Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

KEIR

At Omar Merlin’s service,the Rainbow Troupe, a group of friends Omar had made who were fun-loving LGBTQIA+ hippies and showed up to sing Omar’s favorite songs. After paying her respects, his sister, Asja, kissed Omar’s forehead before we closed the casket, and Dash took him to Steinbeck’s Crematorium.

Asja would be picking up the cremains on Tuesday, so after Amelie and I cleaned up from the service, I sent her home. Lake hadn’t come to work that day because she wasn’t feeling well.

Dash hadn’t returned from dropping off Omar, so I went to the couch in the apartment living room and sat back, putting my feet up on the coffee table and crossing my hands over my stomach before I closed my eyes.

A poke on my shoulder woke me. I sat up to see my father with a grin on his face. “Hi, son. How are you?”

“Da— Dad? What are you doing here?” I was barely able to speak. He’d been my best man when Dash and I got married, and I’d enjoyed spending the day with him. What was he doing back?

“I’m not really here. I’m in your dreams, but I wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and Dash. That baby will be the light of your life, just as you were the light of mine.”

I was sure he was right. “Can you tell me what’s going on with Nyx? What will we be facing?”

Dad’s face sobered. “She’s going to be a handful. I have no idea what she’s planning, nor does anyone else I’ve spoken with. That’s the worst part of this whole thing... We can’t predict what others might do. Now, I feel the need to tell you what I’ve learned. Dash will tell you, but I want you to know what will happen on the other side.”

“Dash already knows? He hasn’t said anything to me about anything.”

“He’s still processing because it was a lot. From what I learned, some of the demons aren’t going to fight. I’m not sure who will fight on the Celestial side. We need to ensure we have the allegiance of the Archs, which I’ll try to secure. The underworld, well, we’ll have to see how that goes.”

“Dad, the scroll. Where did that come from?” It was bugging the hell out of me.

“It’s the curse that was put on our family, Keir. That scroll holds the key to breaking the spell, and it will help with fighting Nyx since she provided the magic Maria used to curse her son after our forefather impregnated her and disowned that child because he fell in love with Marie’s brother, Adam.”

“Dad, I don’t understand.” What kind of crazy family had I been born into?

“Remember the story, Keir. The young woman, Maria, was a practitioner of the dark arts, and Nyx was her source of magic. Maria was so heartbroken when Henri, the monk, threw her over for her younger brother, Adam, that she planned to kill their shared son, Francois.” It was coming back to me, the story passed down through the generations of Dearly men—because no women were born with the Dearly name.

My father continued, “She couldn’t go through with killing the baby, so she cursed the boy and his future sons with never experiencing peace in life. When Francois was two, Maria left him with her mother and went in search of Adam and Henri, her lover and our ancestor. After she killed them, she jumped off a cliff and killed herself.”

What a happy bedtime story.“So, Nyx provided the magic Maria needed to curse the men in our family. Why have no girls been born with the Dearly name over the years?”

Dad chuckled humorlessly. “I suspect it was Nyx’s way of sticking it to the men in her life because she had been scorned after the fall. She was power-hungry once the dust settled from leaving the Celestial Realm, and she knew the only way she could have access to power was if she was mated to Lucifer.

“The Ruler of Hell, however, was having too much fun in his new position, and he was completely enamored with Lilith at the time. Nyx had to mate with her brother, who was far less powerful than Lucifer. Look at almost all the religions on the Human Realm. Women have no power. The patriarchy has always made the rules, even in the Celestial Realm. Lucifer used the mold he was most comfortable with and so it continued in the underworld.”

It was sinking into my addled brain, but I needed to clarify a point. “So Lucifer is out to prove to Nyx that she’ll never win because she’s a female regardless of whether his offspring is in the fight. Is that why she gave Maria the magic to curse us?” That whole adage about the wrath of a woman scorned was starting to make sense.

“Perhaps that’s the reason. Find the rest of the scroll. The end explains how to break the spell but be careful because Nyx is quite dangerous. She’ll enjoy the idea of going against a male in Henri’s lineage. Be safe. I love you.”

I opened my eyes and jumped up, finding it hard to breathe. My father wasn’t there but the insight he’d given me was more than I had ever imagined I’d get.

Once I caught my breath, I glanced around the apartment to see I was still alone, so I had to process this information by myself. I had to devise a plan to save my family because I was pretty sure if Nyx became the ruler of the Human Realm, my child wouldn’t be safe. I couldn’t let that happen.

August rolled into September,and Lake’s belly continued to grow. She would approach Dash or me when the baby was kicking, and we were blessed to share that part of her pregnancy, which was just as incredible as I could ever imagine it to be.

The five of us—Keir, Lake, Jamie, the unborn baby, and me—went to movies, dinners, arcades, and parks. We hung out all the time, and we had a lot of fun. It was beautiful to spend time with them because we were becoming a family.

“So, where do we want to go for dinner?” I asked as we were leaving the park one Sunday afternoon.

The week had been quite busy with three funerals, and we were taking the day off to have fun as a family. The second funeral had been a child—a little boy who had the same cancer as Jamie—and all of us were still raw from the idea that we could have been putting Jamie to rest but for the grace of the Creator. It had been painful to watch the parents deal with the loss.

“Can we go for Chinese? I like Magic Wok.” Jamie was crossing her fingers as we drove from the park to Lake’s condo, which was cute.

I glanced over my shoulder at Lake and saw her smile. “That’s fine. I need to use the bathroom, so can we go to the condo first? I’d also like to change. Jamie, you need to change too. You’ve got dirt on your shorts.”

We arrived at the condo a minute later, and we all went inside. “Go change.” Lake booped Jamie on the nose before she went back to her room. Dash and I took seats on the couch.

Jamie stared at us for a minute before pointing at us. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” With that, she ran down the hallway.

We laughed as Dash put his arm around my shoulders and leaned closer. “Do you think our child will be so bossy?” He was whispering, and I had to smile.

I smirked at him, seeing that face I loved so much. “I’m pretty sure he or she will be as bossy as you.”

We laughed again as Jamie came into the living room in a cute dress and sneakers. “Can we go? I’m starved.”

“We’re waiting for your mother. Can you go check on her?” Once Jamie left the room, Dash pulled me closer. “We’re going to be so screwed when we try to discipline our kid.”

I laughed until Jamie came running into the living room. “Momma’s gone!”

Dash looked at me before he hurried back to the bedroom and returned to where I was still seated, unable to move. “She’s gone.”

Mother fuck!