Page 107 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
They all turned to see Evie standing there in tactical gear, a puffy winter coat, and sunglasses.
"Are you the one keeping something from us?" Shane asked his mom.
"When do I not have ten things I’m not telling you folks?" Evie crossed her arms.
The angel had a grim twist to his mouth.
Evie pointed at him. "If you think I can’t pluck your wings for being an impertinent shit, think again. I’m probably older than you."
"Which is why this is unexpected," Zadkiel said in a voice devoid of emotion.
She crossed her arms. "Why don’t you tell us the ground rules for my boys working for your boss. Why are we here? It’s drafty and smelly in this place. There’s no reason we couldn’t have met at a more civilized location like the coffee shop up the street to talk about the lycan on the second floor in the apartment complex across the street. You aren’t here to pick apart my problems—or are you?"
A bark of laughter came from Zadkiel. "Figures the mother of these boys would be as dangerous as they are." His lips pressed slightly, and his eyebrows drew together. "She’s right. I will appear from time to time to push you in a direction to deal with something dangerous. One of the programmed, owned lycans is across the street. Sounds like Evie can direct you to the right place. Between times I call on you, do what you do best."
"No rules for how we have to conduct our life?" Roman asked.
Zadkiel shook his head. "You’ve been tested and proven your ethics are in line with ours. If that changes, then I expect one of you to take care of the problem. If you don’t, we will."
"Is that a threat?" Ky asked.
"It’s a promise." He strolled toward Evie and paused as he passed her to say out of the corner of his mouth to Evie, "You with child is a problem. There's a prophecy about this."
Evie pointed at herself. "About me?"
"Demons have been lying in wait for centuries for this child. You will need all your people around you to survive this."
"Why would one lowly lycan having a child be a problem?"
"What?" At least four people said at once.
"It's the child's parentage that's the problem," the angel said.
"Do you know who the father is? I can’t remember…anything."
The angel frowned. "Well, that’s an interesting twist. That old bastard is going to regret making you forget him." The angel looked around. "Does anyone remember… He made everyone forget? Unexpected, but it won't save you from demons coming after your baby."
She said, "You know the father? Who—"
Poof. Angel disappeared.
"Mom, what the hell is going on? How is your life in danger?" Roman asked.
Shane covered his face. "How’s this possible? You’re so…"
"What? Old? I’m hot. It happened." Evie patted her belly, then looked over the top of her sunglasses. "I just…can’t remember who the father is. The angel implied whoever he is cast some sort of forget spell. That all of us might've known him. Can anyone remember me being involved with someone in the past year?"
Everyone frowned but shook their heads.
Evie said, "I can’t believe I’d be stupid enough to get involved with anyone that could cast spells."
"We’ll help you figure it out." Roman knelt in front of her. "Family always comes before all else."
"Family." Ky knelt as did Flynn.
Shane smiled as he took Madeline’s hand. "We’ve got witches, vampires, and dragons on our side now. We willfight hard. Fight right. Fight to the end.And fight for family."
* * *
