Sweet Reckoning

“And you’re just the man to do it.” Marna winked, and he gave a grateful smile.

I looked at Zania. “Where will you go, Z?”

She sort of shrugged and looked shy.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” I said, just as Kopano blurted, “You would love Malawi.”

Then we all giggled and shifted, trying not to allow the moment to get too awkward. Zania gazed up at Kopano, who watched her with his signature intensity.

“Yes,” she said. “I think I would love Malawi very much.”

Marna clapped her hands.

Caterina made a disgusted sound and spoke fast in her high-pitched little voice. “But . . . you’re all Nephilim. And he is a human!” She pointed at Jay. “I don’t understand this. Are all of you in love?”

We all looked around, taken aback by the question, an allegation that five hours ago would have scared us to death to hear out loud. And then in sync we burst into laughter, because yes. Yes, we were all in love. We’d defied the oppressive rules, fought back, and won. No more hiding. No more running. No more faking. No more fearing.

We were free.

EPILOGUE

Six Years Later . . .

Malawi was everything Kopano had said it would be. Kai and I loved it from the moment we stepped off the plane, holding hands, smiling into the bright sunshine. Zania and Kopano met us at the doors of the orphanage. They’d been married five years now. Zania and I hugged first, while the guys shook hands.

“Your big day is finally here!” Zania said. She’d been working with us for the past year to make this happen.

Kaidan took my hand. We were both shaking a little. I was nervous and excited beyond belief to meet our boys—brothers.

We knew parenthood was hard. We’d been there for Jay after Marna’s soul had passed during Anise’s birth. She’d been taken despite our earnest hopes, but she’d made the most of her last months of freedom. I’d never seen anyone laugh and smile as much as Marna had. She radiated joy, and even Ginger softened under her ray of sunshine.

It was no surprise that Jay was the hippest rock-star single dad ever, but I knew he was tired, working full-time and then being the only parent for his baby girl.

Ginger and I spent a lot of time with Anise, keeping her whenever Jay had night deejaying events for the L.A. radio station. Anise was a perfect combination of Marna’s happiness and Ginger’s divaness, walking around in her pink tutu with a hand on her hip. And Jay could do no wrong in his girl’s eyes. She laughed at all his jokes and loved when he called her Short Stuff.

So. Cute.

But we all missed Marna.

We followed Kope and Z inside the one-story building, a relatively new structure built with Alocer’s funds, along with a library and medical facility in the small town.

We were led down a hall to a sparse room with chairs and toys.

“Let me get them,” Kope said, leaving us.

Zania motioned for us to sit, but we declined. I clutched Kai’s hand, and Zania giggled.

“This is my favorite part. New parents are adorable.” She rubbed my shoulder and I tried to smile.

When I heard footsteps coming down the hall and Kope’s rumbling voice talking sweetly, my stomach clenched with nerves.

The door opened and Kopano had a boy on each hip. They looked positively tiny in his arms, and I immediately teared up. Don’t cry, I told myself. I didn’t want to scare them. As we all moved closer, the eighteen-month-old boy, Mandala, held tighter to Kope, wary of us. Six-month-old Onani, on the other hand, let out a giant gurgling giggle and waved his arms up and down, making us all laugh.

I held out my hands, and Onani came to me with no qualms, obviously going to be our “people person.” I checked out his skinny limbs, which somehow still managed to have soft dimples at the knees, elbows, ankles, and wrists. Despite being so thin, Onani’s cheeks were chubby, and his head was a gorgeous mess of black curls.

I was in love and I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Hi, Onani,” I said softly.

He went a bit cross-eyed as he tried to focus on me, taking in every feature on my face with serious curiosity. Then he reached out and grabbed my hair, squealing happily while we all laughed and I unpried his little fingers. I looked at Kaidan and he was watching us in awe.

“I should have warned you,” Z said. “He loves hair.”

While I held Onani, adoring the weight of him in my arms, I watched as Kope and Kai both squatted on the floor. Mandala leaned back against Kopano, still wary of Kaidan.

“I think I have something you might like,” Kaidan said. From one pocket he pulled a cherry red toy car.

This piqued Mandala’s attention. He took a step toward Kaidan.

“It’s yours, mate,” Kai assured him. “I brought it just for you.” He held out the car and our boy took it. He crouched down on the ground and rolled the car. Kaidan made a vrooming sound effect and Mandala smiled, making my heart flutter. Kai grinned up at me, and I swear . . . I had no idea I could love him more. But as I watched Kaidan lie on the floor and play with Mandala, my heart overflowed.

We spent the day at the orphanage, trying to get the boys as comfortable with us as possible before we took them to the hotel. Other children came in and out of the playroom where we stayed, and they all took an interest in us. Zania said I could give them candy, so I became quite popular among the kids, all the while watching Onani trying to crawl next to me.

“He’s awful cute, isn’t he?” Kaidan asked, grinning at me in wonder. Then Mandala sidled up close, holding his new toy, which nobody was allowed to touch, and he gently petted his baby brother’s head, looking up at Kai for affirmation.