“Whoa.” Skyla sways on her feet and I wrap my arm around her waist. “It looks as if I’ll have to puke on the regular just to keep my people safe. It’s a small price to pay, I guess.” She turns green at the mention of it.
“Not true.” Dudley bows her way. “This has very little to do with ordinary stomach acids. It’s your hormone levels. They’re elevated.”
She sucks in a quick breath. “Do not tell me I’ll have to spend the rest of my life knocked up.” She looks to the ceiling. “So not funny, Mother.”
Dudley chuckles at the sight. “Heavens no. The afterbirth should be sufficient for many years to come.” He growls my way, “Right up until we have our child, Skyla. And that will be the end all of well, everything.” He gives a sly wink my way before ducking into a lab on the right.
“Our child?” I wince at Skyla. “Say it ain’t so.”
“Shh.” Skyla collapses her lips to mine. “I heard you correctly, didn’t I? Logan, I don’t want to think of you dying before we ever truly get to live our lives together. Please don’t talk about this. I cannot bear to think about it.” Her features crumble as if she were mourning me already.
“Come here.” I pull her in tight and land a kiss to her ear. “We won’t bring it up ever again.” I close my thoughts off to her as I wrap my arms around her as if it were my job to keep her on her feet. It’s not. In fact, it feels quite the opposite these days. I can’t leave Skyla again. I flat-out won’t. Skyla deserves a love that lasts the entirety of her time on this planet and I plan on being the one to give it to her.
“Look at the lovebirds,” a voice chirps from behind and we turn to find Candace striding our way. For once it feels like a relief to see her. “What’s this I hear? You need sunshine on your wedding day?” She winks at the two of us. “I think we’ve already covered this. Consider it done.”
Skyla flies to her mother and offers a spontaneous embrace. “I never thought I could be this happy again.” She pats her hand over her stomach. “I can’t wait until I’m as big as a house. Every moment of this pregnancy will be bliss.” Her phone buzzes and Skyla makes a face at the screen. “Ezrina needs me stat.”
“Go on.” Candace flicks a finger to the lab Dudley stepped into. “They’re right there. Logan and I will be there in a minute.”
Skyla pushes a kiss to my lips before taking off.
Candace lifts her head a notch. “I believe you have something to ask.”
“That must mean you know, and if you know, I’m positive you agree. Candace”—my voice expires in a whisper—“Skyla and I belong to one another. Gift me Marshall’s years, too.”
Her brows hike a notch. “And Sector Marshall has agreed to this?”
“Not quite. But I’m not looking for his approval. I’m looking for yours.” I take up her hand, my eyes never leaving hers. “Candace. You asked something remarkable of me, many, many years ago, and now I’m asking something remarkable of you. Don’t do this for me, or even for Skyla. Do this for that precious baby we’ve been gifted.”
“My dear love”—her palm cradles my cheek—“you’re not even out the gate and already you’re—”
“Being preemptive. I want to give Skyla the news on our wedding night. A lasting union, no more grief. It’s the ultimate gift.”
Her expression turns cold, and her hand floats down to her side. “Yes, well. I have made promises.”
“Promises were made to be broken.”
“Sector Marshall needs—”
“A child,” I growl. “I know. And you need Skyla to be the mother of that child.” My affection for Candace is quickly souring. “I can see why people turn to darkness. The light can slice you to ribbons.” I turn toward the lab and Candace spins me back around.
“Get me that victory, Logan, and get it for me now. And then we will talk,” she says the words through clenched teeth, her disdain for me just as palpable.
Every cell in my body is celebrating. “You will get your victory, and I will get more time with Skyla.”
Candace lifts her chin as if to say we’ll see about that. “Let’s join the party in the laboratory. Shall we?” She holds out an arm and I thread mine through it.
We enter the lab and I freeze. Skyla stands there with Ezrina, Nev, and Dudley—all three of them transfixed on the strange sight before us. It’s as if a piece of the darkest part of the universe has made its way into the labyrinth of this underground lair. A fog, a sky black as night, miniature stars sprayed throughout the odd sight expanding hundreds of feet in every direction. But that’s not the oddest sight in the room. Suspended within the peculiar matter float enormous pink bulbs, something that resembles large, overgrown embryonic sacs, and in each one there is a body—a rather large body.
“They’re Spectators, Logan,” Skyla says without looking to affirm my presence. “It’s happening. Ezrina is turning this ship around.”
“And so will you.” Dudley looks her way. “I want retribution for the slaughter at my estate last October. We can gather the enemy once again at my residence at the one-year mark. This time, Skyla, you will have the upper hand.”
“I’m not slaughtering the Barricade.” She comes over and takes up my hand.
“No.” Dudley makes his way to the two of us. “You won’t kill a soul. The government will.”
Skyla takes a breath and holds it. “Is that the course of action you suggest?”
