Lover's Wrath: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (An Angel and Her Demons Book 3) Lacey Andersen (open ebook txt) 📖

“But it was all worth it.”

The woman laughed. “Well, it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Her gaze slid over the chaos again. Is this really what being a parent is all about?

The little girl rose from her seat and carried a picture to her mom. “I drew our family.”

The mom knelt down and swooned over the messy drawing. Which pretty much made Surcy’s heart melt.

And then the girl pointed out some of the people tucked away in the field. “And those are the bad men.”

Her mom stiffened. “Sunshine, we’ve talked about this…”

“They bring death and destruction everywhere they go.” The girl’s voice held absolute certainty.

The boy rose from his seat and moved to the window. A little potted plant was brown and bent in the shadows of the windowsill. He grabbed the pot and looked at Surcy, holding her gaze. She frowned as he touched the little leaf very deliberately, and suddenly, the plant rose tall and green.

Whoa!

“Forest!” His mother’s voice sounded panicked.

The woman hurried over and plucked the plant out of his hand, setting it on the windowsill. The boy didn’t look the least bit concerned. Instead, he was watching Surcy closely. His mother? She whirled on Surcy, pulling the boy closer, panic in her gaze.

Just calm her down. “Uh, sorry, what did you guys say? I was kind of lost in my own thoughts.”

The mother’s shoulders relaxed. “It’s just… Forest and his sister are special. And, it’s hard to parent children who are… unique.”

Surcy nodded. “I can’t even imagine.”

“And the bad men make sure nothing gets better around here,” the girl said.

Her mother started to say something, but Surcy cut her off. “Who are the bad men?”

“The farmers daddy hired,” she explained. “They’re here to hurt us.”

Beth laughed awkwardly. “Kids have such wild imaginations.”

Fuck it.

“Actually, I think she’s right.”

The mom froze. “Wh—what do you mean?”

Just do it!

“The men I came here with… we’re not here about a car. We’re here because all of you are in danger. Your husband is special. Powerful. And apparently, your kids have some of his powers too.”

“No,” Beth interrupted. “He isn’t like them.”

“He is. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Silence enveloped them.

“We’re here to take you all someplace safe. Some place they can’t hurt you.”

The woman shook her head. “This is our home.”

“I don’t know why Caine hasn’t ordered them to kill all of you yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

The woman pulled her children closer. “I don’t know who you are, but I think you need to go.”

“She’s telling the truth,” the boy said. “Caine probably wanted to see if Sunshine and I had powers too, which is why we’ve been so careful around them. But now that the demons have come, the angels won’t risk losing us.”

The mom looked pale. “Honey, who is Caine?"

He glanced up slowly. “He’s the man who kills daddy over and over again.”

She looked like she was going to be sick. “And the demons?”

“The men she came with,” he said, pointing to Surcy.

“Stop,” the mother said. “None of this can be true.”

Surcy rose slowly. “My men and your husband are going to reach the road any minute, and once they do, there’s going to be a fight. The angels they left behind, the bad men, they’re going to attack us.”

“Mommy, I know you’re scared, but you don’t need to be,” Sunshine told her mom.

Surcy moved closer. She needed to take their hands. She needed to teleport them free.

The mother took a step back, clinging to her children.

And then, the door was kicked down, the sound like lightning cracking through the silence. The mom looked to the door. The white-winged angels held out their flaming blue soul-blades.

Surcy leapt forward, grabbed the kids, and willed herself to teleport them all away. She heard the sound of a sword whizzing past, and then someone screaming, before the sound was torn away. Teleporting was harder with so many people, and she was working to erase their teleportation path at the same time. By the time they appeared near the road, she was breathing hard.

“Mom?” The little boy’s voice came soft and scared.

Surcy turned… the mom had a soul-blade pierced through her chest. The children held onto each of her arms as she sagged between them. Surcy knelt down, heart racing. What could she do?

And then, the soul-blade vanished and blood poured from her wound.

“We need to—need to.” But the words wouldn’t leave her lips.

What can I do?

And then, she had an idea. It might not save the woman, but it would give her a chance.

“Can you stay here?” she asked the children.

The woman’s eyes were closed, and her skin was pale, but her chest rose and fell.

“Why?” the girl asked, her voice shaking.

“I’m going to take your mom to get help.”

The girl nodded and took her brother’s hand. Surcy pulled the mother into her arms, looked back at the two frightened children one more time, and teleported away.

She appeared in the middle of the hospital in their town. It was a place she’d been a few times before and could remember well enough to reach.

A nurse glanced up from behind a desk, and her eyes widened.

“She was stabbed!”

Instantly, the nurse grabbed a bed and wheeled it closer. Surcy laid the woman down, staring at her face, praying that the mother would live.

The nurse shouted for a doctor.

With regret swimming in her stomach, Surcy teleported away.

Materializing back by the side of the road, Survey opened her mouth to tell the children the next step, but they were gone. On the ground? She spotted white feathers.

6

Surcy ran down the road, searching for any sign of the children. When she spotted people up ahead, hope blossomed in her heart, but it was only Daniel and Tristan with the farmer.

As she drew closer, she saw four angels dead at their feet. Daniel’s arm bled, but Tristan