“You, though, are supposed to be smart, but you don’t see what’s happening around you,” I continued. “You don’t get that Renee was using you and you’re not going to live to see your happy ending.”
“Of course I am. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“She’s not being ridiculous, Edgar,” Renee countered, sliding a sidelong look in her comrade’s direction. “She’s right. You’re not part of the endgame here.”
He balked, fear flickering through his eyes for the first time since he’d walked into the room. “I am the endgame.”
“No, but this is the end for you.” Renee was calm. She took two steps, placed a hand on either side of his face and smiled. “Wasn’t it fun while it lasted?”
Mason didn’t get a chance to answer because the lamia viciously jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck and causing my knees to go weak as she released him and let his body drop to the floor, her expression never shifting. She didn’t so much as give him a second look, instead focusing on me.
“Isn’t that better?” Renee was ridiculously happy, which made me leery. “He never did understand about keeping his mouth shut.”
“What’s your plan?” Oliver asked as I swallowed hard. “Are you going to kill us, allow the wraiths to cross over and return, and then report that you stumbled over our bodies tomorrow morning?”
“You’re good at this.” Renee’s smile never wavered. “That’s exactly my plan. I was hopeful that you wouldn’t be here, Oliver. I was even hopeful that Izzy wouldn’t be here, because her past intrigues me and I was hoping for more time with her. I need to learn more about that breach.”
“I don’t remember a breach,” I snapped, my temper building. “I don’t remember what happened when I was a kid. I’ve already told you that.”
“I don’t believe that’s true. The memories are there. You’ve simply blocked them out.”
“Why do you even care?”
“I think we can be powerful allies.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I readjusted my grip on the dagger. “We’re not going to let you send those wraiths through the opening. You have to know that’s not going to happen.”
“I recognize you’re not the type to back down,” Renee corrected. “But you can’t stop us. You don’t have the strength. Oliver might be stronger than a normal human, but he’s not a superhero. And you, my dear, have a lot of power, but you’ve never used it in battle.
“There are two of you and six of us,” she said. “Who do you think is going to win?”
I hated the question, the sense of dread it caused to roll over me. That didn’t mean I could back down. I opened my mouth to answer, tell her she would have to kill me to see her endgame come to fruition, but didn’t get a chance.
“Well, I guess that depends,” Braden announced as he stepped into the room behind Renee, his eyes molten lavender fire. “Now there are seven of us and six of you. How do you think that’s going to end?”
Renee jerked her head to look over her shoulder, her eyes going wide when the other Grimlocks appeared in the doorway to flank Braden. They were all armed, and none of them looked happy.
“I guess we’re about to find out,” Renee said, resigned.
“I guess so,” Braden agreed, raising his dagger as the nearest wraith moved closer. “Let’s see who is left standing.”
I openly gaped as the Grimlocks fanned out, watching in slack-jawed awe as they began dispatching wraiths with fantastic speed. Perhaps sensing that her small army was about to fall, Renee did the opposite of what I expected and moved toward the gate rather than the exit and freedom.
“What are you doing?” I asked, sliding to my left to cut her off. “You can’t possibly think I’m going to let you cross the threshold.”
“You have no choice.” Renee’s fingers ignited with flame as she shoved them in my direction, my heart stuttering as I jerked back my head to keep her from touching me. “I’m not going to let you stop me.”
“Izzy!” Braden yelled out the warning, but I knew better than to look at him. All Renee needed was a moment of distraction to take me down. I had no intention of letting her.
Instead, I dropped my dagger and raised my hands, the tips of my fingers twitching as I called for the magic I always kept a firm lid on. “Insandi.”
The fire that erupted from my fingertips was purple, much like Braden’s eyes, and I caught Renee’s wrists before she could touch my face. I had good reflexes, my grandfather made sure of it, and the lessons he taught me over the years stuck hard and fast.
“What are you doing?” Renee grimaced as the fire I conjured burned into her skin. “What is that?”
“The end,” I replied without hesitation, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror as my face shifted into the mask of my Bruja people. It was something I didn’t even know I could do until I was a teenager, and it terrified me the first time. I wasn’t terrified now. I felt powerful ... and ready. “Your end.”
“What are you?” Renee’s eyes filled with fury ... and fear. “You’re more than a Bruja.”
“We’re all more than the sum of our parts,” I replied, allowing the magic to whip free and take on a life of its own. “Even you are more than you were born to be. It’s too bad you didn’t try to be good rather than evil.”
“Let me go!” Renee’s panic was palpable as she fruitlessly struggled against my grip. “You can’t do this! I’m not ready to go.”
“You should have thought about that before you attacked.” I gave her another jolt of magic before removing my hands, watching in grim fascination as the purple fire engulfed her body ... and swallowed her screams. She flailed, her mouth open and her hands searching for an escape, but it was too late. Within seconds, the only thing left of Renee was the distinct scent of burning flesh ... and the eerie veil of purple smoke.
“Holy moly!” Redmond appeared in the spot next to me, his eyes filled with wonder. “Did you just burn her with your mind?”
“No. I used my hands.” As if to prove that, I shook my fingers to extinguish the flame. After a moment of staring, I dragged my eyes to the rest of the group and found our team unharmed. Everyone from the rival group — except for Mason, who was dead on the floor — was gone, turned to ash. “The enhanced wraith?”
“It took two of us,” Braden replied, swiping at a smudge on his face with the back of his hand. “We managed to take it out.”
“Good.” I looked around the room. “Um ... what do we do now?”
“For starters, I’d like to know where my daughter is.” Cormack’s voice was demanding. “I thought she was with you.”
“She was,” Oliver volunteered. “We were worried about her being in a fight. I created an exit for her, told her to flee. She should be long gone.”
“Aisling never does what she’s supposed to do,” Aidan complained. “We need to find her.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Aisling announced, appearing in the doorway behind her family. She was drenched from head to toe and looked a little worse for wear as she leaned against the doorframe. She also appeared furious. “I’m right here.”
“You were supposed to run.” Oliver’s tone was accusatory. “You weren’t supposed to circle back. I get that you were trying to help, but that was stupid.”
Aisling snorted. “Forget help. I knew you were fine. I didn’t come back to help you.”
“Why did you come back?” I demanded.
“Because my water broke and I’m in labor. I need you morons to help me.”
“Oh.”
My eyes widened as the Grimlock men erupted into chaos, the furious fight already forgotten as they closed ranks around their sister and daughter.
“Someone needs to carry her,” Redmond bellowed.
“It’s not going to be me,” Braden shot back.
“I don’t want to touch her because she’s got, like, baby juice or something on her pants,” Aidan complained.
“It’s not bab
y juice,” Cillian shot back, casting his father a worried look. “Right? There’s no such thing as baby juice, is there?”
Cormack was grim as he stepped closer to his daughter. “You’re in big trouble for stealing my car.”
Aisling grimaced as she held her stomach. “Can we fight about it later? I think something is about to rip free from my loins.”
“Oh, gross!” The Grimlock brothers groaned in unison.
“We will definitely talk about it later.” Cormack gripped his daughter’s elbow. “You’ll be paying to get that car detailed. You’ve been warned.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Twenty-Nine
The trip to the hospital was panicked hilarity. No one wanted to sit next to Aisling in the back seat because they were afraid to get any goo on them, but when she whined three brothers ended up cramming in with her as a wall of protection.
Once at the hospital, Cormack started flashing money to make sure she got a private birthing suite and was made as comfortable as possible. Griffin raced to the hospital as soon as Cillian called. He was so discombobulated when he arrived that he couldn’t remember where he’d left his car.
Cormack promised to find it for him before sending the daddy-to-be into the suite, stopping long enough to comfort his daughter as she cursed all men for her predicament, and then slowly eased into the hallway.
“How long are we supposed to wait?” Aidan asked as he paced the lobby, a cup of untouched coffee in his hand.
“Until the baby decides to come,” Cormack replied. He sat in a chair and stared at the hallway that led to the birthing suite. By all outward appearances, he was calm. I could read the anxiety washing over him, though. “First babies can take time. I remember when your mother went into labor with Redmond. I didn’t think I was ready. Thirty-seven hours later, I was definitely ready and he was still being stubborn.”
Redmond snorted. “How long did it take for Aisling to come?”
“Quicker. By then we had some practice.”
Cormack was an expert at shuttering his emotions, but his defenses failed him now. Instinctively, I reached over and gripped his hand. “She’ll be fine.”
He slowly slid his eyes to me, his lips curving. “Is that something you’ve seen?”
I opened my mouth, unsure how to answer. “It’s something I know,” I said finally. “She’ll be fine ... although I’m sure the tale of this birth will haunt you all until your dying days.”
Braden snickered as he lowered himself beside me on the couch. “You’ve got that right. She’s going to milk this birthing thing until she bleeds Dad’s bank account dry.”
“I have no problem with that.” Cormack’s eyes moved back to the hallway. “I wish we knew how things were progressing, that she was okay.”
“I’m sure she’s threatening Griffin with great bodily harm,” Cillian offered. “She’ll be fine. She’s strong. She’s always been strong.”
“She has,” Cormack agreed. “This is something that’s out of her control, though. She can’t simply will herself through this.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” I offered. “If anyone can, she can.”
“Yes, well ... .” He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Let’s talk about something else.” He needed to change the subject. “Let’s talk about what happened tonight. I’ve been in contact with the reaper council. The members will handle the removal of Edgar Mason’s body. It’s not being reported to the police, so make sure you don’t mention it in front of Griffin.”
“He has other things on his mind,” Cillian pointed out. “He won’t ask.”
“Plus, he has the next six weeks off,” Braden added. “He won’t care about anything but Aisling and that baby for the foreseeable future. We caught a break there.”
“We caught multiple breaks tonight.” Cormack’s eyes were thoughtful as they slid to me. “Just how powerful are you?”
Generally I preferred when people were upfront with their questions. This time, I couldn’t help but squirm. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You killed Renee with your bare hands,” he pointed out. “Fire spouted from your fingertips. You were calm when you were doing it, too. I don’t think this was your first time fighting an enemy like the one you faced tonight.”
“I’d never heard the term lamia until tonight,” I corrected. “As for what happened, I don’t know how to explain it. I inherited the ability from my mother. As for the full extent of what I’m capable of, I don’t know. I don’t spend much time testing my abilities.”
“You should. You might be very helpful in the future.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely,” Cormack pressed.
“Don’t give her grief,” Braden ordered, taking me by surprise. “She’s had a long night. You can talk to her about the magic later. The thing that we care about most is that the wraith has been neutralized and no one is trying to cross through the gate. The rest of it can keep.”
Cormack narrowed his eyes as he regarded his son. “I guess you’re right. We will talk about this at a later date, though.” His statement was aimed directly at me.
“I can’t wait.” In truth, they had no idea the scope of what went down during the course of the evening. They weren’t there when Renee mentioned I was the one who fueled the previous breach, something I couldn’t remember. They weren’t there when I found out that Oliver was present when my family was killed. I wasn’t keen to share that information. It was something that would have to be explored later ... like when the Grimlocks were busy doting on the new addition to their family. Then I could track down and extract the truth from Oliver, who’d conveniently stayed behind when everyone else hopped into Cormack’s vehicle to transport Aisling to the hospital.
“You did good work tonight, Izzy,” Cormack supplied, taking me by surprise. “You fought hard; you were honor and duty-bound despite overwhelming obstacles. If you thought you didn’t deserve your position, I think you found out otherwise this evening.”
Even though my nerves remained frazzled, my mind a beehive of thoughts, his words were like a warm blanket as they settled over me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I FELL ASLEEP, exhaustion finally claiming me as my head rested on Braden’s shoulder. He woke me with gentle prodding shortly before dawn.
“What’s wrong?” I was instantly alert.
Braden smirked. “I guess that depends on how you look at things. Technically, nothing is wrong. But the baby is here.”
“Oh.” I rubbed my eyes to chase away the remnants of sleep. “I guess we’re supposed to see her now.”
“Aisling? Yeah.”
“No, Lily.”
Braden stilled, his jaw tightening. “What do you mean?”
“The baby. Lily. She wants to see us.”
“The baby is a girl?”
I nodded as I slowly got to my feet. “Lily Grimlock-Taylor. She’s going to run you all ragged.”
“I have no doubt about that.” Braden gripped my hand as he led me toward the maternity wing. His brothers and father were missing from the lobby, which told me they’d raced to Aisling’s side the minute they heard the news. “You’re sure it’s a girl? The nurse didn’t tell us that. Apparently Aisling wanted it to be a surprise.”
“I’m sure. What’s more important, Aisling was sure before she even gave birth. She knew.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
AISLING’S SUITE bustled with activity. Cormack, Aidan, Cillian and Redmond gathered around the bed as Griffin cradled his infant daughter — complete with pink hat and blanket — and rested next to his exhausted wife.
Aisling was alert, although she looked as if she’d been through a war. Her dark hair was soaked through with sweat and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Still, in the center of it all, the queen seemed to be enjoying her reign.
“It’s a girl,” Redmond offered excitedly when he saw Braden.
/> “It’s a little girl who will be sweet and cute,” Cillian corrected. “Her mother never was. We can train this one from the start.”
Aisling rolled her eyes. “She’s not going to be sweet and cute. She’s going to be a terror.” She tipped her finger into the blanket to stare at the sleeping baby. “She does seem kind of sweet now, though, doesn’t she?”
“Definitely.” Aidan bobbed his head. “I called Jerry, by the way. He’s supposed to be here any minute. He’ll be so ticked he missed the birth — he was planning on being your surprise coach — but he’ll probably forget that fairly quickly once he sees her. How could he remember his outrage now that she’s here?”
“Oh, he’ll remember,” Griffin intoned, wonder etching across his face as he stared at the baby. “Look how pretty she is. She looks like you, baby.”
Aisling snickered. “She’s going to act like me, too. Don’t kid yourself.”
“I think you’re building that up bigger than it needs to be,” Griffin chided. “She’s a baby. She’ll want baby things. How hard can that be?”
“Famous last words,” Cormack teased, clapping his son-in-law on the shoulder. “Now, hand her over. You’ve held her enough.”
“I just got her,” Griffin complained.
Cormack refused to back down. “I want to hold her. I’m the grandpa. That’s my right.”
“Fine.” Griffin made a face before handing over his daughter, taking advantage of the fact that his arms were free to move his hands to Aisling’s shoulders so he could shift her to rest against him. “She has black hair like you guys.”
“What color are her eyes?” Braden asked. He’d been careful to stick to the other side of the room, not getting too close to the baby for reasons I couldn’t quite ascertain.
“They’re lavender,” Aisling answered.
“I think those genes are pretty much unstoppable,” Griffin added. “It’s probably good that I’m a fan of the black and purple combination.”
Only The Lonely (A Death Gate Grim Reapers Thriller Book 1) Page 27
