AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But he never included Daisy in that family. He never intended to bring her back, a fact she only learned after years of emotional manipulation. Since Julius’s betrayal, Daisy hated him with a passion bordering on psychopathic. He’d manipulated her. He’d kept her real family away. He’d turned her into a monster.
Amari’s cry stuttered as they walked past a glass cabinet housing a mannequin wearing a Deadly Seven suit. Amari’s joy fluctuated, bringing tingles and effervescent flutters to Daisy’s stomach. Backtracking, Daisy used her sense of Amari’s joy to locate the object of her desire. There was something about the glass cabinet that held her fancy. Amari’s crying stopped all together. Daisy focused on the mannequin and held up the baby.
“You like something in here?” she asked.
Amari cooed and reached out to the shiny glass cabinet. There was nothing but a suit on a mannequin inside. Amari smiled at her reflection and touched the glass.
It took Daisy a moment before she realized all sound in the basement had hushed. Wyatt came over with a frown on his face but a softness to his eyes.
“Her mother plays games with her before the mirror,” he murmured, smiled and tapped Amari’s reflection. “Is that you, Sweet-pea?”
Daisy looked at her brother. Wyatt’s blue eyes stood out starkly beneath his black hair. Redness circled them, proving he’d had little sleep. None of them had. Not only were they worried about the fate of their mates, but they’d been battling their internal sin equilibrium while controlling the chaos Julius had unleashed in the city. Like Daisy, unbalanced sin would make her siblings black out and execute anyone with enough sin in their bodies.
Even if that someone was a child.
Daisy may be a murderer, but she’d always drawn the line at children. Now she might not have a choice. None of them might. Nausea rolled in her stomach and suddenly, the weight of all eyes on her was too much. She struggled to breathe under her new emotions. Her palms itched. Inside her body, she was in chaos. Outside, she was a statue.
“Have you thought of anything that can help us?” Wyatt asked her quietly.
Daisy’s lips parted. “I…”
“What about your mate?” Griffin stalked over. He’d not removed his battle gear in two days. He only slept to take the edge off his exhaustion and then headed back into the streets to hunt for his pregnant wife. “Have your powers developed? Can they help us?”
“I…”
Evan and Sloan came over. They fired off similar questions. Soon it felt like the world surrounded Daisy and she was drowning. She had no answers, only more questions. With blood roaring in her ears, she handed the baby back to Wyatt and rushed out of there.
* * *
Sittingon the roof of Lazarus House, dangling her legs over the multi-story high edge, Daisy finally felt at peace. Or, at least, a semblance of it. Being in the basement had messed with her head. Being here, with a family she’d only dreamed of since she was little, also messed with her head. She knew it wasn’t an excuse, and that she had to actively help clean up the mess she’d made, but she had no idea how to start.
How could she clean with dirty hands?
She lifted her face to the sky and closed her eyes. The sun warmed her and the wind brushed her skin. It always struck her as special that, even though the world could be falling apart, the sun still shone, the wind still blew, and the birds still flew.
“Thought I’d find you here.”
Daisy startled at Parker’s deep voice.
His bionic arm glinted in the fall sun as he squeezed next to her and dangled his legs over the edge. His muscular and virile form dwarfed her pale, lithe frame. Even his auburn hair held warmth, yet her silver hair was cold. To their right and left, a glass balustrade surrounded the pool area and terrace. Less than a week ago, Parker had been up here holding a party, announcing his retirement from Lazarus Tech—a company he’d built from the ground up. And a few months ago, Daisy had been here trying to kidnap Wyatt’s pregnant wife. That baby she’d held in the basement—Amari—had almost not been born.
Because of Daisy.
Parker was the sun, and she was the dark side of the moon.
She gulped in fresh air and rubbed her palms on her jeans.
“How did you know I’d be up here?” she asked through a dry mouth.
“Because when we were kids, the lab roof was where we went to feel like we were in control, even if it was of the direction of our dreams.” He looked down at her. “You’re feeling overwhelmed. I get it.”
She wanted to laugh. “You don’t get it.”
For a moment, he was quiet as he watched his bionic hand open and close. He’d fought with his mate, and his own stubborn refusal to accept her help had been his downfall. At least Daisy had nothing to do with that loss. She felt like everything else was her fault.
He murmured, “Maybe I don’t understand completely, but I get some of it. The point is, we’re here for you. We can work this out together.”
She scoffed and shook her head. “Decades on and you’ve not changed a bit. Still trying to boss me around—” She clicked her jaw shut, hesitated, then whispered, “Pigeon.”
