Page 110 of King of Cruelty

Taking Liam and River’s hands, we trailed behind her—smiling huge as Genny took out the one-year birthday cake, and set it down on her daughter’s highchair.

The curly-haired, brown-eyed beauty shrieked in delight as she tore into it, not bothering to wait for the singing.

I sighed, smiling at baby Marceline. Was that her birth name? We had no idea, because as promised, when Genny decided she was ready to have a baby... she went out and stole one.

Seriously, one day she simply went out and came back that night holding a two-month-old Marceline. She introduced us all to our new baby niece, and that was the end of that. No questions were allowed, and they were ignored when asked.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...”

But even so, we didn’t care. No matter what happened, we knew that Genny did not and would not steal a baby from a family who loved and wanted her, so however she came to be with our family, we knew she was right where she belonged—with all the other wonderful misfit toys.

The Cardinals. The Sons of Saint. The Scourges. The Prissy Sissies. The Rat King Crew. The Savage Princes. The Merchants.

Our family.

My heart burst looking around at all the people I loved most in the world.

“My family.”