Page 108 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

Jack had told me I was carrying twins that morning.

“What about them?”

She looks at me and then shakes her head. “It’s been a very long time since a god-father has had more than one mortal heir.”

“Ari mentioned that she and her sister were the second and third of a godline…” I watch her as realisation dawns. “Is Onna still alive?”

“She is.”

“I thought Ari’s immortality was because of Heim.”

“She’s not immortal.” Ester looks back to where Iris toddles toward us, Jack casting a shadow ahead of her. “Your daughters will have to make the same choices they did. But I will help them when the time comes.”

“Like you helped me?”

Ester’s smile to me is not quite kind. “I like them better than you.”

That makes me snort and I turn back to the man others still shy away from as he follows Iris back to us.

The people under my protection know he’s not a man at all, and the fact he has free rein of our world terrifies them.

My presence is the only thing that tempers their fear of him.

If they knew what he was really like….

“If you keep looking at me like that,” He says, bending down to press a kiss to my lips. “You’re going to be pregnant again before those two are out.”

It’s an empty threat, but I wouldn’t put it past him.

“Juun may have made my life infinitely harder by giving you that mask.” The only abstinence we’ve managed was when medically necessary.

But the gods heal wounds quickly, and giving birth to my daughters in Jack’s domain means we were all happy and healthy. I bounced back quicker than either of us expected.

Beside me, Ester chuckles. “You may have as many healthy babies as you like… but that apricot tree is still there… when you’ve decided enough is enough.”

She places Rose in the bassinet and holds her hands out to Iris. “Go. You two have fun. Let me spend some time with my grandbabies.”

I don’t trust Ester with my own life… but with her grandchildren. There’s no one in either of the realms the girls would be safer with.

This had been the plan from the moment we left the tower today, but I always feel a little trepidation leaving them, whether it’s Ari or Ester who watches them.

It feels selfish to leave them so that I can have my bunny as he is supposed to be.

Jack kisses my cheek, whispering. “I’ll see you soon, my love.”

As soon as his hand lifts the mask, he disappears. I hear more than one gasp and shake my head.

But I don’t kiss the egg to follow him directly.

It’s time for something we decided on a long time ago.

That’s why I walk through the doors at the base of the spire, murmuring a hello to Kobim as he builds an enormous structure of plastic tubes.

The lift doors close and I put on my mask as it takes me to Babel. I pause as the familiar darkness envelops me, breathing in the heady smoke and letting my eyes adjust to the neon.

The kittens are exactly where I expect them to be.

“Hello, gorgeous.” Minx slides from her barstool and wraps her arms around my waist. “We always love it when you come to see us.”

---