Page 47 of Beauty At Stake
“That no one messes with your people.” His expression turned adoring.
“Welcome to the team, Losuc.”
“Thank you, Light-Bringer..”
“Those are some great lines, babe,” Killian said. “Please, tell me you delivered them right when you apprehended him.”
“You know I did.”
We fist-bumped. Then I saw Star and Losuc watching us.
I cleared my throat and said to Star, “We'll meet at the vex house tomorrow. I'll scry them and let them know what's happening.”
“Very good. See you then.”
I took Killian's hand and laleked us home to Twilight.
Chapter Eighteen
The problem with jumping all over the world as we did was that you had to deal with time differences. Thailand was thirteen hours ahead of Twilight. At least, it was thirteen hours ahead of Castle Twilight. So Killian and I returned to bright daylight streaming in through my bedroom windows. I hissed like a vampire—the mythical sort, of course—and hurried over to pull the drapes. Kill helped by closing the curtains over the glass-paneled balcony doors.
Thankfully, Sever had his own room. When he moved in, all the tower suites were occupied, so he received a bedroom on the floor below the royal apartments. He didn't mind, and it was great for me when I needed to get some sleep and Miri was having a meltdown. It was also nice when I was exhausted after a mission.
I stripped on the way to bed, then climbed under the covers. Killian's bed used to be a place where he tossed his weapons and clothes. But now that he had to trade nights in bed with me with Sever, he kept it clear so he could actually sleep in it. This, however, was just rest for us, so Kill followed me under the blankets, pulled me in against his chest to spoon me, and fell asleep.
Sometimes you get so tired that you can't sleep. This is especially true for me when I've got heavy things weighing onmy mind. But this time, the weight helped to knock me out. My mind simply couldn't deal with all the bullshit anymore.
The next thing I knew, several hours had passed, and there was a weird gurgling noise in my ear. My mommy instincts kicked in when I inhaled Mirielle's scent and I came instantly awake. I opened my eyes to find my daughter lying next to me, gurgling happily as she played with her toes. As if she could sense my attention, Miri looked at me, the silver striations in her purple eyes catching the light.
“Well, how did you get here?” I drawled as I tapped her nose.
Mirielle giggled and swayed her legs back and forth, using her hands.
“Good morning.” Sever drew my attention to him, seated on Miri's other side, where he served as a barrier between her and the edge of the bed.
“Hey.” I sat up and kissed him—just a peck since I needed to brush my teeth. “Hold that thought.” I climbed out of bed, noticing that Killian was gone, and went to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, I emerged, fresh-faced and fresh-mouthed to climb back in bed and lift my daughter into my arms. Her wings were coming in—little arches of bone and skin sprouted from her back with a downy layer of feathers covering them. She had another six months before they'd be fully formed, but her father was delighted just to know that she would have them. Both delighted and anxious. Because not only did our daughter have wings, but she also had wings like no other Angel. They were crystalline like my dragon form when I took it.
Yes, crystalline. As in “like crystal.” Mirielle's wings had transparent feathers, dusted with the colors of an opal. When I was in Heaven—my memories suppressed and altered by Archangels—I believed I was an Angel and summoned wings that looked very similar to Miri's. But those wings had been a creation of Light Magic. They weren't real Angel wings. Despite that, they had functioned like the real thing, creating a lavender leha that I exchanged with Severriel's to form a halo—an eternal love bond between Angels.
So, even though I had created wings like that, Mirielle's were the first of their kind. Still, in a way, she had inherited them from me. Either that, or she had inherited some of Anu's Light, and the Light had influenced her wings. The opalescent leha wasn't as shocking as the translucent feathers. Leha was unique to every Angel. But those feathers had only been seen once before in Heaven—on my fake Angel wings.
So why would this bother Sever? Because if Miri's wings were touched by Anu's Light, it would be seen as just one more sign that she was destined to rule Heaven. And Sever didn't want that for her. He wanted her free of Anu. I didn't think that was necessary. We compromised and decided it would be Miri's choice. We would raise her as the heir of Heaven, with Sever teaching her all she may need to know to rule. Sever would have to wing it (pun intended) because Heaven has never had an heir before. The Metatron is simply chosen by God when the time comes. So there was no procedure or curriculum for raising the heir.
But Anu had blessed Mirielle at birth, changing all of that. We would be honest with Miri and tell her everything when she was old enough to understand. But we'd also make it clear toher that she had options. My children—all of them—would be whoever they wanted to be. I would ensure it.
Although Miri was half Angel, she had inherited every other race from me. Yup, if she decided to become Queen of Heaven one day, then she'd be the first Metatron to be part Demon, Fey, and human in addition to Angel. She was our miracle child, embodying all races, just as I do. But where I had gathered my bonds to the races, Miri had been born with them.
Her wings tensed against my arm, so I shifted my hold lower, allowing her to stretch. According to Sever, stretching those growing wings was imperative to their health. This was when an Angel developed all their flying muscles. They had to awaken them now, or their muscles would have to be trained later—a long and painful process.
“Oh, good. You're up.” Killian came into the room with our daughter, Rowan.
“There's my other girl!” I held out an arm to Rowan.
“Hi, Mom!” Rowan ran over and climbed onto the bed on my open side. She hugged me, then stayed within my one-armed embrace to stare down at her sister. “Hi, Miri.”
Rowan held out a hand for Miri to grab, and the baby obligingly took it. Looking at the two of them, it was hard to feel manipulated by Gods. Or, if I did, I appreciated it. I knew then that if I let myself continue down the path I'd chosen, I wouldn't regret it. I would one day be holding Star's baby, staring down into a pair of green eyes with inner rings of gold. Yeah, all right, maybe our children wouldn't get his eyes, but you know what I mean. I could be happy with him.
