Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“He has to tell you,” Lucifer insists. “He has to.”
“He will. Just stop hitting him,” I beg.
Lucifer nods and steps back as Grim stands before me once again.
“Grim.” My voice cracks on his name.
“What happened to you, little fighter? I’ve seen what you have done. You can’t keep doing that,” he whispers as he reaches me.
“I’ll stop,” I say.
He pushes my hair behind my ear.
I want to compare his touch to Max’s.
But I can’t.
They are both so different.
“What did he say to you?” I ask Grim.
He licks his lips before his silver eyes find mine. “He wants you to be happy. He said that’s all he has ever wanted.” Tears fill my eyes. “And that he is glad you found him. He said he would have died a thousand deaths if it meant he could have you once.”
I can’t stop the tears as they fall.
Grim lifts a hand and attempts to make them disappear from my face, but it’s useless. Hearing Max’s words, I can envision them leaving his lips as he whispered in my ear. That was the man I fell in love with. But as I look into Grim’s eyes, I realize how lucky I am not to have loved one incredible man but two of them. I don’t know what to say to him, and he seems as lost as I am as he wipes away my tears.
Lucifer stands behind us, quiet for once.
Grim’s hands leave my cheeks, dropping low until they touch my stomach. He offers me a sad smile before he leans in and kisses my forehead softly. I’m confused by what is happening, but I don’t bother stopping him. I welcome his touch.
Lucifer coughs, and I know he is pushing Grim to tell me what he thinks I should know. It feels like forever before Grim finally opens his mouth, and when he does, the words that escape rock me to my core.
I want to argue with him, tell him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but as I look past him to Lucifer, I know that his words are true. Even if I wish they weren’t.
“You’re pregnant.”
He cups my face, trying to pull words from me, but I’m too speechless right now to come up with anything to say.
How does he know that I may be pregnant?
How does Lucifer know?
And why am I the last to know?
“Little fighter,” he says, his eyes searching me for something, anything.
“Tell her the rest,” Lucifer commands.
The rest? Is that not a big enough bombshell? I’m not sure I can handle any more life-altering news. I shake my head, then turn to the barrier where the york stands, pretending to be Max.
The thing is, the york isn’t frozen like everyone else. It paces back and forth, watching us. I hate the fact that it can take on Max’s face as if it has a right to his gorgeous form.
I focus back on Grim, waiting for him to continue. I’m not sure what else he could say.
“Grim.” He sucks in a breath as I say his name. “Is the baby Max’s?”
“No, it’s mine,” he chokes out.
The Angel of Death and a witch from Cardia have created a life. I’m sure there’ll be stories told of this, poems possibly written, but the only thing I can think of is that it’s not Max’s. I’m not sure why it matters so much when I never even wanted children in the first place. Maybe it’s because a part of me wants to keep him with me forever, even knowing that’s not possible.
“She’s disappointed,” Lucifer says in observation, and it pulls me from my thoughts.
The thing with Max’s face calls out my name, and I glare at it, mad at how it can possibly stand there and pretend to be something it’s not. It’s not fair, and all it does is make me angry. I face Grim, but before I can say anything, he is gone, and the world is moving again.
It doesn’t take Tatiana long to figure out what happened when she sees I’m no longer in the last place she saw me. She picks up the baby and walks over to me, then lays her hand on my shoulder before she lifts it and wipes away the tears still falling from my eyes. I almost forgot they were there until that thing calls my name again.
When we turn toward it, we see it is now our mother staring back at us, offering us a soft smile and telling us to come and give her a cuddle. I can see how these things can destroy a world, but what do they do when it’s only them left?
I look at my sister’s baby and wonder if I’ll be a good mother. I can’t believe I even have that thought.
“What happened?” Tatiana asks.
I don’t answer her.