Roar of the Lion : Celestra Forever After 7

by Addison Moore

  The boys are at the Landon house at the moment, in the room next to the one she’s sleeping in. It’s not a shocker she doesn’t notice. My mother and Logan have been doing all the heavy lifting. And when no one is looking, I’ve been sneaking them juice boxes, hugs, and kisses—much to Chloe’s chagrin. But I don’t say a word to wayward Rory. I’m not calling her out. Nope. In fact, I’m eager to see what she’s up to.

  The driver drops her off in front of Emma and Barron’s house and speeds away. I wait until we’re around the bend before asking him to let me out as well.

  It’s icy out. The fog lies over the island like sporadic webbing, and the air holds the scent of fresh ozone, letting us know the promise of rain is imminent.

  My phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s a text from Ezrina.

  Done it. Your afterbirth aged just right has become the panacea we’ve needed to hide the markers permanently. Wes says we put this formula into the vault. Consider it done. Sleep tight, my friend.

  “It’s done.” I pant out a smile. I shove my phone back into my pocket and brush all thoughts of this new victory to the side a moment. Rory is out on the sexual prowl, and I need to put the kibosh on this good time before things get coital between her and Gage.

  I do my best to cling to the bushes, ducking in the deepest shadows that night has to offer. Rory is wily, so I need to outplay her at every turn. I crest the bend just in time to see the lights flicker on in the old Walsh house, my house, the one that the monster who was once Gage Oliver resides in.

  “Oh my God,” I say as a plume of white fog dances from my mouth. She’s paying him a visit. I highly doubt they’re about to plot their next move. And I can testify that she has enough hard liquor in her to give the Factions right back to him in my own skin. But I have a suspicion she’s giving something else away entirely. My body.

  My feet carry me in that direction at a quickened clip.

  She has no damn right to do that.

  He has zero right to even look at my body, let alone have his way with it.

  This is rape.

  This is an outrage.

  I’ll take them both to the mat with the Justice Alliance.

  A deep-welled anger bubbles up inside of me. This is a massacre of my person, of my privileges, of both my human and Nephilim rights. How dare my mother look the other way.

  Damn bitch.

  A shard of lightning jags its way to the island, touching the field just shy of the Harrisons’ estate.

  I race up to the red door that I loved so much, and now I see it for what it’s stood for all along—rage. The doorknob won’t move. I’d bust it down with my foot, but I’m going for something a little more dramatic.

  Whoa, Messenger. I just woke up and this is what I find? Tread lightly. I don’t need my face rearranged by your twisted twat of a sister. I work hard to retain my youthful glow.

  A dark huff of a laugh escapes me. Don’t worry, Chloe. We’re the ones doing the rearranging in this scenario.

  A blue flicker of light catches my eye near the olive tree sitting in the middle of the front lawn. Twin electric blue butterflies swim in and out of its branches as if beckoning me to it. I head over and implore all the anger, all of the Celestra strength that Chloe has to offer as I do my best to kick it down. After three good thrusts with my legs, a satisfying snap erupts. I tear the damn thing from the ground, lifting clots of dirt along with it and I waste no time in charging for the door.

  A horrific scream erupts from me as I crash the tree, roots first, into the door, and red splinters shoot off in every direction as the door that once brought me so much joy gets decimated into matchsticks.

  Take my house and defile it, and I will burn it to ash.

  I will destroy my own body before Gage gets to have his way with it once more. My God, they’ve probably made this a nightly event ever since Logan cut her off. She’s so damn randy.

  I’ll give her something to get excited about.

  “Shit!” Gage’s voice comes from somewhere deep in the house, and I leap frog over the branches and split wood to find them both standing at the mouth of the living room ogling my way with a look of clear shock.

  Their clothes are still on, but their hair is a little mussed so I’m not letting them off the hook so easily. They were probably just getting started.

  Messenger, it’s almost one in the morning. There’s not a person on Paragon whose hair would pass your coital meter. Chill the F out. You can’t slaughter Rory, or I will be the one petitioning the Justice Alliance to have you booted from my body. And unless you want to haunt that old decapitated head of his, I suggest you behave.

  “Chloe!” Rory barks. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking”—my voice shakes as I try my hardest to temper my words—“that the two of you shouldn’t be mingling, Messenger. You’re drunk. Go home. You have a fiancé, and this isn’t him.”

  Rory tips her head back and groans.

  I recognize that look on my face. She’s aggravated because she’s not getting what she wants. And what she wants is a bite out of a very dark-natured Fem and that infamous baseball bat he wields between his legs. No exaggeration. True as gospel.

  Her head lolls back my way. “I’m not leaving, Chloe. You don’t have a say in how I conduct my business. Gage and I share children. You’ve just destroyed our home. You are a menace. You’re just jealous I’m able to have him in my life in ways that you will never know. You’ve always been jealous of me, Chloe.”

  “Get over yourself.”

  Kill her, Skyla. I don’t care how long it takes to find you a new home. I will cherish tearing her limb from limb.

  “You will leave, and you will leave now, Skyla.” The words bite from me as I close the distance between us.

  Her shoulders arch back as she takes a dangerous step in my direction.

  Rory’s lips curve with evil intent. “Try to make me.”

  And I do. Rory and I break out into a hair pulling, limb tugging, knee to the gut—a good shot on her part—slap in the face, my hand to my face session that lands us in the branches of that hairy scary tree I just tossed into the living room. My hands wrap around my own throat. So help me God, I will end her the same way she ended me.

  “Enough!” Gage roars as he plucks me off of her. “Go home, Skyla,” he thunders as Rory scrambles to her feet.

  “Yes!” I scream at her. “Go the hell back to where you belong.” And I certainly don’t mean the Landon house.

  She huffs a dull laugh as she dusts herself off. Her eyes flit to his.

  “We’ll talk soon.” She looks my way. “Don’t be such a nuisance, Chloe. No one really cares about you.”

  I hate her, Chloe growls.

  I hate her twice as much, I add.

  Gage rumbles out a quiet laugh, which obviously means he heard. Of course, he heard. We’re touching and the Fems have demonically endowed him with every power under the sun.

  Chloe riots out a laugh. I hate you, too, Gage. I hope both you and that skanky booty call of yours rot in hell. I’m so glad we can finally see through you. Mostly, I’m so glad to witness Skyla’s rage firsthand, to feel it. Her hatred for you is genuine. I can proudly attest to that fact. She cradled you in her heart once, but that’s no longer true. My God, there is no better revenge than to know the woman you still harbor a hard-on for is done with you. Eat those truths until you gag on them. I hope you choke. And if you live, I’ll get to witness your descent into your own personal hell. I know you haven’t hit rock bottom just yet because you’re still pissing a circle around that throne made of matchsticks. But once Celestra ignites your world, I’m sure you’ll be begging Daddy to take you back to paradise. Skyla and I can’t wait to give you a sendoff. And don’t worry, Gage, we’ll make sure it hurts. Right up the ass. I’m sure you can take it just the way you like to give it.

  A wicked smile crests my lips. What she said.

  Rory comes forward. She steps boldly over to Gage and land
s her hand lovingly on his cheek, and I flinch as if she had struck me. In truth, it’s him who keeps beating me down.

  “Remember my words.” She heads my way and her hand flies at me, ready to caress my cheek in a much harsher manner, but I catch it midair before throwing it at her. “Don’t you dare defy me, Chloe. I am your leader—the leader of the Celestra people. You are my charge.”

  A laugh bursts from me without much thought.

  “Skyla”—it took everything in me not to say Rory—“who have you led anywhere? The people haven’t heard anything from you.”

  No, no, no, Chloe shouts, and I wince at the echo going off in my brain.

  Rory’s lips part, and she nods my way. “You’re so right, Chloe. People need to hear what I have to say. I need to lead my people. There are paths that must be taken. Now that just about all of the Nephilim are under my charge, it’s time to reveal a new wave of leadership.” She smirks over at Gage. “One that glorifies me.” She gives a sly wink. “Goodnight.” She takes off for the door. “It’s raining. How glorious to run through the rain all the way home. How glorious it is to be alive.”

  She takes off just as the storm begins to pound the island, and I follow her to the door.

  “You’ll catch pneumonia,” I shout, but it’s no use. She’s all but a blur.

  Yes, my Celestra strength can cause me to heal quickly, but on occasion my mother likes to teach me a lesson—the exquisitely painful birth of my children comes to mind, the nonstop nausea, my death. My Celestra powers mean squat when my own mother is offering up a celestial bitch slap—nothing like a little tough love to make you despise your mother just a bit.

  Birth pains didn’t help build character in me. They made me try to will myself out of my body. And here I am, out of my body completely just as Logan and I were moving in the right direction.

  We’re still moving in the right direction. And I will get my damn body back.

  I step out onto the porch, careful to avoid the branches of that bushy tree I killed on my way in. At least it served a decent purpose.

  Gage snatches me by the wrist and yanks me back into the house in one herculean move.

  He bears those glowing blue eyes over mine. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  8

  Gage

  I have spent my life loving Skyla, dreaming about her before we ever met, dreaming about her long after our time was through.

  Nothing has changed. At the core, I am still the same. But there is a reason for my hardened exterior, the wall I’ve erected around my life. It is strictly there to protect. Everything I do is for Skyla. Each life I take, including her own, is to ensure our eternal standing.

  Yes, in the beginning I pushed her to fight. And just when I thought that was a fruitless effort, that I would confess my sins, tell both her and Logan what I know, I found them together in that Mustang—going at it, acting out a dream I once had, my prophecy skills on point once again. But the fight in her, for her people—my God, I thought after my coronation it was over. Skyla had rolled over and played dead. Her belly full of Logan’s child was the new focus of her life, but I couldn’t be more wrong.

  Then the Celestial shit hit the fan. First, with the regeneration of the Videns—who now side with Celestra—then with the serum that caused the rest of the Nephilim to slide on over to her side. All unholy hell broke loose. Then Rory pulled the ace out of her sleeve and shoved Chloe into the field as my enemy. I watched Wes fall like a domino, and now my own brother is against me.

  And don’t even get me started on the shit show that is Cooper Flanders. Who knew Coop would be the wild card in all this? I would have pegged Logan for it. Lord knows I’m still waiting for the shock and awe campaign Candace Messenger will have in store for me via him.

  I watched my kingdom fade in an hour. I knew I needed to take drastic steps to protect my eternal standing with Skyla.

  In a horrific irony I had gotten exactly what I wanted—Skyla fighting for her people. What I didn’t expect was for her to succeed. Brutish thinking, I know. But I underestimated her, and the only way to stop from spending eternity apart was to stop her.

  Rory’s scheme was perfection. She would take over Skyla’s body while allowing me to rule the roost, and I will.

  I would have ironed out all the damn kinks by now if Skyla hadn’t gone interrupting things once again. Like I said, I had expected her to fight while she was breathing. I didn’t expect her to fight once she was dead. That says a lot about her tenacity.

  Initially, I thought once she left for paradise, I’d visit her. I was going to give her a few days to cool off, to get acclimated, to spend time with Sage and her father. Then, I was going to beg her forgiveness and pull the curtain back and let her see the shitty circumstances I’m up against. Skyla would understand. Because as much as I love her, she loves me. We are a forever kind of deal. We’re not some flash in the pan, together a moment and content to never see one another again.

  Yes, there is Logan, but there is us, too. And now she’s back. She is pissed. And there’s a damn tree in my living room to prove it.

  I navigate Skyla into the hall a moment before picking up the tree at the base and shooting it out into the front yard like a missile.

  I turn to her. “You didn’t leave me a door to slam. You took the drama right out of the situation.”

  “I’m sure you’ll put it back in.”

  My cheek flickers with the hint of a smile. I will never get used to seeing Chloe’s face, but my spirit can feel Skyla inside of her. A part of me knew before she ever exposed herself to me. I would have known had she decided to keep it from me. There’s not a place in the universe where Skyla can hide from me, or my love.

  I cage her in against the wall as the moon bleeds in and steals the color from our world. Chloe’s face is lost in the shadows, and I’m glad about it. I can focus this way.

  “What the hell was that about?”

  “You know what that was about,” she hisses. “Tonight was Rory’s bachelorette party. I made sure she had a very good time. But it looks as if she knew where to go to have a better time. Now that Logan isn’t giving it to her, I guess she was in search of the next best thing.”

  My lips curve with discontent, and I can’t help it. I refuse to believe I’m the next best thing. I am the best thing.

  Foolish ego, pride.

  “It’s nice to know you still regard me so highly. Is that why you’re here? You want the next best thing?”

  “Don’t make me waste my spit on you. I came to stop her. You have no right to touch my body in that way. But since you’ve probably crossed that line a long time ago, I’m reporting you to the Justice Alliance. The both of you.”

  I close my eyes in an effort to stave off a laugh. “Skyla, when has the Justice Alliance done you any real favors? Yes, they cock-blocked Wesley’s powers for a time, but that was it. Nobody is cutting off my powers. I’m the king. I’m in charge. Yes, you ran ahead of me a little, but that’s why Rory was brought in.”

  My adrenaline surges. It took less of my celestial reserves than I thought needed to evict the damn tree back into the front yard. It turns out, I’m plenty pissed without tapping into anything supernatural. Although, technically in my rebuilt body, I am one hundred percent just that.

  “Skyla.” Her name rips from me as if I were about to dole out a punishment. “I have not defiled your body. Not now, not ever. Nor do I have plans to do just that. You are sacred. I would never dream of touching you without your permission.”

  She gags at the thought. “Are you listening to yourself? You pressed your lips to mine until I had no more breath in my body. You held me down while I tried to wiggle out of your grasp. You tormented me, caused me unimaginable pain, and you watched as I left my corporal frame. It was an intentional move on your part, so you have lost the right to say that you would never dream of touching me without my permission, that I am sacred to you. My body was mishandled in the most damaging way in your
hands. I didn’t have to fear a madman. My end didn’t come at the hands of some terrorists or accident. You were the madman, the terrorist, the greatest accident of my life. You cost me everything. And now I am floating around in Chloe Bishop’s body. So don’t feed me bullshit lines about respecting me or try to talk me out of heading to the Justice Alliance. I am back, and I am not going anywhere. And guess what, Gage?” Her head inches forward until we’re nose-to-nose. “I am pissed. Yes, I shoved the tree through the door, but, I wanted to shove it up your ass.”

  Chloe laughs, and because I’ve pinned her down by the wrists I get the displeasure of listening. But my mind is off-limits. I’m not giving either of them the privilege. God forbid they learn the truth. Although I’ve treaded into such dark territory, I’m not sure either of them would care if I spent an eternity embroiled in flames and darkness. There’s an oxymoron in there somewhere I don’t care to explore.

  I tilt my head to the side as I look into those dark eyes.

  Skyla. I’ve damaged her. Killed her. And now she’s caged in the body of a beast and the unthinkable has happened.

  It keeps happening.

  Why don’t you apologize, Gage? Chloe quips. I’m in the mood to have a really good belly laugh. Come on, you know you’re going to do it. I bet there’s a tiny part of you that hopes the two of you will kiss and make up. How very tragic of you to even entertain it. Comical. I hate to break it to you, but since I’ve been rooming with Skyla here, it’s become crystal clear this is the big one you won’t be coming back from. You have committed the unforgivable sin, over and over and over. You took down Celestra, you killed innocent people, you killed your wife. You killed your family. You are incomprehensible to both Skyla and me. If you’ve accomplished anything positive, it’s that you’ve created a unified front between us. I hope you realize that replacing the front door is the least of your problems.

  My chest bucks with a silent laugh. “I realize it. And I also realize that my people have left me, my throne is surrounded by no one, my crown no more effective than a party favor. But I wouldn’t get too comfortable or too smug. The path back to victory will be quick and easy for me. Enjoy your victory while you have it, Skyla. It will be short-lived.”