Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Adeline
I feel terrible as I watch Cyrus help strip me off. I am shaken. What if that was our son? What if I attack him?
“You won’t. Latham baited you. I am fine, Addie,” Cyrus tells me, turning the shower on.
This place is very modern, with so many gadgets, and an LCD panel on the wall controls even the shower.
“What is he?” I ask curiously.
“He is a demon. He is harmless for the most part. He won’t hurt you. Mainly wants to feed off of you.”
“Like a vampire?” I ask, and Cyrus shakes his head and doesn’t hide his smile quick enough.
“He feeds off energy. All energy, but lust is the strongest besides hate. He can make you feel things, way stronger than compulsion or any other gifts supernaturals have.”
“You and Eli have slept with him, haven’t you?” I ask him. I can tell by the way he reacts through the bond.
“Yes, we used to fool around with him. Not anymore, though, Addie. We belong to you now,” Cyrus reassures me.
I nod and watch as he strips off his clothes, stepping into the shower with me. The bathroom door opens, and Eli leaves it open. I can see our son in the bassinet.
“You okay?” Eli asks, and I nod, watching as he strips off his clothes. He steps into the huge shower, turning on the other showerheads.
“I didn’t want to mark you like that,” I tell Cyrus, staring at my mark on his neck.
“Doesn’t bother me. I am just glad you have marked me. No matter how you did it.”
I nod before reaching for the shampoo, only for Cyrus to pluck it from my hand. “Turn around,” he says, and I face Eli, who is watching me.
“Any news on Taylor?”
“Yes, Emery went back to get her and Porter. Pete has also been summoned here and is on the plane already. Your mother and Maya are safe and being brought to Soya, too. When we are done here, we need to go register you and bub,” he explains, and I nod.
“Wait, why is Porter coming with my sister?” I ask, and Eli chuckles.
“Porter is her mate,” Eli says, and my stomach drops.
“She is fine, Addie. He helped her shift back, and Emery has agreed to take over my father’s pack. They will be moving to her apartment building over the next couple of weeks.”
“That will be an adjustment,” I tell him, and he nods.
“We also picked a name, but we can change it,” Eli tells me.
“Yeah, I have no idea besides ‘baby,’” I admit.
“What do you think of Eason?” Cyrus asks.
“I like it. It’s different. Where did you get it from?”
“My father’s name was Eason. Eli said since I have his last name, I should use my father’s surname as his name,” Cyrus says.
“So, Eason is your last name?” I can’t believe I’ve never asked before.
Cyrus nods, and I smile.
“So, you’re happy with Eason Michael Colten?” Eli says, and I stare at him.
“You added my father’s name?”
“We can change it?”
I shake my head. “No, I like it. A bit of a mouthful, but he doesn’t have to use his entire name,” I tell them, and Eli nods.
“Well, come on, let’s make it official then,” Eli says, hopping out.
He hands me a towel, and I follow him into the room. Cyrus walks into the closet before coming out with two suits and a black dress and placing them on the bed.
“You went shopping,” I tell him.
“No, Latham grabbed a few things for us while we were on our way here. Got the bassinet and some clothes for Eason, too,” Cyrus says.
“Exactly how close are you to Latham?” I ask, pulling the dress on.
“Oh, we go way back,” comes Latham’s voice behind me as he dips up my dress, making me jump.
“Latham!” Eli says.
“How did you…” I haven’t seen him come in.
“Magic…” he whispers before his eyes go to Eli, who only has black slacks pulled on.
“Stop eye-fucking my mate,” I tell him.
“I have done more than eye-fuck him,” he says with a smirk on his lips.
I squint at him, and he chuckles, walking over to the bassinet and picking up my son.
“Now, come here to Uncle Latham, little Eason. Love the name by the way,” Latham says, and Cyrus rolls his eyes.
“We said, stay clear, Latham. Not watch us shower,” he says.
“Yeah, I was hoping for you to get a hot fuck on there. Was slightly disappointed, though. Addie, you look marvelous, all wet,” he says, and Eli growls at him.
“Come on, little man, let’s go meet the council,” Latham says.
I reach out for my son, wanting to take him, but Latham turns and walks off with him.
“He won’t hurt him. He loves kids like that. Their souls aren’t tainted yet. He won’t hurt him, Addie,” Eli says.
I nod, slipping the heels Cyrus has brought out with the dress. It’s the girliest I’ve felt in ages, though I now miss my round belly.
Latham is waiting next to the elevator. When we approach, he presses the button, letting the doors open, and we step inside.
He then opens a panel above the button with a key before punching in a code.
I watch the buttons light up as we travel down, but then the buttons stop lighting up, yet the elevator continues to go down before stopping.
The doors open, and I am surprised to see it is some underground office facility.
“Above-ground is apartments. This down here is the supernatural council,” Cyrus explains, and I nod, following him over to a desk. There is a small foyer with chairs and two long corridors.
Cyrus and Eli both scan their hands on a digital panel before Latham shows us down one of the corridors; the corridors are long with red carpet and dark walls.
The doors are off to one side, and I peek in through one to find that they look like courtrooms. We walk to the end of the corridor before turning down another.
Reaching the end of it, we come to a huge room full of computers that reminds me of the tech floor back at work, with heaps of people walking around with different devices.
I see a few labs on the side, and huge TV screens hang from the roof, with different camera angles of the city.
“This way,” Latham says, nodding toward a door.
He pushes it open with his hip, and I find another foyer area. A woman is sitting at the desk and waves to Latham as he walks us past her to an office.
“Sit. This will be quick, and then we will go to the courts. Pete should be here any minute,” Latham says, sitting behind his desk.
My son lies comfortably in his arms when he grabs a tablet with his free hand, and the door suddenly opens. A woman in a lab coat walks in, carrying a small tray in her hand.
“Smile,” Latham says, and I am about to ask him what for when I see a flash. He smirks, and I see the camera behind his head, my picture popping up on the tablet. I glare at him and the terrible photo he took with my mouth half-open.
“Fill in her details and your son’s,” Latham says, handing the tablet to Eli. He sits in the chair beside me, typing in my name and our son’s details.
“Here, Cyrus, you can take Eason back. I hate this part,” Latham says, passing my son to Cyrus.
“What part?” I ask, panicking. I stand up, wondering what they are going to do.
Eli tugs me down on his lap before handing the tablet back to Latham.
“They need his blood for the database, just a prick,” Eli says, his arms tightening around my waist, and our son suddenly screams.
I growl, but Eli holds me tighter. I watch as the woman squeezes his heel before taking a sample. Cyrus’s jaw is clenched, while I glare at her for making him cry. She is quick, and Cyrus quickly soothes him before she turns to face me.
“I will get hers. Go, Darcy, before she bites,” Latham says, and I turn my glare on him as he gets up, walking around his desk. He takes a needle from her and a vial before grabbing my arm as she walks out.
“Why do you need my blood?” I ask him as he jabs the needle in my arm, making me flinch.
“Just DNA filing. Also, to keep track of species,” he says, pulling the needle from my arm before he suddenly licks where he’s jabbed me.
I jerk my arm away from him, and he smiles.
“She tastes as good as she smells.”
“Was that necessary?” Eli snaps at him.
“What? I was curious.”
“Curious how I tasted?” I shake my head.
“No, he can see glimpses of your past by drinking your blood.”
“What else can demons do?”
“Question is, what can’t we do?” Latham says before picking up the tablet again. He scans the barcode on the vial before popping it in the fridge behind him.
“Adeline Colten has a ring to it,” Latham says, and I look at Eli.
“You will be changing it from Paisley. Figured I might as well change it since we are here.”
“What if I wanted to keep my name?” I tease him.
“Are you saying you won’t be marrying us, Addie? Because you don’t have a choice. You are ours,” Eli says, and I smile.
“Okay, handprint,” Latham says, pushing the tablet toward me.
He taps the screen, and I place my hand on it. The screen lights up as it scans my hand before I have to do the other one. As I pull my hand off, Latham reaches over the desk, plucking a piece of my hair. I slap his hand.
“You are very handsy,” I tell him as he puts my strands in a long tube before putting the lid on it.
“Okay, I will have my nephew back, thank you,” he says, standing up, holding his hands out for him.
I press my lips in a line.
“What? Babies are chick magnets,” he says, sending me a wink.
“Somehow, I don’t think you have any trouble in that department,” I tell him.
“No one is able to resist my charms. Though I am having fun watching you squirm, Addie. I bet I could make you scream,” he says, his eyes flickering.
“Latham!” Cyrus says as Latham reaches out to touch my face.
“Your nephew,” Cyrus says.
“Oh, now you have no problem with me taking him,” Latham says.
“He will make you keep your hands to yourself,” Cyrus says with a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Yes, Uncle Lath will show Eason how to pull the ladies,” Latham tells my son, and I roll my eyes at him but hop up and follow him out of the office.
Eli wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me to him.
Latham stands next to some double doors.
Cyrus pushes them open for him, and I find it is another courtroom.
Two men sit up along the front; the chair in the middle is vacant.
I watch as Latham takes the middle seat, but he never hands my son back as we sit in the front rows.
Other than the two men and Latham, we are the only people present.
I feel like we’ve sat there for ages, but it is only about twenty minutes before the doors open again. Pete’s voice rings loudly through the room behind me.
“What is the meaning of this?” he bellows, storming into the room flanked by two men I can tell are not human.
He marches to the front. “Addie?” Pete says, confused, stopping.
He shakes his head before walking to the front, and I know he has no idea why he is here.