This structure was erected on my behalf, in the massive plane gifted to me by my father. Not the man I consider to be my true father, but the Fem from whose seed I was created.
Eversor is an ethereal plane that floats somewhere high above Paragon. I’m guessing this isn’t a locale that human eyes can see. It’s more of a spiritual realm, nothing short of a bad idea.
And the structure? Well, that was constructed under the watchful supervision of my dear daughter, Sage. When Skyla was pregnant with the boys, she actually had one other bun in the oven. Yes, we were slated to have triplets, but fate had other plans and Sage was lost, reabsorbed into Skyla’s body. Medical science referred to Sage as a phantom, nothing but a few cells that came to their own end and amounted to nothing.
But Sage is very much alive in the heavenly realm. Her spirit is a feisty one; some might say temperamental. Candace, Skyla’s mother, being the self-proclaimed baby hater she is, aged Sage to be about five years old. Her words more or less, not mine. And for whatever reason, Sage has taken a peculiar liking to me over Skyla.
She considers Skyla her enemy. She outright cannot stand her mother. It’s safe to say I’ve seen a genuine loathing in her eyes when it comes to the woman who gave her a shot at any kind of existence.
But Sage loves me. She loves what she thinks I stand for, which is the Fems. She appreciates that the Fems are in an authoritative position, and by proxy she has a general dislike for both the Sectors and Celestra. She is cunning, cutthroat, and perhaps a little too dangerous. If she had survived, there is no doubt in my mind that Sage would have opened another can of troublesome worms for her mother. Her lust for power is as big as my own—the difference being, I’m driven by my love for Skyla and Sage is driven by her hate. It pains me to say this, but perhaps nature made the right decision with Sage. Had she lived, she could have wreaked havoc and hell far more abundantly than I have—and God knows I am off to a robust start.
The mansion, my mansion set in Eversor is a boxy building constructed of cold gray stones that gives it a castle-like feel. Inside, it’s a limestone palace, the walls, the floors, it’s all so very cold. In the grand room there is a fireplace the size of a garage, and there’s a weapons room upstairs that houses weaponry that I couldn’t even begin to understand how to utilize.
I take a breath that I don’t need, in a plane I’m not even sure exists, before putting one foot in front of the other and heading inside.
“Daddy!” Sage is the first to greet me in the magnificent foyer.
The grand room just to the right feels bigger than the high school I attended. But I don’t let myself linger on any thoughts related to West Paragon High. I can’t. For as tumultuous as a time I thought I was having, it turns out, it was the sweetest water I would ever drink. Skyla, Logan, and I had lightning in a bottle, and what I wouldn’t do to go back and rewrite a bit of history. Hell, I don’t think I’d change a paragraph—not of that chapter of my life anyway.
Sage wraps her tiny body around mine, and I pick her up and give her a quick toss in the air. Her long dark hair is French braided in two neat rows, her paper white skin, those shocking blue eyes and dimples—Sage holds my likeness through and through.
“Daddy, I’ve decided I rather like little Alice. She has a hankering for sharp objects and has a temper that can’t be contested. I’m afraid she can’t go back to Paragon.”
I frown over at the grand room where Nev, Ezrina, and Logan are playing cards.
“None of them are going back if I can help it.”
Little Alice emerges in search of her playmate and hisses as if she were a feral cat. Her red wiry curls look unruly, those lime green eyes of hers look like a threat, and she is every bit her mother’s daughter.
Ezrina McHatter is,wasa red headed firecracker, a brilliant woman who was taken captive by the Counts, as assigned by Candace, for crimes Ezrina committed way back in 1692. Nev and Ezrina were in love way back then as well, but as fate would have it, Ezrina was forced to marry another man at the time. People died, Ezrina and Nev committed adultery, and the Justice Alliance didn’t look too fondly on the lovebirds. Candace banished Ezrina to the Transfer and placed Nev’s spirit into a Raven, and the two were forbidden from getting close to one another ever again.
But Nevermore—Heathcliff O’Hare—and Ezrina found their way back to one another. Once the last Faction war was over, Candace granted Ezrina Chloe’s old body, and Nev was gifted Pierce Kragger’s body—and never were two people more thrilled to be alive, even if it was in different skin.
They teamed up to fight for Celestra—and Ezrina, being the mad scientist she is, took on a majority of the heavy lifting and came up with an antidote to help hide the markers. And once Skyla’s brand-new bundle of joy arrived into this tumultuous world, it turned out her placenta offered some regenerative cells that were the missing key ingredient to help stabilize the antidote, and in effect they were able to hide the markers on a more permanent basis.
Apparently, Logan’s super sperm played a large part in the endeavor.
So it’s easy to surmise why I’ve imprisoned Ezrina. She’s the key to getting all those genetic parts moving in the right direction. Of course, Nev would have moved heaven and earth to be with her, so I brought him along for the ride. And without a doubt, the two of them would have ended this party pretty quickly if Alice weren’t with them, thus I’ve tripled my kidnapping charges without hesitation.
Although, it wasn’t me who actually strong-armed them and whisked them away to Eversor. No, I left the dirty work to the musclemen my father gifted me—Barnabas, Belshazzar, and Micah, a trio of knock ’em, rock ’em robotic Fems who will do whatever the hell I want, no questions asked.
“Daddy.” Sage kicks her way back to the floor. “Alice says she’ll convert to our side and fight for our victory. Isn’t that great? That’s what we’re playing now, victory games where we chop off the heads of Celestra and hang them on poles for all to see.”
“Chop, chop!” Little Alice strolls up holding a stick. Her face is so pale you can see the veining around her eyes, while her lips glow a dark shade of ruby from the all-organic feast Ezrina serves up night after night, no doubt.
I give her a quick pat to the head. “Have fun, girls.”
Ezrina looks my way and her expression sours. “She’s a toddler, Sage. Don’t take a thing she says seriously.” Ezrina’s hair is frizzed out in every direction, giving her that nutty professor appeal she’s after, but despite the fact I’m holding her hostage, she’s been civil to both Sage and me.
Nev holds up the cards in his hand. “You want in on this one, Master Gage?”
Chloe gifted Nevermore to me when we were just starting out high school, before Skyla came into our lives. That was back when Nev was still trapped in the body of a raven. But he’s since been freed and runs around like the stud Pierce Kragger once was. Although, admittedly, Nev has let the muscles fall to waste, and he’s looking every bit like his old lanky self these days. Both Nev and Ezrina have been more or less good sports for lack of a better word about being down—or should I sayuphere in my own personal hell. It’s Logan that’s been nothing but piss and vinegar.
Logan shoots me a dirty look. “He doesn’t want to play. He’s too afraid he’ll lose. That’s exactly why he has the four of us locked up in his dime store version of paradise.”
I shake my head as I pour myself a drink at the bar. “That’s why I have the three of them locked up. You, my friend, did what you always do. You got in the way. You got caught up in the frenzy. And, I’ll be honest, I’m glad about it.”
I toast him with the trashy whiskey Demetri sent over. It might just be the finest, but it all tastes like rubbing alcohol to me. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but if my life, or afterlife for that matter, ever warranted it, it’s now.
