Chapter 20

"Child of the night, walking in the night, beloved of the night … We name you."

Elijah stepped forward as he reached toward Isabella, letting her daughter take tight hold of one of his fingers. Legna stepped forward and did the same.

"We name you Jacina," Isabella said strongly. "This is your name of power, known only to the four of us. It will be used to care for you, discipline you, and mold you into a proud reflection of the newest generation of our people."

"I name you Leah," Jacob said, touching his babe gently on her dusky forehead. "This is your call name, my daughter, which many will use to become your friend, your teachers, and, one day, to write your existence into histories where you will distinguish yourself with greatness."

"We are Siddah ," Legna and Elijah intoned in unison. "We will foster you, Jacina. We will temper you with love and shape you with respect and guidance according to the ways of our peoples. We will always love you as our own, Leah."

"Blessed be by Destiny," Elijah said, grinning suddenly from ear to ear.

"She is the first child of a new era for so many of us." Legna sighed with satisfaction, reaching to hug the proud parents warmly.

"And never the last," Isabella agreed, touching Legna's belly with a smile.

"Come. My bride has laid a feast in our tradition for us," Elijah said, herding the group away from the altar deep in the Russian woodlands. It had snowed earlier and it was far too chilly for the baby to be out much longer, even though she was tucked warmly against her mother's breast.

"A Lycanthrope throwing a Demon feast," Jacob chuckled. "I never thought I would see the day."

"You never thought Elijah would be married," Isabella teased, nudging the warrior with an elbow.

"Give me my fosterling before you lollygaggers freeze her to death."

Elijah snatched Leah from her mother and disappeared into the brisk winds.

"Elijah!" Bella shouted after him. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

"He is going to spoil her rotten," Legna predicted.

" Now you tell me," Bella said wryly.

Elijah materialized before his wife with the babe cradled in the crook of his banded arm. Siena was dressed in formal attire, literally glowing gold between the short silken dress she wore, her glowing eyes, and her luminescent skin.

"Our fosterling, I presume." She greeted him warmly, rising from her throne, her collar winking in the gaslight as she moved to touch the child her husband held. She lifted her mouth to his, letting him kiss her with the gentleness she knew never ceased to amaze the court that was still getting used to seeing their former enemy by their Queen's side.

"My Lady Queen, may I introduce Leah, daughter to the Enforcers."

"Hello, Leah," she said softly, her eyes twinkling with sudden mischief as she looked up at Elijah. "You look frighteningly natural holding a child, my husband."

"Don't get any ideas, kitten," he warned with a chuckle.

"No. I won't," she assured him. Then she touched soft, delicate fingers over the baby's lightly furred scalp. "At least … not for a few months yet."

Elijah's breath froze in his chest and she felt the chill of shock that rushed through him. She threw back her head and laughed so hard that the entire room turned to look at her.

"Did I say months? I meant years," she corrected, laughing so hard she brought tears to her eyes.

"That was not funny," he growled at her.

She ignored him, stepping past him to greet her recently arrived Demon guests with a combination of hugs and a few formal kisses on their cheeks.

"Come, and be welcome. My people and I warmly greet you all," she announced loudly, expansively opening her arms towards the enormously festive banquet. "Let us celebrate the naming of this beautiful child. And let us celebrate all of our futures, for as sure as this child's name will never change, our futures will never again be the same."

As Elijah watched her move forward, the regal hostess from head to toe, he closed his eyes and slipped warmly into her mind, making sure she knew without a doubt that he would grow to love her even more than he did in that moment.

Siena turned to look at him as his pale green eyes flicked open. She reached to touch her collar absently, smiling at him as she did so.

I love you as well, warrior, she whispered into his thoughts. Perhaps more than either of us will ever know.

I will know, he corrected her. I will always know.