Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series) (50 page)

Nix pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think you know what you want.”

“I know when I was in Hell and thought Elias would succeed in killing me, all I could think about was you two and Amos. No one else mattered.”

And all he’d thought about was saving her. He’d accepted immortality for her. Had gone to Hell for her. Those were not the actions of a man who didn’t love with every ounce of his soul.

“Phoenix, what the fuck is your problem?” The King punched him on the shoulder. “This was what we wanted in Hell.”

“I was an evil mother-fucker in Hell. Like you,” Nix shot back. And he’d been good at it, liked it, and the more chaos he created the more fun he had. Like an addict, he continued to crave the anarchy he’d incited.

“Maybe he is evil, Nix. But I’m the Queen of Hell now.” A flame erupted in her palm. “Does that make me evil?”

And how did
that
fit into his Sherlock life?

The Sherlock pondered the fire she crafted. The proof of her demonic magic would’ve bothered him once, but no longer. “No, you’re not evil, baby.”

How’d he explain he worried about the monster inside him, the one that hadn’t abated since his exit from the fiery locale? Mads controlled hers with a stronger disposition than he possessed.

Mads closed her hand and smoke wisped in spirals. “Don’t answer so quick. I was willing to risk Alessa’s life to get you out of Hell. A good person wouldn’t make that choice. I valued your life over hers.”

He’d killed innocents in a bid to seek revenge for her. Sank an entire fucking neighborhood. His evil had a way of eclipsing all her minor offenses. The earthquake she’d caused that sank part of Mexico was done by accident. Nix had committed all his sins willingly, had even crafted more than one, and sought Micah’s aid to carry the transgressions out. He didn’t worry about Mads corrupting
him
, but rather them corrupting
her
.

“This will never work.” His fingers scraped across his jaw. But he wanted to scream ‘yes’ really bad because sharing her with Micah wasn’t the horrid idea it should be.

“I don’t expect it to be a cakewalk.”

“I’m sure he’ll want you when I do just to spite me.” Nix notched his thumb toward Micah.

“I want her
all
the time, Ark of Heaven.” The King of Hell rolled his eyes.

“See.” Nix winked at her. “Just to spite me.”

Madison clenched her hands over her heart, hope flaring in her baby blues. How could he deny her request? Walking away from her was his only other option. He peered at the fallen. He knew her husband would consent to her request. Others managed this lifestyle successfully, why couldn’t they? And Beliel wasn’t all that bad…some of the time.

“Okay, Mads. I’ll commit to making this bizarre threesome work.”

Mads flung herself against him and kissed him. “I love you, Nix Birmingham. Love”—a kiss to one of his dimples—“Love”—she kissed the other dimple—“love you.” A final smooch on his mouth.

“I love you, too, baby.” God knew he loved her. More than his own sorry life.

“I’m jealous already.”

He rolled his eyes at her husband’s mock whine. He released her and Mads poked Micah in the ribs. “Liar.” She pulled him to her by his tie. “But I love you, also, Micah Dominus.”

Nix watched as the King of Hell planted a kiss on her mouth. Then decided he would no longer stand back and watch, so he moved in behind her and worshiped her with a kiss-lick-nip combo to her neck and nape. She shivered.

“What of Zenny?” He asked against her ear, her head dropping back against his shoulder as Micah kissed down her throat.

“Screw the immortal.” The King ran his tongue up her neck. Fuck, the way she quivered, that was hot.

Mads jabbed her husband in the ribs again for that statement. “He’s agreed to accept whatever choice I made. And you
will
get along with him, Micah.”

“Convince me.”

She shoved him away, even stepped out of Nix’s reach. “You’ll be lucky to ever get laid unless you try.”

Micah grimaced. “Convinced.”

“But….” She cleared her throat. “I—we have another issue. And before either of you think otherwise, I already planned to tell you this after you gave me your decisions, regardless if you agreed or not. I just didn’t want what I have to say to influence your choice.”

“Spill it, kitten.”

“My Sterillium sickness….” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Unrelated to the angels.” Baby blues whacked Nix with an intensity he’d never seen come from her before. “The angels attacked because I’m pregnant.”

His jaw dropped and he was aware of his idiot befuddlement. Pregnant? He’d experienced pregnant pauses and animals swollen with young. Had even saved an expectant mother from a ghost once. And since the angels tried to kill her because she was with child, that left no doubts of the father.

Mads pregnant and with
his
child. Nix wasn’t sure how to wrap his brain around the reality. The closest he’d ever come to pretending to be a dad was with Amos, and that was a lot different than this.

“Congrats, Phoenix.” Micah chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. “I was just as shocked when I learned of Amos.”

“Wait!” He shoveled both hands through his hair. At this rate, he’d be bald in a month. The room started to spin until he realized he held his breath. He gulped down oxygen. “Are you telling me you’re going to have
my
…baby?”

“Yes. I never wanted to raise a baby in this screwed-up world, but, Nix, this is
our
baby. I fell in love with it immediately. And the idea of abort—”

He covered her lips with his finger. “Don’t even utter the word.” He kissed her. Hard. Soft. “My God.” He shoved his tongue into her mouth, crushing her in his embrace. “
My God
.” He was going to be a daddy. He wanted to weep with joy and hide her in some protective place in some far off location, because others would come for her.
My God, this is a nightmare of a blessing
. Against her mouth, he whispered raggedly, “I never dreamed….”

Nix crumpled to his knees. Quickly undid her pants and tugged her jeans down her hips. He ogled her flat belly, visualized how beautiful she’d be swollen with his offspring. He kissed her stomach.

“The angels want you dead because of our child?” He pressed his cheek to her abdomen.

“Yes. A half-demon-Ark of Heaven with the ability to open Heaven’s door makes the baby a danger.”

“We’ll have to hunker down, protect her until the infant is born.” Micah kicked into gear, while Nix still tried to process his new title and his jumble of emotions. “Protecting you from my angel brethren and Elias is paramount.”

Nix had never been so happy to have Micah as an ally as he was in that moment. Yes, they would make this threesome relationship work. United, they would keep her safe, along with their children.

Sitting back on his heels, he palmed her abdomen and watched as the King kissed her. A gentle embrace that showcased how he felt about their woman, regardless of whose child she carried. One final kiss to her flesh and Nix pushed to his feet.

Epilogue

“Come to MicDaddy, my beautiful little hellion.” Micah cradled Madison’s daughter in his arms. The infant cooed, swishing her arms and kicking her feet.

Gawd
, no one would believe a King of Hell could be domesticated so easily. And MicDaddy? No God-fearing human would take that name seriously from a demon. But refusing to be called Papa, or any other fatherly name, he’d gone with MicDaddy and wouldn’t budge. His logic…Nix shared his son, so by golly Micah would share his offspring.

“Stop calling her that. When she becomes a hellion, I’m going to make you raise her.”

“Deal.” Her husband grinned. “Did you hear that, hellion?” The baby threw up her fist in a jerky motion as if she cheered the outcome. “I know, right? I’m excited I’ll be raising you, too. We’ll have
so
much fun.”

All sorts of gibberish emerged from her daughter, Jaelyn.

In a conspiratorial barn-whisper, he said, “Together we’ll rule the world.”

Jaelyn squealed as if in delighted agreement.

“Not funny.”

Micah winked at Madison. “Momma has
no
sense of humor.”

Probably because that’s what
MicDaddy
once wanted for her…she rolled her eyes at the ridiculous title, but couldn’t deny he made her as happy as Nix did.

Jaelyn grasped Micah’s finger and he kissed her knuckles. A King of Hell charmed by an infant. She shook her head. She’d forgotten how sexy he was holding a baby.

“Jac is getting fussy.” Nix drew her gaze away from her two troublemakers, and she smiled at the sight of him holding their other daughter. Welcome, Mr. Sexy Number Two. Who knew men could ratchet up their sex appeal by coddling children?

Twins. She’d never have predicted that outcome. Identical to the point the Birminghams couldn’t tell them apart. Jaclyn and Jaelyn. Jac and Jae, as Nix dubbed them. Or hellion and cherub, according to Micah. They were terribly spoiled at three months. How much worse would they become in a year?

Jaclyn had been named in honor of Nix’s mom. And Jaelyn after Georgie, her middle name. Without one woman forfeiting her life and the other sending the Sherlock to Madison’s aid, her life would’ve been drastically different. She’d have no twin bundles of joy or either man in her life.

“Of course, Jac is getting fussy. Her sister takes too long to nurse.” Madison accepted the three-month-old infant and turned her toward her breast. She made panting noises and bobbled her head until she latched onto Madison’s nipple. Gulping, her suckles were loud smacks and grunts as if she were half-starved. A long lecture in table etiquette was in her daughter’s foreseeable future.

In the year since she’d saved Nix from Hell, so much had changed. Micah and Zen worked in unison to locate Elias, but so far they’d only caught traces of him. Each time they sniffed out a trail, it went cold almost instantly. Micah still navigated Hell, torturing the angels that’d killed her, and she tried not to interfere or criticize his decision, but it was hard when they went against her scruples.

“A moral Queen of Hell.” The first time he’d said that, he’d sounded so offended, she’d almost apologized.

Nix took small trips with them on occasion. Kur always tagged along. One of her two men was always with her, along with a dozen dragons. Zen went off alone for long periods of time to converse with old acquaintances. He said to try and isolate any future attempt against their lives. She worried he felt like the third wheel—or the fourth—
whatever
! Being her go-to guy for deep talks, she missed him terribly…not that he wasn’t nearby mentally, but that wasn’t the same as being in his presence.

Let Zen or Amos enter a room and the girls would go crazy to get their attention. Neither of them had to work too hard. Those two doted on them as much as her guys did.

Her son’s magic astounded her. The things her child was capable of frightened her. But he had a good head on his shoulders and handled his power with ease and like an adult. She’d discovered she possessed the ability to freeze time. Everyone within that frozen bubble couldn’t move, but she could. That would’ve been a good one to know she had
before
the angels attacked, but she’d survived. That was what mattered. And had grown stronger because of it. Without those angels killing her, she would’ve missed out on having Micah in her life.

With a mixture of Lynx demon and Ark of Heaven, she wondered what mojo the twins would have. Would they be a bigger threat than her son? They had the angels scared and that said a lot.

“We need to lure cherub to the naughty side, hellion.” Micah walked the bedroom, patting Jaelyn’s diapered bottom. “Plot out our game plan now so in a year, she won’t stand a chance of resisting us.”

“Micah, you’re incorrigible.”

“You love me for it, kitten.”

She chuckled. Good golly, yes, she loved the man.

Madison had withstood many life lessons over her thirty-one years, but none as life-altering as the ones she’d learned in the last twelve months. Evil was complicated and there were varying shades of black. All had the capacity for wickedness, even those believed to be moral. Those alleged to be irredeemable could be saved. The one man she’d assumed to be her biggest mistake had become one of her chief saviors. And life as a demon had its benefits. For starters, she could better protect her children. Sex wasn’t just spectacular, but fun with her men. Her demon King could be playful and her Ark of Heaven could be scary. The most revealing life lesson…life was perfect when she followed her heart, even if it went against society’s norm.

Nix knelt beside her chair. Their daughter clutched his index finger. “Have I told you I love you lately, baby?”

Madison touched her soul that he wore about his neck. Both her men wore a piece of her spirit. They’d had a ceremony that Zen presided over, and the guys had given her rings crafted from angel dust and dragon scales as a show of their fidelity to her.

“Maybe you can show me later how much you love me, Nix.” She dragged her finger up his throat to trace his scruffy jaw. She loved the way his bristle chafed her private areas. “Have I told you lately how sexy you are holding our daughter?”

“Later, huh? You’re a glutton.” He kissed her knuckle. “And you know our daughters have me wrapped around their pinkies.”

True on all accounts.

It was a good thing she couldn’t get fat off of sex, seraph, or messian, because she’d be horribly obese. “It’s been a whole day since we had sex. That’s much too long to wait. Unless you’d prefer I have Micah fulfill my needs.”

“Oh, I
will
be there to play whether or not Phoenix is.
Guarantee
it, kitten.”

She turned a triumphant grin on Nix. They’d had their moments over the last year where it’d been touch-and-go with their relationship. Some days Micah pushed Nix’s buttons so hard, Nix would have a go at him. The King’s belief that only losers apologized failed to help any situation. They’d managed to work out the problems and grown stronger because of them.