Finally, Nico said, “I came to apologize. I was a dick. I’m sorry.”
“Mmhmm,” I grunted.
“Is… uh, is that female for ‘you’re forgiven’?”
“What do you think?”
Nico’s breath heaved out of him. “I really am sorry, Maddy. I know things are really messed up right now. I’m so worried about everything and everyone, but that doesn’t give me the right to snap at you. All I want in life is for you and the baby to be safe. I want to end this so we can move on with our lives and build a family. I love you so much, and I already love the baby more than life itself, and I haven’t even met them yet. Does any of that make sense?”
The cold ball of anger that had been coiled in my stomach suddenly unfurled itself and began to dissipate. As much as I wanted to keep giving him the cold shoulder, I couldn’t. I loved him too much to be petty for the sake of being petty.
Reaching over, I pulled him into a hug.
“I’m sorry. I was being an asshole,” I whispered.
“Nope. Not an asshole. A pain in the ass? Yeah, but not an actual asshole.”
I laughed despite myself and swatted his chest. “Don’t be a jerk. You were so sweet a minute ago.”
Nico chuckled and rested his hand on my knee as we stared out toward the horizon. Sitting like that, with the man I loved, I only had a few simple wishes—that my baby would be safe, that we would both live to raise them, and for the world to go back to normal. I began to genuinely hope that Nico’s plan would work. This had to end soon. We couldn’t keep going on like this.
132
NICO
What I would remember later was how fast everything happened. Even looking back on it, I still couldn’t comprehend how it all went down so quickly. Part of it was like a dream, the rest like a nightmare.
We’d all gathered back in the building where we were staying. Donatello’s staff had brought out some salads and grilled chicken for dinner. We ate as we planned our next move. I couldn’t even remember where the conversation had been going. Those memories were lost in the chaos that followed.
My burner phone rang, and after swallowing my food, I answered it.
My father’s voice rushed over the speaker before I could say a word. “Nico? Turn on the news right now. Hurry.”
“Dad? What’s going?— ”
“No time,” he said. “Turn it on now.”
The line went dead. Dread filled me. I was going to throw out every TV we had when I got home. All they ever seemed to do was bring bad news.
I looked at Donatello. “Where’s the nearest television? My father says we need to watch the news immediately.”
Donatello looked perturbed by that news but pulled out his cell phone and pushed a few buttons. A portion of the wall above the fireplace slid aside with an electric hum and revealed a large TV. By tapping the screen of his phone, he turned the television on.
We didn’t have to wait long to see what my father wanted us to see. Donatello scanned through channels, and it looked like it was on every network. He finally stopped on a channel that hadn’t finished the full report.
“Today, another message from Viola Monroe, who has been branded an international terrorist, war criminal, cult leader, and a murderer by the UN. She’s put out a press release. We’ll read the letter here.”
The anchor raised a paper and began to read. “To the humans and rightful inheritors of this world, I tell you now that our goals remain in sight, but starting today, all attempts to capture Maddison Sutton should cease and desist.”
I turned and looked at Maddy in confusion. Her face mirrored my expression.
The anchor stopped reading abruptly and put the paper down as he glanced off camera. His expression was one of bewilderment and panic. A voice off-screen mumbled something to him that I couldn’t hear. Finally, he addressed the camera again.
“We now have a live video message. It’s just come through. I want to caution viewers that the team at Channel Eight News has not vetted this video. We cannot guarantee what will be shown, and as such, must say that viewer discretion is advised.”
An instant later, Viola’s face filled the screen. Even seeing her on the screen sent me into a rage. I had to calm my wolf down because all he wanted to do was sling something at the television to destroy the screen and wipe her face away.
“Good day, everyone,” Viola said into the camera. “As you may have read in my press release, I am here to tell all of you that the capture of Maddison Sutton has been called off. This monster, this vile and disturbed creature, is not to be captured. I want that explicitly stated in this message. She is abhorrent and disgusting. She has even, in the last four hours, kidnapped my own dearly beloved son. She and her cohorts have stolen him from me in an attempt to get me to end this war against shifters. A war that I know will create a safer, cleaner world for humans. Kidnapping an innocent young man shows me, and hopefully all of you, exactly how ruthless and heartless shifters can be.
