Page 18 of 12 Months of Mayhem

Séamus seemed sad, but almost… happy? “This is indeed a descendant of Baraqiel. If Baraqiel bred with an Amplifier, their child would be nearly unstoppable with his premonitions and ability to harness lightning. Baraqiel was one of the twenty leaders of the angels that fell to earth on Mount Hermon. I hadn’t seen him in ages. I’m sad to hear he was murdered,” Séamus murmured. His midnight blue eyes seemed to go nearly black. “I’m going to find out who did it.”

“But Dalton is just a man with premonitions,” my uncle pointed out with a touch of confusion in his tone.

Dallas sighed as he pulled out one of the diaries that he’d bookmarked with one of the newspaper clippings. “This might explain that. From what I read in our mother’s diary, his father gave the amulet to her and told her that it was passed down in his family and it was important that it be placed on him at birth. He was smart in that he knew he needed to bind Dalton’s powers to protect him.”

“He must have indeed loved the Amplifier. To go to such lengths to protect her and his child. He would’ve needed a witch….” He paused. Then he scowled and shouted, “Haidyn!”

Within moments, a blond man appeared in a similar manner that Séamus had. Fucking hell. I used that distraction to burst out of my uncle’s hold and grab my son. Anson was staring blankly into space and his body was stiff.

He was breathing evenly, so I quietly cradled him in my arms the best I could.

“Find Octavia,” Séamus snapped. Haidyn disappeared in the same swirling smoke he’d arrived in.

“Is that the grocery store lady?” Anson softly asked, startling me.

We all looked at Anson.

“What, baby?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“Daddy yelled for help. I tol’ him it’s me, Anson, but he dint hear me. I see’d the grocery store lady. I don’t wike her, Mommy.”

Chapter Eight

Dalton

“Nowhere To Run” — From Ashes To New

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demanded for probably the hundredth time.

Her red lips curved up in a wicked smile as she leaned down and ran her fingernail from my neck down the center of my chest. Her hair, which she’d colored to look like Ryian’s, fell forward and tickled my skin. “What I wasn’t powerful enough to do all those years ago. Then again, back then, I didn’t understand the intense attraction to you. Now I do.”

“What kind of crazy shit are you talking about?”

She leaned down until her nose was nearly touching mine and whispered, “I’m going to unlock your shackles. You won’t go anywhere unless I tell you.”

“Okay,” I found myself promising. In the back of my mind, I was screaming for her to fuck off, but it was like there was a disconnect between my brain and my body. She freed my limbs one by one, but instead of getting up and running, I simply lay sprawled on the bed.

“Sit up.”

Without hesitation, I did as she said. That’s when I realized I was wearing some kind of loose white pants and no shirt. When the fuck had I changed? And how?

“How long have I been here?” Evidently, I could speak as long as it wasn’t against what she wanted.

She tapped her blood-red lip with a matching fingernail as if she wasn’t sure. “Five days.”

“Five days!” I had the irrational thought of wondering how I hadn’t pissed myself or why I didn’t stink.

“Eat,” she instructed, and I immediately got to my feet and walked over to the table that held a plate heaping with food. My stomach growled at the savory aroma. I sat and began putting food in my mouth. It was as if I was a puppet that she controlled with invisible strings.

As I practically inhaled the food before me, she stood over me and lifted my amulet from off my bare chest. A dark chuckle left her as she stared at it. “Funny that the very thing that was meant to protect you is what makes you weak.”

“What?” I asked around the mouthful of food. It was weird because I didn’t even want to eat anymore, yet my body kept going through the motions.

“You truly have no idea, do you?” She let her nails trail up my chest to my jaw. When I tried to jerk away, she barked, “Look at me!”

Immediately, I turned my head in her hand.

“That’s a good boy,” she crooned. “That amulet you wear—it’s meant to bind your powers to keep you from being detected and, therefore, safe from people like me. You are a prize indeed. I’ve been planning this for years—waiting for my own powers to mature. When you came back when you did, I knew you were a gift from Lilith herself. Not only do you have your father’s powers just simmering inside you, but you also inherited your mother’s Amplifier traits. Do you know how rare that is? You’re like… a unicorn,” she excitedly explained.

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