Page 85 of Wrath

Abbie was already sitting, eyeing the food with wide, hungry eyes. She looked as if she were salivating. Z claimed one seat, and I took the other, a tiny tremor reverberating through me.

“You…made this?” I asked in surprise.

The Z I knew didn’t cook.

Z threw her head back in laughter. “You’re joking, right?” When I stared at her blankly, unsure of what was so funny, her giggling subsided, quickly replaced with alarm. “Don’t you remember?”

“Youcooked the meal, Daddy.” Abbie waggled her fork in the air for emphasis. “Mommy just set the table.” Abbie covered her mouth with her hands and began to chuckle. “Do you remember when Mommy set the kitchen on fire trying to cook pasta?—?”

“Hush.” Z playfully swatted her daughter’s shoulder before refocusing back on me. Her smile faded. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Lin? Did something happen outside?”

“What was I doing outside?” The question escaped me instinctively, before I could think of the ramifications of asking it.

Z stood immediately. “That’s it. We’re taking you to a healer.”

“Is Daddy okay?” Abbie volleyed her gaze between the two of us with concern.

I didn’t know this girl—not technically—but something innate within me wanted to comfort her, to smooth out the tiny furrow materializing between her golden brows. This was my…daughter.

No! She wasn’t my daughter. Not really. She was just an illusion Lilith created to trick me. I had to remember that.

“Daddy’s fine,” I told her, feeling that familiar prickling of tears in my eyes. “I just need to talk to your mother for a moment.”

I stood as well and waited for Z to cross around the table before taking her hand in mine.

“We’ll be back in a second,” Z assured a frowning Abbie, leading me out of the room.

We walked down a hallway, up a staircase, and then entered a room on the right.

A king-sized bed dominated the majority of the space, flanked by two nightstands. The nightstand on the right captured my attention. On it lay several newspapers, all of them describing the kings and princes. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was my side of the bed.

Hesitantly, I grabbed the nearest article and held it up to read better.

…Jax and Atta’s marriage starts the beginning of a prosperous alliance between the vampires and the shifters…

…Prince Bash was spotted exiting a brothel earlier this week. What does this mean for the pampered royal?

…Will the shadows declare war on the incubi? Experts certainly believe so…

…Prince Devlin’s disappearance has been tied to the mermaids…

“Aren’t you glad we don’t have to deal with any of this?” Z asked softly from behind me, standing on her tiptoes to read over my shoulder.

I couldn’t answer her.

We were safe here, yes, but what about my brothers? They were stuck at the capital, fulfilling the twisted desires of their fathers.

Yet…

There was no Aaliyah. No Lilith. No angels or demons or extinct supernatural creatures attacking us every chance they got. There was only me, my wife, and my daughter.

Safe.

We were safe.

A single tear cascaded down my cheek.

“Lin?” Z spun me to face her. Alarm pinched her features and widened her eyes. “Are you okay?”

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