I blow out a slow breath.Come on, Demetri. You may have all eternity to discuss the inner workings of this celestial disaster, but we do not. Cut to the quick. And for the sake of all that is holy, give us the smoking gun.
My mother shoots daggers at him with her eyes before exerting a heavy drawn-out sigh.
“Your great deception won’t work,” she tells him.
“Of course, it will,” he so smugly informs her. “It will work so well, it will deceive your child as well.”
My jaw unhinges. My hand goes slack, but Gage tightens his grip over me just the way he used to when we were together. Gage was always supporting me. Holding me up, giving me strength.
Demetri examines my mother, and you can see his adoration of her alive in his eyes. “We will be family, bonded by our grandchildren. How very wonderful will it be. Perhaps the granddaughter we share will become the next in line after your own daughter? Her powers will know no limit—her strength only magnified because of your own.”
My mother scoffs. “That fabled granddaughter won’t see the light of day should you forge her into existence. Nothing or no one will stand in the formation of my daughter’s pure lineage—nor the lineage she shall hand down. My child will have a daughter herself. And that child will be the fruit of a pure union. There will be no seed of wickedness in her—much like the Garden of Eden prior to the moment you cast a shadow in it.”
Demetri inches his head back. “You’ve planned this, haven’t you?” His left eye comes shy of winking. “You planted the seed in my soul to usher the angels to the daughters of men so that you could form a new people, one that will work under you for all eternity. Your own underlings—your own people. That would make you akin to the Master, now wouldn’t it?”
“How grandiose your own delusions are. You caused the plague; I’m simply tempering it. I was gifted authority over the fates of humans, and these beasts are no different.”
“Ah, but they are. After all, you’re hand-selecting them for your private service—the inner circle of which will be those born of your own bloodline. You have plans for these people, these beasts as you call them. They will be your treasured possessions.”
“Yes.” My mother’s expression hardens. “And your delusion—how very cruel to cause your own child to believe he should be a gatekeeper in Hell.”
His chest rumbles with a laugh. “You have extracted my deepest thoughts, and, of course, you would be accurate.”
“Demetri, the Master needs no such thing,” she tells him. “The agony your child will go through to think he could be separated from the ones he loves is unfathomable.”
Yes!My soul takes a moment to revel in the beauty of my mother’s words.Did you hear that, Gage? My God, if this doesn’t convince you, nothing will.
But Gage doesn’t move, his eyes never leave the two of them. His jaw squares out, and he looks as if he’s about to commit an interstellar homicide.
Demetri’s lips curl at the tips. “Separated from your daughter—their children. One of which you’ve all but killed.”
My mother gives another long blink. “Don’t charge me with that. The human body can’t be trusted.”
“No.” Demetri gives Shaddai a pat over his side. “It cannot. Neither can those who reside in them.”
She takes a deep breath and holds it. He’s trying her in ways only Demetri can.
Persevere, Mother. Persevere. Nail that bastard to a celestial wall. It’s what you’re best at. Hell, you’re damn good at it.
She nods his way. “Your deception, though cruel, will be a powerful promoter of your nefarious will. No doubt your son will move celestial mountains to gain eternity with his beloved.” She bows her head to the ground. “You have proven to be a worthy opponent.”
“Did you ever doubt my love for you?”
“No.” She lifts her chin. “I doubted mine for you.”
She takes off past him, past us, and walks on water until she’s taken her seat with those Sectors who work shoulder to shoulder with her. She is done with Demetri. And judging by that look on his face, he doesn’t look too pleased with it.
Demetri gives another rock a kick and it shoots off like a comet.
Gage takes a bold step forward. “Angry, Father?”
Demetri’s eyes widen as he looks our way and the curtain of anonymity is lifted.
I should know, it was me who lifted it.
A roar emits from Demetri, a fire in his eyes, a ripe anger in his face that I have never seen before. No sooner does he hold his hand up at us than I wake with a start—in my bed on Paragon. It’s dark, save for a seam of silver light streaming in through the split in the window.
Logan pulls me close.
