Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79726 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Okay, he’s seriously blowing my mind. “How many are there out there? Realms? Beings?” I’ve just been walking around my whole life, not knowing there was a whole other world of creatures out there?
He waves a hand. “Fewer than you’d think, honestly. It’s actually really hard to move between realms. My family makes it look easy, but that’s just because the angels were the most successful at it, and most of them had the good sense to stop fucking around in a place they had no business being.”
I think of the mosaic in the top tower and bite my bottom lip. “So who else is out there besides the,” I gulp, “angels?”
But Layden just shrugs me off. “Don’t worry about it. My brothers are the biggest bad around. And I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve, too. You’re safe here.”
I frown. That was a nice non-answer. I have a feeling Layden’s a tough nut to crack and get any real answers out of. But he is helping me when I ask. I hold up the birth control. “So how does this work? You said it’s magic?”
“Just take them like normal. My friend’s a really talented witch, and she made it look human so it wouldn’t draw any attention. The pills will automatically refill after twenty-eight days and stop any supernatural pregnancy from taking hold. But it won’t work for normal human guys.”
I nod. “That’s not a problem.”
He pauses. “So you and Remus. . .?”
I blush and look down.
“Sorry, none of my business.”
Quickly I pop one of the little pills into my mouth, then slide the compact into my pocket. Layden slings the bag underneath his computer desk before standing.
Before he can leave the room, I ask, “Did you give Remus something so he could stay around longer and keep his brother asleep?”
He pauses but doesn’t turn around.
“Maybe something in that little flask he’s always drinking from?” Still, he doesn’t speak. “I won’t say anything. I just want to know what I’m getting into here.”
He turns around at that. “I did give him a little help. But you should know, you really have no clue what you’re getting into. With either of them.”
He’s talking about Remus and Romulus.
“What do you mean? Are they. . . bad?” I feel silly at the simplification, yet I wait anxiously to hear his answer.
Layden sighs. “Aren’t we all? Bad and good and everything in between? I mean, we like to think in those black-and-white terms. But the things our father forced us to do for so long. . .”
He breaks off, looking toward the wall. “Or maybe we weren’t forced. Maybe it is who we are. Maybe the hunger inside me was always so large I was never going to be satisfied until I inflicted it on everyone around me. Maybe Romulus and Remus will always be at war with one another, locked in the same body.”
I suck in a breath, blinking hard at his words like they’re a physical blow.
“But then again, my brother Death put a child in the belly of the woman he loves, about to give birth to life. And my brother Pestilence has the power to heal. Hannah believes we’ve always had the opposite capacities inside us and that our Father just fed the destructive side. So maybe Remus and Romulus are capable of great peace.”
“And you,” I say, putting a hand on his forearm, “are capable of feeding the many, not just starving them.”
He frowns at that, and I sense a lot of complex feelings coming from him. “I don’t know. I think it might be too late to expect much of anything from me.”
“Romulus thinks the same of Remus, but I see so much in him.”
Layden’s eyes pop up from the floor and meet mine. He looks wary, and I see confusion waging inside him. “I hope so,” he finally says. “For your sake.”
Chapter Seventeen
ROMULUS
Every moment Lo-Ren is away in Layden’s room, my foot taps.
I don’t notice until Ksenia snaps at me to stop. “We had to come back in the helicopter early for this little emergency only to find that the woman hadn’t been kidnapped after all, and there was no emergency. I’m about to burst with the pregnancy, and I hate flying in that tiny thing. So do. Not. Test me.”
The helicopter is a new addition to our toys. Kharon insisted we get it in case there was a difficulty with Ksenia’s labor. Considering the increasing size of our family and the fact that only two of us have wings, I bought us a military-style one with lots of space in the back. If it was anyone else, I’d think they were calling it tiny to push my buttons. But Ksenia just hates flying in general.
I give her a wounded look, but she doesn’t look the least bit impressed by me. Usually, Ksenia favors me. Perhaps it is more fair to say that she does not like Remus and always welcomes my waking. It’s not really a high bar to be more preferable company to a madman.