Roar of the Lion : Celestra Forever After 7

by Addison Moore

  Logan and I wince as we slowly shake our heads.

  Mia lets out the cry of the injured and even Jaxson lifts a feathery blonde brow her way.

  “Oh, just kill me, why don’t you,” she shrieks. “How did my life evolve into one big nightmare?”

  Melissa spikes to her feet. “Would you shut up already? It’s not all about you, Mia. Real people are dying. And believe me, they’d much rather that a spoiled brat’s wedding go off without a hitch than finding themselves at the receiving end of the Reaper’s sickle.”

  Mia sucks in a quick breath. “Oh please. If this were your big day with Gabe, it would be you running around slaughtering people. This makes no sense. How is this happening now with my wedding just weeks away?”

  Melissa rolls her eyes. “You picked Valentine’s Day as your wedding day. It’s right in the middle of flu season. Something was bound to go wrong. So don’t go pointing fingers as if the world conspired to have a pandemic just to annoy some ditzy bride on Paragon.”

  “All right,” I say as I hold my hands out. “Just stop. Mia, you’ll either have to roll with it or postpone your wedding. It looks as if we all might be under a mandated quarantine soon if this keeps up. And if that’s the case, you won’t have any guests.”

  Mia’s face goes white with rage. “Who do I need to kill to stop this?”

  Logan and I exchange a glance. It turns out, Gage Oliver isn’t exactly susceptible to death anymore.

  Too bad.

  Right about now, I’d like to kill him myself.

  Mom and Tad haul in another cache of canned goods, Drake isn’t far behind with boxes upon boxes of cereal, and Ethan has just about every kind of milk you can think of in his arms.

  “Come on, Logan.” Ethan nods for him to follow him out. “We’ve got tons of frozen food, lots of chips, cookies, and some of that healthy shit Em likes. We need to get it all inside before one of the neighbors sees it and swipes it for themselves.

  “The neighbors aren’t stealing anything,” I say.

  “Not yet,” Drake corrects as he shuffles on by. “But we’ve got to prepare for the worst. Ethan, you got ammo?”

  Ethan lets out an egregious belch. “You bet.”

  “Good.” Drake slaps him on the back. “We’ll have to take turns doing sniper security on the roof. Between you, me, Dad, and Oliver here, we should have the day covered.”

  Logan shakes his head. “I’m not sitting on the roof hoping to mow someone down.”

  Ethan nods. “I get it. You’ll probably ditch us for that castle you’ve got across from the bowling alley.” He shoots me a look. “What did I tell you? There was no reason to choose between those two stooges. You should have kept the other one on the hook, too. Now we’re down two men.” He shoves a finger in my face before stalking off down the hall.

  “You never said that to me,” I call after him.

  “Well, I’m saying it to you now!” he barks back.

  I give an impish grin to Logan.

  “You’re no stooge.” I pull him in as the newscaster belts out a familiar name, and both Logan and I gravitate closer to the screen as he turns up the volume.

  “That’s right, Jane.” A middle-aged man bares a pained smile. “Government officials promised to waive extensive FDA testing so long as the vaccine that was discovered proved effective during its six-week trial. Well, today that promise is being delivered. A research lab on the West Coast has had a one hundred percent success rate in not only preventing the highly contagious Kingdom Virus, but in reversing the effect and stopping it altogether in even the sickest of patients. Of the five hundred trial participants, over one hundred and fifty were listed in critical condition to begin with, and at least twelve of those were about to take their final breath. All five hundred trial participants were given just one dose of this promised vaccine, and as reported this afternoon, all five hundred of them have been cured.”

  Em and Bree belt out a cheer.

  Mia gasps. “Does this mean my wedding is back on?”

  Melissa grunts, “This means school, work, the economy, and life is back on. It’s not all about you, Mia, but I’d much rather dance at your wedding than smell Drake and Ethan’s feet in the family room for another day.” She holds out a hand and Mia slaps her five.

  The newscaster nods into the camera as he responds to something his co-worker just rattled off.

  “That’s right, Jane,” he says as the wind blows his hair into his eyes. “As you can see, I’m here in Seattle, Washington.” He points back toward a brown building and the camera pans out. “I’m here at the home of the biotech lab that is about to save our country. Heck, they’re about to save the world. And it’s all thanks to good old-fashioned American ingenuity, brought to you, of course, by the fine people of Althorpe Corporation.”

  “Ha!” Tad thunders. “Hear that, kids? Good old Althorpe is coming to the rescue. Hey? I bet I can get my old job back.”

  “Logan.” I close my eyes a moment as he pulls me in and Jaxson lands his tiny hand against my cheek. I turn my head and kiss his precious fingers. “Althorpe.” I nod as I look up into Logan Oliver’s amber eyes. “Gage infected the world, and now he’s going to use a bastardized version of Wesley’s serum to fix it? You and I know it’s more than that. It has to be.”

  His eyes search the floor a moment. “He’s going to make a play for the Factions.”

  “But how? They’ve sworn their allegiance to Celestra. Screw this,” I hiss. “I want a bulletin sent out to all Faction leaders right now. Tell them we’ll cover their markers forever. We’ll pull the permanent serum out of the vault. I need them to know they’re safe with us.”

  “We can’t keep that promise. What they need now is the vaccine for this deadly virus or there won’t be any Factions. There won’t be humanity.”

  “Logan, I know that, but we don’t have the damn vaccine. Ezrina isn’t even close.” A thought comes to me as I turn my head back to the screen in a daze. “Oh my God.” My eyes meet up with his once again. “I know what he’s doing. The vaccine might be a cure for this virus, but it’s going to spell out certain death to Celestra. Wes said his serum exposed the markers. What’s Gage up to?”

  Logan closes his eyes a moment. “I’d better go talk to him.”

  Nathan and Barron run by, and a horrible thought enters my mind.

  “The boys,” I whisper. “They’re all he cares about, Logan. I bet if they were at risk—”

  “No.” It comes out rough and unapologetically angry. “We’re not going to harm a hair on their heads.”

  “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean the virus won’t. If Gage sees that his boys are susceptible… Logan, if Gage thinks they’re in harm’s way—”

  “Then he will give them the vaccine he developed. He is their father. They are exempt from the bullshit he’s embroiled in. The boys aren’t the key in getting Gage to wake up. It’s that damn book. It’s you.” He softens as he says that last part.

  “Fine. We’ll get Coop to bring the damn book over to Gage’s place.”

  “Hey?” He lands a kiss just shy of my lips, and my rage ticks up a notch because he missed, or worse yet, he’s teasing me. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “How can you say that? We’re about as far away as okay as you can get. Please, Logan. Don’t ever feel the need to placate me. It’s going to be hell. We’re in hell. In fact, Gage has plunged the world into its depths, and he’s taking our sons with him.” I land a simple kiss over Jaxson’s forehead, and he squeals with delight.

  Logan touches his forehead to mine. “I’m not placating you, Skyla. I can promise you that. How about we give this little bear to one of your sisters and we step out and get some fresh air? I’ll help haul in the toilet paper. Consider it date night.”

  A small laugh trembles through me. “Fine.”

  Mia graciously takes Jaxson from Logan.

  “Ooh.” Mia blows gently in his face. “Aren’t you the cutest? How can I love you so
much?” She bounces him up and down, and he gives a husky laugh. “Skyla, can’t you give this one to me? You have two already. Don’t be greedy.”

  “Now you’re thinking,” Tad harps as he carries in a few more packages of toilet paper. “We’ll throw a party and give the rugrats out as parting gifts. That’s one way to get ’em out the door before they turn eighteen.”

  “Good luck with that,” Melissa snips. “If you haven’t noticed, most people who live here are way past eighteen. You’ll be lucky if they’re gone by the time they’re eighty.”

  “She’s right, Lizbeth,” Tad grouses. “I demand once this virus is over, we toss the entire lot of them out on their ear. For God’s sake, Skyla has her own house—two of them—and we still can’t get rid of her.”

  Logan’s chest bounces with a laugh. “He’s not wrong.”

  “Very funny.” I bump my shoulder to his. “I think this might be a good time to, you know, share the news.”

  Logan closes his eyes a moment too long.

  “You’re right. Let’s do this. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Do you want to do the honors?”

  I nod, still unsure myself.

  “Mom, Tad, everyone”—I call out—“Logan and I have some big news we’d like to share.”

  Nathan and Barron run over, and I pull them both in as they each hug one of my legs.

  “We’re going to have another baby!” I shout with all the enthusiasm I can muster as I give the boys each a scratch on the head.

  “Another dinosaur?” Barron screams with delight.

  “That’s right.” Logan gives him a tap with his foot. “Jaxson’s going to be a big brother just like you guys.”

  Nathan shakes his head. “He gonna still be little.”

  Brielle screams and whoops as if it was the best news ever, and it is.

  “Congrats, guys!” She pats us both on the back. “I knew you’d knock her up sooner than later. How many are you having this time, Skyla?”

  I make a face at my best friend. “I haven’t seen the doctor yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s just the one.”

  “A baby!” Mom claps with her hands up over her head. “Oh, this is wonderful! Oh, Skyla, I just know you’re going to have your little girl at last. Isn’t this amazing, Tad?”

  Tad waddles over, eyes the size of hardboiled eggs, his chest bucking as if he’s holding back vomit.

  “Another one?” he barks my way. “Lizbeth”—he turns to my mother—“each time she pushes out a litter, she adds three years to her stay. Do something, or we’re never getting rid of any of these squatters.”

  Mom waves him off. “Skyla needs to stay. She and Logan are outnumbered. The boys need their Mee-maw and that little princess—or prince, needs me, too. Skyla, Logan, and the kids are welcome to stay for as long as they like.” She leans in my way. “Please never leave me.” She makes a face as they traipse off to the kitchen.

  Logan and I head out into the arms of the powder white Paragon fog, and I take in what feels like my first breath in months.

  “Come here.” He wraps his arms around my waist as we head down the porch just in time to see Ethan running up the stairs two at a time with enough canned chili in his arms to feed all of West Paragon High.

  “There’s nothing left,” he calls out. “You pulled that one off just right.” He heads in as Logan takes me by the hand and leads us to the woods next to the driveway.

  “Don’t worry, Skyla”—Logan lands a kiss to my cheek—“just because there’s no toilet paper to lug back up doesn’t mean we need to let that ruin date night.”

  “How about the rain?” I ask, holding up a hand to the sky as it begins to sprinkle.

  “Nor toilet paper, nor rain, nor anything Tad Landon might have to say ever again can ruin our time together.” He pulls me in close and warms my body to his as we sway slowly under the protective branches of an evergreen.

  “How about Gage Oliver?” I purse my lips. “Surely he can ruin our good time.”

  “I don’t see why not.” The muscles in Logan’s jaw tense at the mention of him. “He ruins everything else.”

  A dull laugh bounces through my chest. “Yes, he does. It’s tragic, though. He’s doing it all for love, for me, the kids. He’s doing it for you, too.”

  He holds his hands up a moment. “Don’t pin this on me.”

  “Oh, I see.” I give his ribs a pinch. “But it’s okay to pin it on me?”

  “You’re the obvious target.”

  My lips purse. “What can we possibly do to get him to realize he’s being used?”

  Logan’s chest expands the length of a football field, and he nods as if acknowledging the thought.

  “Football,” he says. “Outside of family, that’s pretty much the love of his life. Maybe we should do a little scrimmage? I’ll call out the boys,” he teases.

  “We can have it at West. I’ll cheer for you. In fact, I can probably get the whole squad to perform.” How I wish it could be. That we still lived in a world where this was even a remote possibility.

  He glances to the woods a moment. “I could have East come out. I know a few of the guys who were on their team the same year we were in school. I could have drummed up a little cross island rivalry game if it wasn’t for Gage’s rotten plan to kill off humanity.”

  “I guess it’ll have to wait. You might beat East in a scrimmage, but the virus is determined to beat us all.”

  Logan takes a breath. “After the virus.” He nods as his amber eyes search my features. “This is only going to escalate. I need you safe. I need the boys safe.” He caresses my cheek with his thumb. “I love you more than the—”

  “Heavens love the sun and the moon?” I ask as I turn my head and plant a kiss into the palm of his hand.

  “Oh? You’ve heard it before?”

  “A time or two.” I bite down on a smile. “And I can never get enough.” Tears blur my vision, and I blink them away. “You were meant for me, Logan Oliver, and I for you. And together we were meant to save our people. But now, we’re going to have to save the whole damn world from Gage. I’m dying to know how his serum plays into his evil scheme.”

  My phone buzzes in my pocket and so does Logan’s. We quickly examine our screens before exchanging a glance.

  Logan’s lips curl at the tips. “It looks as if we’re about to find out—tonight at eight o’clock.”

  “He’s called a Faction meeting.” I shake my head at the phone. “Unfreakingbelievable.”

  The rustle of leaves coming from the left catches our attention, and we turn to find the image of a girl standing about thirty feet away, the fog masking her with its icy talons. A wild wind blows, exposing a shock of red hair, pasty skin, and eyes that seem to glow in the darkness.

  “Is that”—I squint out in her direction and groan—“Melody Winters, aka the new shell that houses my wicked sister?” I blow out a breath as we examine her, so deathly pale, eyes like white stones, her lips the color of blood.

  Rory doesn’t crack a smile, doesn’t move a muscle. Her head is slightly tipped down, and her eyes bore right through us.

  “It’s time, Skyla.” Her lips move like a marionette’s as her voice swims over to me like a disembodied spirit.

  “Time for what?” I call out, unafraid, undeterred.

  “For everything.” Her voice echoes unnaturally just the way Ezrina’s used to. “For the end. And for the beginning. You can thank me later.” The fog wraps around her like a coat, and soon she’s no more.

  “I don’t want to thank you for anything,” I call out. “Stay out of my business. In fact, stay out of this world!” I shout out to the fog as if the message was intended for it to begin with.

  “The end and the beginning.” Logan pulls me close. “Why am I terrified to find out what she thinks we’ll need to thank her for?”

  “Because you’re a wise man, Logan Oliver. A very wise man.”

  Logan and I hold one another, and I take in the scent of his warm colog
ne, of the skin on his neck, of the feel of his shirt against my cheek. The rain picks up, and I take him by the hand and start for the house, but Logan reels me back.

  “Just another minute.” Logan warms his body to mine and we dance. Logan twirls me through the rain as the water bounces off our bodies, our hair, and our undeterred smiles.

  You are magic, Logan Oliver, I say as I wrap my arms around him tightly.

  Magic. He lands his forehead to mine as we sway in the driving rain. We may have met in the eye of a storm we knew nothing about, but we will persevere. The sky, the waters, the land will part for us, and we will walk through these troubles unscathed—and we’ll bring the whole damn world with us.

  Spoken like the lion you are.

  He gives a somber nod. I will be whatever, whoever you need me to be. For our people. My family.

  Thank you. I close my eyes and try to envision a peaceful world, one in which Logan and I can breathe without the weight of the world on our shoulders, but the visual is just out of my grasp. For now.

  It will come.

  He lands a kiss to my lips. It will.

  The gathering place at Nicholas Haver’s estate is lit up like a paper lantern. Gage sent out invites to the leaders of the Factions and any Nephilim in the area who wanted to join the festivities. Our gatherings have been small as of late, no thanks to Gage’s many schemes to have our people turned over to the government, and now with what might as well be a plague circulating, I’m sure the numbers will dwindle even more.

  Logan and I enter the facility to find Gage already standing at the front of the room chatting with Emma and Barron. I know for a fact not a single Landon deemed this event important enough to attend.

  Chloe pops up between Logan and me.

  “Hey, hey.” She butts her shoulder to mine. “The gang’s all here.”

  No sooner does Chloe spew those words than Emma rolls her eyes at the sight of us.

  “Emma, Barron.” Chloe nods their way as we come upon them. “Well, if it isn’t your nefarious son. Let me guess, Gage. You’ve sprinkled the periphery with gasoline and you plan on hosting the world’s biggest Nephilim bonfire?” She glances to Emma. “Don’t you worry your orange little head about it. I’m sure he’s arranged a clause in his wicked scheme that exempts the one who bore him. I’m sorry, Barron, but I’m not so sure about your fate.”