Page 123 of Lunar Desires
Rhianna sobbed harder.
“I’ll melt the flesh off your bones!” a woman bellowed, magic in her hands.
I charged, cracking my forehead to hers. She went down and my skull throbbed, blood running down my face from the impact.
That left one more, who pulled a gun on me. I dodged as he fired, the bullet hitting the ceiling. I twirled, bringing my leg up in a roundhouse kick to his chest.
He went sprawling, the gun flying from his hand. His head hit the floorboards, knocking him out cold.
“Stop it…” Rhianna whimpered. “Just stop it.”
I stood over her, my fury searing my reason bit by bit. “What did you do?”
The sniveling monster shook her head.
“Fucking answer me!” I screamed, tears boiling in my eyes. They broke free, sorrow strangling me.
My child.
My child.
My child.
She lifted her gaze to me, her own tears rivers through the dust on her face. “I thought I could handle it, giving up a child to make him happy. But…but it hurts. It hurts so much.”
Fixed to the spot, a shard of grief and rage, I bit out, “Tell me what you did.”
She sniffed, wiping her face on her nightgown. “I fell pregnant with your kid. That part was always true. The condom broke. Wasn’t sure I wanted to keep it because of who you are.” Her sneer removed the sadness from her face. “Unworthy of my blood.” The sadness snapped back. “But Daddy said this could be so much better. That I could help him fix his heart.” Her lips quivered. “He was so sad all the time, Drake. He missed Preston so much, I thought he’d die of a broken heart.”
My tunnel vision slapped any thoughts of The Star aside. In this moment, I wanted answers about our child, not the missing brother.
“There’s a shadow spell for giving you your heart’s desire,” she continued. “First you must sacrifice something else in order to get what you want. Exchange one sorrow for another.” Sheclosed her eyes. “The spell comes in three stages—sacrifice, incubate, then the birth. I…” She sighed, holding her flat stomach. “Daddy cast the spell, ending the life of our child. He was five weeks old.” Another sigh, her eyes closing with pain. “I know that’s too early to tell, but the spell…” She rubbed at her throat as she swallowed. “But the spell picked up on it.”
He…
My son…
Every muscle tightened to such an extreme they threatened to burst from my body.
Hurried footsteps sounded behind me.
“After the sacrifice,” she added, “magic grew inside me rather than a child. I was the vessel for it, my stomach only swelling at the right time for…” Her throat bobbed, her eyes on the space behind me. “For Preston.”
“Drake?” Agent Jake’s voice came from the hallway.
For five weeks, she’d been pregnant. For five weeks, she’d carried my son.
“You…” My voice cracked. “You killed him. You killed our son.” I swayed, my sadness a hundred tentacles dragging me down into murky depths, blocking out the anger.
“You—”
“My daddy comes first,” Rhianna answered. She spoke with a softness so unsuitable to her.
I blinked at her, falling to one knee. “Our son.”
“Drake?” Jake’s voice drifted into the room again. “We need to go.”
A choked sob escaped my throat.
