“Oh, would you hush.” I pull her over to the side. “And would you call it quits with this twisted-sister game of yours? The real Rory is here, and she’s not haunting my body anymore. She’s taken up residence in Melody Winters.”
“Ugh,” Chloe groans. “Much like you, she just gets more annoying by the second. I guess Heaven doesn’t want her. And judging by the fact you’re still on the right side of the soil, it doesn’t want you either.”
“Ha-ha. I’m not laughing.” I lean in. “I’ve got big news. Game-changing news about our shared ex. Only I won’t be sharing it with you anytime soon, because it seems you’re still out to prove you’re an asshole. Merry Christmas, Chloe.”
Her eyes bug out, but I decided to ditch her before I end up treating her to the gift of a much-needed holiday beating.
Logan comes in close “Wes and Ezrina want to have a word with us.” He points toward the living room and we head on over. We find them congregating near the dark green Douglas fir Mom and Demetri hauled in last week. It’s fluffy and smells like heaven, and even though it’s well lit with twinkle lights, Mom has made it clear the lights are only to remain on for the party. She’s half-convinced the tree is going to burn the entire house to the ground. She much more prefers the fake tree in the family room, and now that I’m a mom with all sorts of new mom fears, I completely agree with her.
Ezrina and Wes have their heads knit together while Nevermore holds Alice nearby, chatting with Laken and Kresley.
Ezrina sheds an eerie smile my way, never a good sign.
“Dear Skyla. Is it you?” she titters.
“Laugh it up,” I flatline. “What’s going on?”
Wes bounces his brows. “Ezrina’s on edge. She’s frustrated. We both are.”
“About?” I step in close and pull Logan in with me.
Wes shakes his head. “Do you really have to ask?”
“Yes,” Logan answers for me. “Because every time we turn around, something else falls into the shitter. So speak plainly. We’re dealing with a serious lack of sleep.”
And a general feeling of malaise at the moment, I want to add, but I don’t share that with Logan. I’m chalking my urge to puke up to my lack of sleep, too.
Ezrina sighs. “It’s the Kingdom Virus. It’s proliferating to pandemic levels. It’s reminiscent of the Spanish Flu. It has and will kill many.”
“Ezrina and I have decided we want to work to find a vaccine.” Wesley’s evergreen eyes meet with mine. “It’ll interfere with our work for Celestra. But just temporarily until we find something to ease the chaos. People are dying. Economies are crippled. The fear is palpable. This could upend the world, quickly.”
“You don’t need to sell it,” I say as Nathan and Barron run screaming and laughing through the room with their cousins, each one outfitted with a Santa hat, and the sight melts my heart. “The young and the old are the most susceptible. Don’t waste a moment. We have to work until there’s a viable way to stop this. Before it comes home and bites us where it hurts.” I nod to the kids.
“I agree.” Logan wraps his arm around me, and a strange surge rises from my solar plexus, pleasure mixed with that odd nausea. “I heard there are rumors the virus was sent down via aliens.” He saysaliensin air quotes. “I heard a theory about an infected pig farm, too.” He tips his head toward Ezrina. “And the truth is?”
“Perhaps the pigs.” She takes a slow breath. “More than likely it’s biological warfare gone awry from some world government. It’s too strong. Far too contagious, moving too quickly. I’d believe the pig farm story if the pigs were set in a lab.”
I shake my head. “It’s bad enough we have the Fems to worry about, and now on top of that, we have the morons who think they run this world.”
Wes glances over my shoulder at someone. “Speaking of morons.”
I turn to find Gage and Demetri knotted up in what looks to be a serious conversation.
Marshall comes this way, his face glowing ever so slightly in an inhuman way, and I wonder what the hell that could be about, too.
“Dudley,” Logan says curtly. “You’re lit up like a glow stick. Knock it off.”
His lips twitch in my direction. “Ms. Messenger, it’s time for your true gift.”
“Marshall,” I coo. “You don’t have to give me a gift. You’re my gift.” I glance to Logan. “And I mean that in a nonsexual way.”
Logan’s cheek flinches. “He is the reason I’m here. I guess in a roundabout way he’s my gift, too. What have you got, Dudley? Jewelry mined from the seventeenth century? A shiny new spirit sword? Or let me guess? An all-access pass to your private chambers?”
Marshall growls over at him, “I’ll see you both in the woods adjacent to the house.” He nods to the forest just past the driveway and takes off, pausing to speak to Gage and Demetri as the three of them hit the door.
Wes blinks my way. “Have fun with that one.”
I glare in the direction Gage and Demetri went off in.
