Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Are you healed?”
Dom blinked up at Evie for an instant, still processing what just happened.
He ignored Evie to fixate on the child who seemed to be on nickname basis with Lucifer.
“Take a breath.” Evie squeezed his hand and whispered, “It’ll be okay. I promise.”
The child pushed through the barrier of her brothers to stride forward with a pluck that reminded him of Evie. As he rose to a stand, she stared up at him with the truest blue eyes he’d ever seen. They were blue beyond normal. The source energy of his kind smoldered in her irises.
Nausea twisted his stomach. He bent at the waist as the pain in his middle tightened. “No, no, no, no.”
He’d avoided this for hundreds of years. What was he supposed to do? The mages would say to kill her. Cora would say to trust in family. The Fates had said something about family.
“Evie…”
“You don’t get to Evie me in a tone like this is my fault when you’re the stubborn one who decided to erase me from your life right when she happened.”
“This is bad.” He covered his face. “She knows Lucifer.”
“Apparently, she’s the chosen communicator between deities. That doesn’t make her evil.” She pointed at the child. “You could have been more specific about your tea parties. I didn’t know you had real gods coming to our house.”
“She’s supposed to…become that…evil.”
“You are on first name basis with some perceived evil beings. You do things some might think evil, but I wouldn’t label you as pure evil all the time.
There was that one time you cast an amnesia spell on my entire family and fucked us over.
I’d argue that’s far worse than a little girl having Lucifer over for tea.
” She shrugged. “She got him to agree to bring teacakes this week. And she got him to fix this mess.”
The girl giggled when Evie squeezed her shoulder. “You thought I made it up.”
“I had doubts.” Evie knelt by her and kissed her forehead. “You’re amazing. Thank you.”
Dom rubbed his forehead, but it didn’t get his mind out of its stall.
Evie tugged the girl a few steps away from him. “Dom, I’d like you to meet Lyra.” Our daughter.
His head rocked with vertigo.
“Don’t you dare faint,” Evie thought. “A badass mage doesn’t faint. It’s going to be okay. Look at her.”
When he looked up, the small girl’s eyebrows drew together, and a pained look crossed her face. “He hurts, Mom. Not his chest, but I think I can fix that if he wants me to.”
“He’s been in pain for a long time.” Evie soothed Lyra’s hair away from her face. “He can fix his own chest wound.”
Lyra cocked her head and locked gazes with him. With a composure well beyond her years, she reached out mentally to him. He sensed her trying to deep read him. He couldn’t hide the curse circling in his head.
She stepped forward to wrap her small arms around his middle. She buried her face in the side of his thigh and squeezed tight. Somehow, she’d shot some sort of soothing energy through him that made him feel relaxed. Not happy or cheery, but more at ease.
Then she stepped back to stare up without an ounce of fear. “I’m pretty sure those words you’re thinking about are about right now. The child borne of great love, forgotten but never gone, will be the destruction of the world you know.”
“Are you going to destroy the world?” The words barely tumbled out. He couldn’t hurt her—even if she could phone Lucifer and order a being that powerful to show up.
“Not the big world, but maybe your world.” A wide smile crested on her face.
“Why are you worried? If I started destroying things in the big world, I’ve got those four dufuses over there to stop me.
” She threw a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her brothers, who seemed still as stone as they stared at her.
“That’s what they do, you know. They kill bad things like that demon lady who was trying to eat your innards the other night, although Mom got that one for you. ”
“You were there too, Lyra?” Roman asked. “How’s that possible? Mom, how were you there?”
Evie waved a dismissive hand and glared him into silence.
Lyra lowered her voice to whisper conspiratorially, “She loves shooting the heads off demons with those new-fangled bullets she figured out.” Louder she said, “If those four fail, then they’re dead.
That’s bad for everyone. That means Auntie Vivi and Auntie Nova will end me.
If they don’t, I have no doubt Mom and Efrem will hunt me down.
” She shot a fast glance at Evie before whispering again, “I’ve already destroyed the world you know by existing.
So, that prophecy has now come to pass. Not so bad, huh? ” She marched back toward Flynn.
“Lyra, you didn’t need to scare him,” Efrem admonished.
She halted. Her eyes narrowed and she turned around to face Dom. “Do you want to see him scared?”
“No. That’s not what I said,” Efrem quickly added. “Lyra, stop! That wasn’t a dare.”
“Sweetheart…” Evie warned. “He’s already on edge.”
“You and I are scared of the same thing.” Lyra locked gazes with Dom and pointed at Evie.
“I’m not scared of her.” He broke a small smile. I adore her when she gets feisty.
“Not of her. You’re scared to lose her. As in her dying. We all are.”
True. With Evie gone, he’d gladly greet Death.
Lyra said softly, “She’s dying. Not in an eventually way. She only has mere weeks before she’s gone from us.”
Evie buried her face in her hands. “You weren’t supposed to know.”
“Whaa…” Roman gasped. “You’re in the decline? That’s why you’re not healing right? That’s why you’re slower?”
The bottom dropped out of Dom’s stomach. The decline was the natural end for a lycan.
“Mom?” Flynn looked horrified. “Tell me it’s not true.”
“What are we supposed to do without you?” Shane whispered. “You’re always six steps ahead, like you had this whole thing arranged with Cora and knew about that demon.”
“Well, I had an idea something like him was messing with all of us. I’ve been working on the right formula to eliminate demons with only a shotgun over the past few years and finally perfected it last month.
I was going to give it to you guys for Christmas.
But that’s so far off. I might give it to you as a death present. ”
“How can you joke about this?” Ky caught Shane’s arm when he stumbled. “Efrem, you’re supposed to tell us this kind of shit.”
Efrem folded his arms across his chest. “Kid, I might’ve raised you from the second you were born, but she’s my fight or die. She has been my life since way before you existed. If she didn’t want to tell you, it’s not my place to do it.”
“You knew.” Roman whispered in an accusatory tone to Efrem. “How could you let her keep going out there?”
Efrem bristled. “Apparently, she’s had Dom acting as a guardian angel without any of us knowing. She’s also got an actual angel attached to her, just like you guys. Although it’s more like the mother of all angels.”
Evie whacked him in the arm. “You weren’t supposed to tell them about that. Hell, you weren’t supposed to know.”
“It’s about fucking time they know who brokered the deal for them to get guardian angels, don’t you think?” He threw up his hands. “I’m sick of all the secrets.”
“Is that true?” Roman asked.
She didn’t confirm nor deny.
“Mary…like the Madonna? Wow, Mom.” Roman took both her hands in his. “What did it cost to get that kind of protection?”
“Only what I was willing to give. Not as if they can take my soul, since we aren’t a part of Christian heaven and hell.
” She squeezed his hand. “It saved you. It saved all of you. I volunteered to help them by doing what I’m good at.
I assassinate vile humans who hurt women and children.
You’re welcome. On my tombstone, I want it to say something like the badass who saved us all. ”
Lyra tugged on Dom’s arm until he looked at her. “We all need her. She knows this. It’s why she’s a mess. Buuutt…” She hit a few extra syllables on the word. “You’re the missing piece.”
“The missing piece to do what?” Louder he yelled, “What the hell will stop her from dying?”
Lyra was done with him. She rammed her shoulder into Efrem’s hip as she stalked past. “Now he’s scared.” She returned to Flynn to take his hand. “Take me home. We’re done here. It stinks, and I want a shower.”
“You scared me too, munchkin,” Roman mumbled.
“I am not a munchkin.” She whirled on Roman and kicked him in the shin.
He doubled over, groaning. “Don’t call me squirt, munchkin, or shrimp.
It’s not my fault I’m five and I’m still small.
I’m the one who saved all of your asses today.
” She cocked her head and scowled at Evie.
“They’re insufferable, just like you said. ”
“Do you even know what that means, darling?” Evie compressed her lips against a smile.
“Means they’re big-headed asswipes.”
“Language, Lyra. That’s so undignified.” Shane bent down to meet her at eye level.
Lyra blinked at him.
Shane pointed at her. “I’m not scared of you.”
“You should be.” She backed into Flynn. “Let’s leave.”
Flynn lifted her into his arms to carry her.
Dom smashed his lips together to avoid laughing at the insanity of a child ordering all of them around.
“Lyra, wait,” Evie called out. She moved to go to her, but out of the blue Ky struck Roman, which pushed him into Evie’s path. She jumped back to avoid getting accidentally hit.
“You knew about the decline and Mom?” Ky accused Roman.
“I just said I didn’t. Get off me. Efrem knew, not me.” The two wrestled.
Flynn reached in and got elbowed, which pushed him into Shane. Shane growled and hit back.
Evie struggled to contain Shane by arm-locking him, but Flynn punched him.
“Damn it, Flynn, not helping,” Evie yelled. “Everyone stop! We have to get out of this awful place. It’s making you go nuts.”
No one listened.
Shane shook her off.
Dom took a step toward her, but something stopped him. He stared down coldly at the small hand around his arm, exerting a surprising strength. Lyra winced as almost everyone did when he used this look.
“She’s the strongest link in our family,” Lyra whispered. “She’s the reason all of us can sleep at night and believe we’ll be okay in the morning. You can’t weaken her.”
“She’s weaker now than she’s ever been.”
“Because of what you did. Because of what you won’t give her.”
Internally, he grimaced. “I need to fix that.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Probably not.”
The child let go of him and gave him a judgmental glower far beyond her years. “She’s mad at you.”
Lyra ran back to Flynn, who dodged the fight to lift her up.
Someone accidentally elbowed Evie in the face. Dom growled and pulled Evie into him.
“Let go.” Evie wiggled to get free.
“Stop. We’re going to deal with what’s wrong with you.” He ordered, “Flynn, get them all home.”
Roman lunged forward. “You can’t kidnap her, not if we only have a short time with her.”
“Watch me.” Dom put up a hand and commanded a blast of wind to stop Roman. It hit him so hard he fell to his ass.