I don’t hesitate heading his way and offering him a firm embrace.
“Gage.” He pats me on the back as we part ways. “And there’s my favorite little paradise princess.” He holds out his arms. “Come on, come to Papa. I want a kiss on the cheek and a hug that will rock the ages.”
“No,” she whines as she folds her tiny arms over her chest. “I won’t do it. I don’t like that smile on your face. You never smile when my father is around. You don’t like him. You’re just pretending.”
“Sage.” Nathan turns his head slightly, his eyes remaining trained over hers. “You know how I feel about your dad.” He takes a few steps closer as he looks to me. “Gage Oliver, I can say with honesty that I love you. Yes, I’ve had my reservations. I was crushed when Skyla stepped into a union with you because I knew where it would lead. And here we are.” He sighs. “But all that is in the past. Skyla has a plan, and I trust it’s a good one. What can I do for the two of you today?”
I nod his way. “You know the truth, don’t you?”
He glances to Dudley in haste, and my body pulsates with adrenaline from that simple motion.
Dudley gives a slight nod as if granting Nathan permission to proceed.
“It’s true.” Nathan’s chest broadens. “I know.”
“Then tell me.”
He shakes his head. “I can affirm, Gage. I cannot reveal.”
This is it, the moment in which my entire existence, my sanity, my heart hinges on.
“Nathan.” I step forward, his name evicting from me low as a whisper in fear Candace or Demetri will appear and muck up the waters. There has always been something pure about Nathan Messenger, and every last part of me already believes the words that haven’t yet been uttered by his lips. “Tell me, is it true that there are no guardians in Hell? That neither the Sectors nor the Fems will be forced to drown in the pit along with those miserable souls that land themselves there? Have I been fed a lie? Have I killed, stolen, and destroyed for nothing?”
He closes his eyes, and a thin streak of silver runs down his cheek—a lone tear.
His watery blue eyes blink my way as he takes up my hand and pats it.
“Gage,” he whispers my name with heavy sorrow. “None of it was real. It was all for naught. It was nothing more than a grand delusion Demetri was granted to impress upon you.”
A part of me had rehearsed this very scenario in my mind. I thought I would roar out a scream, tear my clothes, find Demetri and tear his head off, but none of those things seem to be at the top of the list anymore.
“Then I denounce the Fems and all that they stand for.” The words stream from me, and they were long overdue.
“Father!” Sage belts out an anguished cry and I turn to comfort her, but she backs away. “No! I won’t have this!” she roars. “I won’t tolerate it!” She tears at her garment before running off toward the field.
Nathan strides forward. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your daughter is all right. You find, Skyla. You make sure my daughter is all right.”
I don’t need to be told twice. My body is already dissipating from Ahava.
The last thing I see are Dudley’s boiling red eyes.
As soon as I get back to Paragon, I shoot Skyla a text.
We need to talk.I hitsend.
She shoots right back.Where and when?
Rockaway. Come alone this time. I’ll be waiting.
* * *
The air is sweeter, the sand, the earth, the sky is richer in color, far more vibrant than I ever remember it, and for the first time since that day of the Bastard’s Ball, I feel blessedly alive, in love with life, my kids, with Skyla.
I reach down and scoop up the ebony sand before pitching it toward the briny waves.
The sky is dark, damn near the same color of this necrotic beach. I have no clue what the hell time it is, and I don’t care. I’m free. I made it. I’m home. And I get Skyla—my Skyla.
A flash of lightning illuminates the darkness, and like a star shooting across the sand, here she comes.
