The Survivor (Book 2)

Chapter 27

When we finally left the room, I showed Zack off like he was a new outfit. We walked hand-in-hand around Aragon, and avoided Eros at all costs. Taylor had Iris, though, and we were not going to go anywhere without visiting her.

She was hesitant around Zack at first, but eventually she was giggling and smiling and kissing him like she did everyone else. She called him Tack, and I cracked up at that.

“She must think you’re tacky,” Taylor smirked at his brother. “My baby’s never wrong, are you princess?”

“No,” she reached for me. “T!”

I took her from Zack, laughing when she giggled at me. “How was your nap?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Purple Daddy?”

I looked at Taylor, “Where’s Eros?”

“I don’t know, but I’m kinda glad he’s not here. He’d hate to see Zack holding her,” Taylor sighed. “Could you make up with him? It’s an inconvenience for us all that you’re fighting.”

“Wing Daddy!” Iris reached for Taylor and patted her stomach. “Yum!”

“Say no more, princess,” Taylor kissed her forehead. “I gotta go feed her. Don’t get into trouble.”

“I make no promises,” Zack squeezed an arm around my waist before kissing my cheek. Taylor hurried Iris off to the castle as she continuously poked her stomach. “All right, we need kids, like, yesterday.”

“Got it,” I chuckled. “It might be a while, so what should we do until then?” I smiled. “Oh! We could go bother Gen and Phoenix! That’s one of my favorite games to play.”

“Gen and Phoenix are together again?” Zack frowned.

“Soulmates,” I shrugged. “Which is hilarious because neither of them have souls.” Zack nodded. “I know about your whole situation with them.”

“Oh,” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t get cheated on,” I chuckled. “Don’t apologize to me. But they are totally adorable.”

“That’s good,” Zack smiled. “They deserve that after I happened to them.”

I sighed, “You don’t just happen to people. That’s like saying I just happen to people.”

“You don’t; I do,” he kissed my temple. We found Gen and Phoenix, and they were under the same tree they were when I first saw them after the evacuation. They were still kissing just as passionately as before.

They didn’t notice us–they’re always so oblivious–and I clapped my hands together next to their heads. They screamed loudly, like they always do, and groaned at me.

Phoenix crawled out of Gen’s lap, sitting beside the sweet demon. “Hey! Look who finally decided to show up,” the demon smirked at Zack and chewed on his lip ring. I always forgot he had it since he took it out during most of the war.

“Be nice,” I scolded the demon. He frowned at me. “He’s better now, and he already knows he’s a dick for leaving.”

We sat down across from the couple, and Zack picked at the grass like Iris did. Gen hugged my Empathizer tightly, whispering something to him before rejoining his demon’s side.

“What do we do about the chemicals in Heaven?” Phoenix asked. “And the humans–duh. They’re already up our ass about getting the cure, and if they find out we can’t even be in Heaven right now, they’re going to flip shit.”

“If they declare war, we’ll put it out,” Zack said with a nod. “Not much of a choice that we’ve got. We can’t let them control us, and it wasn’t truly our fault to begin with. That’s just the hand they were dealt.”