“Then why would I bother?”
Jaden laughed. “You’re such a surly little bastard.”
“And you’re a huge motherfucker. What do you eat? Fertilizer?” It’d always bothered him that his family stood head and shoulders over him. Jaden had a full seven inches, which irritated him to the core of his soul. Especially given that both his parents were tall as shit.
Jaden turned a page. “Must have been your anger and misspent youth that stunted your growth.”
“More like the venom I sucked from my mother’s tit.”
Closing his book, Jaden shook his head. With the same pair of mismatched eyes that he’d gifted to Valteri, he watched him. “You’re in a bad mood, even for you. Something in particular wrenched your testicle and drove you here?”
“Manner of speaking. I wanted to ask you a peculiar question.”
That got his attention. He quirked a brow in an expression almost identical to one of Valteri’s. “This I can’t wait to hear.”
“Do you know how many children you have?”
“What game are you about?”
Shadow saw his eyes flickering in the darkness of the small room. A warning that in spite of his captivity, Jaden’s god powers were kicking in. “Not a game. Just curious if you know.”
“I have two sons. As you’re well aware.”
Shadow nodded. So Jaden had no clue about Valteri.
Interesting.
“And if you were to have any more?”
“Are you offering me your services?”
He gave the older god a dry glare. “Answer the question, you bastard. If you were to have a child out there. Would you know?”
“Of course.”
Yet there was a light in his eyes that undermined the confidence in Jaden’s tone. “Unless…”
Jaden scratched his chin thoughtfully. After a moment, he spoke again. “It’s not really possible.”
“What?”
“If a child were born without powers or if they were bound for some reason. Then I’d have no way of knowing.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
Jaden shrugged. “Why would anyone wantmychild?”
He had a point. Especially given the fate of his last two. Shadow shuddered. Yeah, being Jaden’s kid wasn’t a blessing. Bad things always seemed to befall them.
“For argument’s sake. If you did have another child out there. What would you do?”
“Depends. If I liked the kid, I’d protect it. Should the child prove to be a danger to the world…”
“You’d destroy it.”
Jaden’s mismatched gaze turned dark. “I’m not my sister. I would never risk or condemn the world for my child.”
Funny, Jaden was speaking to the wrong audience. Shadow was on Apollymi’s side in this matter. The concept of a mother who would sacrifice the world to save her son…
