Page 20 of Holy Shift (New Orleans Nocturnes #8)

Destiny’s head spun, and nausea churned in her stomach. This was it. Her thread of life was about to be snipped, and a pair of fae goddesses wielded the scissors.

“Eostre, I did what I could,” her dad said, his brow knitting. “You have to do something. Help her, please.”

“What needs to be done will be, Mark. Have you lost all faith in me?” She gave him an odd look and shook her head.

Destiny cut her gaze between them. Normally, she’d ask them why they were speaking to each other like they were old friends, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.

“What the fluff is going on?” Pete squeezed her hand. “Whatever you’re planning to do, you’ll have to go through me first. You can forget about Easter, and you’ll be right back to square one. I don’t care about balance. All I care about is her.”

“Calm down, Peter.” Frigg chided him. “You’ll change your tune in a moment, but first, Destiny, my dear. You worry about your demon friends and the balance you were meant to keep in New Orleans.”

“I…” What could she say? Yes, she worried, but it was out of her hands now.

“My mom and dad are going to take over,” Crimson said. “They’re moving back to New Orleans for good.”

“Well…” Her chest ached, and she leaned into Pete, letting him support her weight and the gravity of everything happening. At least her friends would be taken care of, and Crimson would get to see her parents more.

“We just wanted to say hello,” Crimson’s mom said. “Your recipe is perfect, and we’ll take good care of it.”

“Take care of my bakery too,” she forced the words over the lump in her throat.

“Oh, we’ll be working out of our coffee shop in the Quarter. We’ll leave y’all to it.” She waved and led her husband downstairs.

“We will be going as well.” Gaston gestured to the exit.

“The hell we will,” Jane said. “Destiny is my friend. I’m not leaving her now, in her time of need.”

“Come, ma chère . This is not our affair.” He clutched her arm.

“But—”

“Jar it.” He dragged her toward the door.

“You mean can it ,” Jane said, fighting his pull.

“It’s okay.” Destiny gave her a tiny wave before hugging Pete tighter. “It’s best if you all leave for this.”

“Are you sure?” Crimson asked.

Destiny nodded. Her friends didn’t need to witness what was about to happen. “Yeah. Go on.”

“Okay. Take care.” Crimson took Mike’s hand, and they followed the others out the door.

“You can’t take her.” Pete held Destiny to his chest, turning her away from the goddesses. “I love her. She is… She’s everything, and I don’t want to live a single day without her. I don’t care if she’s human. I don’t care if she’s a vampire/zombie/hellhound demon. I love her, and I need her. She’s my Destiny. She’s mine.”

“Come here, child.” Eostre reached for her, but she hesitated.

“No.” If Pete held her any tighter, she’d pop.

“Peter,” Eostre spoke in a motherly tone that said you had better cool your jets or I’m going to knock you into next week .

Destiny reached a shaky hand toward the goddess and peeled herself out of Pete’s embrace. “I love him too. I know it’s wrong, it’s forbidden, or…it used to be forbidden when I was still an angel, but…”

Eostre held both her hands, her irises sparkling like lavender glitter. “It’s not wrong, and thanks to you, it will no longer be forbidden.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Tell her, bunny,” her dad said. “It’s time she knows the truth.”

“Bunny?” She glanced at Pete, who raked a hand through his hair, looking as perplexed as she felt.

“I lied to you,” her dad said. “Your mother didn’t fall. She couldn’t because she wasn’t…she isn’t …an angel.”

“I still don’t understand.” Destiny furrowed her brow as she tried to comprehend what he was saying. Her mother wasn’t an angel? Angels and humans got together all the time. There would’ve been no reason to lie about it. Unless her mom wasn’t human.

The pieces began to fall into place, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “You?”

Eostre nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek. “Your father and I fell in love at a volatile time. The truce had just been stabilized, and our realms had agreed to a hands-off policy. We couldn’t let anyone know about our relationship or our child, so we concocted the story. Your father raised you because our people would have killed you if they discovered you, the daughter of a goddess, were half-angel.”

Destiny tugged from Eostre’s grasp, crossing and uncrossing her arms as she processed her words. The daughter of a goddess?

“Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Another tear slid her cheek. “But it was the only way to protect you.”

She shook her head. It didn’t make sense. “Angels and fae can’t have children. Our DNA isn’t compatible. It’s not possible.”

“It is when you’re a descendant of the goddess of motherhood.” Frigg smiled, her pale blue eyes twinkling.

“It is indeed.” Eostre laid a hand on Destiny’s abdomen.

“Wait. Am I…?” Her stomach looped, all the blood in her head plummeting to her feet. “With Pete?”

“Destiny.” He rushed to her, taking her in his arms and lifting her from the ground. “We really can multiply like rabbits.”

He set her down and took her face in his hands. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” She blinked rapidly, the tears hanging out on her lower lids refusing to fall. “So the fae aren’t going to kill me because I’m…” She rested a hand on her belly.

“You’re one of us, dear,” Eostre said. “Even if you weren’t pregnant, you are still a fae.”

“The sacrifice from my prophecy was your angelic life.” Frigg touched her shoulder. “You gave up one life, hopefully to embrace another. It was never our intention to murder you.”

“You could have led with that.” Destiny pressed a hand to her chest and sank onto the sofa. “So all this time…all my flubs and imperfections were because I wasn’t one hundred percent angel?”

“Your definition of perfection is an illusion.” Pete sat next to her, resting a hand on her knee. “You’ve always been perfect to me.”

She laced her fingers through his and gazed up at the goddesses…her fluffing mom and grandma! “But if I’m half-fae, why don’t I have any fae powers? I’d kill for a set of Pete’s magic pockets.”

“Wouldn’t we all?” Eostre laughed. “I had to bind your fae magic when you were born, but your daughter has awakened it. Your immortality remains intact, and your powers will continue to grow inside you as your baby does. Why else do you think Helga’s iron chains made you feel sick?”

“She enchanted them. You said…”

“I lied.” Eostre waved a hand. “She’d have killed you instantly if she knew you carried Pete’s child.”

Destiny nodded. “Another thing for her to be jealous of.”

“Indeed,” Eostre said. “We will give you two a moment, and then, Pete, you must join the elfen in the Easter preparations. They need you.”

“Can I help?” Destiny squeezed Pete’s hand.

“You are always welcome in our realm,” Frigg said. “Mark, when Easter is over, you and Eostre must devise a plan to inform your higher ups. From this moment forward, the fae are no longer forbidden from having relationships with angels.”

“I look forward to it.” He smiled and winked at Eostre before turning to Destiny. “I’m sure you have a few bones to pick with me. Whenever you’re ready to talk, just let me know.”

Destiny swallowed the thickness from her throat, thankful he didn’t ask her to process all her emotions at once. “I will.”

He nodded, and, in a cloud of silver sparkles, he returned to the angelic realm.

“We’ll see you both soon.” Eostre smiled softly, and both goddesses disappeared into the ether.

Pete grasped Destiny’s other hand, angling his body toward her. “How are you feeling?”

She gazed into his eyes and chewed the inside of her cheek as she allowed the emotions to wash through her. There were so many, she couldn’t begin to name them all. “Stunned. Relieved, I guess. Overwhelmed is probably the best word right now.”

“It’s a lot to take in.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “How do you feel about us? About her?” He rested a hand on her stomach.

Her muscles contracted beneath his touch. “I feel a bit like Romeo and Juliet, minus the death by poison. Carrying a baby Easter Bunny and uniting two realms was not on my bingo card today.”

He chuckled, holding her gaze until she answered his question.

“I’m yours forever, Pete, and as for her…” She laid her hand on his. “I’m over the moon.”

“She’s definitely the icing on the cake.”

“What about you?” she asked. “How do you feel about everything?”

“I’m elated. I get to spend eternity with the woman I love and raise a child together.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “And I remember everything, who I am, where I came from. Right now, in this moment with you, I truly have it all.”

So did she, it seemed. “What made you remember?”

“You did.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “When Helga took you, the only thing in the world that mattered to me was getting you back. My fae magic works when I need it, right?”

“I guess it does.”

“I needed to get to the fae realm—to you—more than I’d ever needed anything in my life. The second I hopped down the rabbit hole, it all came rushing back.”

“You’re you again,” she said.

He smiled. “I’m me, but I’m not the same guy I was before. I’m whole now, thanks to you.”

Warmth spread through her chest. Her angelic life might be over, but she’d choose Pete over centuries of miracle requests any chance she got. “For the first time in my existence, I feel whole too. Thanks to you.”

“We’re more than whole.” He rubbed her stomach. “We’re multiplying.”

“And it’s electrifying.” She laughed and rose to her feet, tugging him up with her. “Come on. We better go save Easter. No miracles required.”

“Not as long as I’ve got you.” He grinned and stomped his foot three times, opening a rabbit hole in the floor. “Let’s bounce.”

* * *

Thank you for reading Holy Shift!

* * *

People love to claim they’re descendants of the witches they couldn’t burn.

We actually are…

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