Throne of Fire Read online

  “Son of perdition.” I bow my head a moment. If I had the power to make one wish come true, it would be that Gage were anything but related to Demetri. That he were simply a Levatio. And as much as a part of me wishes he never hit on Skyla, that she never looked at him twice in that way, I couldn’t deny the boys their existence. I can never say I’m sorry that Skyla and Gage got together. And if that’s the case, I have to wish them well in the future, too.

  I look back at Dudley and those boiling red eyes.

  “Skyla and Gage are going to power through this. They’re going to make things work. Skyla will continue to protect her people, and Gage will do his best to thwart her efforts. It would make no difference if they weren’t together in that respect. They are firmly opposed to one another.” My cheek slides up one side, no smile. “Look, this is Gage Oliver. He loves Skyla. His devotion to her and her people transcends life and death, and any celestial body, including the Fems.”

  “Not so,” he’s quick to counter. “Demetri has the skill to manipulate his son into believing that wrong is right and up is down. Do you believe Skyla is on top? I promise you this. If you allow Skyla to linger in his presence a moment longer than need be, you will be witness to him pinning her people to the ground. Gage Oliver won’t know what hit him, and neither will you nor Skyla. Wickedness will have its way.”

  He turns to leave, and I pull him back by the sleeve of his suit. My adrenaline hits its boiling point as my anger surges to unsafe levels. “I hate the way you and Candace make Gage out to be nothing but a ploy, a scheme set in our path. Why is that all you can see? Why can’t you see the fact he’s the boy I grew up with? The fact he has a heart of gold and would give anybody, yes, even you and Demetri, the shirt off his back. The fact he will love Skyla and treat her the way she should be treated all the days of her life. He has children, Dudley.” My voice breaks as a swell of tears blur my vision. “He has two beautiful boys. Gage Oliver is smart, brilliant, kind, and loving. He doesn’t have a wicked bone in his body. The Fems have fucked themselves royally by choosing the wrong damn leader,” I grit the words through my teeth. “So do not come at me again with this bullshit.”

  I give him a hard shove and look to the sky with all of the venom I can muster pouring out of me. “Do you hear me? I said it’s enough!” I bark at the heavens and wait for her fury, but it doesn’t come. Nothing changes, and that’s the most frightening response of them all. Candace is sharpening her knives, letting her annoyance with me build up inside of her. Perhaps even planning my final curtain call. Maybe that’s the way it should have been to begin with.

  I stalk by Dudley, head in through the kitchen and into the bowling alley with its dimmed lights. Disco balls spray a rainbow around the colossal space, over the walls and ceiling. It’s a psychedelic scene, only to meet with utter elegance everywhere you look. A few tables are set up near the back, a comfortable height to allow you to stand next to them. Each one is laden with a crystal chandelier filled with dozens of candles. And sadly, each flicker of the flames taunts me. It says I know how this night ends. This party is going up in flames. There will be one hell of a barn burning in just a few hours.

  Soft rock pumps from the speakers at a pleasant decibel, which lends me to believe Lizbeth has control over both the beats and the volume. Probably a good thing. I glance to the area where Arcade Haven once stood, and in its place is an arcade triple in size with half the games geared for toddlers. A pit sits in the middle with a bubbling rainbow of balls. Ellis and G dove right in after it was installed, and I admit to diving in right after them. Hell, I might dive in later tonight and disappear for a while. I still can’t believe the plain exterior of the bowling alley my father knew was resurrected with bright red siding, white framing around the windows, and let’s not forget the giant white Xs over the front doors. The shape of the building mimics an honest to God country barn, and to add a touch of class or crass, have it whichever way you want, Giselle and Ellis surprised me by setting out dozens of bales of hay near the entry where kids and grown-ups alike can snap their selfies. Yes, it’s a far cry from the cool aesthetics of the place my father built. I can’t help but wonder if he’s cringing down at me as I speak.

  “Logan Oliver,” a caustic voice pitches my name like a bag of rusty nails, and I look to find Lexy dressed to kill, tight red dress, spiked metallic heels. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Relaxing?” I’m pretty sure if I mentioned my urge to hide in the ball box, she’d volunteer to join me.

  “No, you’re scowling.” She comes in close and slaps my cheeks with both hands. Her face is done up, clown style—that’s my horrible way of saying too much makeup. Honestly, I’m a fan, but not when the endeavor crests sanity’s peak. Her lips are over lined, over defined, and the bright red lipstick smothered in thick greasy gloss makes me want to turn my head away. Her lids are slathered with silver glitter, an ocular hazard if you ask me, and there’s something on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that gives her an unnatural glow. I’m not quite sure what look she’s going for, but she’s definitely giving off a psychotic alien vibe.

  “Smile,” she commands so tartly that my lips turn up as if she were about to snap a picture. “There, that’s better.” Her affect softens as a wicked gleam takes over those glittery eyes. “I had a brilliant thought this afternoon, and I couldn’t think of a better night to share it with you than New Year’s Eve.”

  “Shoot.” I’d much rather listen to just about anything Lexy has to say than have another conversation with Dudley. Or Candace for that matter.

  “Since you and I are sort of a thing”—she ticks her head to the side as if encouraging me to go along with the delusion—“and that mad hatter in the sky thinks you need to pair up with Skyla—why don’t you jump the fence and—”

  “Date you.” My heart sinks at the prospect. I glance over to the bar where Dudley is mingling with Tad and Lizbeth, and just the sight of Skyla’s parents makes my heart ache ten times harder. “Maybe I should.” A horrible feeling coats me on the inside as if I were getting ready to make a deal with another devil. I wonder if this is how Gage felt. “You and I can make a point to Candace, to Dudley, to the—”

  “World,” she cuts me off as she takes up both my hands. Lex comes in close with that oil spill sloshing on her lips, her skin and hair strangely illuminated, and it’s all starting to feel like a bad dream. I think I know the horrible surprise this night entails, and I’d much rather have Emily go batshit the way she did last New Year’s Eve. “You will not regret this, Logan Oliver.” She bounces on her heels. Lex slaps the side of my face with a sticky kiss before trotting off screaming something about telling the girls.

  “Great,” I mutter.

  “You are great,” a cheery voice calls from the side, and I look to see the world’s most beautiful girl, hair glowing like a halo, face of an angel, eyes bright as Christmas snow, Skyla Messenger Oliver twice over. “Who did this to you?” She attempts to rub off that greasy kiss and looks to her hand in horror. “God, it looks like a massacre just took place.” I’d better go wash this off. She starts to leave then pauses abruptly. “And hey—the bowling alley looks fantastic. Who knew my mom and Ellis were a winning combo?” She disappears into a tangle of bodies, and Gage steps into my line of vision looking sharp in a black suit, a submachine gun of his own strapped to his chest.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” He flicks the fake weaponry with his finger. “They were giving this out at the door.”

  “You look good.” I frown again without meaning to. Now that Lex and I are quasi-official, it seems any remnants of jealousy I had with Gage and Skyla has proliferated like yeast through dough. And, right about now, it’s puffing me up with just the right amount of anger and resentment. Gage steps in, and the scent of his cologne closes the distance between us. I’d bet money he were trying to hide the stench of sex on his person. Probably didn’t have time to shower between takes. I scowl openly at him for that
.

  Gage nods over at me with his own partial scowl. “What, no kiss? I was getting used to the feel of your lips on mine, sweetheart.” He’s barreled right past scowling and made his way to pissed. “Dude, I know you’re excited that I’m back, but settle for a handshake.” He holds out his mitt as if to demonstrate, and I can’t help but stare at it with caution. I know exactly where that thing has been. He’s lucky it’s still attached to his wrist after what I’ve allowed it to do to my wife—his wife, I’m quick to correct. But my blood is still boiling regarding the imagery just the same.

  His wife. I let the thought mull over in my mind a moment as I slap him five instead.

  “The place looks good.” Gage bobs his head as he looks in every direction. “It looks like we’re both getting a fresh start on every front. You and this place. Skyla and me. It finally feels as if life is settling down.”

  “And we only needed to die once to get there,” I quip, and we share a quick laugh. “So what’s next? You trashing Celestra yet, or is that even on the board?”

  “It’s on the board, I guess.” His features darken as he glares at someone across the room from us, and I follow his gaze to Demetri. “But you’re not going to let that happen, right?” He holds out his fist, and I pump mine over it.

  “That’s right,” I say. “Skyla and I are going to keep your head below water. Just try to take a breath.”

  “That’s what I want to hear, man. The truth is, that wasn’t outlined to me by Demetri.”

  “No?” My curiosity is piqued. “What’s on the agenda?”

  “He simply asked me to love Skyla.” His affect softens, his eyes needle into mine as if daring me to contest him on it. He nods in Demetri’s direction. “I’ll be back.” Gage takes off, and Dudley appears by my side as if he just materialized there.

  “We have guests at the party.” He glowers at the quickly thickening crowd as if it were the last thing he expected.

  “Since it’s technically my party, I believe I have guests—one of which is you.”

  “Human eyes and human mind, what more could I expect?” he mumbles to himself before waving a hand before me, and the air wafts and warbles, radiating in waves like heat off a sidewalk.

  “What’s this?” I lean in, and it feels as if I’m looking through the lens of a scuba mask at a strange new world.

  “The men to the left at the bar. What, pray tell, does your new and improved gray matter suggest is happening?”

  I growl at his use of the English language as I crane my neck to see the men in question through the warped otherworldly lens he offered. Three men stand shoulder to shoulder panning the crowd as if they were sent to guard it. They look Caucasian, maybe Hispanic, two bald dudes. The one in the middle has a thick cap of black hair. It’s not until I hit their soulless dark eyes do I gasp and pull my head out of that paranormal window Dudley offered.

  “What’s going on? Who are they?”

  “Look again and all will be revealed.” He sighs as if he were bored with the endeavor.

  I glance over once again, and my heart stops. Gone are all traces of human flesh, and in its place a dark fog, red glowing eyes, horns like that of a ram curling from the top of their heads.

  “Fems,” I say beneath my breath. I scope out the room and spot dozens of them everywhere, every shape, size, and questionable gender. “Shit. What do they want?”

  “Never mind what they want.” He flicks a finger, and the paranormal filter changes, giving the room a pink hue. The Fems are visually human at this point, and, instead, another crop of people glow a dull shade of orange. “The real question is, what do they want?”

  “Who are they?” Then it hits me, the dozens of men and women all dressed in suits—the women business casual, each one of them sporting the same disinterested look on their faces. I’ve seen it before. In fact, I’m quite familiar. “Feds.”

  Dudley applauds my efforts, and the room blinks back the way it was to begin with—too loud, too many people I don’t know, and too many limbs grooving to Lizbeth’s seventies rock.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve a few Fems to question.” He takes off in the direction of Gage and Demetri and leaves me to stew in my own stomach acids. The Fems, the feds, Emily’s insistence of a great surprise, this simply cannot end well.

  A pair of cool hands cover my eyes before pulling away to reveal Lexy Bakova once again with that red greasy grin.

  Of all the things I’ve done for Gage and Skyla, of all the sacrifices I’ve willingly submitted to in order for them to succeed, this will be the biggest. All I need is to get Candace off my back for a little while. Maybe this is what I need to finally get past Skyla and my heart’s insistence that she truly does belong to me.

  I can’t help but frown at Lex before manufacturing a smile that somewhat mimics her own.

  Ground rules. No kissing, no touching, no sleeping with Lex just to prove a point to the universe.

  “So Logy-poo”—she runs a svelte finger under my chin—“where should we go for our first date?”

  “Why wait? There’s no time like the present. What better way to kick off the new year than with each other?” My stomach grinds with every syllable.

  “Oh, Logan!” She wraps her arms around me fast and furious like a slap over the back. Her caustic perfume holds the scent of a rancid gardenia. “You won’t regret this. In fact, I think you might discover I’m the girl that’s held your heart all along.” She swats me with a kiss and holds me there, lingering her oily lips over mine for a few beats too many. In all fairness, it’s taking all that I have not to squirm out of it. She pulls back and starts rattling off an entire itinerary of future outings she thinks we should partake in—the entirety of which it would take a millennium to complete. But my eyes drift across the way to a startled Skyla, our eyes locked and loaded with hurt and pain and everything in between that we’ve become experts at gifting one another.

  Lexy was right. Dating her has already helped me discover the girl that’s held my heart all along, and it isn’t Lex.

  It’s Skyla.

  It will always be Skyla.

  Wesley

  The Paragon Bowling Alley was once a semi-decent place to hang out, play a few games, and grab a quick bite, and yet Logan Oliver has transformed it into a kiddie fun zone that will appeal to toddlers the world over.

  “I get it, I think,” I say to Laken as we stare up at the red barn lit up like a neon flame. “He’s trying to appeal to Skyla’s kids. He wants to be the cool uncle.”

  A laugh rattles from her chest as she gives my hand a squeeze. “From what I’ve seen and heard, he’s trying to appeal to Skyla, too. She’s blind if she can’t see the devotion in his eyes each time he’s around. It’s as if he’s mesmerized by her.”

  “That he is. It was Logan that destiny had laid out for Skyla to begin with. But my brother—or should I say my father—won out. He usually does.”

  I pull her in close just as we’re about to enter the bustling establishment. All of the parking spots up front were taken, and we ended up walking half a block from the reserve parking out back. Logan would be lucky to get a third of this business on an ongoing basis. But I’m not interested in Logan or his bottom line right now.

  “I can’t take my eyes off you. You’re so damn beautiful.” I steal a kiss from her lips. It’s true. Laken has gone all out with the sparkling silver dress and matching heels. Something she dug up from Chloe’s closet, and it just so happened to fit.

  A husky laugh comes from her as her lids hood low. “I look like a hooker, and you know it. And besides, you should find it weird that I’m wearing your wife’s clothes.”

  “My wife is better suited to a pointed hat and a broom. Chloe doesn’t care. And no, I don’t think you look like any such thing. You know what I think you look like? An angel and not just because you happen to be one.”

  “Thank you.” She bites down on her lower lip in that sexy way that only Laken can do, and my dick twit
ches with appreciation. I need to get this girl home before I explode—and for sure before Coop explodes with rage. There’s no way he’s going to want to let her out of his sight looking like this. Poor guy knows we’re together in every carnal way—and Laken is a fireball in bed. I know Coop is gutted. And as bad as I feel for him, I can’t help him. He certainly didn’t help when Laken turned away from me. Nope. Coop simply helped himself. I’m just returning the favor.

  Her features darken. “You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” She wraps her arms around me tight. Laken always seems to know when Coop is on my mind. “That’s exactly why I wanted to come tonight. This isn’t some fluke, Wes. You and I are the real deal.” An exasperated sigh escapes her, and a plume of fog streams from her bright red lips. With that long caramel hair, those glossy ringlets that grow right out of her head like sheer perfection, Laken looks like one vexingly hot angel tonight, and she knows it. Laken is strutting her stuff for all to see, and she’s not ashamed, nor should she be. “Wes, I love you.” She digs her fingers into my back. “You know that. I promise you that. We’re going in there tonight as a couple, and we’re going to make it crystal clear that this isn’t some passing fad. My head is not going to clear up as Skyla suggested, and I’m not going to snap back to reality and really regret this.” She closes her eyes a moment. “Now, let’s get in there.” Her eyes gloss with tears, and she blinks them away. “I have a little something up my sleeve, and it’s going to solidify to everyone that you and I are forever.”

  A hard groan comes from me. “Will this upset Coop?”

  Her eyes widen with a touch of glee. “This is going to upset everyone—maybe even you.”