Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Um, what just happened?” I ask.
“I talked to them inside their minds,” Phoenix says, like that’s a totally normal thing to do. “Well, not like talking talking. More like images. Feelings. They don’t know human speech yet.”
She frowns again, and our children look like they’re listening intensely. I can’t stop looking at them. Even the sight of them makes me ache in a place so deep down, a place so full of love I didn’t even know I was capable of. They’re beautiful, their features an amazing mix of their mother’s and mine. Their strong wings are perfect and full. I’ll never be able to fly with them, but their mother and uncles can.
“What are you saying?” I ask Phoenix.
“We’re trying to establish their names. I’m trying to tell them they get new names, not what your father named them, but they’re being stubborn about it.”
“Lilith,” my daughter says out loud, hand hitting her chest lightly.
My firstborn nods and does the same. “Asmodeus.”
I look at Phoenix and shake my head. No. They will not keep the names my father gave them. She just shrugs.
“They are the first names they were given in this world.”
“Those are not their true names.”
“We may not have a say about that.”
I let out a frustrated breath, then look toward my second-born. “Can we at least name him?” I look toward Phoenix. She nods and smiles gently. “What do you want your son to be called?” she asks.
He seems to know we’re talking about him and looks at me. He’s so young. His eyes are so trusting. I wonder if my eyes were like that when I came out of the forge. My father still had no difficulties crushing me cruelly. Me and all my brothers. It makes my chest squeeze in a vise looking at my son now. I could never do that to them.
“Asher,” I say, looking toward Phoenix. “His name is Asher.”
She grins. “Perfect.” She holds out her arms for all her children. Asher goes first. He was with her in the fight, so maybe it’s natural for him to trust her. He climbs in bed and lays on Phoenix’s left side against her shoulder.
Lilith bites her lip and seems hesitant but eventually takes Asmodeus’s hand and tugs him closer to the bed. He looks downright cross at the idea. After some more gentle nudging from his sister, he goes.
Once at her mother’s side, Lilith has no trouble climbing in bed and snuggling up against her side opposite Asher, wrapping her arm around Phoenix’s waist. Gods, that’s good to see.
Asmodeus takes a stiff perch at the bottom of the bed.
Phoenix grins at all of them, and her eyes are sheened over with tears. I move to her side, making sure to keep to her left, closest to Asher, so I don’t scare them all away like a flock of terrified birds. Asher reaches out and takes my hand, looking up into my eyes. “Father,” he says, and I have to swallow hard.
I look at Phoenix. “Did you push the word into his mind?”
She just lays her head back on the pillow, obviously exhausted but still with that serene smile on her face. “He wanted to know who you were, so I told him.”
I look down on my new, perfect little family and know I would fight any army, take down any predator, and slay any monster that ever threatens them. They are mine, and I will give the world for them. I will protect them with my life, down to my last ember.
Later that day, after a well-needed nap for Phoenix, we all sit around a huge outdoor table that barely seats us all in the center courtyard of the villa. Abaddon pulled out a padded armchair for Phoenix. It’s turned into a gorgeous, sunshiny day as we gather.
Me and my brothers with our families. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. If only the world could see us now. Kharon, the Horseman of Death, is making zooming airplane noises as he spoons food into his baby daughter Luna’s mouth. Ksenia, his wife and a former deadly assassin, smiles as she watches on.
Meanwhile, Abaddon’s daughter, Raven, flies with her little black wings curiously in a circle around Lilith’s head. “Who are you? You’re pretty. You smell new.”
Lilith just blinks at her.
“Raven!” Hannah says. “Don’t be rude.”
Raven flits off to inspect her other new cousins.
“When did she start talking?” Phoenix asks Hannah with excitement.
“Just the other day!” Hannah smiles proudly as she sets yet another platter of food down on the table. She must have started cooking with some of the others right when we got here and didn’t stop until now. They’ve laid out an absolute feast. There’s everything: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, a rack of ribs, steaks, cheesy broccoli and salad, fresh baked bread, and cinnamon rolls. That had to be from Remus and Romulus’s consort, Lauren. She loves to bake.