Infinity Book 3

Paisley

“He made love to you under a fucking waterfall?!?” I can hardly believe what Zayla is telling me. I knew she was enjoying married life, but usually, the passion quieted after the honeymoon was over. “Who even does that?”

Zayla’s attempt at looking innocent fails miserably.

As her smile grows, our minds sync up, as BFFs often do.

In unison, we squeal, “Soren does!!!”

Together, we fall over on Zayla’s giant bed. The comforter is strewn with piles of baby clothes, which everyone I meet has added to the supply of hand-me-downs to bring to my cousin.

I pick up a miniature baseball uniform onesie and hold it in the air above my head, squinting.

“You may not even need all this stuff,” I say. Tossing it aside and grabbing a frilly pink organza dress. “Do you even know yet if it’s a girl or a boy?”

“Or other?” Zayla giggles. “There are nonbinary werewolves, too, you know. And as for the phoenix side of Soren’s bloodline...Or his father’s side. Angel or devil. Who knows what this little one will be?”

“Yeah,” I consider this. “Angels, even fallen ones, are they born one sex or another? Or are they genderless, until they decide...Oh, damn! Your freakin’ life is too complicated for me!”

“Do you think it’s any easier for me?” Zayla asks me, looking serious. “I have no clue what to expect from this pregnancy.”

I reach over to where she’s lying on her back beside me and take her hand in mine.

“Don’t worry, cuz,” I say. “Whatever happens, your family is here for you.”

“Yeah, right,” Zayla says. “If they’re even speaking to me.”

After leaving my BFF sorting through the piles of donated baby clothes, I head over to my aunt Skyla’s house.

“Mission accomplished, Aunt Skyla,” I say as I track Zayla’s mom down in the backyard. My aunt is working in her garden, planting herbs.

Aunt Skyla stands up, brushing dirt off her gloves. “Tell me the truth, Paisley,” she says. “How does she look?”

“Zayla looks great, Aunt Skyla!”

I try my best to keep my face natural, but I guess I’m not a very good actress.

“What?” Aunt Skyla demands. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“She’s fine, really! It’s just…”

“If there’s something wrong with my daughter, you’d better spill right now!”

I drop cross-legged onto the grass outside the garden’s edge. Aunt Skyla steps over the low border and joins me.

“She’s just...well…” What do I say that won’t make things between Zayla and her family worse? “It’s her reaper job, and being pregnant, and getting mated. It’s just a lot of pressure right now, that’s all. But she’s fine—”

“Maybe she’s in over her head,” Aunt Skyla says. “And getting pregnant so soon—”

“She loves him! She always has. It was fate,” I try to reassure my aunt.

“Fate!” Aunt Skyla’s snort sounds like a wolf with a bad head cold. “It was fate, indeed. And maybe lust. But even if they love each other, it doesn’t mean they won’t have problems. Challenges to their relationship. And what about Lucifer? How is that going?”

Lucifer is a fallen angel but I hear he’s mellowed out.

“Yes, he was a pretty bad dude to get cast out of heaven. But that was a long time ago. Zayla says he’s changed—”

“Not only that, but Soren’s mother was a phoenix,” Aunt Skyla goes on.

“Brilliant, graceful, powerful. But phoenixes are mercurial. Their light can be soothing, healing. But they can also burn you to a crisp. Who knows how much of that DNA her children inherited? I love Soren. What mother-in-law wouldn’t? He clearly loves my daughter. But I just worry that maybe they rushed into things too quickly. It’s a lot to take on all at once.”

Without warning, Kimber, my cousin Draxel’s mate, comes out of the back door and joins us on the grass.

“So, what are we talking about?” Kimber asks. Aunt Skyla reaches over and scratches her behind the ear, like a mama wolf with a pup.

Well, a pup-in-law.

“Paisley just dropped off those baby clothes for Zayla,” my aunt says.

Kimber rolls her eyes. “Has she even thought about what it’s doing to that baby she’s carrying?”

“What what’s doing?” I ask, confused by the turn in the conversation.

“What being a reaper is doing,” Kimber says, exchanging a look with Aunt Skyla. “What? Everyone is wondering. What effect will it have on an innocent baby to be there in utero when their mother is reaping souls?”

This is too much for me to think about.

“Look,” I say to my aunt and cousin-in-law, “Zayla’s got a lot on her plate. But we really don’t know enough about what she’s going through. Aunt Skyla, don’t you know a hereditary witch, a really powerful one, who might see Zayla?”

“I do know a family of very powerful witches,” Aunt Skyla says. “But Zayla doesn’t need a spell cast—”

“Not a spell,” I say. “Hereditary witches have been the most skilled midwives and healers for millennia. Zayla could just go see this one you know, and ask her about this baby.”

Aunt Skyla falls silent, considering this. I push the point home.

“A regular wiccan healer won’t have the experience in arcane matters to be able to suss out the situation,” I say. “But a hereditary witch—”

Kimber breaks in. “Has the experience of generations of witches, inherited from her ancestors. She can go deep, figure out if everything’s all right with the baby, know if the reaping is going to be bad for it—”

“And tell Zayla how to protect it from harm.” Aunt Skyla looks as pleased as if she thought of this herself.

“She’s not going to like it if she thinks we’re butting in,” Kimber warns Aunt Skyla.

“So she doesn’t need to know,” I say. “Look, I know you guys are having trouble coming to terms with Zayla’s mating. And while I love her dearly, she is damn fucking stubborn. I’ll tell her that I thought of this plan, and keep you out of it. It’s the truth, really.”

Aunt Skyla sighs, sinking into herself, shoulders slumped. Kimber wraps an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

“I’ll be the one to suggest it,” I say. “But you really should call her. Invite her and Soren over for dinner. Show them you’re making an effort to accept their mating.”

Aunt Skyla still looks torn.

Families are so damn hard sometimes. I should know.

“They’re mated,” I say. “It’s a done deal. And they’re having a baby. Do you really want to drive them away? Or will you accept them as they are? It’s your grandchild we’re talking about here. And your only daughter.”

“When did you get so wise, little Paisley?” Aunt Skyla reaches over and starts scratching me behind my ear. Always the mother wolf.

“I guess I learned it from watching you and Uncle Zayn,” I say. “You’re the ones who taught me. Taught us all in this pack. Family is everything.”