Firefox

Chloe pushed Sparrow aside.

Sparrow protested. “But, Gaia—“

One glance from her silenced his objection. Sparrow knitted his brows. Somehow, his Gaia had changed. There was a regal air in her. A holy aura.

“How many times must I tell you, I’m not your wife anymore. I want nothing to do with you. Ever. Leave this place while I’m still feeling charitable.”

“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” Norman cooed. “What you want, my dear Chloe, doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

“Did it ever?” she asked. “Because I don’t think it did.”

Norman shrugged. “You’re beautiful and kind. I do like those things. But no. Your well-being only matters to me up to the point that you bear my child. You failed before, but we’ll get it right next time.” Norman lunged for her, reached out to grab her wrist, but Chloe stepped back at the same time Sparrow struck out with a bolt and knocked Norman backward. Unfortunately, instead of blowing back out the door, he flew at an angle and slammed into the wall.

He shot to his feet and shook his head, an ugly smile on his face. “You won’t stop me, little fox. I’m here to claim what’s mine.”

“Umm, hello? I divorced you, remember? Don’t tell me a decade in the big house turned you into a new kind of stupid?”

Norman chuckled. “I don’t mean you—it’s what you can grow in your belly for me.”

And Sparrow knew then why his eyes looked mad, and why he wouldn’t let Chloe go after all this time.

Why he’d been so enraged that she’d miscarried their child.

“I want a child,” Norman ground out, his eyes flashing red at Sparrow. “And if you try to stop me, I’ll kill you.”

“You can try.”

“Enough!”

Sparrow and Norman both flinched at the sound, a louder one than Chloe could have made with her voice. This was her inner voice shouting at them, confused, distraught. “Last warning, Norman.”

“I’m getting what’s mine,” Norman growled. “You robbed me of my rightful place before. I want it now.”

“What the hell are you yapping about?”

“Your child, Chloe,” Sparrow spoke softly. Norman didn’t seem eager to explain, and she had a right to know why he’d hounded her all this time. “His father must be a demon, because his mother wasn’t. Half-breeds like him aren’t as powerful as his father. But he can become a full-fledged demon by drinking blood. The blood of his firstborn child.”

“Is that true? You were going to kill our baby had I not had the miscarriage?” Chloe rasped out, horrified.

“That was always the plan.”

“You’re the new Gaia, Chloe. Drinking the blood of your child and his wouldn’t just make him a full demon, but perhaps the most powerful demon in existence.”

Chloe blinked several times, her hands dropping to her sides as she glared at Norman. “You knew about it? I didn’t even know.”

“Of course I knew.” Norman snorted. “Why do you think my father chose you for me? Did you think I fell for your big tits and your pretty smile? A senator of his stature taking in a girl with no breeding, no estate, the daughter of our gardener, just because his teen-age son has a crush? Please. I could have had anyone I wanted with the kind of power my father commands. But he saw the power in you, and knew what that meant for me.”

Sparrow wanted to end this. He wanted to kill Norman, not with his lightning, but with his hands.

Chloe grabbed his arm and yanked him back. “Stay!”

All of a sudden, Sparrow’s body was petrified. Couldn’t move a muscle. He cursed inwardly. He forgot that Gaia had the power to bind those who served her. She really didn’t want him meddle in this situation.

Chloe swallowed. “Your father knew who I was, you said?”

“It was an incredible stroke of luck. You could be lucky too, you know. Give me a child, let me sacrifice it and become powerful beyond measure. Maybe I’ll keep you around. For fun. Or to see if the blood of a second-born provides any kind of a boost.”

Sparrow jerked to free himself from the sacred binding of his goddess. But Chloe’s power kept him immobile. Chloe charged at Norman and tossed him off like a hand swatting a fly and sent him smashing into the wall. He crumpled to the floor, grunting in pain.