There’s so much blood and the blue light inside her is blinking like crazy. My child is still alive, but if his mother doesn’t get help they will both perish. Thien took off after the demon that attacked only to be ambushed in the sky. Both his team and mine took to the sky after him. Everyone except Qi, who stood by watching like she was waiting for Aria to die.
Don’t die on me Aria…don’t die…
This was the first time I wanted to be an Angel. If I were one, I could heal her. “Hold your hand against her wound.” I order.
“Excuse me?” Qi glares at me.
“You heard me. If Aria and my child should die, there will be no place you can hide.”
Qi hurries over and applies pressure to Aria’s wound. Aria reaches out to me to stop me from leaving her alone with Qi, but I need to get outside to help Thien so he can save her.
Unfurling my wings, I fly out into the night sky. It’s littered with demons. There has to be at least a hundred of them. Our teams are outnumbered, but at the rate Thien is dropping demons from the sky I’d say the odds are slowly starting to tip in our favor. His strength is unmatched and his fury only increases the force he strikes with.
The demon that tried to gut Aria is nowhere to be found and she’s running out of time. Lifting my handing the air, I focus on the energy of the demons in the sky. When I close my hand into a fist, every last demon in the sky dies instantly, and their bodies litter the ground below. Thien looks confused, but his main concern is getting back to Aria.
He quickly returns to Aria’s side and begins to heal her, hoping she’s not too late. The blue light inside her slows its pace and syncopates itself to her heartbeat.
Aria’s healed, but she’s not moving. Something is wrong. Thien lifts her up in his arms and takes her up to their room to mend. Looking around the room I see that Qi has disappeared. She’s on the stairs heading up to our room and I’m right behind her.
As soon as we’re away from prying eyes and ears, I grab her by the neck and slam her up against the wall. “What the fuck did you do?” I ask.
“We needed her blood and you were too busy trying to play father to your son to do what needed to be done.” She replied.
“You could have killed her…you could have killed my son!”
“And I would have been happy about it.”
My fingers clench her throat tighter, cutting off her circulation. She claws frantically at my hand but my grip doesn’t relent. I watch as she wriggles and tries to writhe herself free. Her face turns red, then purple and darkens to a shade of blue. I watch as the spark of life in her eyes grows dim and her blue eyes began to flutter. Right before the last bit of her soul is extinguished, I release her and she falls to the floor gasping for air.
“If you ever go behind my back like that again I won’t grant you mercy, I won’t forgive you, and consort or not I WILL end you.” I warn her.
Qi nods and backs away from me. Worried, I head down the hall to check on Aria. The door to her room is open and Thien is watching her, pacing the floor like he’s willing her to wake up. “How is she?” I ask.
“She’s breathing.” He replies, never taking his eyes away from her. Sparks ignite in palms and die out every few seconds. I’m worried that if she doesn’t wake up soon he might lose it. Her skin has almost gone white and the feathers on her wings have started to wither. It looks like she’s dying.
“What about the-”
“He’s fine. They’re both…fine.”
The future King of Blood Harbor is unstable, and I probably shouldn’t push my luck, but I have to make sure she’s okay. Thien is so busy trying to control his wrath that he pays no attention to me.
I sit down next to Aria on her bed; wave my hand over her abdomen to check on our son. It feels like electricity is prickling my skin.
Our son knows me...
A smile escapes my lips and I close my eyes. I pray to Chi to save them both. “I will save her.” A tiny voice whispers. My eyes fly open and the blue light in her abdomen shines so bright it starts to illuminate the room. Thien’s head whips in our direction and he rushes over to the bed.
“What’s happening?” He asks.
“Its our son.” I smile proudly. “He told me he’s going to save her.”
We watch as she slowly regains her color. Her wings go from the silver color they were to a bright white. “He’s too powerful, he’ll kill her by overloading her if he doesn’t stop now.” Thien warns.
“Its too much power.” I address the blue light inside her. It slowly starts to dim and goes back to its usual shade of blue. Aria’s eyes fly open and she quickly sits up, pressing her hand against her stomach.
“He saved me.” Tears form in her eyes. “He saved me. He said you told him to.”
She glances over at me and wraps her arms around me. “Thank you.” She sobs. “Thank you so much.”
I glance over at Thien and see something I’ve never seen in the guy who has everything…envy. There will be plenty of time for him to envy me once I’m done with the Youngblood’s. For now, I need to keep up appearances. I back away from Aria and nod towards Thien. She stands up and runs into his arms.
“I thought I lost you.” He sighed, closing his eyes as he embraces her.
“I was so close to death I could feel it, and then our son…he pulled me away from the light.” Aria smiles. “He told me something…he told me what he wants his name to be.”
“What?” I ask, rising to my feet.
“Reaper.” She answers. “He has the gift of life.”
“When will he be ready for birth?” I ask.
“He’s ready now, we just have to wait for the Virtues to come get him.” She replies.
Virtues are beings that take on the shape of a spark of light. They’re in charge of maintaining the natural order of the Legion, such as having children and keeping record of lineages. They inspire and nurture all living things. They’re the worker bees of the Legion who take orders from high-ranking angels and convert those orders into what the humans call miracles. In their earthly form, they often take the form of doctors, healers or scientists. They’re duties entail working with the power of love, all things related to life, and physics.
When an Angel becomes pregnant, the fetus lives inside the mother until it is ready to be transformed. The weaker fetus’ can take months, but the stronger ones develop within a matter of days.
“I can’t believe I’m going to be a father.” I smile.
“About that.” Thien chimes in. “We need to talk about the role you will and will not be playing in the child’s life.”
Both Aria and I looked over at him.
What the hell does he mean the role I will and will not be playing in my son’s life…?
“What are you doing?” Aria forces him to look at her.
“Aria, your pregnancy isn’t just about you. It’s about the Royal House of Bliss and your future as the Queen of Blood Harbor. This demon-”
“Noah.” She corrects him.
“Noah won’t be allowed to come and go as he pleases. He’s a demon and therefore he can’t be trusted. Once this mission is complete, you and I will return to Blood Harbor with the child, while Noah will return to Kaalen.”
“No one is taking my son away from me.” I warn through gritted teeth. “I’m his father!”
“Let’s not pretend it’s the child you want and not my consort.” Thien glares at me. “Aria, he will use the child to control you and I cannot allow that.”
“You just want to take my son from me you envious prick.” I shove him backwards.
“Stop.” Aria places herself between us. “Noah, leave us.”
Glaring at Thien, I reluctantly leave the room. If he thinks he’s going to take my son from me he’s got another thing coming. I’d burn the galaxies to the ground before I let anyone take him from me.
I couldn’t have been more proud with the name he chose or the gift that was bestowed upon him. Reaper is going to be a half-breed, just like his stepfather the King, which gives me the perfect plan B should Thien succeed in stealing my heir. While Reaper’s soul will be inherently good thanks to his mother, he can be persuaded towards the darkness. There’s no way Marcum would allow him to remain at Petrem and I could have my son with me, where he belongs.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
