Chloe and my mother have been spending time together? Discussingmeof all people? Holy hell. Why do I suddenly feel masterfully manipulated? At this point, I have no clue who is more dangerous between the two ofthem.
My mother’s hands fall over each of our foreheads once again. “Skyla and Chloe, you are now true sisters in every way. May it be as you have committed, all of your sentiments binding on earth as it is in heaven.” She offers an exasperated sigh. “How’s that for a fewwords?”
Just as I’m about to open my mouth, a horrible crackle of thunder deafens us as a nest of lightning, purple and white, dazzles from up above. A coven of bats flies to the sky, screaming as the thunder roars over Tenebrous, and the earth begins to shake. Then just as quick as it came, it dissipates, back to the calm, the disturbingly eerie silence that Tenebrous has tooffer.
A mirror appears on the stone, full-length, encased in an intricate gold frame, and I immediately recognize it as a twin to the haunted speculum in Marshall’shome.
“Find the features you like best.” My mother nods to Chloe as she leads me off the stone and near the blackenedwoods.
“Anything else I can do for you, my love?” Her eyes settle over mine, harsh like a punishment, as she doesn’t bother to disguise the sarcasm in hervoice.
“I don’t want the dead to suffer.” Casey and the countless number of the dead that were resurrected come to mind. “No lingering deaths. I need this to move fast. I can feel Wesley nipping at my heels. The government is everywhere. They are hungry. They want retribution for those agents that were killed. We need to feed the federal beast before Wes hands my people over indroves.”
“I agree. Don’t waste any time. Act quickly to ensure the dead are captured. That number should satisfy them and stretch their facilities to capacity. A mass death would look horrible for the institution, and if you find the right group to protest government testing on these visitors, you might stall their efforts to harm your people for decades to come.” She gives a self-satisfied smile. “As for the manner in which their lives are extinguished—you should have thought that through before you deployed them,” she hisses, her eyes slit with fury as she looks to Chloe. “You should have thought a lot of things through. You gave her everything she already has along with the keys to thekingdom.”
“Yes. But now she has to answer to me.Ihave the keys. If Chloe wants to take the car for a spin, she needs to hotwire it.” I scowl over at the demon while she preens at her own reflection. “If you can’t kill a cockroach, put the damn thing on a leash and make it yourpet.”
“Is that what you’re doing withGage?”
“Mother!” I stagger back a moment. “Your disdain for the love of my life never fails to freshly offend me. He is the father of mychildren.”
She smacks her lips with boredom. “Is that all it takes to garner your devotion—children?”
“I’m ready!” Chloe calls from the stone, and both my mother and I gasp at the sight of her. Chloe has always been a stunner, but this newly polished, perfectly sublime version is a tour de force of beauty. Her long dark hair is thicker, glossier with just the right amount of waves to give it life and a body of its own. But it’s her face that captivates. Yes, she is still very much herself, identifiable in every way, but you can tell by those almond eyes, the straight nose, those cheeks that touch heaven, and those knockoff Betty Boop lips that Chloe Bishop will have both the living and the dead turning heads just to steal aglance.
“Wow, Chloe”—I can’t help but gawk at the gorgeous sight—“if your husband could see younow.”
My mother scoffs. “What is this obsession you have with husbands, Skyla?” Her chest bucks as she says the wordhusbandsas if she were about to hurl at the concept. “They’re mere men, Skyla. Not to mention the fact they require so muchattention.”
Chloe grunts as if she could relate. “Feed me. Fuckme.”
A round of lightning flickers from above at the mention of an expletive in my mother’s presence. “Nevertheless”—she shrugs as if Chloe were right—“they are slaves to theflesh.”
Chloe bounces up beside her. “There is no greater truth. It’s as if all they ever think about is filling an orifice—theirs, ours, it matters not. Never mind the horny pigs.” She pats her hair down while preening to my mother. “How did Ido?”
“Well done.” My mother lifts a hand, and the speculum evaporates to nothing. “Now before I go”—she turns to the woods—“please join us, Sage. Your time hascome.”
“Sage? My God”— my entire person swoons with delight—“will I get my daughterback?”
“Technically speaking, you most certainly will.” My mother curls her fingers until Sage steps out of the shadows, her tiny frame, her long dark hair, those deep-welled dimples are an exact representation of her father, albeit at about five-years-old. But it’s not Sage that has my attention for once. In her tiny arms is an equally adorable being, a baby—perhaps just a little older than the twins, blonde curly hair, eyes that glow large and bright a unique shade—the lightest aquamarine you have ever seen with lashes that look gloriously thick and rich. She’s wrapped in a thin pink robe, same gold sash as my mother and Sage, albeit miniature, and therefore, outlandishly adorable. I’ve never seen a baby girl so preciously stunning, with the exception of Sage, of course, and, in truth, I’ve never seen Sage at that age orstage.
“Who is this visitor?” I step forward, and Chloe joins us as we lean in and gawk at her tiny perfectglory.
Sage picks up the baby’s chunky foot, clamps her teeth hard over its tiny little toes, and the baby lets out an ear-piercingcry.
“Sage!” I bat her hand away, and the baby manages to pluck her pink little foot free, her large eyes watery with tears, her perfect bow tie lips tugging down at the sides. The baby reaches for me, and I lean in to take her, but Sage is quick to twist her from mygrasp.
Sage growls at both Chloe and me. “She likes it when I do that.” She stuffs the tiny foot into her mouth again and gives another violentchomp.
“She does not!” I’m quick to snatch the screaming child away, and in a moment, a calm like never before falls over me. It’s as if I’ve waited my entire life to hold this precious littlebeing.
“Ma Ma!” The tiny blonde beauty squirms as a smile comes to her ruby lips and she laughs and claps, and I can’t help but laugh along with her. Rows of tiny teeth are exposed, just a few here and there, but they shine like pearlyseeds.
“She just called me Ma Ma!” I marvel at the tiny chubby cheeked angel. There’s something startlingly familiar about her—and strangely enough, intimately and deeply, I love her as if she were my own. “She’s a doll. Who is she?” I glance to my mother who glows with an ethereal light as if she had suddenly swallowed the sun. She’s grinning from ear-to-ear, and suddenly I’m worried for everyone in Tenebrous. “Mother? I demand ananswer.”
“Come, child.” My mother takes up Sage by the hand before reverting her attention to me. “You said all it would take to garner your devotion of a man is to have his child.” Her eyes brighten a dazzling shade of sunshine as if she could no longer contain her joy. “And now you have it—heras it were. I’ve gone to the future and procured you a little pinkgift.”
My heart ratchets up into my throat because I’m afraid I know exactly who this little angel is. This child belongs to Logan—and me. “Why are you doingthis?”
