“Mommy, I missed you,” he cried. “I don’t hurt anymore. See, I run.”
“You’re my big strong man now. How?” I asked as tears stung my eyes before escaping. “How did you save him?”
“I couldn’t save your son,” Gabriel said.
He felt real and whole. His body was warm against mine and his hair smelled of baby shampoo I’d used on him.
“He feels real.” I stood up with Colin’s little legs wrapping around my hips.
“He is.”
“But,” Jimmy said as he placed his hand on my shoulders. “What’s the ‘but’, Gabriel.”
“He can only come to you once a month, on the full moon. The rest of the time he has to stay in Heaven.” Gabriel brushed aside a bit of Colin’s hair. “He’ll be healthy and remember everything when he comes to you. He’ll age, but slowly. One day of life a month.”
“I’ll be able to raise him?”
“Yes, slowly. But yes.”
“He’s a beautiful boy,” Zarmina said, then left.
“That’s not cool, Gabriel. That’s torture, every month she gets twenty-four hours with her child? She’s not—”
“I couldn’t ask for a better gift.” I smiled. “Thank you, Gabriel.”
“But—” Jimmy began.
“The alternative is to never see him again. I don’t age anymore. He does, at one day a month I shouldn’t have to see him die for…I’d rather have one day a month then never have him in my life. And you, Jimmy, you brought me life.” I wrapped my free arm around Jimmy’s waist and pulled him into our family. I finally knew the meaning of being truly whole.
Epilogue
Damarion
IT was strange to think the air was stale when I couldn’t even breathe. Then again, the fact I had conscious thought when I didn’t feel like I had a body was even stranger. I remembered the bullet going through the skin right above the notch in my neck and coming out the back, slicing through my spinal column and causing me to instantly drop to the floor. A human would have died, but I got to live in agony for about ten seconds as the Dark One gazed into my eyes then plunged his knife into my chest.
Strange, a part of my body I could no longer feel, or at least hadn’t felt for about ten seconds when my legs lost the ability to hold my weight, suddenly became like an inferno. From the point of impact it was as if I had been thrown on a pyre and the flames not only licked my body, they became my skin. The swiftness of it all was the only salvation.
Then came the strange sensation of being tussled to and fro. It was as if I had new senses that could not only amplify the world around me, but record it deep into my brain, although I’m not sure I have one anymore. Smell and sound, not touch, taste, or sight. Maybe I was alive and some of my senses took over for others. No, that couldn’t be possible.
I remembered hearing muffled voices that sounded as if they were at the edge of a tunnel. The discussion was heated, then came the floating and somehow I registered plastic all around me, then metal. The strong smell of freshly ground coffee has surrounded me for weeks, months, years. However long I’ve been where I am. I wasn’t like Zuma who’d gotten to float away on the breeze. No, I was trapped with little to no hope of escape.
That brings me to where I am now. Unsure of whether it has been an hour or a decade.
My sense of touch was the first to return. Having not felt pain or pleasure since my incarceration it was a strange sensation to feel a slight wind brush against my cheek.
My eyelids fluttered as I tried to keep them open, only to have the weight of my lashes be too much to lift. My ears that had been so attuned to the world around me now could take in the shift of weight made from one foot to the next by those who were in the room. Two. No, three. The rhythms in their breathing went from an even pace to a nervous pant. As the air surrounded my body I could tell I was naked as the breeze caressed my skin and seemed to calm me.
“My love,” the princess’ soft voice stumbled over the words.
She’d found me. Praise whoever the fuck I’m supposed to praise for that. She’s raised me from the dead. Forcing my eyelids to open I regained the ability to control that part of my body. I didn’t see her though because I had to snap them shut again. I remembered what light was, painfully. Strange I didn’t realize I’d been in the dark until the light returned. Much like I’d forgotten how much I craved being held by the princess until Nemesio had held me. Damn, what a complication. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with that issue again.
A soft hand stroked my right arm. I smiled and turned my head. Opening my eyes, I saw the outline of Nemesio’s face. I turned to the left and saw KK standing with her arms crossed over a very swollen belly. Could the Frozen have children? Who knew with the damn info I got. Where was LaDressa? I swore I heard her voice, or maybe it was all a dream. Then again being between Nemi and KK was a fantasy and a nightmare all rolled into one.
“You killed me.”
“No.” KK’s voice was distant. “I shot and paralyzed you. My Other killed you.”
Licking my dried lips, I swallowed hard and tried to gain a grasp of the situation around me. I had been dead. Now I’m alive and between two women I wanted in my bed: one who was happy to be there while the other…had played a part in killing me. As much as I wished my love was here I am glad that she wasn’t between these two women.
In my peripheral vision I caught a flash of white. It couldn’t be. Could it? LaDressa was here.
“Oh shit.”
The End
Publisher’s Note
Please help this author's career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.
Vocabulary
Bantling—Newborn demon.
Claustranima—A knife with six blades that come together into a point and cause a star-like pattern when stabbed into something. As a Frozen works off his or her debt, the diamond handle has cuts that form to count down the Frozen's time left. The handle becomes solid metal if the weapon's owner chooses to seal with another.
Coven—A group of demons led by a male Yahweh.
Deumos—Female demon.
Frozen—A former suicide victim that is allowed to absolve their sin of taking their life by protecting the world from demons.
Imigast—Protector demon that helps guide male demons to Earth.
Meanialite—A servant of the angels in Heaven.
Normal—A human who has not passed on or been sealed.
Other—The mate of a Frozen.
Screens—Humans commissioned by the Frozen when they first set up a compound to be the aging and human face of the property.
Sealed—The state of being married to a member of the Frozen that will make it so you will feel each other’s pain and pleasure. Also, the act of being married to a member of the Frozen. Your death will result in your Other’s death as well.
Sealing—A ceremony in which a Frozen is linked forever with another. By completing this ceremony both partners shall forever hunt demons.
Tracker—A Deumos trained to pick up on the scents of bantlings and bring them into the coven for training, nurturing, and protection.
Yahweh—The teacher or leader of the coven of demons. To be treated as a god and leader.
About Michel Prince
Michel Prince is an author who graduated with a bachelor degree in History and Political Science. Michel writes new adult and adult paranormal romance as well as contemporary romance.
Her characters often yell “It's my turn, damn it!” She tries to explain to them that alas, she can only type a hundred and twenty words a minute and they will have wait their turn. She knows eventually they find their way out of her head and to her fingertips and she looks forward to sharing them with you.
When Michel can suppress the voices in her head she can be found at a scouting event or cheering for her son in a variety of sports. She would like to thank her family for always being in her corner and especially h
er husband for supporting her every dream and never letting her give up.
Michel has been awarded Elite Status with Rebel Ink Press in 2013, the service award for her local RWA chapter Midwest Fiction Writers in 2013 and 2014, won Sweetest Romance at IREA 2015, and is a PAN member of RWA. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, and dog, Bolt.
You can follow Michel on Facebook, Twitter or at her website.
Visit my website
Find me on
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Goodreads
YouTube
Redemption of Blood Page 22
