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Dylan pushed his chair out and stood, coming around behind Sunday and dropping a kiss on Eden’s head. As he walked into the kitchen, I heard him cough once, twice, a third time.
A heavy thud had everyone out of their chairs.
“Here, take the baby, would you, Trouble?” Sunday asked, passing off Eden to my youngest sister so she could race into the kitchen on my parent’s heels.
“Oh my God, Dylan!” Mama cried. “Ronin, Doc, quick. I think he’s dead!”
Panic gripped me tight, clawing its way through my chest as Tessa started to cough.
Noah picked up our daughter while Phe smacked Tessa on the back, trying to help her catch her breath.
“What the fuck is going on?” Alek asked, eyes wild as Thorne doubled over, shoving the baby at him.
The Viking took Eden and held her to his chest as she stared at him, her eyes calm and searching. Before I could make sure Thorne was okay, a crash sounded from the kitchen, breaking glass and wet gurgling noises sending me running toward my parents.
I found them on the floor, Mama and Dad already gone, staring unseeingly at the ceiling as pink foam dribbled from their mouths. Doc was on his hands and knees beside Dylan, gasping as he fell forward and rolled on his back. He was clawing at his throat, his eyes bulging as he suffocated. He died right there, looking at me.
“No. Jesus, fuck, no.”
I scrambled out of the kitchen, a warning on my lips as I lurched into the dining room. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie. Dead bodies littered the floor, their faces purple and mottled, eyes discolored, blood leaking out of every visible orifice.
There was no way something this horrific could happen so fast. Nothing was making any sense.
And then Eden cooed, and my head snapped to the side where Sunday stood, booping our daughter on the nose and bouncing her on her hip.
When did she get out here?
“That’s my good girl. Good job, Edie.”
“Sunshine? What the fuck?”
“Oh, you’re so pretty but not terribly bright, are you, Kingston?”
My fucking chest felt like it was caving in. “Did you... do this?” I couldn’t bring myself to look at the bodies. Not again.
“Wedid, lover. Now hold your daughter, and you can join the rest of them.” As she shoved the baby at me, Sunday’s body changed, morphing from the woman I loved to someone I didn’t recognize.
Her hair was as red as the blood dripping from my Mama’s mouth, her eyes a pale, devilish green and so malicious I instinctively stepped back.
She pouted. “And here I was thinking we were getting along so well. You’ve done beautifully thus far, Kingston. Playing the role of a fool perfectly. Now be a good boy, and finish the job. Nothing left for you here anyway. So go on. Die and join your family. You know you want to.”
The stranger handed me my daughter, and I pulled her in, clutching her to my chest.
Within seconds it felt as if someone had shoved their hand inside and started playing doctor with my guts. My lungs seized, my heart struggled to beat, my stomach knotted and cramped. I doubled over, dropping to my knees as I gasped for air. My chest was heavy, thick with fluid I couldn’t cough out. I was drowning.
I looked down at the baby in my arms, unable to reconcile that she was part of this. That she was somehow responsible for the death of everyone else I loved.
As my eyes met hers, she evaporated, turning into a pale green mist the same color as the other woman’s irises.
The stranger knelt beside me, her hand on my cheek. “You mortals are all the same. Give you a child, and you turn into utterly malleable toys. So fun, but so predictable.” Then she sighed and stepped back. “She was never real, Kingston. Only a means to an end. Just like you. A pawn to move across the board and sacrifice to get what we wanted.”
“Wh–why?” I croaked, though it was more of a desperate wheeze as my vision went hazy.
She smirked. “Because that’s how the game is played, lover boy. We always win.” Her smile stretched, and her eyes filled with glee. “Check.”
ChapterForty-One
ALEK
