She swallows down her next bite and bears those glowing eyes of hers into mine.
“I know, Skyla. Our mother didn’t have a say in that. But she wasn’t going to let my existence be for naught. Instead, she delicately wove my purpose in through yours. She controls only so much, you see. She needed assurances set into place,options. And our mother is a lot of things, but she is never out of assurances, or options. She knew that one day our people would need a sacrificial lamb. And before you snort your milk out of your nose, I’m not talking savior, I’m simply talking sacrifice. A great sacrifice for many. Although I’m less lamb, more goat.”
I take a deep breath, trying to figure out if navigating my way through Rory’s mind games is worth the energy at this early hour.
“So”—I lean in—“I’ll bite. You’re the sacrificial goat?”
“Well, it wasn’t going to be you. Nope. Not her Skyla.” She’s back to rolling her eyes again. And seeing that Melody Winters is barely out of her teens, it would seem I have a rather annoyed teenager in my presence. “Anyway, I’m over the resentment. I get it now. My world has been illuminated, the shadow of confusion cast out for good. Your role is to lead the Nephilim. Make no mistake, you will be viewed the victor. My role is to protect them. You need me to expose the schemes of the enemy and hopefully deter the greater enemy of both Celestra and the Fems.”
I inch back a notch. “Greater enemy?”
“You’ll see in time, Skyla. As soon as in a few days if all goes well.” She sighs hard as if she weren’t looking forward to it.
“Rory, what is it our mother has set up for you to do?”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” She picks up a dirty spoon lying less than a foot away and attempts to examine her reflection in it. “I can’t wait until I get my pretty little head back.”
“I don’t get it. Why did our mother decide that I needed you? I have an entire army of Nephilim at my disposal. I have the Sectors, the Videns.”
Her cheek cinches as she snatches up another donut. “The job she has planned for me is personal. It’s not something she wanted to delineate for anyone else. You see, my dear sister, we are twin sides of a coin. You save our people with your life, and I save them with my death.” A crooked smile inches up her face. “Now doesn’t that sound just like our mother? Let me tell you a little celestial secret.” She leans in a notch. “My destiny has been to take down the Fems and protect Celestra all along. It turns out, death wasn’t strong enough to stop that from happening.”
“You slept with my ex,” I flatline. “How exactly did that fit into your destiny?”
“Okay, fine.” She shrugs as she takes another aggressive bite of the donut in her hand and washes it down with milk. “For a season I believed that you hijacked my destiny. I tried to take it by the horns, but now I see it wasn’t meant to be for me. However, Mother agreed I should play a significant role—one she fashioned for me herself.” A smile stretches across her face as a touch of pride infiltrates her eyes. “I, Skyla, am aharbinger.”
“A harbinger?” I echo. “A harbinger of what?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out. And that’s all we’re going to say about that.” Her face grows long for a moment before she takes a breath as if ushering a dark thought from her mind. She wolfs down the rest of her donut before meeting her gaze with mine. “This is important to me.” She nods my way. “I need your forgiveness.”
“Then ask.”
Her lips twitch from side to side as if considering it.
“I’m sorry, Skyla. I apologize for the pain I’ve caused you. For sleeping with a man you considered sacred. For trying tobeyou, for ignoring your insolent children when they screamed in my face for whatever it is they wanted.” She closes her eyes shut tight a moment as if trying to dissolve the memory.
“I forgive you.”
Her eyes spring open. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.” I shrug in my sugary sleep-deprived stupor. Honest to God, the jury is still out whether or not this is real. “What about Chloe? What are you doing with her? I want to know everything.”
A dark laugh gurgles in her throat. “Chloe wants power. She needs to believe she’s in control or she’s dangerous. Believe me, if I didn’t entice her, someone far more nefarious would have, and you would have a genuine new problem. Right now, she’s content to think we’ll be cooking up a grand scheme against you soon.” Her expression smooths out. “But soon enough she’ll be apprised of the truth.”
I place my hand over hers. “What happens soon enough, Rory?”
“Nothing that we should be discussing now.” Her affect softens. “Tell me, Skyla, that you’re enjoying your life. You have two gorgeous men vying after you? You have beautiful children, even if I can’t stand to be near any of them. A whole house full of people who love you, and a very kind mother.” She nods toward the stairs. “The one who lives here, I mean. She’s much kinder than the one I live with,” she whispers that last part, but a peal of thunder goes off outside, despite the fact.
A small laugh trembles from me. “Why do I get the feeling you’re letting down your defenses? It almost looks as if all of the anger you had over my very existence is finally dissipating.”
“Dissipated.” Her thumb rubs over mine. “And dare I say, I’ve even come to love you.” She sighs hard. “We’ll see each other again.”
“Rory, are you leaving—as in for paradise?” I lean in, suddenly intrigued by what might come from her next.
“All will be known.” She stands, and I follow her to the back of the kitchen where she came from. “Oh, and Skyla?” She shrugs my way. “Yes, Gage is gorgeous, and I won’t lie, he was a bit addictive. I did enjoy my intimate time with him, but it was for a purpose. It was for our people.”
I scour my brain in this early sugared-up hour to try to nail down the reasoning.
“Well, you screwed up his marriage to Chloe. I can sure as hell appreciate that. Although, he was using her to fuel me into a rage—and what a great job he did. He lost Wesley’s support because of it, too. Laken left Wes, and Wes left the Barricade. And apparently, Wes left behind a permanent antidote. Or at least a close enough version for Gage to piece it together on his own. I won’t lie, though. I hate that you slept with him. That you did it while looking like my twin.”
