Focusing my gaze on Ava, I reply, “Apparently, she fell in love with said demon and staged her death to live happily ever after in Iniquity. Now I’m stuck with a golden-eyed, sarcasm-laden demon for a nephew.”
Ava paces and throws Pom Pom’s toy when he brings it over to her. This continues through our conversation.
She presses a hand to her forehead. “This is fucking crazy. Isn’t this a good thing, though? Your sister isalive. You can talk to her. Find out the truth.”
I shake my head and relay what Leviathan told me.
“Screw that.” Her nose scrunches in annoyance. “What’s the point of being a witch if I can’t help with this? We’ll go to Jade and see what she says. Between her powers and the books in the shop, there has to be something. And she knows other witches too. Maybe one of them could help.”
Reaching out to snag her waist, I pull her in front of me. Pom Pom growls when he realizes we aren’t playing anymore but quickly settles on the floor to chew a bone withhis little legs splayed out behind him. We watch the dog and laugh when he huffs in annoyance. Pushing her tank top up slightly, I stroke the supple skin there. A faint red line from my fang still resides in that spot, and I internally puff my chest at the mark on my mate. She loves when I tease her with my canines.
“We’ll do it tomorrow,” I declare. “For now, I just need to hold you,” I plead with my eyes, and she nods.
“Don’t scare me like that again, Valen. I mean it. I can’t envision a life without you now that I have you in it. We’re a team.” She places a hand on my cheek, staring at me with all the love in the world—a love I’m not sure I deserve, but one I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.
I kiss her in response and murmur apologies while soothing both of us with gentle touches.
That night I toss and turn but take solace in the fact my mate is here and my sister is supposedly alive. And I’ll hopefully find the answers I seek soon.
CHAPTER 53
AVA
“It would be reallygreat if you could lose my number,” Jade grouses the moment I open my door. “I was out late, and the last thing I expected was a call from you to come over at the ass crack of dawn.”
“You could’ve said no,” I reason, stepping aside to let her in.
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right. Do you have what I asked for?”
I stride over to the kitchen table and pick up the McDonald’s bag and large Diet Coke. I shake the bag at her. “Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit, a hashbrown, and Diet Coke.”
“I think I might love you,” she says.
“A minute ago, you were annoyed with me,” I laugh.
She snatches the bag and sits at the table. “I’m drunk and it’s six in the morning. I only went to bed like two hours ago—not alone, might I add—of course I’m annoyed. This”—she opens the bag with a flourish—“will help with my hangover.”
“There’s not some magic spell to make it all go away?” I ask curiously.
“If there was, don’t you think I would’ve used it?”
“True.” I curl my legs under me. “Valen should be out in a minute. I don’t think he expected you to get here this fast.”
“It was the promise of grease and Diet Coke that did it.” She bites into the sandwich and moans. “I don’t know what it is about this, but it’s the best hangover food.”
Jade’s almost finished eating when Valen emerges from the shower. He tugs on a hoodie and ruffles his damp hair.
“Care to fill me in on why you needed me so early?” She looks between the two of us.
Valen pulls out a chair and sits between us. He fills Jade in on what he discovered, and I swear her mouth gets wider with every word.
“Is it possible?” he asks when he finishes.
“Is what possible?” she asks for clarification.
“A demon and an angel having a child.”
“Hybrids are always possible,” she responds. “Our biology isn’t really that different. There are many among us, and you don’t even know it because they take after one side more than another. In Levi’s case, the demon side.”
