Celestra Forever After

by Addison Moore

  Logan and I head for the door. I glance back at Dudley as he loses himself staring into the flames.

  I’m almost positive he gave me the seal of approval as Skyla’s husband.

  If I dare read between the twisted Sector lines I’d swear he just said fight for her.

  And I plan to.

  Skyla once said our love was stronger than death. But is it stronger than the Fems?

  I guess that’s the burning question.

  That night, Logan puts together a card game with Harrison, Nev, and Liam while Ezrina tutors Giselle with her math homework in the next room.

  My parents turned in early once they took a look at this motley crew. I couldn’t help note how relieved Mom seemed that Skyla decided to spend the night at her mother’s. I shake the thought out of my head. I’m not in the mood to dissect any feelings of discontent Mom might have toward the girl I love.

  “A Fem, huh?” Ellis draws a card and folds. “So this is pretty shit news. You think Messenger can get over this?”

  “I’m hoping.” I glance up at Logan because a part of me wonders if he hopes so, too.

  “She will,” he assures.

  “So what’s next?” Nev taps his cards on the table as if demanding an answer.

  “Has Rina found a way to protect the genetic codes?” Logan asks, glancing over his shoulder to see if Ezrina heard.

  “Not yet.” Nev reverses the order of the cards in his hand.

  “And there it is. Celestra—the Nephilim as a whole—remain in peril.” Ellis flicks the deck across the table.

  “If anyone can protect the code it’s Rina. And she will.” Nev shoots him a disgruntled look. “But there’s no guarantee she’ll do it in time.”

  I give Nev a placid smile.

  She won’t.

  I know this much is true.

  Logan

  Halloween on Paragon happens every day just not as pronounced as this devil-filled night.

  I’m usually not one to dress up for the big day, but since I’d rather be anyone than Logan Oliver at the moment, I’ve decided to give in and be a cop instead. I had my supervising Sector snag me an official Paragon PD navy shirt and trousers. The badge looks official, but I’m hoping it’s a good quality fake since getting my ass hauled downtown for impersonating one of Paragon’s finest isn’t on my to-do list.

  I park and head on up to Dudley’s estate. It’s already thumping and bumping with bodies ready and willing to grind to the music. Although, considering Emma and Barron will be here tonight, along with Skyla’s parents, I’m thinking this will be more of a G-rated event. I offered to drive over with Gage, but he was despondent and unresponsive for the most part. I told him to haul his sorry ass out of bed and come on down. I’m not sure what he’s having a tougher time dealing with, the idea he’s a Fem, or the fact Skyla isn’t ready to have a conversation with him. I think he’s afraid she’ll never speak to him again, and that scares him far more than being a Fem ever could.

  Bodies congest the entry to Dudley’s overgrown manner. It’s dark, the music is loud, and I can smell Ellis Harrison and his stoner brood a mile away. So much for a G-rated evening.

  I spot Skyla standing near the piano, looking beautiful as ever with her hair swept up, dressed as a fairy—Tinkerbell—my favorite pixie. She’s with Laken who’s dressed as a Playboy bunny, and Coop, the ever stealth Host quarterback.

  “Flanders.” I slap him some skin and give Laken a quick pat to the shoulder. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She looks to Coop as if reassuring him for the hundredth time. “Anyway, something good came out of it.”

  “Warn me next time, please?” Coop presses a quick kiss to her lips. “I’m the one who should sacrifice for Celestra. In fact, I’m sure Wes is just counting down the days.”

  “No, Coop. You’re not the one.” Skyla shakes her head. Her wings sparkle as if every star in the universe were falling to her feet. A lime green tutu fans out around her waist, short and sweet. Skyla is a feast for the eyes, and it’s hard not to get too worked up seeing her like this. “The sacrifice needs to come from me. It’s obvious I need to think outside of the ‘overseer’ box.” She cuts me a quick look, and her eyes glitter like jewels. “In fact, I’ve already got a few ideas churning.”

  “I’d be glad to hear them,” I say, solemn because I’m half afraid to. And just because I’m listening doesn’t mean I won’t knock them down. The last thing I want is Skyla putting herself in jeopardy. My stomach comes to a boil because I know it’s coming, and I’m most worried I won’t be able to keep her safe. I glance at the protective hedge around her neck and wonder if that’s enough to keep her from Wesley’s brand of danger.

  Laken gasps and points to the elongated mirror that Dudley keeps in the corner. It’s the evil twin to the ‘Realm of Possibilities.’ That’s the one Marshall gifted Edinger with centuries ago as an F you. It’s an imagination playground that lets you crawl inside and build your own twisted world—unlike this one. Who the hell knows what this one truly does. All I do know is that it once helped give Skyla and me an edge to win the faction war.

  “What’s going on?” Coop looks stumped by the seemingly innocent speculum.

  Laken stares ahead at a girl dressed like a cancan dancer straight from another era.

  “That woman just stepped out of the mirror. She just”—Laken tosses her hands up, exasperated—“crawled right out.”

  “Oh, that.” Skyla goes over and turns the infernal looking glass around so it’s facing the wall, and, low and behold, another dancer, in a revealing dress, steps right out behind her.

  I’ve seen it happen at least twice a week since I’ve been back. Dudley has a steady stream of women cavorting around at all hours of the night. Strangely they seem to come here to relax.

  Skyla scoffs at the woman. “Professor Dudley likes to surround himself with estrogen—really old estrogen.” She gives a hard look to the girls cluttering up the living room.

  “I don’t know about that.” Laken tugs at the ear of her bunny costume. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Skyla. I swear, half the time, it’s like he forgets there are any other students around. It’s pretty clear where his interests lie.”

  I growl just under my breath. “Dudley has a thing for Skyla. I don’t see it going away anytime soon.”

  Coop broadens his shoulders before tightening his grip over Laken. “He’s lucky he’s not looking at my girl that way.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t like him looking at Skyla that way either. And believe me, he’s been schooled.” I groan a little because Dudley has been known to fight back. “But she’s tough.” I give a quick wink to Skyla. “She can handle herself.” I swallow hard because it kills me a little to know that Dudley has weaseled his way into her heart.

  Skyla catches my gaze and holds it as if she’s read my mind. I glance down to find our fingers touching and give a little smile because I’m not usually the one who lets my thoughts slip through.

  “Do you think we could step outside and talk?” Skyla’s voice shakes. Her eyes glisten with fresh tears.

  We excuse ourselves and head to the back patio where there’s already a cluster of people decked out in cheap polyester costumes. There seems to be more pirates and gypsies than one night knows what to do with. We walk out further until the noise of the party dissipates just enough. Skyla pulls me under a willow just shy of the corral and gives a forlorn smile.

  “You look beautiful,” I whisper, with an apology layered just beneath it. As much as I love Skyla, she belongs with Gage. We both know that.

  “And you look like you’re ready to arrest somebody in the best way possible.” She glances to the ground, her cheeks filling with color. “I miss everything about you—about us.” She swallows hard. “I don’t want you to think that I forgot all those things we went through—all the heartache—the beauty of who we were.”

  “No.” I pick up her hand and close both of mine over it. “This is th
e time in our lives where we bond on a new level. I want to say as friends, but, the truth is, you’ll always be family to me.” More to the point my wife, but I don’t dare go there—no reason to. In every way she’s Gage’s partner in life—with the small exception of not speaking to him at the moment.

  She squeezes my hand. “I heard you, Oliver.” She presses her lips together as if trying to hold back the tears. “Thank you for that. You have to know I love you, Logan. I’m forever grateful you’re back. I don’t want things to be weird between us.” She shakes her head as if a tragedy just unfolded. “I don’t know how to do this, Logan. You and me.” She motions between us. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt like hell.”

  “I don’t know how to do it either.” I pull her in tight and sigh over her shoulder. “I promise you, it won’t hurt like this every day.” I lean back and look into her glassy eyes. “The last thing I ever wanted was to bring you pain. Let’s take the power away from the grief and turn it around. You bring me joy, and if being near you is all I can get then I’m damn happy with that. I care about you, and I care about Gage.” It’s the truth. If it were anyone other than Gage I would be in agony. Watching Skyla with someone else would be a sentence far worse than the fires of hell.

  She quickly wipes the tears from her eyes. “I’m damn happy, too.” She takes a ragged breath. “Thank you for coming back to me—to all of us.” She offers another full embrace, and I take in her scent—spring flowers and cotton candy. I inhale a deep lungful and lock it in. Skyla is the perfume of heaven.

  I glance into the house and spot a familiar head of dark hair talking to Laken and Coop.

  “There he is, Skyla,” I nod over to him. “I think he’d be pretty happy if you said hello.”

  She closes her eyes a moment. “You really think it’s okay to trust him?”

  “Do you?” I, for damn sure, do.

  “Yes.” She bites down on her lip. “Logan, I’m devastated by what Demetri has done. I don’t think I’ll ever get over this. But I can’t look at Gage like he’s some monster.” Her eyes flood with tears again.

  “That’s because he’s not.” I comb the hair from her eyes before tracing my fingers down her scalding cheek.

  “He’s not.” She sighs, closing her eyes and a single tear rolls down her face like a star falling from heaven.

  “Go, on.” I turn her gently in his direction. “Besides, I need to find Liam and make sure he’s not getting into any trouble.” Not entirely true. I couldn’t care less if Liam was setting the barn on fire while bagging Miller.

  Skyla twists and wraps her arms around me one last time.

  “I love you fiercely, Logan Oliver—please remember that, every single day. You are buried in my heart. I swear to you it’s true.” Skyla parts from me slowly, holding my hand until our fingers no longer reach. She blows me a kiss before heading toward the house. I watch as her skirt bounces in concert with her wings. It’s hard to turn off my feelings for Skyla, and it’s a good thing since I don’t intend to, but it’s equally hard to convince my dick we’re just friends.

  “Master Oliver,” a voice calls from behind, and I turn to find Nev with a familiar looking Raven squatting on his shoulder.

  “Who’s this?”

  “My brother.” His smile goes off like a flash. “It seems Holden here is desperate for companionship. But, in truth, he’s trying my patience.”

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Skyla.”

  “I’m not sure she’s up for any more Holden Kragger in her life, but he does come with some interesting benefits. I’ll see what I can do.”

  Holden hops onto my shoulder, and I nearly topple over. I touch my hand to his feathers.

  “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  I swear I’ll be the best damn bird Messenger has ever seen. I’ll need a few perks every now and again, but who doesn’t need a little something to keep ‘em going?

  I glance back into the house, at the sea of swarming bodies, and hope that Skyla has made her way back to Gage.

  Skyla keeps me going. And judging by that depressed as hell look on my nephew’s face tonight, she keeps Gage going, too.

  “We’ll, see.” I shake Holden off my shoulder. He flies over to a nearby branch as I try to regain my footing.

  A lot of things have been knocking me off balance these days, but I’m getting my bearings. It’s good to be back on Paragon. It may not be easy seeing the two of them together but the only true paradise is being right here with Skyla—with Gage, with all of the people I know and love.

  I sling my arm around Nev’s shoulder as we make our way through the crowd toward Ellis and Giselle, Ezrina, Lexy—Brielle and Drake—Ethan and Emily.

  There’s something special about a place called home even if it is Halloween 24/7.

  I’m home—on Paragon, near Skyla, right where I belong.

  This is heaven.

  17

  The Devil’s Dawn

  Skyla

  Again—why did I let Brielle talk me into dressing up as a sparkling fairy? Swear to God, there is nothing as itchy as glittery tights, except maybe a leotard that’s seven sizes too small, and I happen to be wearing them both. Not to mention the fact the girls keep trying to escape their corseted prison. One of them nearly leaped out while I was hugging Logan goodbye. Believe me, that’s the last thing Gage needs to see—Logan helping me stuff my boob back into my costume. Speaking of Gage—I do a quick scan of the living room. Nothing but stock skanks and a bunch of drunk frat boys. And, I have yet to see the guest of honor. I bet Marshall is disguised as a ghost—rendering himself truly invisible, of course. Hey, maybe that’s why I keep getting a wedgie in all the wrong places? I give a wry smile because it would be just like him to torment me that way.

  I glance around at the tinfoil pumpkins tacked onto the walls. A series of gauzy ghosts are strung all the way up the staircase. I know for a fact that’s my mother’s contribution to the evening. Marshall was nice enough to hire her less-than-stellar expertise and let her decorate. I know how hurt she was that she didn’t get a chance to chintz up my wedding day, and I wish to God I would have let her. I guess not having my family present on that special day will forever be my biggest regret. Gage pops through my mind, and, for a fleeting moment, I wonder if making up with a Fem will trump that.

  A crowd pours through the front door, and I catch Mia and Melissa both stepping in dressed as West High cheerleaders, which they are. My heart sinks a little because that was me just a few months back. I shake my head. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I miss those days with an indescribable ache, despite the fact Chloe constantly had me hogtied—still does.

  I speed over and pull both my sisters into a strong hug.

  “You look fantastic!” I take a hard sniff of Mia’s perfume—baby powder mixed with lilacs just like my deodorant. Oh, wait. I pluck my face from her armpit and pull back.

  “And you, Skyla”—Melissa is quick to detangle herself from my arms—“look ridiculous.” She gives a wave to someone just over my shoulder. “Gotta run. Gabriel Armistead says he’s got something long and hard in his pocket that he’s been dying to show me.” She gives a little giggle at Mia’s expense. “Relax ladies. It’s probably just his lightsaber. Smell ya later, losers.”

  We watch as she shakes her hips all the way over to a hairy yet scrawny werewolf, and Mia groans.

  God—I hate to point out the obvious, but werewolves don’t traditionally wield lightsabers. It’s pretty clear Mom and Tad are going to have their hands full with Melissa this year. Her hormones, and that of her boy toy, are on fire. Something tells me they’re about to engage in an intergalactic duel that involves more erogenous zones than I’d like to think about.

  “Don’t worry.” I wrap an arm around Mia. “I wouldn’t waste my time with hairy, scary boys. There’s a prince out there just for you.” A prince who had better keep all long, hard objects to himself if he knows
what’s good for him.

  “A prince, huh?” She dips her chin, never taking her eyes off the two of them. “What if I’m more interested in a monster?”

  My stomach pinches with heat because it makes me think of Gage. As much as I hate equating him to a hairy, scary beast, I can’t get my head around the fact he’s derived from Demetri—that in some small way, me being with Gage has given the Fems—my father’s killer—a victory.

  “I guess monsters are fine as long as he’s really a prince in disguise. Come to think of it, I’d better find Gage.” I start heading toward the door, and she pulls me back by the wings.

  “Listen Tink”—she bears into me as if she’s about to shank me—“tonight’s the New Moon ceremony. Come morning, you’ll have an entire band of angels that have turned against you and every other Nephilim on the planet. Forget that war you fought Skyla—this is mutiny.”

  “So I guess you’ll have to make a decision.” I swallow hard. “What do you think you’re going to do?” I’m heartbroken at the thought of my own sister turning against me.

  She glances down. “They said it would be terrible for those left behind. I don’t want to die, Skyla. I don’t want to be tortured or worse.”

  “Dear God, is that what they’ve threatened you with?”

  She shakes her head, the look of terror locked in her eyes. “That’s what they guaranteed.” Mia takes off into the crowd and leaves me standing there with my heart melting in a puddle at my feet.