Chapter Twenty
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ZOE HAD BEEN RAISED by a highly religious mother and her values had been ingrained into her daughter.
There was something she’d been meaning to ask Pastor Hogan for a while now, but she’d waited for Wynter to give birth first. She approached her sister in her nursery across the hall from her bedroom after breakfast the next morning.
“Come in,” Wyn said when she heard a soft knock at the door.
Zo entered and smiled when she saw the redhead sitting in the rocking chair, feeding her daughter. Tolas’ eyes were shining with unshed tears as he sat on a plush blue chair next to his mate. “How are you feeling?” the matriarch asked. Arak was asleep in his crib in the opposite wing.
“We didn’t get much sleep last night,” Wynter said ruefully. “We kept getting up to check on Nova.”
“Does the anxiety ever go away?” Tol asked.
“Nope,” the seer told him. “Amaros and I are both in a constant state of worry whenever Arakiel isn’t in our sight.”
“Great,” Wyn muttered, stroking her baby’s soft red hair lovingly.
“Still, I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said.
Her daughter had helped heal whatever had been broken inside her when she’d been conceived.
Not even Qi knew how it had worked. It had something to do with the bond between Wyn, her sire and her mate.
All three had been connected for a brief moment.
Her daughter’s conception had been the final link that had repaired Wynter so she could finally access her gifts.
“I was thinking about visiting Pastor Hogan today,” Zoe said hesitantly.
“Isn’t it a bit early?” Tolas asked. “We don’t usually see him for another couple of days.”
“What’s on your mind, Zo?” his mate asked.
“It’s probably going to seem stupid to you guys, but I want to get Arak baptized,” Zoe said. “My mom was really religious. She’d turn over in her grave that my son hasn’t been baptized yet if I’d been able to bury her.”
“We buried my mom and I doubt she’d give a crap about whether her granddaughter was baptized or not,” the water manipulator said with a scowl.
Seeing her sister’s crestfallen expression, she realized how much this meant to her.
“Of course we’ll go with you if you want us to,” she said.
“It can’t hurt to get our kids baptized. ”
“Really?” Zo asked with a relieved grin. “You don’t mind?”
“It will be an honor for our children to go through this ceremony together,” Tolas said.
“I’m in!” Vic called out from the training room. “It’ll be good to visit the Pastor again.”
“Awesome,” Wynter said with a smirk. “You and GG can finally end your feud. I want my best friend to be at the baptism, too.”
“Damn it!” their trainer muttered in annoyance and jogged to the north wing. “Can’t you have two different ceremonies?” she asked when she entered the nursery.
“I want our children to be baptized together,” Zoe said firmly. “You can either come with us and put aside your hatred of GG for a while, or you can stay behind as usual.”
Vic scowled and crossed her arms. Dressed in black Lycra, her muscular physique was formidable. “I don’t know how you can be best friends with that snake,” she said to the redhead.
“GG saved my life, Victoria,” Wynter said hotly. “She took care of me when I’d nearly starved to death and she nursed me back to health. Thanks to her, ten other females escaped from Rahab and his goons with us.”
“Yeah, she’s a real hero,” Vic sneered with a roll of her eyes.
Amaros entered the nursery next, drawn by the drama. While the stone room was large, his commanding presence made it seem smaller than it really was. “Tolas and I will visit our allies and set everything up, love,” he told his mate. “I’m sure Larry will be happy to reshuffle his schedule today.”
Aware that she’d been overruled, Vic stormed out in a huff. Not in the mood to speak to anyone, she slammed out through the back door to jog around the lake to cool down.
“That went well,” Zoe said ruefully.
Wyn remained stubborn and her chin was jutted out. “I want GG and Dalt to be there,” she said. “Vic can be a spoiled child if she wants and stay behind and sulk.”
Cam winced in the training room and his brothers gave him sympathetic looks. He knew better than to try to calm his mate down. He could feel her emotions and knew she was seething with fury. It was best to leave her be for now.
Amaros and Tol teleported to New Jersey first to set everything up with the preacher.
Their next stop was at the skating rink.
Amaros explained their plan and GG smirked.
“I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” she vowed, putting her hand on her heart.
“I won’t start anything with Vic. Not if it’ll ruin my bestie’s big day.
” She was delighted to hear Wyn had given birth and she couldn’t wait to see Nova.
“This is going to be interesting,” Dalt predicted. “We’ll be ready and waiting,” he promised.
The knights returned to their base to find Vic was still gone. “Be ready to leave in two hours,” Amaros said. His family had gathered in the great room. Everyone was excited about the baptism.
“What should we wear?” Grace asked in anticipation.
“Something nice,” Zoe said. “It doesn’t have to be formal wear,” she added with a sly look at Camriel. The big blond warrior flushed when his brothers snickered. “I’ll be wearing a pretty dress and Amaros will wear trousers and a button up shirt rather than jeans and a t-shirt.”
“Can you conjure me up a nice dress, Sin?” Wynter asked. Her stomach was rapidly dwindling and the maternity dresses were too big for her now.
“Let’s take a look at our stash and get some ideas,” Sinai replied.
The females all joined them and the duplicator created something nice for everyone.
She made baptism outfits for the babies as well.
Qi made sure her phone was charged so she could take photos.
Sinai had created picture frames and a printer that could produce photographs, so Zoe and Amaros had images of their son hanging in their room now.
Two hours later, they were all gathered in the great room again. “Is Vic coming?” Zo asked Cam.
Expression miserable, his shoulders were hunched and he shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said. While he loved his mate to distraction, he wasn’t about to let his commander and his mate down and miss out on the baptism.
“Guess again,” Vic said as she strutted into the room. She was wearing black pants and a pretty dark blue shirt rather than a dress. She’d even left her reaping hook behind. “Let’s get this over with,” she said belligerently when they all gasped in shock.
“Queeg’s coming, too,” Grace said, picking up the human on her radar. He’d had a migraine when Amaros had visited him earlier. “I guess he feels better now,” she said.
The prophet hurried through the back door dressed in clothes that were similar to what the other males were wearing. “Sorry I’m late,” he said.
Qiana’s magic flowed into him, but she couldn’t heal his headache. It was a side effect of his fractured skull. “Kochab will bring you straight home if you give him the word,” she said. The oracle nodded his thanks, then they huddled together.
Tolas had already gone ahead to teleport GG and Dalt to the function room where the baptism would take place. He made sure no one else entered while he waited. His family arrived right on time. He grinned when he saw Queegly had come along.
Pastor Hogan beamed at the knights and their mates. “Welcome, all of you,” he said, gesturing at them to come closer. “Zoe, Amaros, Wynter and Tolas, come up here with me,” he instructed them. The foursome moved to the low platform he stood on while giving his sermons.
Vic made sure she sat on the opposite side of the room from her hated nemesis. Cam was large enough to block GG from her view. The ex-wrestlers didn’t even make eye contact while Pastor Hogan baptized Arakiel first.
Little Arak frowned furiously when water dripped into his eyes. He let out a bellow and waved his fists.
“Uh, oh,” Tori said when the floor began to shake. “Bri, you’d better calm the little man down.”
Bria’s power reached out and sank into the infant, calming his anger. Zoe gave her a grateful look as her son’s fury ebbed. She would have kept his rage under control herself, but this was even quicker.
Then it was Nova’s turn. Wyn’s daughter was only two days old, yet it quickly became obvious she was going to be powerful.
Larry poured water on the tiny female’s red hair and it instantly froze.
“Oh, my,” he murmured in shock. Nova began crying and Bri used her magic to defuse the situation again.
Wynter sensed her daughter had reacted to a stranger pouring water on her instead of her parents.
“I guess we know what our offspring’s talents will be,” Grace said in awe. “It looks like we’ll pass our skills on to them.”
“That will be a relief,” Semi said. “At least we’ll know what we’re in for instead of getting a nasty surprise.”
“Like our babies being able to kill us with shadows?” Jac joked.
“Exactly,” his brother agreed wryly.
“You both have wonderful children,” the preacher said to the parents now that the ceremony was over. “I’m honored that you allowed me to baptize them.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Pastor,” Zoe said. “I just wish my mom was here to witness it.”
“She’s watching you from heaven,” Larry said kindly.
“I bet she gets an eyeful when Zo and Amaros are in bed,” Reegan whispered. Grace muffled her snickers with her hands. She sank down in her chair to try to make herself invisible when Amaros frowned in her direction.
Everyone stood up now that the ceremony was over. They moved over to the food and drinks that had been set up on some tables. GG took Dalt’s hand and started walking towards Vic with the intention of apologizing to her.
Seeing her archnemesis coming towards her, Vic scowled. “Get me out of here,” she said to her mate. Camriel sighed, but obeyed her wish.
GG halted when the mated pair vanished. “At least I tried,” she said, trying to hide her hurt feelings and failing miserably. She knew it would take an act of God to get her old rival to forgive her.
“She’ll come around eventually, darlin’,” Dalton said, hugging her to his side. “Let’s go meet your best friend’s new baby.”
The Mad Prophet remained quiet as he watched his allies with an enigmatic expression. He’d seen a glimpse of the future that was in store for Victoria Tudor and Glory Gold. Just like their performances in front of their adoring crowds, it was going to be dramatic.