Sweet Reckoning (The Sweet Trilogy, #3)(16)

“Like . . . as in, always always?” His eyebrows went up. Marna giggled again.

“Yep,” I said.

“Oh, man. This is crazy.” His face paled and he started babbling. “Holy crap. Demons. What do they do, exactly? Never mind. I probably don’t wanna know. I knew there was something messed up about your dads, but dang.”

I didn’t want to talk about our fathers. Jay would learn soon enough about the demons. He’d have to know everything he was getting himself into. Even mentioning the demons gave me the creeps. Dark thoughts raced through my mind, followed closely by a tumbleweed of emotions.

Jay was in danger.

Marna had less than forty weeks to live.

If the Dukes or whisperers found out about this baby, the child would be killed after birth.

I pressed a hand to my chest. What were we going to do?

“You all right, Anna?” Jay asked.

I nodded and shot him a quick smile. “Yeah.”

“Do you think your sister’s okay?” Jay asked Marna.

Marna’s face darkened. “I’ve never seen her that upset. She’s always been protective of me, but this isn’t something she can save me from. I know she feels like the world is ending, but I need her now more than ever. If I give her a little time and space, maybe she’ll be okay. . . .”

Marna met my eyes, and I could see we both knew. Ginger, the mama bear, would be wrecked by the loss of her twin. I couldn’t imagine the world without Marna, so I couldn’t begin to understand how it felt for Ginger.

“I’ll talk to my dad and ask what he thinks we should do.”

Jay jumped to his feet, a terrified look in his eyes. “You can’t tell him!”

“Her dad is good,” Marna explained.

We spent the next hour explaining everything to Jay. From meeting Kai, to my parents’ story, to the Great Purge when demons killed all the Neph, to Sister Ruth and the prophecy that said I’d rid the earth of demons. By the time I got to the events on the island, Jay looked ill.

“Is there anywhere I can take the baby to be safe?”

Those words made me dive forward and hug him, getting choked up.

“Oh, my gosh. You’re going to be such a good daddy.”

I heard Marna sniffle.

“You’ll take good care of the baby, Jay,” she said. We were a mess.

I wiped my eyes and thought.

“We took Zania to a convent. What about a church? Demons avoid places where two or more people convene in prayer.”

“I’m on it,” Jay said. “I’ll contact every church I can find and see if they have something, like a room to rent or a basement, or anything. I don’t know. I’ll figure out something.”

Marna beamed up at him.

“It’ll be okay,” he said to her. He sounded strong and sure.

He sounded in love.





CHAPTER SIX





LIE DETECTOR



Like every other night in the hotels, I couldn’t sleep well. I spent a lot of time begging for peace and clarity, and now I had the Marna situation on my mind, too. I couldn’t think too hard about losing her. I just couldn’t. I wanted so badly to talk to Kai about it, but for all I knew he was flanked by whisperers at any given time.

I wanted to cry with relief that night when I received a text from my father.

Where are you?

I gave him the name of the hotel and the city: Marietta, Georgia.

I waited, but he didn’t respond. After an hour I was starting to get worried, and considered leaving the hotel in case someone else had gotten ahold of my father’s phone. Just as I was shoving stuff into my bag, I heard a familiar, gritty voice in my head.

Greetings, daughter of Belial.

I’d gotten good at controlling my reactions, even while my innards liquefied with fright.

Azael, I responded telepathically.

He peered down at me, his heavy feline features fixed in an intense glare. My pulse slowed as I watched our spirit ally, but my nerves were still shot as I waited to hear his news.

You will have Nephilim visitors. Be careful what you say.

Neph visitors? Oh, heck no. I shoved the last of my things into the bag and ran to the door as Azael flew away. I lost my cool, letting out a scream when I swung the door open and found two people standing there—a young girl with dark, slicked-back hair, and a blond man with sharp cheekbones and icy eyes. Both had black badges at their sternums.

“Going somewhere?” the girl asked in a high-pitched voice, her accent replacing w sounds with v’s and rolling her r’s. Her identity hit me with a sickening slap.

Caterina. Daughter of Jezebet, the Duke of Lies.

I fought to control my breathing. Caterina may have looked young and harmless, but I knew better. Up close, the evil glint in her eyes made my stomach turn. She had no idea I’d been hiding under the dock on Duke Melchom’s private island. She had no idea I had witnessed the part she’d played in the death of Flynn. She was the one who’d told the Dukes he was lying.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“We aren’t here to hurt you.” The man’s accent was thick and European, sounding something like Russian to my untrained ear.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Marek, son of Shax. From Czech Republic.” Son of the Duke of Theft. I held the shoulder strap of my bag a little tighter as he continued. “And this is Caterina, daughter of Jezebet, from Romania.”