Page 102 of Crimson Skies

“’Cause he’s acting like one already.” He arched an eyebrow. “If I’m going to be the daddy, what will you be?”

Cassius lifted his chin. “Why, I’m the papa, of course.”

Morgan laughed and kissed Cassius. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

Cassius’s expression softened. “Every hour of every day and every night we’ve been in here.”

They carried their child into the innermost chamber of the sanctuary.

Cassius planted a soft kiss on the pulsing orb as he prepared to let it go. “Be good to your Daddy and to Uncle Loki. They’ll look after you while I’m away.”

The orb hummed.

An ache filled Morgan until it hurt to breathe.

Now that they had successfully conceived, Cassius would soon depart for the Nether with Theo and Victor. Cassius had insisted that they attempt the process before he left Earth, even though he was aware he might not be present when their child emerged from the Tree of Esnant.

Morgan pushed away his glum thoughts. Now was not the time to mourn their impending separation.

They squatted and placed their child’s newborn soul inside the pool in the chamber.

Shoots brimming with Atlanteia’s magic sprouted from the water and twined around the globe in a flash, forming a thick cage that would incubate it for years to come. They stayed watching the glowing seed for a long time, their fingers intertwined and their wedding cords warm against each other’s skin.

EPILOGUE

Five yearslater

“Say ahhh,”Loki said.

“Ahhh!” Noah Elvmir Rhaenar Black-King repeated obediently.

Loki slipped a spoon of fresh baby purée into his open mouth.

Noah munched and swallowed before beaming at the imp. “Aboo!”

Loki’s face crunched up. “By the Gods!” He squeezed Noah to his chest and sniffed. “How can one child besoooadorable?!”

Noah giggled, slate gray eyes sparkling under his mop of dark hair.

“You say that every time you feed him,” Morgan muttered as he walked past the kitchen island with a basket of fresh laundry.

Loki curled a lip. “I still can’t believe Noah is half you. He definitely inherited Cassius’s personality.”

Morgan rolled his eyes, studied his son with a faint smile, and headed toward the nursery. He paused on the way, his gaze sweeping the clear, blue sky and the beautiful sunshine lighting the bay beyond the glass wall overlooking the terrace.

The city’s renovations were almost complete.

To his surprise, his apartment building was one of the few high rises in San Francisco to have miraculously survived the war with Elios. Morgan wasn’t sure if this was due to fate or sheer dumb luck. Still, he had spent several months redoing the entire penthouse level.

Cassius and his places were now one. Though the final footprint was a fraction of the total size of the previous apartments that had crowned the building, it was balanced by an outer space that featured several decked areas, a swimming pool, and a rooftop garden.

The restructured interior housed private quarters for Loki, a nursery and playroom for Noah, several guest bedrooms, and a huge living and dining area where they could entertain the myriad human and otherworldly guests that frequently visited them.

Morgan grimaced.Although, they’re hardly here to see my and Loki’s ugly faces.

He was pretty certain Noah was the most adored baby in all the realms. After all, not every kid could claim a host of doting deities as his godfathers and godmothers, let alone the sappy otherworldly and humans who regularly showered him with gifts.

It had taken four years and five months for Noah’s seed to open.