see if you’ll comply. I no longer need you to.
“The winds of change are blowing. I can feel them propelling me forward, to my true destiny. I may need a miracle to pull off my victory, but you will be denied even that. You have no more celestial favors. You see, I have friends in high places and I have pulled a few strings. You’re about to find out the only person you have in your corner is nothing but a sickly serpent who dried up long ago. Demetri may have started his carnage in the garden all those millenniums ago, but it ends here, on my turf. Once again, Gage, I am putting you on notice.”
She stands, and I do the same.
Skyla takes a bold step forward in that strange Chloe skin.
“I would kiss you”—her voice is lower than a whisper, her pain is palpable—“right on the lips.” She shakes her head as her eyes flood with tears. “But that will only happen on the day you bow down to me once again. It will be a welcome home kiss, a kiss for the ages. And that will be all you will ever get from me again. Not because you’ve surrendered me to another. I willingly fled to the one you once regarded as a brother. And now those you willfully tormented will torment you. Only God knows why you’re truly in the predicament that you’re in. But I’m certain, before too long, I will be in on your little secret, too. You cannot stop me. Not in life, not in death. I am your immortal companion, and I will save what is good in you and destroy the wicked. Remember these words, Gage. I am unstoppable.”
She stalks off, and I take a moment to catch my breath.
Those words seeped down deep into my bones the second they left her lips.
Skyla is unstoppable.
It’s exactly what I wanted. It’s exactly what I fear most.
I drop a few bills onto the table, before heading out as the thick Paragon fog welcomes me in its cold, icy arms. I dissipate in the cloak it provides for me and reappear in Eversor without missing a beat.
“Father!” Sage screeches with something short of rage. There’s a note of panic in her voice that I have never heard before and it alarms me. “You’ve been with her, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” I pant as I examine the fury in her eyes. “Why, what’
s happened?”
She floats up and wallops me over the face with the fiery palm of her hand.
If I were human, my skull would have fractured before it sailed right off my neck.
“They’ve left.” Her eyes glow like coals.
“Shit.” I land my hand over my cheek to comfort it. “Who left?” No sooner do the words leave my lips than I realize exactly who she’s talking about.
I stagger into the grand room to find it empty, the fire extinguished, the playing cards scattered around the floor like confetti.
“You let your guard down.” Sage’s voice is tight as she strides up beside me. “The hedge you shielded our home with was your own. As soon as weakness was detected, Sector Marshall appeared. He took them all and they vanished.” Her stormy eyes fasten to mine with an unrepentant rage. “You cost me, Alice. I am not pleased with you, Father.”
“Crap.” I set foot into the room a few more feet, and for the first time in a very long while, I feel vulnerable.
Skyla whittled down my defenses, lowered my guard, and now all hell is about to break loose.
“Don’t worry, Sage,” I say as I glare at the void before me. “I’m not too pleased with myself either. I won’t disappoint us ever again.”
And I will make damn sure of it.
I pull out my phone and send a text to Cooper Flanders. I think it’s time I shore up a little insurance.
4
Logan
They say when it rains it pours. And, suffice it to say, it has been a shitstorm in my life these past few days, months, years. And if that haunted island I live on, and its equally shitty weather, is any indication—things won’t clear up anytime soon. They’ll linger, they’ll become a pattern, and drag on in one long riot of chaos for the unforeseeable future.
But not today. Perhaps today is the marker we’ll be able to look back on as the turning point of all this madness. The day that Ezrina, Nev, little Alice, and I were liberated from Gage Oliver’s private hell. And now that my feet are back on sweet Paragon soil, I plan to raise a little hell myself and drown Gage like the river rat he’s proving to be.
The Landon house stands like a haven amidst the boil of angry clouds as they rain down their fury. The door is unlocked, and I bullet inside faster than that cyclone that’s about to hit Gage Oliver’s life.
“Skyla?” I shout, panting and out of breath. As soon as Marshall dropped us off at Whitehorse, I didn’t bother to ask for a lift. Instead, I implemented my Nephilim speed and ran like a greyhound all the way here. It’s only been days that I’ve been gone, but hell, it feels like months.
It’s late afternoon, bordering on evening. The lights are on and the scent of one of Emily’s vegan stews is enlivening the air as well as my stomach. I’m starving, I’m pissed, and all I want is to hold my wife, my sweet baby, and the boys. Gage is far more delusional than I thought, and for that reason alone, I plan on keeping him the hell away from Nathan and Barron. The old Gage, the one who I think actually existed, would have begged me to do it.
“Skyla?” Her name thunders from me as if I were angry with her. I head into the family room and spot Drake and Ethan, Skyla’s stepbrothers battling it out via a video game, while a gaggle of children sit on the floor mesmerized as they stare up at the TV—Beau Geste, Misty, Ember, and Ella. All of them belong to Drake minus Misty. That one belongs to Demetri. They’re better known around here as the five and under club. They like their cartoons loud, their food messy, and their screaming matches heard all the way over on the mainland.
Emily Morgan stands in the dining room chatting on her phone, her shock of dark hair bobbing in rhythm to the hostility in her voice. But it’s Lizbeth, Skyla’s mother, who snags my full attention, with her blouse split open, tits out, a toe-headed angel contently suckling away at what I pray isn’t her nipple.
“Jaxson.” It comes out with a breath of relief as Lizbeth looks up with surprise.
“Logan! Skyla has been worried sick about you. You’re not contagious, are you?”
“Why would I be contagious?” My stomach cinches because I have a feeling I’m about to blow the cover story I should very much be a part of.
“She said you might have the chicken pox. Oh hon, unless you have clearance from your doctor, you need to just retrace your steps, young man. I have a houseful of tots and a wee one here, and nobody has time for that itchy, twitchy hell.”
“I’m fine, I promise.” I twitch my fingers, and she gives a disapproving frown before releasing my son to me. As soon as he pulls away, I can see he was merely sleeping. And I can also see that third nipple she’s taped to her body right next to the real deal. It’s attached to some pouch that delivers formula or breast milk—that of her daughter’s—right to the baby. I’m not a fan of my soon-to-be mother-in-law nursing my kid with her boob, but I’m glad he’s safe and loved. “Where’s Skyla?”
“In your room.” She wrinkles her nose. “She’s been a bit under the weather, you know, moody. All things that are normal for a new mother. Not to mention she’ll be a new bride in a month. She has an awful lot on her plate.” Her nose twitches. “But I must say, I was a bit surprised when she called Emma and told her to pick up the boys. Skyla didn’t even pack their things. Emma and I wrangled it all together.” She snarls. “And boy was that woman gleeful when she strode right out of here with my grandbabies.”
My eyes widen with horror.
For Skyla to give the boys to Emma for ten minutes is a huge deal, but to shuffle them off to Emma’s for an undisclosed amount of time is downright alarming.
“I’m heading up,” I say as I cradle my precious boy in my arms. I never take my eyes off of the sleeping squirming prince as we make our way upstairs. The blond peach fuzz on his head wafts like feathers in the breeze, and his lips twitch as though they were anxious to break out into a smile. The door to our room is closed, and I give a gentle knock before entering. “Hey,” I whisper in the darkened room, only to find Skyla sitting up, startled, with her phone in her hand, music blaring from it. The curtains are drawn, and it’s black in the room, save from the light illuminating from her screen.
“Logan?” she says, stunned as I head on over, the smile on my face ever-expanding as she silences her phone.
“I’m here.” I land a kiss on Jaxson’s forehead and place him into the bassinet—no designer coffin for my boy. Sorry, Bree. “Skyla.” I fall into the bed and pull her over me in one quick move. “My God, I’ve missed you.” I lean up to kiss her and she inches back. “Hey?” I sit up a notch. “I’m here. It’s okay. What’s been happening? Are you all right?”
She takes a quick breath, her body gliding off of mine as she leans in to get a better look at me as if she’s never seen me before.
She gives a few rapid blinks, and her eyes shine in the moonlight. “You escaped?”
“That’s right. Gage had a bleeding heart moment, and Marshall took advantage of it. He ripped a hole right through that protective hedge and the rest is history. Gage can’t hurt me again. I won’t let him. What’s going on? Your mom says you’re under the weather. Why does Emma have the boys?”
Her eyes round out a moment. “Because they’re hard, Logan. There are two of them and there’s only one of me.” She sounds angry, and defensive, and there’s a touch of indignation in her voice. “And with this new one who screams all day long, I don’t have a minute to myself.”
“Jaxson’s been screaming?” I blink over at the little angel, sleeping peacefully. “Okay,” I say it slow and measured. “I get it. A lot’s happened. I’m assuming you went to Whitehorse?”
Her eyes flit to the window like maybe she hasn’t.
“Of course I went to Whitehorse.” She scoffs and sounds remarkably unlike herself. Lizbeth’s words come back to me. Skyla does have an awful lot on her plate. Maybe this nightmare with Gage has triggered postpartum? Maybe her hormones have gone wild. Whatever it is, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m determined to help her through i
t. That’s what love does, it powers through every single obstacle.
“So I heard you talked to Marshall.” I pull her hand up and kiss it. “Thank you. Gage had us locked up in Eversor.”
Her eyes flit to the ceiling. “I know that.” She runs a line over my lips with her finger. “This is too much jaw flapping for my liking.” A hint of a naughty smile appears. “Let the baby sleep. I think we should do the things that grown-ups do.” Her finger rides down my chest before dipping into the lip of my jeans. “I bet you really missed me, didn’t you, big boy?”
“Big boy?” A quiet laugh rumbles through me. Skyla is in rare form, but if she’s up for a little grown-up time, I’m all for it myself.
Skyla dives over me with a kiss that feels—for a lack of a better word, aggressively sloppy.
My chest rumbles with a laugh.
“Are you hungry?” I tease. “Because I think you’re trying to eat my face. I can grab a snack for us if you want.”
She tugs at my flannel and rips the buttons right off.
“I’m hungry for you, Logan. I’m eager to see what you have to offer.” She blinks a quick smile my way. “Now let’s get these pesky clothes off and show me the goods.” A dull laugh resonates deep within her. “I’m dying to get to know you better.”
“Yes, ma’am. You know I can’t deny you anything. And I’d hate to think you forgot about me so soon. I’d better remind you about all the good parts.” I quickly take off my clothes, and she does a thorough inspection of my body in a wash of moonlight, as if scouring me for new scars.
“Don’t worry.” I brush her hair back from her shoulder. “I’m unscathed. They didn’t hurt me.”
Her brows bounce. “Will you hurt me?”
A nervous laugh strums from me. “I’d never hurt you. And if I do, just let me know. I’m more interested in bringing you pleasure. Now come here. I think it’s time I do just that.” I pull her close to me and kiss her slowly until she picks up the rhythm of my lips, and if I didn’t know better, it’s as if she were trying to mimic them.
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