Page 71 of The River of Hatred

“Can someone please fill me in?” Kevin asks with a shout.

“You were the one doing the filling,” Mike mutters and I give him a thumbs up at the joke.

“Keep up, pet,” my cousin purrs at her lover. “We’re pregnant.”

Everyone cheers, except for Nephithar and Ithuriel, but the latter does have a gentle smile on his lips. It makes me want to kiss him.

“That’s impossible!” Kevin’s voice breaks and his face turns as pale as the cheese he was eating.

Lana rolls her eyes and places a hand on his shoulder. She begins speaking in a patronizing tone: “When a male and a female love each other very much…”

Kevin shakes her hand off. “I know how babies are made, asshole, I meant that we literally just decided to have them! I thought I’d have more time to get ready.”

“Well,” Naamah drawls nonchalantly. She’s clearly not upset by Kevin’s less-than-stellar reaction. “I have hundreds of siblings, sweetie. You really should have considered that fertility runs in my genes.”

“What am I going to do?” Kevin asks, sounding like a lost little boy. “I think I need to lie down.”

“No time,” Aim interjects decisively. “We’re already one down for the mission. Have your panic attack later.”

“Two,” Nephithar speaks for the first time since Aim arrived. “Syriniana should stay with the succubus.”

“He’s right,” his consort sighs. “If anyone followed you back last night, I won’t let her be caught here alone.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Nephithar says through gritted teeth, then eyes his son, obviously willing him to stay home too and possibly take away the need for him to join now that the possibility of someone following here is on his mind.

“Oh, we’re going, Dad,” Mike says confidently. “These people were gonna exterminate my kind like rats.”

The old demon sighs, rubbing a hand across his rugged features. “Very well,” he concedes.

“Mike,” Lana calls out to her friend curiously. “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“Ah, none,” the young mortal replies.

I see Nephithar’s hand twitch before he puts it on Syrin’s shoulder and gently squeezes.

“We’re not quite as fertile as our friend here.” The angel gently smiles at my cousin. “But we had numerous miscarriages through the millennia.” She smiles wryly but with an obvious edge of pain. “I guess it was our fate to wait for modern medicine’s assistance.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Lana murmurs.

“It’s okay, Lan,” Mike says breezily. “I’m here now and kept them more than busy over the years.”

“That’s the truth,” Nephithar grumbles, the atmosphere relaxing again as everyone else chuckles.

I poke Naamah. “Congrats, Cuz. You know,” I drawl, “Sariel is a strong name. Pretty androgynous too. It can go for boys and girls. Much like its owner.” I smirk at my grinning cousin. By the look on Kevy’s face, Sariel’s gonna be a no-go. Oh, well.

“Congratulations,Lupula,” Aim says with a lopsided smile, calling her a little she-wolf in Latin. “But we need to get this show on the road if we have any hopes of catching Andras red-handed.”

Naamah purses her lips, grabs Kevin’s face, and brings it in for a peck. “Hurry back to me, pet,” she says in a sultry voice. “We need to discuss baby room décor.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Kevin replies, still in a daze. When snickers sound around the table, he realizes what he said out loud and turns tomato red.

“Do you have a vehicle?” Aim asks Nephithar, changing the subject, which I’m sure Kevy is grateful for.

“Does my dad have a vehicle, he asks.” Mike stands up and stretches, the T-shirt he’s wearing lifting up with the movement and exposing a swath of smooth skin over a lightly toned tummy. I stifle the urge to lick my lips – that old demon would probably rip my balls off if he caught me eyeballing his cute little twink of a son.

“He has several muscle carsandchoppers if you prefer bikes,” Mike continues, already walking toward the door. “I’m gonna get dressed into something that covers a bit more skin than my pajamas.”

Aim nods to himself as he takes us all in. “So that makes… seven of us.”

---