Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

"Why are you laughing at me???" She cried.

She had just lost her precious Avgo and now felt no more special than before when she had no Avgo. It had become such a huge part of her that she felt as if she had suddenly lost something so precious!

"I lost my Avgo." She whispered. She could not believe that she could feel the loss so heavily. It was a huge loss that made her feel bereft!

The men eased their laughing fit as they realized she truly was grieving the loss.

Jason stood up and came to her. Reaching out for her, he gently held her in his arms.

"Darling. I made a special Avgo replica for you because I knew that this one would soon be gone. You still have that at least, to look at."

She nodded and rested her head on his broad shoulder. He was a jeweler of the finest caliber and she knew he had crafted it with great skill and love for her.

"I feel so lost without it though." She mumbled.

Without realizing it, the presence of the Avgo within her had grown on her, day by day, until it became a part of her.

For it to suddenly leave her, the hole that it left was huge, and it was heartbreaking.

"Without it, I'm not an Avgo Female any more. I'm just an ordinary Earth girl who will be sent back to Earth." She sobbed.

Suddenly, the brothers were all gathered around her, comforting her as best they could.

"What a silly duck. What would we do without you?"

"We love you, not the Avgo! Stop thinking such foolish thoughts."

"Darling, you're literally in my heart and that's where you'll stay."

"Don't even think that because you will be so wrong!"

"Hush My Love. I will always need and want you."

"With all my heart and soul, I love you Candace."

"This changes nothing, Baby Girl. I still love you the same as five minutes ago. Maybe even more so now."

Their voices were a jumble, and she couldn't tell who said what. It made her heart feel overwhelmed with love.

"I broke the Avgo." She sobbed again.

"Haha." Byron laughed. "You didn't break anything. The Avgo splintered into seven pieces because there were seven of us."

"Yes." Leonardo rubbed her head. "We each got a sliver shot into our hearts. It's safe with us for now."

"I don't understand why though." She turned confused eyes at Leonardo.

Dante grinned. "I think I can explain this one."

He reached out and caressed her face.

"Darling, when a man gives you his body's seminal fluid, it leaves his body and is deposited for safe keeping within your body. How we get that part of our body back is for you to deliver a newborn into our hands. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I understand the biology of procreation but what does that have to do with the Avgo?"

Slate smiled. "Do you remember the question you asked it?"

Candi blinked for a few seconds. What exactly did she ask?

Leonardo laughed. "If I remember correctly, she said something along the lines of 'What is the next step?' and 'Show me your purpose."

"Yes." Slate tapped her nose. "The next step after identifying the Avgo Female is to do what?" He looked at her expectantly.

Candi shook her head, feeling extremely dense.

Slate smiled. "After identifying the Female Avgo, the gemstone must now identify the most appropriate male to become the mate for the Avgo Female!"

"But it splintered into seven pieces!"

"That's correct." He nodded. "It usually chooses the male that the Female Avgo chooses because it truly is YOUR CHOICE of mate. But in your case, you left it up to the Avgo to do the choosing!"

Candi gasped. Lord have mercy!!!

"And the Avgo chose all of us! Hahaha!" Lucas laughed as feelings of joy flow through him in waves of elation.

She frowned. "Are you sure it's not just picking seven random males and…"

"No, no darling." Lucas waved a hand in protest. "There were male servers all around us, pouring wine, serving food, delivering pies and cakes. It was a very deliberate and intelligent thing that the Avgo did."

"How did it know exactly which males then, between you brothers and the rest of the servers?"

"My best guess is that it can read the emotional rhythm of the heart." Leonardo chimed in.

"Remember, this is an egg. That means it will eventually be born. It is looking for the best mother and father possible so that its chances of survival will be maximized."

"Aaaaaahhh. I see." She looked at each of them. "Were all of you born from Avgo mothers?"

Jason shook his head. "Not all of us, no. Let me see if I can identify them all."

His eyes narrowed as he gathered his thoughts.

"The last time the Avgo came around, the Primary Avgo Female was Empress Anastasia who had the blue sapphire Avgo. That resulted in Dante."

Jared nodded. "Yes, and the second runner up was Clarissa with the red ruby Avgo gemstone. She gave birth to Poppy."

"Third runner up was our mother," Lucas said. "She had the yellow topaz Avgo gemstone. I was born before Leonardo, but it seems as if the Avgo saved all the brains so that it went to him. Hahaha." He laughed not unkindly.

Jared nodded. "I know our mother was not an Avgo female, so we were not gifted with any Avgo super powers, but I'm not sure about Slate's mother."

"My mother was also an Avgo Female," Slate confirmed. "She held the purple amethyst Avgo gemstone. Unfortunately, she met with an accident and had to drop out early in the Avgo process."

Slate turned to Jared. "Don't sell yourselves short. The two of you, as well as Byron, are the best of the best in what you chose to do. I don't think you missed out on anything."

"So four of you were from Avgo females and three of you were not." She murmured.

They nodded. Although Clarissa and Marissa had identical genes, only Clarissa was an Avgo Female, and of course, Byron was Marissa's offspring.

"So this must mean that the Avgo chose the male based upon something else, and not whether his mother was an Avgo Female or not." She mulled.

"Correct." Dante nodded. "It looked around the room and found the men who loved you the most, and it split itself so that it could take advantage of that love so that the resulting child could benefit."

"This little pink Avgo chose all seven of us for one simple reason." Byron smiled with tenderness. "We all love its mother to the core of our beings, and the Avgo couldn't choose just one."

Candi sniffed, and suddenly tears began to stream from her eyes. She was surrounded by love, and it had been verified by the Avgo itself.

They stood there with her for a bit longer so she could recover from her tears.

Then they took her to the Star Viewing lounge where they sat her on a large C shaped sofa in front of the huge window that showed an infinite deep field of brilliant stars.

And there they sat with her, the eight of them just sitting there together, watching the kaleidoscope of stars and not saying much.

[END OF BOOK ONE]