“Marshall!” She spins the baby away from him before nuzzling into his miniature face. “Maybe he’s more like Nathan? I would swear he was one of mine. You’re not going to tell me I have another son, areyou?”
“Heavens no.” Dudley scoffs at the idea. “But I will tell you they have afather.”
Both Skyla and I open our mouths with surprise. “Is this Gage?” I step in and look at those serious eyes, those hovering thick brows present even in this, his very first hours of life. And then, as if to confirm Dudley’s suggestion, his dimples dip in, and Skyla and I share a quiet laugh. “Damn, he’s cute.” I give a wistful shake of the head. And like an unwanted blast from the past, I remember the moment Liam told me that Barron had a son. My gut wrenched with jealousy before it ever did with joy. I remember wishing I could trade places with him. Trade my twisted wreck for his shiny new body, unblemished and untouched by the Counts—more importantly unwanted by them. Gage Oliver would forever fly under the radar of the enemy, and I found it grossly unfair. And now I know it wasn’t true at all. He was in the limelight. We just didn’t know ityet.
“That baby!” a woman screams from the nurses’ station, and Skyla lands a kiss to his tiny lips before setting him back downsafely.
A group of nurses storm in to find all is right with the world, and the one who shed that scream looks physicallyill.
“I would have bet my life I saw that baby levitating in thinair!”
The other two share a biting laugh. “I think it’s time for your sixteen-hour shift to come crashing to an end. Why don’t you look up that cute boy from psych? He oughta set your headstraight.”
“You mean Doctor Dreamy, Eugene Booth?” The three of them share a chortle. “I think I’ll do justthat.”
Skyla chokes out a laugh. “OurDoctor Booth? Wow, I can’t wait to rib Doctor Dreamy aboutthis.”
“Eugene?” I shake my head at her. “That mildly explains why his son’s name is Revelyn.” A thought comes to me. “I seem to recall his ex-wife was a nurse. I guess he has Gage to thank forthat.”
“That means”—Skyla’s eyes widen—“Gage is indirectly responsible for Rev, the bane of my sister’s existence at the moment. And here I thought he was older thanus.”
Dudley gives a passive nod. “The butterfly effect at its finest, wouldn’t you say?” He sharpens his gaze over her shoulder. “Or perhaps we should askhim?”
Skyla and I follow his eyes to find a dark figure lingering in the corner of the viewing window. I recognize those wide shoulders, that dark cape-like coat he’s chosen to cloak himselfin.
“Demetri,” Igrumble.
“Of course, he’s here.” Skyla lets out a heated sigh. “He is thefather.”
Another group of men step over to the viewing window, closer to the center of the show, and I’m quick to recognize the one closest to the glass, with the most jubilant look on his all-too-familiarface.
“And there’s Barron.” I lift a hand as if to wave even though he can’t see me—even if he could, his prideful gaze would never pull away from his precious son. “That man is the only father Gage Oliver will ever accept as hisown.”
“You sure about that?” Skyla whispers as Demetri lifts his chin, those tar-colored eyes rising in our direction. And just when we thought we might actually blend in with the scenery, he pins us with his stare and offers a brief three fingerwave.
“I’ve got a finger I’d love to show him.” Skyla lifts her hand—but just before she lets the bird fly, the scenery goes fuzzy, and Dudley has us off and running once again through time and space. But the scent of Gage as a newborn still clings to us. It holds the scent of hope, nothing at all close to destruction as Dudley has suggested. No, Gage Oliver doesn’t have an evil bone in his body, and to Demetri’s chagrin he neverwill.
“Where to?” My voice sounds distant, disembodied, and wholly not myown.
“As close to hell as any of us will ever get,” Dudley thunders, and I land with a thud over the cold mattress in my bedroom at Whitehorse. I pick up my phone and textSkyla.
Everything okay on yourend?
She texts right back.I’m home. The boys are here. Gage justleft.
My heart breaks at the thought of Gage making his exit upon her arrival. It’s as if in a small way they’ve both accepted this new divide as the new normal. They shouldn’t. They’re meant to be together.What do you think that interstellar field trip was allabout?
A bubble of dancing ellipses lights up as I wait for her response. What in the hell doIthink it meant? Hell if I know. Dudley is just as good at head games as Candace is. Yes, she fished me out of the past. Yes, she favors me over Gage, but only because she thinks Skyla and I can move Celestra forward to where it needs to be—and ironically, that would be right where it is, sans the disturbance in the force otherwise known asWesley.
I don’t know. But one thing is for sure. I feel closer to you than ever. My mother handpicked you as my suitor. Liam sacrificed everything to get you to where you needed to be—in my world, on this island right by my side. All the signs in the universe always seem to point to you, Logan Oliver. You say you love me more than the heavens love the sun and the moon, but the heavens, the sun, and the moon, and all of their affection are no match for the bond the universe has secured for us. Time may have framed us in two different tiers, put us in two different places on the planet entirely, but destiny stepped in and moved the heavens and her precious heavenly hosts just to bring us together. I can’t help but think we are so very special. We are meant to be. We are willed to be. We will be. After all, my mother always gets what shewants.
Tears run down my cheeks as I stare at her words. The poignant irony of the very last line. If she had omitted that last doomed sentence, I would have thought it was poetic gold—something to pen in calligraphy and frame for generations to marvel. But those last few words, those barbed truths make the very bond between us seem questionable atbest.
I slip the phone onto the nightstand and stare up at the darkness, up past the ceiling, past the stratosphere, and into Ahava where that twisted celestial being wrings her hands over what comes next in this earthly game of chess she’s indulgingin.
Skyla and I are pawns. That’s all we’ve ever been. But is that all we will everbe?
I’ll be damned if I let thathappen.
