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He had no idea why she was denying what she was. Maybe it was a self-protection she felt she couldn’t afford to ditch? But she didn’t need to worry about defending herself. She had worked a second miracle today, and V was right. The Brotherhood were going to adopt her like one of their own blood from now on.
You did something for Wrath? You did it for all of the brothers.
And Lassiter was relieved. If anything were to happen to him? They might have been grateful for her saving Nate.
But for the gift she gave Wrath… they were going to protect her to their deaths.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Does my dog glow in the dark now?”
As night arrived, Wrath put the question out there as he stroked the pad of one of George’s paws. The golden was lying on his chest, the pair of them stretched out on the bed beside Beth and L.W.
“No,” Beth said with a laugh. “He doesn’t.”
“I wouldn’t care if he did.” Wrath fanned his fingers through the long locks below George’s throat. Then he passed his palm over what had been shaved for the ultrasound. “Maybe L.W. would appreciate the night-light.”
He was pretty sure his son was asleep because otherwise, there would have been the soft clacking of blocks being stacked over and over again. The kid had a weird thing for making towers with those old school wooden cubes, the letters and numbers whittled out so that Wrath could feel the patterns whenever he picked them up.
There had been some of them on the bed earlier. Maybe they’d ended up on the floor.
“L.W.’s finally sleeping,” Beth murmured.
“I was just thinking that.”
“You’re always right about him. The two of you have a connection.”
Wrath turned his head to his shellan. He could hear the smile in her voice. It was in the easy way the syllables came out, the softness in the vowels, the slow cadence. It was also in her scent, unmarred by anything fearful, sad, or anxious. It was in her words, affirming and kind.
“You know what, leelan,” he said.
“What.”
“This is what I hope the Fade is like.” He moved his hand up to George’s head and rubbed a silken ear back and forth between his forefinger and thumb. “An eternity of the four of us, right where we are now.”
“Wrath…”
“Hmm?”
“What was that. Down in the clinic. What happened?”
He paused with the ear. “I don’t know. But what I’m clear on is that now, George has nothing in his spleen. Doc Jane couldn’t find anything.”
“Who is that female? I mean—” There was a rustle, as if Beth were rolling over onto her side; sure enough, her voice’s signal sounded closer. “And is it true Lash is back?”
Wrath tried to hide his frown. “Ah, yeah, I think he is.”
“So is the war starting up again?”
Please don’t do this, he thought. Not here, not now.
Except how else was she going to get any information, given that she didn’t attend Brotherhood meetings? And besides, they’d had all afternoon to lie next to each other, holding hands, stewing in gratitude, the release of stress so great he felt like he was buoyant inside his own skin. But like he’d just told her, he could have used an eternity of these hours, and maybe that was something he needed to think about. When was the last time they had done this? Dawdled. Loafed. Had a lie-in. The grind for him down at the Audience House, as important as meeting with the civilians was, had become a suck zone of pressure and distraction—to the point where even if he had been lying next to his mate, his mind was always partially somewhere else.
“Yes,” he heard himself say. “I think the war is restarting.”
“Then we’re lucky to have Rahvyn.”
He thought of those angels showing up on the front lawn, looking for Lassiter. It did seem as though fate was beginning to swirl around, the cycling pulling things in, gathering them together: The demon, Lash, the Book, Lassiter… Rahvyn. Another era getting off the ground like a 747 barreling down a runway, gathering speed and rattling its bolts until, at long last, loft occurred and the journey began.
But who the fuck knew how it was all going to go.
“I want to head down to Manhattan with you, leelan. Soon.”
The purr that came out of his mate was exactly what he was after. That bolt hole in the Big Apple was their private sanctuary—although he couldn’t remember the last time they’d been there: Real life had intruded on their life and taken a helluva lot of liberties.
It shouldn’t take a tragedy to remind him of how much he needed his family. Both those up on two legs, and those who were on four.
“I would love that, hellren mine.”
Wrath smiled to himself. “Let’s make it happen. And I don’t want you to worry about the war or me. I’ve made it how long? I’m good for another nine hundred years—if you can put up with my—”
