Messenger, it’s almost one in the morning. There’s not a person on Paragon whose hair would pass your coital meter. Chill the F out. You can’t slaughter Rory, or I will be the one petitioning the Justice Alliance to have you booted from my body. And unless you want to haunt that old decapitated head of his, I suggest you behave.
“Chloe!” Rory barks. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking”—my voice shakes as I try my hardest to temper my words—“that the two of you shouldn’t be mingling, Messenger. You’re drunk. Go home. You have a fiancé, and this isn’t him.”
Rory tips her head back and groans.
I recognize that look on my face. She’s aggravated because she’s not getting what she wants. And what she wants is a bite out of a very dark-natured Fem and that infamous baseball bat he wields between his legs. No exaggeration. True as gospel.
Her head lolls back my way. “I’m not leaving, Chloe. You don’t have a say in how I conduct my business. Gage and I share children. You’ve just destroyed our home. You are a menace. You’re just jealous I’m able to have him in my life in ways that you will never know. You’ve always been jealous of me, Chloe.”
“Get over yourself.”
Kill her, Skyla. I don’t care how long it takes to find you a new home. I will cherish tearing her limb from limb.
“You will leave, and you will leave now,Skyla.” The words bite from me as I close the distance between us.
Her shoulders arch back as she takes a dangerous step in my direction.
Rory’s lips curve with evil intent. “Try to make me.”
And I do. Rory and I break out into a hair pulling, limb tugging, knee to the gut—a good shot on her part—slap in the face, my hand tomyface session that lands us in the branches of that hairy scary tree I just tossed into the living room. My hands wrap around my own throat. So help me God, I will end her the same way she ended me.
“Enough!” Gage roars as he plucks me off of her. “Go home, Skyla,” he thunders as Rory scrambles to her feet.
“Yes!” I scream at her. “Go the hell back to where you belong.” And I certainly don’t mean the Landon house.
She huffs a dull laugh as she dusts herself off. Her eyes flit to his.
“We’ll talk soon.” She looks my way. “Don’t be such a nuisance, Chloe. No one really cares about you.”
I hate her,Chloe growls.
I hate her twice as much,I add.
Gage rumbles out a quiet laugh, which obviously means he heard. Of course, he heard. We’re touching and the Fems have demonically endowed him with every power under the sun.
Chloe riots out a laugh.I hate you, too, Gage. I hope both you and that skanky booty call of yours rot in hell. I’m so glad we can finally see through you. Mostly, I’m so glad to witness Skyla’s rage firsthand, to feel it. Her hatred for you is genuine. I can proudly attest to that fact. She cradled you in her heart once, but that’s no longer true. My God, there is no better revenge than to know the woman you still harbor a hard-on for is done with you. Eat those truths until you gag on them. I hope you choke. And if you live, I’ll get to witness your descent into your own personal hell. I know you haven’t hit rock bottom just yet because you’re still pissing a circle around that throne made of matchsticks. But once Celestra ignites your world, I’m sure you’ll be begging Daddy to take you back to paradise. Skyla and I can’t wait to give you a sendoff. And don’t worry, Gage, we’ll make sure it hurts. Right up the ass. I’m sure you can take it just the way you like to give it.
A wicked smile crests my lips.What she said.
Rory comes forward. She steps boldly over to Gage and lands her hand lovingly on his cheek, and I flinch as if she had struck me. In truth, it’s him who keeps beating me down.
“Remember my words.” She heads my way and her hand flies at me, ready to caress my cheek in a much harsher manner, but I catch it midair before throwing it at her. “Don’t you dare defy me, Chloe. I am your leader—the leader of the Celestra people. You are my charge.”
A laugh bursts from me without much thought.
“Skyla”—it took everything in me not to say Rory—“who have you led anywhere? The people haven’t heard anything from you.”
No, no, no,Chloe shouts, and I wince at the echo going off in my brain.
Rory’s lips part, and she nods my way. “You’re so right, Chloe. People need to hear what I have to say. I need to lead my people. There are paths that must be taken. Now that just about all of the Nephilim are under my charge, it’s time to reveal a new wave of leadership.” She smirks over at Gage. “One that glorifies me.” She gives a sly wink. “Goodnight.” She takes off for the door. “It’s raining. How glorious to run through the rain all the way home. How glorious it is to be alive.”
She takes off just as the storm begins to pound the island, and I follow her to the door.
“You’ll catch pneumonia,” I shout, but it’s no use. She’s all but a blur.
Yes, my Celestra strength can cause me to heal quickly, but on occasion my mother likes to teach me a lesson—the exquisitely painful birth of my children comes to mind, the nonstop nausea, my death. My Celestra powers mean squat when my own mother is offering up a celestial bitch slap—nothing like a little tough love to make you despise your mother just a bit.
