Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Through them, I will finally accomplish my life’s mission. Justice will be served. I smile at the blonde dancing in my lap. She looks back at me with a smile on her bright-ruby-painted lips.
There is one constant in time. Desperation. One man’s desperation is another’s treasure.
“Yes, you will do,” I whisper in her ear as she leans back against my chest.
A Gift
From the moment we enter the clubhouse, I know this day isn’t about to turn for the better. The light fairies are buzzing about, trying to gain entry to the gate.
I look to Aravos and lift a brow. He shrugs his shoulders. I sigh and summon Dagger. These are his people.
Guiding Ray upstairs, I head straight for the clubhouse’s main floor. My brothers are sitting in their throne chairs with their mates beside them. Well, Reilly has Lee Ann in his lap.
I grin and shake my head. A few light fairies pass by me. I pause to watch them, wondering what’s going on. Their eyes are alight and their skin is aglow. That only means one thing.
“What’s happening?” Ray asks as we get to the dais.
“A child has been born,” I reply.
“Really?” she says. Her eyes light up with excitement.
“When a fairy is born, there is a celebration of their birth. The glowing eyes and skin mean she or he has been born of a royal. But why are they all here? The ceremony is usually in the father’s home,” I muse aloud.
“Not when the father is gone,” Dagger says as he appears.
“Who’s the father?” Ray asks.
“Not sure I can answer that for you.”
“So a royal has had a child and doesn’t know or want to reveal the father? You deal with this. Have the djinns solved their issue, or do I still need to intervene?”
“Those genies do as they wish. I say shove them all in a bottle and be done with it,” Dagger mutters and waves me off. “But Prez, the light fairy needs to be addressed. It’s Asuka.”
I groan and roll my eyes. Trouble follows Asuka. She doesn’t intend for things to happen, but they do.
For example, her husband mysteriously died six months after their wedding. We still don’t know what happened. For her to have a child, I can only imagine what’s next. It sure wouldn’t belong to her husband.
“How is this my problem?”
“I will allow her to tell you and your mate what she told me,” Dagger says, his voice filled with amusement.
Asuka steps up with a small glowing bundle in her arms. Moving forward, she takes a knee and bows. I stiffen immediately. The child’s scent is extremely strong.
“Ah, you smell it too?” Dagger says.
“What is this?” My brothers and I growl in unison.
“She is a gift from the gods,” Asuka says.
She stands and moves to hand the baby over to Ray. Ray takes the child and the look of awe, then happiness that comes to her face tells me I’m not going to take this child away from her.
“I was told to tell you, well done. He will right all wrongs now. Time and light will bring freedom and truth. We all come from the one.
“When we separate. We lose our way, but light and time bring correction. The past, present, and future will align, and balance will be set. Accept this gift.”
“Why does your child smell of my father and your dead husband?” I bite out.
“I asked to have one more night. I offered anything to have one more night with my Orin.”
“And now you have a hybrid child you are giving to my mate?” I snarl.
“This child has a purpose. She is the future. All things have meaning. All darkness succumbs to light. My gift has now become hers.”
Asuka places her hand over her chest and bows her head as she backs away. All the other light fairies do the same.
“A light is born, a beacon is hung. All hail Princess Avionne,” they all sing.
“Well, ain’t this some shit,” I mutter under my breath.
“Better you than me. You feel me?” Bradan laughs.
“Shut your ass up. You… feel me?”
My brother holds his hands up as his eyes dance with mirth. I close my eyes and bare my teeth as I listen to Ray’s thoughts. She’s in love.
I have eons of experience being a man. I was ready to raise a son. What am I to do with a little girl? My father, indeed, has a sense of humor.
The Wolves
“She’s very pretty,” Venus murmurs.
“She’s gorgeous,” I coo down at the little bundle in my arms.
Her eyes are big and bright, nothing like a human newborn. She has a head full of hair and her little cheeks are adorable. I place my pinkie in her tiny hand and she wraps her little fingers around it.
“Oh,” I startle when her fingers start to glow and my pinkie becomes warm.