CHAPTERTWENTY
Destiny’s head spun,and nausea churned in her stomach. This was it. Her thread of life was about to be snipped, and a pair of fae goddesses wielded the scissors.
“Eostre, I did what I could,” her dad said, his brow knitting. “You have to do something. Help her, please.”
“What needs to be done will be, Mark. Have you lost all faith in me?” She gave him an odd look and shook her head.
Destiny cut her gaze between them. Normally, she’d ask them why they were speaking to each other like they were old friends, but that was the least of her worries at the moment.
“What the fluff is going on?” Pete squeezed her hand. “Whatever you’re planning to do, you’ll have to go through me first. You can forget about Easter, and you’ll be right back to square one. I don’t care about balance. All I care about is her.”
“Calm down, Peter.” Frigg chided him. “You’ll change your tune in a moment, but first, Destiny, my dear. You worry about your demon friends and the balance you were meant to keep in New Orleans.”
“I…” What could she say? Yes, she worried, but it was out of her hands now.
“My mom and dad are going to take over,” Crimson said. “They’re moving back to New Orleans for good.”
“Well…” Her chest ached, and she leaned into Pete, letting him support her weight and the gravity of everything happening. At least her friends would be taken care of, and Crimson would get to see her parents more.
“We just wanted to say hello,” Crimson’s mom said. “Your recipe is perfect, and we’ll take good care of it.”
“Take care of my bakery too,” she forced the words over the lump in her throat.
“Oh, we’ll be working out of our coffee shop in the Quarter. We’ll leave y’all to it.” She waved and led her husband downstairs.
“We will be going as well.” Gaston gestured to the exit.
“The hell we will,” Jane said. “Destiny is my friend. I’m not leaving her now, in her time of need.”
“Come,ma chère. This is not our affair.” He clutched her arm.
“But—”
“Jar it.” He dragged her toward the door.
“You meancan it,” Jane said, fighting his pull.
“It’s okay.” Destiny gave her a tiny wave before hugging Pete tighter. “It’s best if you all leave for this.”
“Are you sure?” Crimson asked.
Destiny nodded. Her friends didn’t need to witness what was about to happen. “Yeah. Go on.”
“Okay. Take care.” Crimson took Mike’s hand, and they followed the others out the door.
“You can’t take her.” Pete held Destiny to his chest, turning her away from the goddesses. “I love her. She is… She’s everything, and I don’t want to live a single day without her. I don’t care if she’s human. I don’t care if she’s a vampire/zombie/hellhound demon. I love her, and I need her. She’s my Destiny. She’s mine.”
“Come here, child.” Eostre reached for her, but she hesitated.
“No.” If Pete held her any tighter, she’d pop.
“Peter,” Eostre spoke in a motherly tone that saidyou had better cool your jets or I’m going to knock you into next week.
Destiny reached a shaky hand toward the goddess and peeled herself out of Pete’s embrace. “I love him too. I know it’s wrong, it’s forbidden, or…it used to be forbidden when I was still an angel, but…”
Eostre held both her hands, her irises sparkling like lavender glitter. “It’s not wrong, and thanks to you, it will no longer be forbidden.”
“I don’t understand.”
