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Syssi
Ever since Syssi had heard Jacki recount the vision that revealed the atrocities the cartel monsters had committed, she couldn't shake off the rage and frustration that clung to her like radioactive sludge.
The monsters had slaughtered those poor villagers just because they could. There had been no one to defend the defenseless. The atrocious act was probably perpetrated to serve as a warning to others to keep their heads down and comply with every demand the cartel thugs made, even if they asked that virgins and babies be delivered to them to be violated or sacrificed to whatever demon they served.
If the Eternal King learned what level of evil the gods' creations were still capable of despite all the progress that had been made, he would order that the entire planet be destroyed. It wouldn't be because he cared about the pain of innocents, but because he would be disgusted and ashamed of what his people had created. Humans had been enhanced with the help of the gods' superior genetic material, and the king wouldn't want creations like these to exist and mar the gods' reputation.
Syssi reached for her daughter. "Ready to see Nana, sweetie?"
As she lifted Allegra, her daughter's soft breaths whispered against her neck, easing some of the tension, and the baby's sweet scent soothed the turmoil in her head. Slowly, the tight coil of anger and frustration unraveled, and the warmth from her daughter's little body seeped into her own, relaxing Syssi's stiff shoulders and releasing some of the vise-like discomfort that had settled over her heart.
Glancing up at her with eyes that appeared to know more than they should, Allegra grabbed her favorite rag doll, hugged it to her chest with one hand, and waved with the other at Kian. "Go, bye-bye."
It seemed like her vocabulary was growing by the day, but it wasn't surprising that she was learning to speak earlier than other babies her age. Allegra had started communicating clearly with only minor changes in pitch and sound almost from day one.
"Daddy is coming too." Syssi smiled, hoping that Allegra's excitement over seeing her grandmother would distract her from sensing the turmoil raging inside her mother.
"Are you okay?" Kian's forehead furrowed with concern.
Damn, Syssi had been doing her best to hide the storm raging inside her from him, and so far, it had worked. Her mate wasn't the most empathetic fellow, but he knew her well, and the only reason he hadn't seen past her composed façade before was that he had too much on his plate. The last thing he needed was to deal with her emotional meltdown on top of everything else.
Her only option was to fake it and deflect his attention to another subject.
Syssi plastered a bright smile on her face. "I'm excited about tonight's wedding. I have no doubt that Anandur is planning some goofing around. I just can't imagine what he will come up with."
Kian grimaced. "Neither can I, which worries me. Hopefully, he will think of his bride and not embarrass Wonder in front of the entire clan with something too outlandish."
"Maybe you should have a word with him when you guys meet for whiskey and cigars later?"
Kian chuckled. "I'm afraid of bringing it up in case he hasn't thought of it, and he gets the idea from me."
"Good point." Syssi kissed their daughter's cheek.
"Na-ni," Allegra said with a commanding tone and pointed toward the door.
"Are you excited about having breakfast with Nana, sweetie?" Syssi asked.
"Na-na." Allegra nodded.
Syssi was excited, too, but for reasons of her own. Finally, she was going to see the amulet that had enhanced Jacki's prophetic ability and enabled the rescue of the surviving victims.
It scared the hell out of her, but she was going to touch that thing anyway.
Hiding her anxiety and fear from Kian hadn't been easy. If she were still human, he would have smelled her emotions and realized what her calm façade was hiding and what she was planning, but she was immortal now, and the emotional scentsshe emitted were not as strong as they were when she was a human.
Kian didn't want her to touch the amulet, and she wasn't too eager to do so either. She wasn't sure she could stomach what Jacki had seen, but if there was a chance that she could discover the identities of the masterminds behind the atrocities, she was willing to suffer through the horror so she could provide the information to Kian, and then he could mobilize the clan to wipe them off the face of the Earth.
Kian made it to the door first and held it open for her. "I wonder if my mother has told Allegra to call her Annani or if she picked it up from others."
"She repeats what she hears." Syssi managed to keep her tone casual as she entered the wide hallway. "That's why I call your mother Nana or Grandma when Allegra is around."
"Yeah, I do too. But she still says Na-ni more than Na-na."
"It's confusing." Syssi stroked Allegra's soft hair. "The two sound so similar."
The small talk was helping, but her heart was still racing as fear mixed with excitement.
"Mama?" Allegra put her tiny hand on Syssi's chest, her big eyes scanning her face with worry.
