“Enough.” Demetri’s voice comes across loud and crisp, that perma-smile still firmly etched on his lips. “He is correct, dear Sage. If he wishes, you would be banished, although that may be too harsh of a word.” He nods my way. “But you will not do that. You love her too much to be separated from her.” He pauses a moment, that smile fading ever so slightly. “Those that you cherish you wish to hold near. There is no separation you wish to endure, certainly not one that could last an eternity. Is there?”
“We both know it’s not Sage we’re talking about anymore. It’s Skyla.” I look to the miniature version of myself to his right. “Yes, Sage, I still love her. But you are wrong. I am not for her. I am very much her enemy. So wash your mind of anything that sings to the contrary. It’s setting up a divide between us, and I don’t like it. And while I have your attention, be mindful of the fact that I don’t dislike her. In fact, I love her. My intentions on maintaining my throne are slightly different than those of my father. You, however, have zero vested interest in this. And for you to say you do is nothing more than a fallacy. You have no right to hate your mother the way you do. Not one.”
She jumps to her feet. “But my allegiance—”
“Is not needed. All I need is your love. That’s all your mother needs, too. Don’t think you need to hate one to love the other. It doesn’t work that way. Appreciate the differences, have an opinion, but don’t burn something that could be beautiful to the ground on principle. At the end of the day, we will all be in eternity together. That is the way of the world. That was the destiny of all those who went before us, and it is the destiny of all those who come after us. Eternity is the constant. We are only here to decide which eternal path we would like to take whether we come by the decision with the proper information or the blind willingness to believe it. What do you think will happen in one hundred years, a blink of an eye for you, when your mother and I and your brothers are all standing in Ahava? Will you still disparage her then? The answer is no, Sage. So why do that now? Allegiance? Who fed you that crap? Don’t answer that. I’m looking right at him.”
Demetri chuckles. “Your last point is a far cry from the truth. In fact, it was me who suggested you maintain your relationship on Earth with Skyla. She was willing. She had the kingdom giftwrapped for Logan. This briar patch was your chosen path. You forged your painful present. This is your doing. Thus, Sage’s determination to abhor her mother was simply a reflection of what you put out in the universe.”
His words stun me into submission.
Is this true? How could it be true? And then it hits me. I guess I had done this. My projection of hatred was simply a façade, a wall that I needed to get me from point A to point B, but for Sage it was her teacher.
I take a full breath and hold it.
“Sage.” My eyes close, weary from the conversation, weary from the hour. “Shit,” I mutter to myself before looking at my beautiful, beautiful daughter. “Sage, I have ruined so many, many things in my life by simply trying to make them right.” I know for a fact Logan has said the same thing about his own life on many occasions, and that might be true, but I seemed to have taken them to an extreme. “I cannot, will not ruin you. Believe me when I say, I appreciate your devotion to me. You have no idea what a pillar of strength you are for me. And truthfully, I don’t know if I would have gotten as far as I did without knowing I have you in my corner. But you must realize that you don’t ever have to choose between your mother and me. She loves you so much.”
“Stop.” Her tiny chin lifts high. “You are out of line. You do not get to dictate to me who I will treasure or who I will disregard. That is entirely up to my discretion. My devotion to you is not simply because you are my father, but because I believe in what you’re doing. I believe the Fems should stand, that Celestra should fall. I believe it is better for the Nephilim…” Her voice trails off as if she were questioning this for the first time herself. Then as if a match were lit from underneath her, she straightens like a pin. “You have tried my patience.” She looks to Demetri. “Solve this. He is weak and quickly slithering out of our grasp. I will not lose what you have promised.” Her eyes glow like blue flames as she cuts a sharp look my way. “How dare you infer I have no mind of my own. Be strong, Father. You are about to be sifted like wheat. You may not see it. Grandfather may not care enough to warn you, but here it is, the final battle on the horizon. You must choose life. You must choose to hold onto your throne. I’ll see you both in Eversor.” She nods to Demetri. “The jubilation with the Fems will begin once I arrive. Don’t tarry, tell him the great news.” She stalks off, and her body dissipates before she ever hits the door.
Demetri frowns my way. “Haven’t you learned by now not to unsteady a woman? No matter how great or small, they prefer peace to war—literal or figurative.”
“The girl can’t stand her mother. It needs to end. That’s not what this is about. It was never about that.”
“Yes, well, such is life—and such is the afterlife as well. It will all work out in the end.”
“So long as things end your way?” I ask.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to say it.”
“Why don’t you say this great idea of yours? I’m interested to see what your dark mind has concocted.”
That cheesy grin crests his lips again. “Your people have left you. Your mission is to retrieve them.”
“They no longer need me. Skyla has the serum. The government is voluntarily running tests, and out of an abundance of paranoia people are voluntarily taking them and posting the results for all to see, lest they be called out as aliens. Do you have a permanent serum?”
“No.” He sits back, relaxed, as if this was something to be nonchalant about. “Skyla does.”
Everything in me electrifies at the thought. “Shit.”
He nods. “Yes, it could’ve been trouble but no longer.”
“Why? Do we have one as well? Do we get them back with an even playing field?”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid at this point it’s simply not enough.”
“Then I’m assuming whatever you have cooking is.”
His smile expands. “Son, what we have is the holy grail. It is enough to make every Nephilim in existence pledge alliance to you tonight. Within hours your kingdom will be restored. What you gain will by far surpass what you have lost. Every last Nephilim will be at your mercy.”
“Not Skyla. Not Logan. They’re willing to go down with the ship.”
He shakes his head again. “Not this time. In fact, I predict not only will they come around on their own—if you wanted, you could force them to bow in your presence first.”
“My God”—I lean forward, my elbows planted on my knees—“what is it?”
“When Wesley left, there was a cache of serums at the lab.”
“Which lab?” I know the Justice Alliance will frown heavily on stealing.
“The one in the Transfer.” His brows hike with amusement. “That is my territory. No stealing involved. Nevertheless, I had taken liberty to examine the crumbs he had left behind.”
“Did Wes stumble upon the serum?”
“No. He failed like I knew he would.”
“Don’t start this crap. Wes isn’t a failure.” This attitude of his that suggests Wes is somehow second rate, second best, has always pissed me off. Wes is a good guy. A brilliant man. A great son, and the fact Demetri refuses to honor any of it shows that even though Wes and I were wrought directly from his loins, we’re nothing more than dispensable objects for his use or disregard. Barron Oliver, the father who raised me, wouldn’t care if I were a janitor down at the elementary school or President of the United States. His affection for me would remain the same. As it should be. As it will be between my children and me.
Demetri nods. “Wes is certainly second rate in my eyes.”
I stare him down for a solid minute.
“Go on.” I’m not biting. “If the serums weren’t a go, then what?”
“Then what? Something far better.” He flexes a dry smile. “Something better, son. It turns out, instead of hiding the markers, this particular formula identifies the markers that are already there and highlights them. It makes no difference if they’ve previously been hidden. In others words, markers that would be reasonably difficult to discern light up like a Christmas tree.”
“A marker on acid.” I nod, trying to wrap my mind around this.
“Precisely.” His grin broadens as the implications proliferate in my mind. “We’re going to do something special with this, Gage.”
“How on earth are you going to get anyone to agree to be included in on this crap?”
His jaw clenches. “This crap, as you so glibly put it, will be a necessity. I’ll make certain every man, woman, and child on the planet will be begging for it. They will need it to survive, to live. I think it’s time we start in on the second half of this plan, the golden thread that pulls it all together. With your expressed permission, of course.”
“Hell.” I close my eyes because that’s exactly what this will bring on the Nephilim, hell.
“So?” He leans back and folds his arms. “What do you think?”
I let the thought percolate in my mind for a moment. This nefarious, crooked, self-indulgent, wicked thought.
I look up at Demetri and hold his gaze. The big picture comes to me, fully formed.
Dear God, this man, this beast, he’s brilliant. He’s right. The Nephilim people will be mine in an afternoon. Their allegiance to me will never waver. There will be no recovering from this for Celestra. My eternal standing with Skyla will be secure, as will Wesley’s with Laken.
You are welcome, you little bastard. Don’t ever tell me it wasn’t a lucky day that you got a chance to ride my coattails.
A crooked smile hitches up my cheek at the irony. Yes, I am most certainly riding Wesley’s coattails on this one, and I couldn’t care less. I will get this done any way I know how. It’s all hands on deck, even the ones that abandoned me.
I offer Demetri a nod of approval. “When should we run with this?”
Demetri tips his head back. “Initially, I thought we’d spring it on the world just in time for Skyla’s wedding, seeing that her nuptials are upon us.” He leans forward and glowers at me. “Where is she, Gage? How could you take her life, plot with the spirit of her own sister to take possession of her body, and fail to tell me?” The muscles in his jaw flex with tension.
“And you want me to believe that you’re feeding me one hundred percent of the truth—no details whatsoever are being withheld? I may not be as bright as I once believed, but even I know the playing field isn’t exactly level here. I’m giving you what you want, and in exchange, I’m getting something that I want. They call that a business transaction, not a relationship, not one between a father and son. But then, you never really craved that, did you? That’s why you don’t bother catering to Wesley’s feelings.”
“His ego,” he quickly corrects. “No, I don’t care for egos. And I don’t care to be lied to.”
“Are you lying to me?” The question hangs between us like a sickle.
He shifts his head to the side, as if he were looking at me thoughtfully and not with the malice in his heart I’m sure he harbors.
“Why, Gage, if I knew better, I’d think you didn’t trust me. And after all we’ve been through? Such a pity.”
“It would be, wouldn’t it?” I take a deep breath. “We’ll talk about this again after the wedding.” I get up and stride for the door.
“You never did tell me where she is,” he calls out after me.
“It doesn’t matter where she is. Something tells me she won’t be there for long.” I head out, only to find a violent storm bearing down over the island.
No, Candace Messenger certainly values her covenants too much to let a couple of Nephilim tie the knot in some unholy union.
Covenants will be made, rings will be exchanged, and their souls will be grafted onto one another until death do they part.
The way it was meant to be from the beginning.
Skyla and Logan.
My name isn’t anywhere near the equation.
9
Logan
The Paragon Bowling Alley, renamed recently the Bowling Barn, has undergone a major transformation in recent years, much like its owner.
Outside, the rain pounds relentlessly at this overgrown rock. It’s the storm of the century, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The roads have turned into milkshake rivers, there is word of school closures, and a couple of older homes on the east end of the island have flooded. Paragon is by and large a land with no seasons, just fog and rain, and the doom and gloom that goes along with it. I’m not sure if it’s the weather, or life in general, but I’m feeling a bit of doom and gloom myself.
Skyla is at Whitehorse with Nathan, Barron, and Jaxson. Nathan and Barron liked Chloe—or at least they tolerated her extremely well while Gage was vaguely married to her. Not surprising since Chloe was on her best behavior with the boys. She was putting her best foot forward in every capacity in an effort to please Gage. And even though that backfired, she did manage to stay on the boys’ good side.
Skyla is leveraging that in her favor. The boys are snuggled up on the couch with her and Jaxson. She sent me a picture of the scene a minute ago. Mercifully her head is out of range, so it really does look as if those boys are with their mother, and they are to an extent.
It’s safe to say I’m spectacularly pissed off at Candace, seeing that I can’t seem to make my way to her heavenly plane. Why, only God, or perhaps Candace knows the real reason behind her sudden cold shoulder toward me. And that’s exactly why I’ve asked my supervising spirit to head this way. Once Marshall arrives, I plan on ditching this planet for far more celestial pastures.
I’m headed to Ahava, and if talking to Candace gets me nowhere, I’ll head to the Justice Alliance. I am so very tired of all the bullshit Gage has gotten away with. I’m so damn furious Rory is in my bed and not the woman I love more than life itself. It’s unfathomable that Candace is allowing this farce to take place.
The rumble of pins knocking over startles me back to my present reality. Surprisingly, the bowling alley has a handful of patrons this afternoon. Bree and Lexy are working the floor, so as soon as Marshall shows that far-too-familiar mug of his, we’re out of here.
The sound of the balls rushing the long tongue of the lanes goes off every few seconds. And every few minutes there’s a wild whoop from some lucky person who just bowled a strike while eighties music blares from the speakers, just the way Lexy likes it.
I may not be dating Lex anymore, but she’s in a serious relationship with the bowling alley, and I don’t mind. She takes damn good care of the place. I’m thankful for it, too. I have enough on my plate with the Factions in disarray. And thankfully, they’re no longer in Hell—now that Skyla is seemingly at the helm, the serum is taking and all of the Nephilim have abandoned Gage. It would seem like it’s just a formality to get Celestra back into its proper heavenly seat, and the Sectors by proxy, but with Rory firmly planted in Skyla’s body, that’s not happening anytime soon. I just don’t want another damn obstacle to hit. I need to do my best to fix this for Skyla, for our people, but in the back of my mind I have a feeling the other shoe is about to drop.
“Logan.”
I turn to find Gage Oliver speeding this way, or as he’s better known these days, the other shoe.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I head his way. “You here for a quick game? It’s not enough that I beat you down on the celestial playing field, you want to get your ass whooped out on the lanes as well?”
A dull chuckle thumps through him. “In the old days I would have said, dude, you wish. And I would have proceeded to kick your ass. But I don’t need to prove myself anymore. And if I were you, I wouldn’t go puffing my chest out. It’ll only come back to bite you in the ass.” He leans in a notch, tho
se eyes of his glowing like warning sirens, and something about it sets off all of the alarms inside of me. “You don’t win. Skyla doesn’t win. I’ve got the ace in my hole, and the Nephilim will be mine in less than an afternoon. So don’t go gloating over what you think you have when I can pull the rug out from beneath you in a moment’s notice. And I will. I’m not sorry about it either. Don’t go crying a river for me or plotting how to get my head screwed on straight. This is just the way it’s meant to be.”
I inch back. “What are you talking about?” Then it hits me. Demetri’s nefarious dealings, the serum he had Ezrina inspect. “Shit. Demetri. Whatever it is he was wagging his dick over, you know about it, don’t you? And now the two of you are armed and dangerous, ready to wreak a little havoc.” My mind searches out all the possibilities. “The serum. Demetri found a way to get his hands on a permanent serum. Didn’t he?” And there goes our idea of leaking it to the Nephilim on an as needed basis. It looks as if we’ll have to beat Gage to the punch and find another way to entice our people to remain loyal to us. Not that they should need it. If anyone doesn’t see what assholes the Fems are, then maybe they should go. “This world has fallen into a pit of despair, Gage. But you don’t really care about the Nephilim, and we’ve already established the fact you don’t care about Skyla. Hell, you killed her, remember? Do you care about the people on this planet as a whole? You’ve affected everything from climate to the employment rate. People are clamoring for a one-world government who will step in and fix this shit.” I take a quick breath. “That’s your big plan, isn’t it, Gage? King of the Nephilim isn’t enough for you. You want to be king of the world, too? I’ve got news for you. Demetri has you tethered to a spiritual Titanic. You are doomed. You have two options as I see it: jump or go down with the ship. And seeing your current track record, I’m betting you choose the latter.”
“My ship isn’t going down, Logan.” He rocks back on his heels, examining me. “I’m in this game. I’m not fighting anymore. I’ve already won. You’ve been beat. Savor any success you might think you have. It’s all you’re going to get.”
Roar of the Lion : Celestra Forever After 7 Page 27