Tobie gives my hair a merciless tug.
“I want Mommy. Not mean Mommy. Nice Mommy.”
By mean mommy she is most definitely talking about Chloe. It is a universally known principle that Chloe is a wicked witch who has overstayed her welcome on Paragon, and perhaps planet Earth as a whole. There is no love lost between us, and that will never change.
A gentle knock erupts at the door and I sit up to find Kresley waving as she heads inside. Baby Eli sits content at her hip before she launches him into my arms. Eli shares my dark hair and blue eyes. Little Wes looks just like me, too.
“Here we go.” I blow a big elephant kiss over Eli’s belly and he explodes with laughter.
“Give me him!” Tobie pulls Eli to her as if he were a doll. And to her he is exactly that. Her living doll. “I likes Eli, but I want Charlie.” I find her affinity to pluralize words too adorable to correct.
She glowers over at me as if she somehow innately understands I’m the sole reason Laken and Charlie have taken a step out of our lives.
Kresley sits at the edge of the bed and shakes her head at me.
Kresley Fisher and I met at boarding school, a boarding school that the Fems ruled like puppet masters, come to find out. They had wiped my memory of everything that was real—my life in Kansas, Laken as my one and only true love, my death and resurrection. And they flooded me with new memories. They gave me a brother who wasn’t a relation at all—Blaine who I haven’t heard from in years. They pointed me to a girl and told me to love her—that would be Kres—and they somehow convinced me she was the one. Okay, so I don’t know if that last fact is true or not, but it was my reality.
I thought I had fallen for Kresley. In some ways it felt right. Wesley and Kresley, even our names seemed to fit in some ridiculous fashion. She was a stunner, dark hair, killer eyes, overall pretty. She’s still a stunner but in a slightly altered fashion.
A little over a year ago I convinced her to let Ezrina rearrange her features until she became Laken’s look-alike in every way. And, since Kresley’s obsession with me knows no bounds, she was quick to comply. What she didn’t realize was just how wicked my intentions were all along. I had planned to have Laken kidnapped by the government and sent to Raven’s Eye for supernatural observation. I knew they needed a body, a victim, someone to study the markers in-depth. Originally, I thought of sending Kresley in alone. But it was too tempting not to work Laken into it.
Once that plan was set into motion, I took Kresley and planted her in Laken’s place, thus rescuing my true love.
It fulfilled two purposes. One, it would give the government a taste and a hunger to hunt down the Nephilim. Of course, that’s when I was supposed to step in with a serum to hide the markers that outed my kind but didn’t. And in doing so, I would have become a savior to the Nephilim, thus destroying Celestra’s standing. But serum withstanding, the latter was carried out by my true brother, Gage himself, one Halloween night as he eviscerated Celestra so badly they were booted off the celestial pedestal.
The second purpose, and perhaps the most important detail of them all, I would have been a savior to Laken. I had rescued her, after all. It was no small or supernatural feat. It was all sheer love and determination on my part. And well, that part of the equation played out well for me.
What I did not expect was the incredible bonus I received. Laken’s memory was wiped clean—or pretty darn close—and her love for me reawakened exactly as it had been in the beginning.
It was me she had an affinity for, not Cooper, her then-husband. It was me she wanted to spend forever with. She let me know the other night right before she spit in my eye that she was willing to forgive me for the fact I altered Charlie’s paternity in my favor. She was going to stay with me.
What she couldn’t forgive me for was what I had done yet again in secret—marrying Chloe for Gage. Sleeping with Chloe for Gage. Giving Gage my child to raise—a daughter, Maleficent—named by her wicked witch of a mother. Mally, as we now lovingly refer to her, is here with me, too. She is one hundred percent mine, abandoned by her mother just the way she abandoned Tobie. Little Mally and Wesley Cooper were both born last summer. Eli and Charlie just turned one last August, and Tobie just turned three this last Halloween. Five under five. Although Cooper would deny me the right to claim Charlie. He would be right, but that won’t stop me. She’ll forever be my girl, if just in my heart.
Kresley stretches out like a cat. It was Logan Oliver who eventually rescued a very pregnant Kresley from Raven’s Eye.
After she was rescued from government detention—something I felt ambivalent about—she had Ezrina reconstruct her face to a similar version of what it was before. She’s prettier perhaps than the original, but her nose is a bit off, too small for her face. Nobody will complain, nor will any man kick her out of bed for eating crackers. But one thing remains the same—her obsession with me is still on, stronger than ever. As soon as she learned Laken was out of the picture, she asked to move into the main house and watch the kids for me. Kresley is officially the nanny of the house to Tobie and Mally. To Eli she’s just plain ol’ mom.
“Mally is still sleeping.” Kres gives my foot a pinch. “She’s a good baby. I wish Eli was that easy at her age. I think we have a keeper.” She gives a sly wink.
I stare over at her a moment too long. The calloused heart in me wants to inform her that there is no we. There never will be a we. This is the exact same reason I chose Kresley to go to Raven’s Eye to begin with. I find her obsession with me stifling, cloying. And in my defense, she harped day in and day out how she would give anything to help the Steel Barricade, and Raven’s Eye was my solution to making that happen for her.
So don’t tell me I’ve never done anything for you, Kres. I made sure all of your dreams came true.
But I do appreciate Kres and all she’s doing for me, so I keep my mouth shut. God knows I’m not up for midnight feedings followed by three a.m. feedings. My only other alternative was to pay Lizbeth Landon a hefty sum a month to take the nightshift, and perhaps a few daylight hours as well. She would have taken the gig. I know for a fact Demetri shoved her husband, the laughable Tad Landon, into prison, or at least he will be soon enough, under the pretense of rigging the lottery in his favor. The poor jackass never saw that one coming. But then, with Demetri, no one sees the blows he delivers until it’s too late and you’re on your back, bleeding out.
“Let her sleep,” I say. “At least someone in this family can find some rest.”
Her lips curl at the thought. “We are a family, aren’t we, Wes?”
“Yes.” I won’t argue with her there. Kres will be around in my life forever now that Eli is in the picture. She’s family. But I draw the line at pulling her into bed with me. I won’t make that mistake again. And soon enough, when she realizes all of her advances won’t work, she’ll find someone else to hound.
Here’s hoping.
She leans in. “I saw Cooper Flanders park across the street.”
“Really?” I sit a little straighter. Cooper is one degree of separation from Laken. “Is he here? Does he want to talk?”
“Nope. He went over to your brother’s house, and when no one answered the door, he went next door to Emma’s. I guess he wants to talk to Gage.”
“Cooper wants to talk to Gage?” My curiosity is piqued. “Would you mind watching the kids? I’m going to take a quick shower and jump across the street. I’d like to know what Flanders is up to.”
“Sure.” She intercepts me just as I’m about to head for the bathroom. Her hand clasps over my bare chest. “Don’t be long. I was hoping we could drop Tobie off at school together and maybe take Eli and Mally to breakfast at the Gas Lab. I’m going stir crazy, Wes.” She bites down over her lip, her eyes raking over my features. “And I’m very, very hungry.”
Her gaze drops to my crotch, and I know exactly what she’s hungry for.
“Okay, fine.” I’d rather feed her a pancake than any part o
f me.
By the time I make my way across the street, Coop’s truck is gone, so I help Kres hustle the kids out the door and we drop Tobie off at preschool before heading to the Gas Lab.
As fate, or my shitty luck would have it—although I’m pretty psyched about what I’m seeing—Cooper and Laken are here with Charlie and little Wes.
The Gas Lab is an eat-in diner with a menu that spans donuts to Kobe beef. No one is really sure why, but the people of Paragon are conditioned not to ask too many questions in general. I spot Ezrina behind the counter. Emerson Kragger is there, too, looking like the grumpy Goth she is with a mop of dark hair and eyes that look as if they’re lasering death rays at anyone who bothers to glance her way. And standing next to her is That Bitch, Chloe. The fact Chloe has rejected her own daughters has forever sealed her the title of That Bitch in my eyes, not that she isn’t in everyone else’s.
Kres carries Eli while I schlep Mally in her car seat. She’s still fast asleep, living up to her lineage as the angel that she is. But I don’t suppose that will warrant any praise from Chloe. We settle at the table next to Laken and Cooper, and I note the instant frown appearing on Coop’s face.
Too bad, buddy. I really don’t give a crap how you’re feeling today. You won. Winners don’t frown.
“Laken,” I say her name, out of breath as if I’ve just run a marathon around this fog-riddled island.
Laken’s eyes brighten at the sight of me, a thin smile playing on her lips.
“Wesley.” She pulls the blanket back on the car seat next to her, revealing my beautiful sweet son, fast asleep, his dimples adorably popping. He is my exact likeness, and I couldn’t be pleased more. If Laken won’t love me, she’ll love him, and that’s good enough for me—for now.
“Charlie.” My eyes dart to the blonde princess dressed in a bright pink peacoat looking every bit as beautiful as her mother. Okay, fine. I’ll admit, she looks a lot like Coop. But in my heart, she’ll always belong to me.
“Daddy!” Her whole face brightens as she lifts her hands my way.
Without hesitation I scoop her right out of her high chair.
“E-E!” She points to Eli and bounces in my arms as if she wants to head over to him and I quickly oblige her. Eli is her brother in every way. They’ve been together since the day they were born. This separation is probably hell on her.
“Here, Wes.” Laken scoots Charlie’s booster seat between us, and Kresley moves Eli’s so they’re sitting side by side. I land Charlie back in her place, and both she and her brother tug and pull one another into an award hug that melts even my glacial heart.
Cooper leans back in his seat. “Wesley, Kres.” He nods her way. “What’s on the agenda today? Creating more Fems to populate the kingdom? Or is it just another day of ruling the world?”
I frown over at him. “Just filling our bellies for now.”
Chloe plods this way and peers over at Mally.
“Wes, she’s so beautiful,” she coos.
My face grows hot because for the life of me I can’t figure out how to process this.
“Chloe, we’re not here to wage a war,” I growl over at her.
Kres hops to her feet. “I’ll put in our orders, Wes. The usual for you?”
Kresley knows me inside and out. She certainly isn’t a stranger to what I like for breakfast.
“Yes, please,” I say, and Chloe shakes her head at Kres.
“I’m working here today,” Chloe says. “I’ll take your order so you won’t have to leave the kids.” She pulls out a pad, and Kresley quickly rattles off every delicious treat we’re about to put in our bellies.
“Chloe,” I bark over at her as she takes our order to the front. “Do not touch our food. I’ll pick it up myself.”
Cooper shakes his head. “She took our orders, too.” He looks to Laken. “Are you still hungry?”
“I’m hungry.” Laken’s denim blue eyes swing my way.
Laken is pissed, I can tell. She is not a fan of me screwing up, and this time I have screwed up royally. But she is beautiful, with a waterfall of caramel brown waves rolling down her back, open face, friendly smile, damn kissable lips that I’m pretty sure were made just for me.
“I’m sure we’ll live,” she whispers in defeat. “Besides, we can’t leave now”—she looks to Coop—“we have no food in the house. We’ll have to stop by Cost Club afterward.”
“Perfect.” Coop offers her a peaceable smile. Coop’s a decent guy, looks a lot like Logan Oliver, and neither of them is my favorite person. But Coop and I were friends, good friends before Laken walked back into my life. And as much as I don’t like that Laken isn’t with me, I know that Cooper loves her as fiercely as I do. Or at least he thinks he does.
“Edinger,” Cooper growls my way. “Let’s talk outside, five minutes.”
“Fine.” I nod to Kres and she nods back as Mally begins to fuss and she pulls her out of her car seat.
Laken looks over at the baby with heavily lidded eyes, as if it pained her to see the face of my inadvertent lovechild with Chloe. And I’m sure it does. I’m sure it will be a dagger to the heart each time she sees her.
Tobie is different. I didn’t step out on Laken to have Tobie. But Mally will forever be a reminder of how low I was willing to stoop for my ridiculous brother.
Coop follows me outside and slams me up against the brick building once we’re out of view.
“Do not mess with my family,” he seethes over my face. “You have done enough to endanger them. You jammed a shit sandwich down my throat for a year, and now I’m giving it right back. I am warning you, Wes. Do not cross a single line. You are involved in our lives only as much as I want you to be. Laken gave me that power.”
A sigh expels from me because I believe him.
“What do you want?” I shove his arm off of me. “Spell out your rules, Flanders, but stay within reason. You will not keep me away from my son.”
“Like you kept me away from my daughter?” His brows hike with amusement. “Look, I’m not the monster around here. You are. You can see your kid in public—parties, parks, run-ins, but you’re not welcome at my house. I’m the go-between for you and Laken from here on out.”
“Why? Don’t you trust her?” Now it’s my brows hiking with amusement.
“I don’t trust you. No one in their right mind should. You may have broken faith with the Barricade”—he says broken faith with air quotes—“but you have a long way to go before you prove yourself to me.” He blows out a hard breath. “Look, I like you, Wes. We were friends once, but with Laken between us, I don’t think that’s possible anymore. You and I both know you are too much of a whiny pussy to give her up entirely to me. You get what you want. That’s your motto. And that’s been the pattern that your life has adhered to. I get it. You’re a spoiled rotten Fem, whose daddy has gifted him with favor. But you can’t have Laken. She’s made up her mind where she stands.”
My blood begins to boil, and it takes everything in me not to land my fist over that sweet spot on his temple and send him straight to eternity.
“Listen, Coop. You may hold some cards, but you do not hold all of them. Laken still loves me. I think that’s where a lot of your anger is coming from. I get it. I’m angry, too, when it comes to how she feels about you.” I lean in a notch. “Don’t forget that night she left me. She made it crystal clear she was about to forgive me regarding Charlie’s true paternity. That’s not why she left me. That’s overlooking a lot, don’t you think? That’s overlooking you.” A smile flickers on my cheek because the final stab to the heart came from Laken herself. “Now let’s get back inside before our pancakes grow cold.”
His eyes remain trained over mine, and I can feel his general dissatisfaction with the trajectory of this conversation.
“All right, Wes.” Coop blows out a plume of Paragon fog through his nose. “We’re going to find middle ground. And we’re going to get along. Partially for the kids, and partially because I want t
o make you sweat every time you see Laken’s genuine affection for me. It’s a special brand of torment I’m doling out just for you.” A dark smile rises on his face. “There is something satisfying about rubbing her in your face. You don’t get to own people, Wes. It seems to be a lesson you need to learn over and over again. You have to make choices if you want to keep certain people in your life, and with Laken you kept making the wrong one. She’s not giving you a third or fourth chance. She’s planted herself where she wants to be, and where she wants to be is with me. I’ll let you in on a little secret. She wants to have another baby. That’s right. She’s got baby fever, and I am more than willing to oblige. So when you’re home alone at night, snuggled up to Kresley or some shirt Laken left behind that holds her scent, you can think of the two of us doing our best to bring another life onto this planet that you worked so hard to destroy. I hope it gives you hell, Wes. Just the way you gave it to me without batting a lash.”
He heads on in, but those last few words sink down to my stomach like a sucker punch. Cooper Flanders just gave me hell by the spoonful. How I hate that he gets to touch Laken. My Laken. I don’t care what any entity in this universe says about the matter. She will always belong to me. Deep down, I know she feels it, too. Sadly, I know she feels that way for Coop as well.
Roar of the Lion : Celestra Forever After 7 Page 15