“Doesn’t matter. Rory is about to get evicted. And when she does, I wouldn’t touch her then either. Don’t repeat the mistakes you made last year.” A thicket of tension pulses by. “I know why you did it, though. You slept with Rory last year because you craved Skyla. It’s too obvious to deny. You still love Skyla deeply? I can’t even frame it as a fact, but deep down, I think it’s true. I don’t believe there’s any hatred in you, except maybe for the monster who you’ve morphed into.” I fold my arms across my chest as I take a deep breath. “I’m on the verge of solving this mystery you’ve become, Gage Oliver, but I don’t have all the pieces. The irony is, I don’t believe you do either.”
His brows pinch as if he’s never thought of it.
He gives a simple nod. “What do you think about Flanders?”
My head ticks back a notch at his seemingly out of the blue question. “What about him?”
“Just wondering how he’s doing. Laken is with him now. He’s got to be on cloud nine.”
“Since when do you care anything about anyone?” My stomach begins to churn. “That’s right. Wes mentioned Coop was keeping something from us. It has to do with you, I suppose, the fact he blackmailed you, maybe?” I shake my head. “That’s not it, is it? The fact Coop played dirty to land Laken where she needed to be is no surprise to anyone. And, of course, he would use his sharpest weapon. That would have been you. Only you could have granted him an all-access pass to her presence. Wes never stood a chance. Boy, you must be shaking in your boots when you think of the retribution Wes must be plotting. I bet it’s going to be a whopper. And since Wes is known to live by the mottogo big or go home, I’m betting it’s going to blow your supernatural socks off. I bet I’ll get front row seats to the catastrophe, too. The entire world will. Skyla and I will be snacking on popcorn along with the rest of the Factions.”
His dimples dip in and out. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. After I level Celestra once and for all, the rest of the Factions will be kissing my feet. You might want to kiss them, too, Logan.” He gives a sly wink. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll go easy on you. I’ve already forgiven you for anything you’re secretly plotting against me. For the harm you wish would come my way. For the hatred you may not even be aware you’re spewing. You’re still my brother. Trust me when I say, you will come around. And when you do, I’ll be waiting. We’ll be stronger than before. You’ll see.”
My jaw goes slack. “You really believe this, don’t you?”
“Yes. Because it’s true.”
I half-expected him to bark out a laugh, morph into a dragon, and set this place on fire with the vitriol that comes from his mouth. But, honestly, I don’t know what to make of this new delusion of his.
His eyes latch to something near the entry, and I follow his gaze, only to be blown over twice in a one-minute span.
Rory is waltzing over in her Skyla-issued disguise, her hair rising like a lion’s mane, one that more resembles an eagle’s nest. Rory has no clue what to do with Skyla’s kinky curls, and it gives me a whole new level of respect for Skyla who actually knows how to bring out the glory in every part of her.
“Well, well.” Her eyes enlarge, and there’s an impish knowing grin on her face. “If it isn’t dumb and dumber.” She chortles at the modern euphemism. “Kidding.” She winks at Gage. “So what are the two of you doing? Is this a meeting of the minds? Let me guess, Gage has come to boldly ask for his people back.” She curls her body to mine and strums her fingers across my chin. I put my mind on lockdown. I don’t dare give Rory the telepathic edge she may or may not be looking for. But, my God, how I’ve missed those sweet fingers, and it takes everything in me not to suck them into my mouth and move my tongue over them.
“What’s up?” I dot a quick kiss to her cheek to make this feel authentic to her.
“I had a thought.” She glowers at Gage a moment. “I ran into Demetri while I was doing a little shopping. He accused me of beinglazy. Can you imagine? The size of your father’s celestial cookies. How dare he accuse me of being a do-nothing,” she hisses the words out like a threat. “Does he really think I’m one of your minions? That I sit around at attention, waiting for you to fill me from behind with your lies? I’m not about to prove him right.”
“Skyla,” I say it sharper than I intended. It’s clear Demetri chaffed her, but in no way do I want the Factions to feel the blowback from this. “Ignore Demetri. He’s just pissed because we’re one moment away from restoring Celestra to its proper heavenly standing.” And I can only hope to God that Rory has that intention. I know for a fact she thinks Candace replaced her with Skyla. Therefore, in her twisted mind, Skyla’s destiny was truly her own. “And ignore Gage, too. He was just leaving.” I glare at my nephew. “Or I can kick you out. Take your pick.”
“No.” Rory lifts her chin, and her eyes glint like cut crystal. “I’m holding a Faction meeting, Logan. Call everyone at once and tell them to meet up at that ramshackle farm out in the Estates.” She looks to Gage with venom spewing from her. “You’ll be there, too. My special guest. I want you to report back to that pig of a father of yours, word for word what I’m about to say. And then we will see who calls who lazy. You’ve already suffered a hard blow, Gage. Let’s just say the bough is about to break. I’ll show the entire universe who is in charge of this Celestial show. Welcome to my world, Gage—where I shine. My time has come, and everyone will take note. I’ll see you both at seven.” She storms out of the bowling alley as if she were being chased by a hurricane.
“Now you’ve done it.” I manufacture a short-lived smile for my bumbling nephew. “You always did know how to screw up in style. Congratulations, Gage. Rory is about to finish you off. And a tiny part of me is cheering her on. But make no bones about it. The grand finale will come from Skyla herself. You picked the wrong set of sisters to mess with.”
He swallows hard and nods. “I’ll see you at seven.”
He takes off and I fold my arms across my chest, sighing at the shit show about to unfold. I need to tell Skyla. I need to get Coop, Wes, Brody, and Ellis on the horn. And then we need to wait and be ready to mop up whatever mess Rory leads us into.
Lazy.
I wonder why Demetri chose that word. Why it triggered Rory so much. But, then again, it has a ring of truth to it. Rory hasn’t lifted a damn finger. She’s still riding off her sister’s coattails. I guess it’s high time she shows us what’s she’s made of. Something tells me, whatever it is, I won’t like it at all.
* * *
Skyla, the original soul trapped in Chloe Bishop’s body, went ape shit when she heard Skyla 2.0 called a meeting at Nick Haver’s newly rebuilt barn, God rest his soul.
“And furthermore”—she huffs and puffs as we make our way down the Havers’ property—“you should have figured out a way to preempt this before it ever got this far. You listen up, Oliver. This is the last time she’s pulling this crap on your watch or mine.”
A deep rumble of a laugh pumps through me as I pull Skyla in close. The moonlight highlights the fact it’s not Skyla at all, and I wince because it feels as if the universe just sucker punched me. I navigate us over about three feet until we’re practically buried in the shrubbery.
“Skyla, is that you telling me off? Because right about now you sound a lot like Chloe.”
“I should sound like Chloe—it’s Chloe’s face you see, her voice you hear. But I assure you the wrath is one hundred percent my own.” She closes her eyes a moment and takes a deep breath. “I’m better. And I’m sorry. I just—I’ve never felt so out of control in my life.” Her lips twitch. “You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you.” The words come out seething with anger, and strangely they turn me on. “Have you tried contacting my mother?”
I give a single nod. “To no avail. But don’t worry. Dudley is willing to take me. I would be there now, but Rory pulled this stunt, and I need to get in there to manage it.”
“Oh God, Logan. Muzzle her if you have to. I’ll attack her. I’ll crash a folding chair over her head. We need to do anything we can to stop her from unraveling everything we’ve worked so hard for.”
