Page 64 of Blood Lust
“I’ll make sure she stays focused,” Val interjected in her oldblow off the Banners’ bullshittone. “She’s there to learn the truth about herself and her supernatural powers. I’ll be on staff. All of it is being taken care of now.”
“When are you planning to take her?” I asked, reaching out for a squealing little girl who was acting as if I’d raised her for the last three years. She slammed into my chest, smelling like strawberries and the fresh air of Springtime. God, I could hold her and play with her forever. “I’ve lost three years of her life already, I can’t let her go again.”
Val, who was sitting crossed legged next to me on the floor, rubbed my back. “Aria’s powers will start making themselves known when she is in her early to late teens. I’ll be visiting the school and getting to know their curriculum until then. Don’t worry about losing her just yet, Elle.”
I smiled at Val. “It’s so good to see you again. All of this is such a gift.”
“I’m actually quite shocked at everything that’s taken place while I’ve been up in supernatural heaven, or whatever that place was. I mean,” she arched an eyebrow at me, “look at you. You’ve gone from a weak, naïve human to some chick merged with not only four powerful vampires, but fucking wolves too?” she laughed and looked at Cole. “I would still like to know how you managed that merge without killing someone. Everyone knows what a tight ass you wereifa girl was lucky enough to get you to put a claim on them.”
“Back to what the hell is really going on,” Cole dismissed Val with a smile.
It was fucking crazy, to say the least. When I said I wasn’t surprised at anything anymore, I learned quickly I was a fucking idiot to think that way. My daughter thatdiedwhen she was a few hours old was bouncing around the living room a month later as a three-year-old. My only close vampire friend was sitting at my side alive and well, and my man, Logan, was back and filling the void we had all felt.
We all were stunned, but it almost seemed as if Val never died, and Logan just went away for a month. Aria was acting filled the biggest void of all. She was filled with life and happiness and already attached to me as if I had spent the last three years raising her. It was a goddamn miracle, and one I had to stop questioning everything about. There was a reason they were all back, and we needed to know that reason.
“Elle, do you understand?” Val said gravely.
“Sorry, my mind is spinning. What did you say?”
“Okay, Ellie, this is the part where we really need you to focus, and then you can chase munchkin around for the next ten-plus years. Stay with us,” Logan said, leaning his elbows on his knees.
“What? What do we have to do—or whatever?”
“The demon who used Zac to get you pregnant…” Val’s eyes darted to Zac, Logan, then back to me. “Those aren’t Zac’s babies.”
I instinctively covered my stomach. “What are you saying?”
“They’re demon spawn,” Logan said darkly. “It’s pure evil, and that evil in your womb is—fortunately—trapped in there for the time being, but they will grow like fucking cancer and consume you. They’ll turn you too.”
“What?” I covered my heart. “I have demons growing in my body, and they’re going to turn me into one of them? How the hell can that even happen? It was Zac who impregnated me.”
“Okay, let me try to explain,” Logan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Zac’s body turned into that fucker’s host. That’s it. His body was just a tool.” He looked at Zac. “Sorry man, but that demon really fucked us both over.”
Zac nodded and walked over to me. “I know this has to be sickening to hear, but it makes sense as to why I was disgusted every time I thought about me getting you pregnant. They weren’t my babies, I could somehow sense that, but I could never put it into words. It makes sense to me, we need it to make sense to you.” He ran a hand over my cheek, “Baby, when this is over, if you want to fucking make babies with me, I will definitely give that to you, but what’s growing inside you, no. We have to follow Val and Logan’s words on this.”
I suddenly felt like I was going to barf up the delicious dinner Cole made for all of us. I closed my eyes and tried to reach the feeling of the evil inside me, but couldn’t. I couldn’t reach anything. It was hollow and almost blank.
“That’s another issue,” Val said, looking and me and then Zac. “We have to make sure her womb dissolves with the demons. They’ll be taken and destroyed by fire in the womb they’re in. We can’t let that darkness enter this world, or we’re fucked. They’ll find another host, that’s how dangerous they are.”
I suddenly felt like I had aliens growing in me and I wanted this shit out of my body before I really did puke all over everyone.
“How do we get rid of it? I want it out!”
Val gulped, “You all are going to hate this, but we have Lord Valkrin with us. He’s outside since he was not welcomed into the home. Fairies are bastards, yes, but this is the part where they’re at least polite.”
“A fucking fairy lord is going to remove the spawns of that demon from our girl,andtake away her ability to have our children?” Braden asked.
“That’s the sacrifice you have to make, or you all lose Elle.” Val shot back. “Valkrin is a good man. The fae have a back and forth way of traveling into the place Logan, Aria, and I have been. Lord Valkrin is the one who runs the academy that Aria will attend.”
“Pathetically enough due to what happened with that demon and what’s really coming for all of us, Valkrin is half the reason The Hosts brought us back. He spent a lot of time slipping into that realm we were in.” He shook his head and laughed at Aria who was absorbed with tearing out pages of a book and throwing them all around her, “Munchkin calls him Poppy.”
“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Zac growled.
“Is that a goddamn joke?” Bren actually was the only one to laugh. “Anyone outside of the fairy bullshit realm calling some Lord Fairy their grandpa? What the fuck?”
“Yeah, I was as shocked as much as you all.” Val shook her head, “Logan and I both a bit flabbergasted when she took to a freaking fairy like she did.”
“Well, shit,” Zane rolled his eyes, “looks like our sweet Aria is something pretty unique. The fae hate us, and we hate them—yet she adopted one as a grandpa. Nice.”
