Page 19

The child’s cries shattered the air, his tiny body contorting as Kildare held him, his flames flickering and twisting with panic.

His gaze snapped between the child and Josie, her skin pale and slick with sweat.

Krave knelt next to her, gripping her hand in both of his, tethering her life to his feral winds.

“Give him to me,” Josie choked, her voice weak and trembling.

Reuban’s powers shook as he joined with Krave and Kildare to heal Josie.

“Please,” Reuban begged her. “You’re not strong enough.”

“Give him… to me.” The command was broken in a whisper but seared through them all.

Kildare glanced helplessly at Reuban, his own power raging.

“Give him to her,” Reuban said, his words strained but firm.

Kildare lowered the child into Josie’s waiting arms and the infant’s cries softened the moment his cheek pressed against her chest, as if the nearness of her heartbeat was enough to ground him.

Josie wept softly, stroking the child’s dark hair, her trembling lips pressing words of comfort. “You’re safe. You’re safe with me, my beautiful boy. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Bellatore’s voice slashed from the other side of the sheet barrier. “He’s not safe, daughter. He’s a danger to everything we’ve built.”

Reuban’s gaze snapped when he felt her power cutting more than the air. She was hurting the baby. “Enough Larena,” he ordered. “Do not speak another word.”

Bellatore’s breaths shuddered out and Reuban felt the angelic rage that demanded the elimination of the child at all costs. “You all knew what Kaos intended when he created that child,” she said in an ancient language. “You knew he meant for it to be destroyed. Yet you sit here pretending—”

“Not here!” Reuban ordered in the same tongue, the power of his command rippling through the air. “We need to all discuss this outside.”

Krave shot him a wild-eyed look. “I can’t leave her.”

Reuban’s gaze locked onto Krave’s, his own power surging with brutal intensity. “You will have to trust me on this one and come with me. Right now.”

He’d strapped as much authority as he could to his words and delivered it in the bond of their brotherhood and friendship. His red eyes flared with anger, but he recognized the critical demand in the message.

“Five minutes,” Krave bit out, pressing a kiss to Josie’s forehead before hurrying out.

“You too,” he said to Kildare as he exited the makeshift barrier. “And you,” he said to Larena, snatching her hand and pulling her with him.

“Now you will explain,” Bellatore demanded, her voice raw and brittle when he led them a short distance from the hut. “Why do you insist on letting that thing live, when you know what it is.”

Reuban pinned her with his gaze, his fury slipping. “Because he is not the kind of evil you believe him to be.” He regarded Krave and Kildare. “Kaos created the child to save Josie. To purge the darkness from himself and put it into a vessel that could be destroyed. He was willing to die with that child to protect her. But our Queen said no,” he said right at Lenora. “And we’ve all obeyed her command.”

“That child is a walking apocalypse,” Larena whispered to him. “Kaos poured every shred of his corruption into it.”

“Yes, he was given the darkness in Kaos,” Reuban agreed, his words biting back. “But that’s not all he holds.”

“What do you mean, Kollaborator,” Kildare demanded.

“That the child inherited all of us. I felt it,” he assured, eyeing the Kings. “Krave’s winds. Kildare’s fire.” He looked at Larena. “He even bears your gift. The purity of your protection of mothers has somehow passed to him.”

Bellatore’s eyes narrowed on him. “How do you know this?”

“Because I am the Kollaborator King,” Reuban reminded her with a pointed emphasis. “I see what others can’t. The child’s power is not just his own, it’s a tapestry woven from all of us. And right now, that power is fighting to tear him apart. That’s why he appears human.” He regarded all of them. “He’s hiding because he’s afraid.”

“What does it fear?” Kildare wondered, his words cautious.

Reuban loaded his tongue with the fullness of his power then muttered carefully, “He fears us. Those who seek to destroy him because they see only the monster in him. He’s known it from the moment of conception and has known it to this very second because he’s part of us. The important question now is understanding why this happened.”