I pluck the top open and expose a long gold chain with a matching locket in the shape of a heart. The heart itself has impressions of flowers etched into its surface.
“Wow,” I say as I shoot a quick glance to Logan. “This is very beautiful.”
“Go ahead and open the heart, Skyla,” Chloe says softly.
My own heart thumps as I work to split the pendant open. I’m betting it’s the boys on either side, or the boys on one side and Tobie on the other. That might make sense in Chloe’s eyes. And mine. I do love Tobie as if she were my own.
The heart gives and I peel it back to reveal a startling sight.
“Figures,” I say as I blink a manufactured smile at the two of them. “Logan and I on one side, and you and Gage on the other. And look, Gage, you’re kissing her belly. Isn’t that just wonderful.” I pin Gage with a look that saysthis is all your damn fault. Because it is.
Logan takes it from me and inspects it. “Okay, so we get it. Chloe, you and Gage are the real deal.” He hands it back to her. “Skyla has the Eye of Refuge around her neck. That real estate is taken.” His chest pumps as he looks to his nephew. “I’ll pretend you didn’t know about the little treats Chloe seeded in it.”
“Oh, he did.” Chloe nods frenetically. “He helped me cut the pictures to size and put them in.”
Gage takes the necklace from Chloe and gives it back to me.
“There’s a picture of the boys under ours.” His dimples dig in. “You won’t offend us if you take out our picture.”
“Well, thank you,” I say, still unsure of how to take this prank gone wrong. But knowing Chloe, this was no prank. This was meant to eviscerate and hurt, and perhaps make me deliver my baby early in a fit of anger. “And I have no gift for the two of you. Unfortunately, I don’t even have my friendship to give.” I look to Chloe. “Have you decided who’s going to raise your baby? Emma perhaps? You don’t do miniature humans, remember?”
“Oh, I don’t.” She’s quick to cradle that bulging beast of a stomach of hers. “But I’m dipping a toe into the murky waters of motherhood with this one. I’m going to breastfeed, stay up all night, and change every candy bar-riddled diaper this precious angel throws my way. I cannot wait to hold a tangible piece of our love.” She glances to Gage with swoony eyes, and I want to gag at how far gone she is—I would say in her own delusions, but this is proving to be serious. “I always knew we were destined for this moment. And now we have it, the house, the baby, best of all, each other.” Her neck snaps my way. “And before you interject withthe house is mine and so is the husbandbullshit, just appreciate for a moment what this has given you. You have Logan back. You have a home of your own. You have a baby brewing in your belly that is a token of how much Logan and you love one another. Everything worked out the way it was meant to. Just the way your mother assured us it would that day in Tenebrous. We’re Celestra sisters, Skyla. It doesn’t matter if we agree on everything. It doesn’t matter how you feel about me. I’m hoping one day in the future you’ll grow up enough to realize that we can indeed have a friendship. That the cards have finally fallen where they were destined to be all along. You can clench your fist at fate, but shaking with rage only hurts you in the end. Sometimes it’s best to go along with what life has given you, to appreciate the good things it’s still giving you.”
“Chloe!” Lexy barks from near the bounce house the kids have been enjoying this entire time. “Tobie shit her pants. Get over here.”
“And there you go,” I say. “You’re still getting some things, too.”
Chloe takes off and I don’t stick around to hear what Gage has to opine about, so I make myself scarce by heading over to the sexiest Sector in all the land—Marshall.
“What did you think of the party?”
His chest thumps with the idea of a laugh. “There wasn’t a tantrum, prediction, or a single fatality. I’m sure your guests feel cheated. Don’t worry, Ms. Messenger. Together, you and I will throw far more menacing soirees that will undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of history.”
“It sounds like you feel cheated. There are a few stragglers left. What can I do to rectify this?”
“I’ve got a cache of spirit swords. We can always pass them around and test out Darwin’s theory.”
A smile crimps on my lips. “Survival of the fittest? I was thinking morepin the tail on the donkey. Chloe can be the ass.”
“She’s easier to destroy than that.”
“You’re right. I should start with a bucket of water and work my way up. Now there’s a party game I can really get into. You always make me better. You’re the best.”
“That’s why they sent me.”
I watch as Logan and Gage start helping my mother and sisters clear the debris, piling presents together to help schlep them to where they belong.
“Everything is changing, Marshall. It seems as if that’s all that is ever consistent. Change.”
“Things are about to change for the better, Ms. Messenger. The fall is almost upon us, and that’s when we strike. Ezrina has made great strides and, with the aid of your body, she should be able to complete the process.”
“Yes.” I cradle my stomach. “My body. I’m hoping every last genetic ounce of what Logan and I have created will put us over the hump.” I squint up at Marshall as a sly smile comes from my lips. “When I was carrying the boys, every last ounce of me was powerful. And with this baby my powers seem the same. Why is that?”
Marshall lands a tender hand over my stomach and a soft smile comes to his face as if he were able to see right inside of me.
“You have never experienced power like this before, Skyla. But this time it is contained. Completely immersed in your child. You and Logan are simpatico. Your blood and powers yield to one another. With Jock Strap, I’m afraid the power wasn’t able to harness itself properly, misfiring right through your body, offering you strange powers of your own for a time.”
“And what will our child do to me?” I bite down over my lip to keep from winking. A part of me feels as if I’m egging Marshall on.
