do the hard shit no one else wants to do. One of which, it seems, is to slaughter those who run from their responsibility in the impending war. It’s coming one way or another; they can’t run from it.”
“Why? Why is it the only way? They’re scared, but so am I! It’s a war that no one thought would happen, and while we saw it coming, no one listened. The mages are fucking changelings, for fuck’s sake.”
Alden snorted, and we continued to walk. “Yeah, but they’re changelings with a god on their side. Are you pissed off because Ryder didn’t ask your permission first?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m pissed off because when the fae die, I feel it. I’m attached to them and the land that my mother created. It’s too much, and yet last night I saved a babe’s life. I glowed like Danu. I forbid the babe from dying, and he didn’t die.” I looked at Alden and took a step back. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open and then closed quickly. “It was insane. I have never been so terrified in my entire life. I held their babe’s life in my hands, and I panicked.”
“And did you have to pay a price for that?” His voice trembled slightly, and I could sense his fear.
“No, because they are my people,” I admitted, frowning as he exhaled the breath he was holding while he studied me. “I’m allowed to save them, but not if they die before I reach them. He wasn’t dead; he just hadn’t taken a breath. It was Sinjinn and Icelyn’s child. Their son was born early with premature lungs, according to Eliran, but he’s alive. Speaking of babes, I need Olivia’s files.”
“You won’t find anything in the files. Besides that, Olivia and Ristan took them,” he shrugged. “They’re being kept in the basement of the Shadowlands. Our information on angels is less than two pages in a manila envelope. Demons, there’s over nineteen rooms on demonology, and yet nothing on Ristan’s breed. Ryder and Ristan asked me to look through the files a while back. Did you know harpies can reproduce offspring in a matter of weeks or that a demon’s child can take anywhere from five days to two years to be born?”
“Ouch,” I winced at that news. “Olivia is eleven months pregnant. I doubt Ristan will survive much longer. No one we’ve talked to has any idea what happens when an angel and demon create a child.”
“You could kill the mother, and the child before it’s born,” a deep timbre offered from behind me.
I turned around slowly, taking in the male who had spoken. “That little baby dangle is my family.”
“Demons are evil, in case you’re not aware of the current situation, sweetheart.” He shrugged from where he leaned against the wall, carving a piece of wood with a wicked-looking blade. He had a swimmer’s body with dark black hair and smoky-colored eyes that surveyed me carefully. He had thick tattoos, visible through the AC/DC t-shirt he wore, and his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at me. “And you’d be?” His gaze slid down my body, stopping at my breasts before slowly perusing my frame down to the high-heeled, leather knee-high boots that hugged my slender calves.
“Synthia, Queen of the Horde and Goddess of the Fae, and you?” I returned pointedly, studying his kind eyes.
He smirked as if he thought it was cute. “I’m Lucifer. If you’re the Goddess of the Fae, I’m motherfucking Lucifer, baby.”
“No, he’s a lot taller than you and better-looking too. Even though Lucifer’s got a crushed skull at the moment, he’s still better-looking and built for sin.” I cringed at the memory of what Lena had done to his head. “But, to be honest, he deserved that one.”
“I’m Stanislav,” he snorted. “Is she for real? Sweet ass comes on in here claiming to be a goddess and shit. I’d hire her for the balls of that claim alone.” He snickered, turning to study Alden, then dropped his smile and frowned at Alden’s lifted a brow and crossed arms.
“Adrik