Page 55 of Stars in Umbra (The Sable Riders #8)

‘Neither death, nor life, angels, principalities, powers, height, and depth will keep me from bringing you to ecstasy. Not even a freakin’ baby shall separate me from loving on you,’ he growled with utter possessive energy.

‘Oh, I know all about that,’ she said, her voice a mix of tenderness and mock exasperation. ‘Just so we’re clear, my love, you can’t be threatening a demigod before he’s even out of the womb. It’s a bad look for a father.’

She leaned in, her eyes twinkling. ‘Besides, I’m pretty sure he’s going to adore me more, and I’m looking forward to seeing you deal with the competition.’

Ignoring his growls of protest, she slid away from him.

He chased her into the bathroom, where they took a cold shower together; the icy water was a shocking balm against their heated skin.

Then they collapsed onto the divan, lying on top of the covers. Touching as little as they could and as much as they dared, their bodies cooling in the humid air.

They fell asleep to the sound of the storm and the steady rhythm of each other’s breathing.

MOLAN

A jagged fork of lightning split the sky, illuminating the desert mare beyond the cliffside.

The crack of thunder that followed was deafening, and Mo’s eyes snapped open.

A luminescence drew his gaze toward the window, where a brilliant orb of light floated impossibly in the stormy atmosphere a few klicks from the house.

‘ Fokk .’

He knifed up in bed and swung his legs to the floor, moving to the ethereal vision.

He sensed the pull, a magnetic force that tugged at his entire being.

In an instant, he found himself glimmering past the glazing, his form passing through the plexiglass as if it were nothing more than mist.

He should have been gasping for oxygen, the thin ether of the cliffside home an inhospitable vacuum, yet he breathed with unnerving ease.

A sudden tear lanced through his soul, and he turned to glance back at the house, at the woman sleeping in the divan.

He narrowed on the gentle rise and fall of her chest with some relief.

It was then that a voice, venerable and resonant, sounded in his ear.

‘No need to be afraid, son.’

Son?

The word hit him with the force of a physical blow.

The hell?

He whirled back to face the figure, his body flying through the air toward it.

He came to a hover before the circular vortex, which coalesced into a glowing male silhouette.

His name rose, unbidden, coiling into Mo’s brain like a serpent: Sulfiqar .

The majestic storm god, the sovereign ruler of the Divine Immortal.

The celestial being who commanded the heavens above Sacra and dictated the tides of war and peace across the vast planet.

Constellations, some fading and some fresh, traced his skin like scars, all of them ancient and eternal.

A crown of thinning comet-fire hair clung with stubbornness to his skull, and behind his gaunt, sagging cheeks, his eyes burned with the light of collapsing stars.

He peered at Mo, his eyes blazing with a fierce, possessive pride.

‘Molaniades Arkinolnd Mithandri Iqal, my boy,’ he intoned. ‘Tis good to set eyes on you.’

His lips, dry and cracked, scarcely parted when he spoke, yet each word was like gravity made audible.

The sound of his full name sent a jolt of fire lacing through Mo’s spine.

Still, Mo sensed that the being in front of him was ailing, leaking starlight and motes of gold from his skin, as if he were excoriating one molecule at a time.

‘You’re not well,’ Mo noted, his voice strained.

‘I have eons left before I get snuffed out,’ Sulfiqar scoffed, his utterance a thunderous rumble that was a whisper at the same time.

‘I hold on to my immortality with a vengeance, even though some would like to rip it from me. Which is why I am grateful for your mother’s efforts in keeping you alive for such a time as this. ’

‘How dare you speak of -.’

Sulfiqar interjected with a raised palm.

‘Your mother, Sayonna Ikjhaol Mithandri Iqal, was one of my most favored concubines. However, she got kicked from heaven and fell to the planets below when the Deific Council found out about our affair and her pregnancy with you. The scandal was so immense that I had to let you both go.’

Mo’s heart hammered against his ribs like a war drum.

His anger built, a red-hot fury that threatened to consume him. ‘What do you want?’ he growled.

‘To reconnect with my son.’

‘Bullshit,’ Mo shot back, his voice thick with a lifetime of resentment. ‘You had years to do it. Why now?’

‘You see through me. You have the Ssignakht sight, a true Sacran gift,’ Sulfiqar said, a flicker of genuine appreciation in his gaze. ‘I won’t beat around the proverbial bush. I require your assistance to take back Sivania.’

‘You what?’

‘I need you to regain my sovereignty. A colluding pair of high deity gods betrayed me and flung me down from the heavens. Now I must return. You will fight for me in this cause. You and your brother.’

‘My fokkin ’ what?’ Mo asked, the words catching in his throat, heart pounding.

‘ Naam, Simi’Ren. He, too, got cast down in disgrace, but he will soon be free. Together, the three of us will storm the seventh heaven, Sivania, and we will retake my throne, which belongs to me. You and he have powers that might even eclipse mine.’

He paused and tilted his head as if a curious thought hit him. ‘Tis the irony of an affair baby; sometimes it amps up the abilities you inherit.’

‘ Fokk off, I don’t know you,’ Mo snarled, his built-up rage stripping away all of his civility. ‘I’m not interested in your little plan. I have a woman and child to focus on.’

A thin, cold smile stretched across Sulfiqar’s face. ‘Ah, but you were trained for this. I paid Thrall well to hone your skills, for such a time as this.’

Mo’s mind reeled. He whirled, close to losing his senses in the dizzying vortex of anger and betrayal. ‘Thrall did mention you crossed paths. He says you pointed me and my abilities out to him.’

‘Indeed,’ Sulfiqar said with a casual air.

‘I paid him well so he’d whip you into shape as a mercenary, a soldier, and an assassin.

My precog visions told me it would come in handy one day.

He made poor choices, trying to come up against you and these so-called Riders you cherish.

I care nought for them, just that when the time comes, in a year to two by humanoid chronology, you will answer the call and come to my aid.

You have no choice because you wouldn’t want any harm to come to that precious family of yours now, would you? ’

Mo’s vision went red with rage. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Try me,’ his father said, his tone chillingly calm. ‘Or help me, and you will have your freedom, as soon as I have my throne. Now I must leave before your wife wakes and spots me. Do let her know how radiant she looks carrying my grandchild. I’ll reach out soon.’

With a nonchalant wave, Sulfiqar shimmered away.

The glowing vortex collapsed, and Mo’s body plummeted back to his home like a fallen star.

He crashed back to his feet on the terrace, his body shaking with a primal, white-hot rage. His mind churned, a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions swirling through him.

His father was a living god, a cold, manipulative monster who orchestrated his entire life for this moment.

He’d colluded with Thrall, the man who haunted his past, to mold him into a weapon.

His brother, a stranger with a shared divine bloodline, was out there somewhere.

This was a doomsday scenario, a celestial war waiting to happen, and he was at the center of it.

At some point in the future, he needed to find his brother and devise a strategy to mitigate this impending catastrophe.

However, for now, he had a woman to love and care for.

Rina stirred in his bed, a sleepy hand reaching out for him.

Mo shoved his problems aside and crawled back beside her, pulling her into his arms.

For this one night, the world could wait.

He would hold and protect her, and pretend that no devious god had any claim on his life.

The next morning, the storm passed, leaving the cliffside home washed clean and bathed in sunlight.

Mo and Rina sat in the glass-roofed atrium, their hands joined over the gentle curve of her belly, sipping mugs of steaming tea.

The anger from his encounter with Sulfiqar was a roiling knot in his stomach.

However, he had to share the burden, for that was what he and Rina affirmed to each other.

Still, he plastered on a calm expression, listening to her divulge the news that her Brigadier stripes would be awarded in six months.

She shared that she’d accepted a co-shared role with a new hire, Colonel Farian Gray.

He stroked her jaw. ‘Congratulations, my love.’

She kissed his palm. ‘This arrangement might reduce my time away but still allow me to achieve my desired ascendance within the military corps.’

‘I’m so proud of you,’ he rumbled.

‘As I am of you, my beloved. It makes me so happy you’re remaining as Chief of Security for the Riders, so thankful for their understanding of your fraught journey.’

He brooded, his frame vibrating with subtle tension, despite her words.

Rina stopped talking. ‘Honey, are you alright?’ she asked, her thumb tracing a reassuring circle on the back of his hand. ‘You seem quiet this morning, soldier.’

Mo’s composure cracked.

He pulled his hand from hers and ran it through his hair, a gesture of deep frustration. ‘I need to tell you something, mi kaya ,’ he began, his rasp weary and heavy. ‘Last night, during the storm, while you slept, my father, Sulfiqar, came to me.’

He glanced at Rina’s face, bracing for her reaction.

Her expression was a canvas of appalled. ‘He freakin’ what?’ How?’

In a rumbling bass, he explained the impossible encounter, the divine ultimatum, and the chilling revelation about Thrall and his father’s connection.

He also touched on Simi’Ren, the brother he had never met, and the impending celestial clash Sulfiqar wanted them to undertake.

He relayed his sire’s parting threat with a shudder, ‘He told me not to let any harm come to my ‘precious family.’’

Rina listened in stunned silence, her hand moving to her belly.

When he finished, she reached for his hand again, her grip firm. ‘He’s a fool if he thinks we’ll fall for his manipulation. He’s a monster, Mo.’

‘I know,’ he rasped, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘It fokkin ’ sucks that he’s trying to strong-arm me into a war I want no part of. We have a ‘no secrets’ pact, and this is a burden I couldn’t keep from you, since it involves us.’

Rina’s moved her hand so her palm lay flat against his chest, steady as his heart thundered beneath it.

Her eyes burned with that soldier’s clarity she carried into every battle, but softer now, because this one was for him.

Rina’s tone was crisp, a commander dissecting strategy.

‘Mo, I’ve worked with generals my whole life.

Good, bad, tyrants, martyrs, each one of them had the same tell.

The moment a man in authority needs to demand loyalty, it means he’s already losing it.

Sulfiqar is no different. If he were so powerful, he wouldn’t have to co-opt you.

The fact that he’s clawing for your strength tells me he’s fractured, weakened, and incomplete.

His dominion has crumbled, which means he’s weak and isolated. ’

Her eyes narrowed, her voice a fierce murmur.

‘I suspect the reason he craves you is that your divine potency has outgrown his own. His threats are smoke and shadow, Mo. Because if he were invincible, he wouldn’t need you to fight his war.’

Mo’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t look away. ‘You think so?’

Her fingers traced the hard line of his throat, grounding him.

‘Don’t you see, honey?’ she pressed, softer now. ‘His demand is not proof of his strength, it’s evidence of his weakness. You, Molan, are not his pawn. You’re the weapon he can’t wield. You’re your own man, and you might have the power to overcome him when the time comes.’

Silence stretched. The fire in her eyes held him still until finally, he gave a nod.

‘Your argument is sound, mi kaya ,’ he admitted.

‘But hear me too. A cornered supreme being is still a god. A weakened deity can still burn worlds if he wills it. Sulfiqar may need me, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to break me, use me, crush me if I falter.

That’s his way. That’s the way of power. ’

‘Huh,’ she scoffed.

His hand came up, cupping her face, his thumb dragging along her cheekbone. ‘Maybe, you’re right. Perhaps the reason he wants me so bad is because I’ve already become the force he can’t be anymore. Stronger, freer, not chained to a throne, but to you, and that’s what terrifies him most.’

Rina’s breath hitched, but she smiled, a luminous beam. ‘So let him be terrified.’

She glanced at the gentle curve of her belly, at the life they were building, a life that was now tied to a forgotten god’s war.

‘For now,’ she continued, ‘we wait. Let’s focus on our family. We’ll face whatever may come at its appointed time.’

He nodded, the simple act of shared purpose calming the storm within him.

Leaning in, he gave her a long, lingering kiss.

He had her, and their baby, and that was all that mattered.