“Angel?” Chloe lifts her chin my way as if reading my mind. And she might be. She was carrying Gage’s baby, although she didn’t seem to exhibit any runaway powers like I did with the boys.
“No,” Logan, Gage, and I say it in unison. It’s the only thing we’ve agreed upon in a year. Nice to know miracles still happen. I shoot Laken a wry smile.
“Come on, Skyla.” Chloe flicks her wrist my way as if to sayget on with it. “We don’t have all night. I need some sleep.”
Laken chuckles. “Chloe, you have a newborn. If she’s anything like Charlie or Eli, you won’t be getting sleep anytime soon.”
Ezrina gives a husky chuckle herself. “You’ll be lucky to get a nap around Christmas.” She flicks her fingers at Wes and pulls the baby to her chest. Ezrina is smitten, and she should be—that baby holds her DNA.
I clear my throat. Why does it feel as if I need to think my way out of this paper bag? A paper bag filled with Chloe’s afterbirth that’s been set on fire.
“Seeing that she’s a little princess, let’s go with fairytales. Who’s your favorite princess, Chloe? Think Brothers Grimm.”
“Ooh.” Chloe tips her head from side to side. Clearly, her vagina is cooled down because she’s getting cheeky. “Since I’ve been cursed with no sleep, let’s go with that princess who can’t seem to wake up. Maybe that will counterbalance the curse Witch Laken put on her.” She makes a face her way.
“Aurora,” I say as I pull Logan close. “That’s a great name. So glad the baby is healthy. Goodnight,” I say as I turn to the door. It happens to be my sister Rory’s full name, but at the moment I don’t really care.
“No,” Chloe flatlines. “It’s too—I don’t know. Pure?”
She’s got that right. But could that sweet peanut squirming quietly in Ezrina’s arms be anything but pure? My heart breaks just thinking about her in any capacity. I really do need to get the hell out of here.
“What’s the villain’s name in that story?” Chloe is suddenly interested in dissecting ancient literature just as Heathcliff heads in with a cooler.
“Pardon me,” he says, grunting his way over with the heavy box. “I’ve packed it with ice just the way you instructed, Rina.”
“Maleficent,” Laken answers Chloe’s question and Heathcliff nods as if she saidmagnificent.
“Maleficent?” Chloe’s ears pique as she says it. “I love it.” An eerie grin pulls at her lips as she nods to Gage. “We can call her Mally or Mal. Maleficent sounds like the name of a powerful angel.”
“Or a powerful witch,” Laken says under her breath.
Wes wraps his arms around his pregnant wife. “Chloe likes it. Mally is cute.” He shrugs.
“Hello, Mally,” Ezrina is the first to greet the babe by name.
The room floods suddenly. First with Liam and Michelle, who are hardly speaking, followed by Lex and Emily, and finally a screaming Emma, Barron, and Demetri.
Emma practically falls over herself as she lunges for the child.
“A girl! Oh Chloe, you’ve given Gage the most precious jewel in his crown.”
I lean against Logan. “It’s nice to know the boys have been booted from their pedestal so soon.” And I’m not sad about it either. I dream of Emma forgetting about the boys and me. How I would thrive in an Emma-free world.
I watch with a numb heart as Dr. Oliver and Emma fawn over their new grandchild, one that did not come from my body. Silent, hot tears run down my face as I watch Chloe and Gage surrounded by family and friends. Ellis and Giselle amble in. Giselle flies straight to her new little niece, but Ellis offers me a firm embrace, the slight stench of weed clinging to his hair.
“Hey, get out of here. Okay?” Ellis insists. “You’re a good person, Skyla. And you have Logan and the boys. And you have me, too. I love you. Ezrina’s about to crest that final peak with her formula and we’re going to get you back on top. This is the bottom. There is only one way to go, and I promise you will be rocketed to the top. I’ll make sure of it myself.”
I pull him in and nod. My lips are swollen with grief, and my eyes won’t stop their incessant, embarrassing river.
Logan thanks him as we head for the door. I glance back, just once, not sure why or what I was hoping to see, but I spot Gage watching me. His luminescent eyes are focused on mine and he’s trying to speak to me, but I quickly glance away, denying his right to apologize, or more to the point, gloat.
“Thank you, Skyla!” Chloe calls from the bed, my bed that I picked out, lying under the comforter I bought because I loved how luxurious it felt. I remember thinkingI’ll feel like a queen on this mattress, and here the abomination of desolation has settled in the holy of holies and now she mocks me from my own throne.
The din of voices in the room hushes to nothing as if waiting for my response, but I don’t give it. I just duck out the door.
Laken dives over me and pulls me into a hard embrace. Logan and Cooper start up a conversation down the hall, and Ezrina and Nev come out and join them.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Laken pulls me in. “But you delivered the baby? It just goes to show what a good person you are, Skyla. I would have shut the door on her and let her rot in agony.” She shrugs at the thought. “What can I say? I’m a monster.”
