“Here. Give me the baby and go speak to them,” Viève said, holding her hands out. He gave her a dubious look.

“Have you ever handled a child?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Well, no. They wouldn’t let me touch the babies in the house.”

“All right, I will show you,” he said, gently handing her the baby and showing her how to support its head in the crook of her arm. She cradled the baby to her breast and the warmest sensation slipped through her. She had never thought to ever hold a child. Would she hold one of her own? she wondered. It would most likely be a half-breed like her—even more diluted than she was. But, she realized, that wouldn’t matter in a place like this. Here where everyone was accepted. She could easily raise a child here. And she wouldn’t have to do it alone. There would be any number of people to help.

But there was a lot that had to happen between here and there, and thinking of children with a threat like Apep around was not a good thing. But it was nice to dream all the same. She had never been much of a dreamer, her world based in a very hard reality, but now she had the freedom to hope and dream and it was a good feeling. She’d been having a lot of good feelings since coming there.

For now, she basked in the warmth of the child. Kamen seemed reluctant to part from her at first, and she didn’t know why. Perhaps he did not trust her?

“I’ll be fine. I won’t hurt the baby,” she said in a whisper.

“I am more worried about the baby hurting you,” he said.

“She’s just a baby,” she said with surprise.

“She’s part of a malicious god.”

“She’s innocent of that for now. And here we give people the benefit of the doubt, remember?”

He sighed and nodded. “I’m going to talk to Jackson before I gather the components of my spell. He will have to coordinate troops from all of the Nightwalker races and get them to converge at the same place at the same time, which is no small undertaking. But we need to strike now. We needed to strike yesterday when the god was still weak.”

“And do what? Kill him with a baby inside of him? No, we couldn’t do that.”

Kamen frowned. “Better one life than hundreds.”

“That is a very cold way of thinking,” Viève said, matching his frown.

“But it is a practical way of thinking. Do you disagree with me? One life versus hundreds?”

“No. I don’t disagree,” she said quietly. “Anyway it’s a moot point now.”

“Indeed it is. Go. Sit down. This house has grown so big inside that I fear it will take some time for me to find Jackson and then our rooms again.”

Kamen walked away, leaving her alone with the baby. Viève walked into the living room where Faith had gone to have her phone conversation.

“I love you too,” she said into the phone, then she hung up and stuffed the device in her back pocket. She looked up at Viève. “He’s on his way. He’s not far from here. He should be here in a few hours.”

“Would you like to hold your niece?” Viève asked, holding the baby out to her. Faith hesitated, but then she took the child in her arms. She cuddled her close, cooing at the child when she fussed.

“She must be starved.”

“I’ll go find someone to go to the market. Maybe Kane. The Mind Demon that can teleport. Walmart should still be open at this hour.”

“All right. We’ll need formula, bottles, diapers, wipes…the whole shebang. She doesn’t even have a diaper on,” Faith said after a quick check. “She’s barely been cleaned off. We’ll need something to bathe her in and some infant soap. Powder…clothes. Oh my gods, we need it all.”

“I’ll go with him. Together we should be able to get everything relatively quickly.” Viève brushed a thumb over the baby’s cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

Viève went in search of Kane.

Chapter 21

Dax arrived about three hours later. They were having a gathering outside in front of the main house, each race reporting in about the readiness of their people to join in an attack against Apep and the Templars. According to the Templar defector, Apep had been gathering human magic users as well. Necromancers, as the First Faction called them. Like a cult they had gravitated to him, having Templars teach them in the ways of magic. The Demons were used to dealing with these people. Magic corrupted humans, even making them smell like garbage to a Nightwalker nose.

They could only hope that the necromancers didn’t have any Demons on their side. Necromancers had spells that could “summon” a Demon if they knew the Demon’s power name. Then they could bring that Demon’s power to bear against his compatriots. A Demon that was summoned could not be recovered or cured. Once it was corrupted it remained so until the Enforcers, Bella and Jacob, destroyed it. It was a waste of life and a tragic loss. It also meant that they could end up fighting against any of the elements, except Fire. There were only three Fire Demons in existence and all were accounted for. The Demon King Noah being the most powerful Fire Demon alive.

And Noah was on his way there.

Dax flew on electric red wings and lowered himself to the ground. He was an imposing figure, broad in the shoulders and narrow in the waist. Muscle defined every inch of his naked body.

“I never realized so many Nightwalkers eschewed clothes,” Viève whispered to Kamen.

“As far as I know it’s only the Phoenixes and the Night Angels,” he replied.

Jackson stepped forward to greet Dax, but Dax’s attention went straight to his sister, who was holding a fed, cleaned, clothed, and diapered infant in her arms. She held the child out to her brother.

For a moment it looked as though Dax was going to shun the child. There was definite emotion working its way through his tense body. But then Dax held out his arms and Faith gently laid the baby in them.

“She doesn’t have a name,” Faith said quietly.

“I will give her one,” Dax said, his deep voice rolling over them. Then he held up the child for all to see. “This is the daughter of Dax. She is destined for great things.”

It was clearly a ceremonial act, something from the Night Angel culture. A show of acceptance and responsibility for the child. There was no telling what the future held for the child, no telling who and what she would become, but that was true of any child. What was clear was that she would need guidance. She would need strength. Dax would be exactly the one to give her both. He was a powerful and important Night Angel. He stood high in his father’s house—his father being the ruling Night Angel of the North American continent.