“Damn, this place is huge,” I muttered.
Like Osiris’ palace in the Duat. I had no clue which direction to go and was running out of time. I stayed with Alaric, knowing the king of maps would know his way back to the dining hall. In the end, my stomach got the better of me, forcing me to hunch over a potted plant, emptying my stomach.
“Angel, what’s wrong?” Alaric swept my hair off my back and held it out of my face, his circles on my back soothing the cramping and lowering the sweltering heat.
I stretched to full height, wiping my forehead. “It’s just a tummy bug. I gave myself a healing today, but it obviously didn’t get all of it. Bugs proliferate like crazy.”
Fuck, I hated lying to him. He deserved to know. They all did. I couldn’t hide this forever. Telling them would make them lose focus, and we needed Colton dead so we could move on to the next stage of our lives together. Out of all my men, my vigilant hawk was the likeliest to notice first, and I couldn’t afford to gain his suspicions again.
Alaric stroked my face. “Something’s wrong if your magick’s not working.”
Damn straight. Nothing got past my vigilant hawk. I had to throw him off the scent for a few weeks at most. I couldn’t risk Slade’s emotions getting the better of him. Of him making a mistake that cost him or the rest of us our lives.
“I’m anxious about tonight.” I cupped his face, using all my power despite the weakness I felt from vomiting to stamp down on the secret I kept. “About the outcome with Colton.”
Partial truth. My chest stung with the poison of my lies. Fuck, I was every bit the cunning goddess Castor said I was.
“We all are.” Alaric’s thumb lightly grazed my cheek, allaying my fears that I wasn’t the only one worried. “I want you to see a doctor.”
My breath wedged in my throat. He knew something was up. Something I couldn’t fix with magick.
“I’ll make an appointment to see Doc Shriver this week.” Get blood tests to confirm what I already knew.
Alaric dragged me into his arms, leaning his back on the marble walls, holding me tightly, kissing the top of my head. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“No!” I said too quickly, my nails digging into him. “We need to make this alliance to kill Colton. I have to be here in case Slade causes trouble and Hades injures him. In case my mates need healing.”
“Okay.” Alaric soothed my growing worry with light brushes of my belly.
I tensed, hoping his god’s eye didn’t peer into me and see the secret I held. The source of my scent change. What grew inside me. Months ago, I promised Slade I wouldn’t hide anything from him. I hated myself for concealing my new scent with perfume. For making excuses for my elevated hormone levels stirring nausea.
Desperate to hide my secret just for a little longer until the time was right to tell my men, I pushed off Alaric’s body and his arms released me. “C’mon. We need to get back.”
His hand snaked around my back to clasp my hip. “The moment you feel ill again, I’m taking you home.”
Feeling weak and unwell, I let him guide me back to the dining hall, while I applied more magick to settle my stomach.
Autumn excused herself from her chat with Zethan to come to my side and check on me. “Everything okay?”
I flushed red, hopelessly failing to act serene in front of my mates. Alaric was attentive and observant, and I sweated, uneasy that he’d out me or that Zethan would catch on.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “I was anxious about tonight and threw up in one of your potted plants.”
Autumn rubbed my arm, wearing a knowing look that I hoped didn’t give me away to Alaric. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have one of the servants clean it up later.”
“Thank you.” I flashed a smile I didn’t feel.
More food platters arrived, carried effortlessly by servants, and I moved to the table. Wary of the scent that triggered my stomach, I bent to inhale the scented candles, hoping the aroma staved off another episode. Salted caramel. An okay smell that didn’t tip me over.
Hades tapped a knife on his goblet to get our attention. “Dinner is served.”
Everyone amassed by the table except Locke, one of her men, and Autumn, who handed off their babies to the palace staff, who set them in highchairs for feeding.
Damn. I wished I had servants to help get Mia ready in the morning. Cook, clean, and do laundry. Hell, drive me around while I lounged by the pool. Sigh. I shouldn’t be so flippant. Autumn and Hades worked hard daily to judge souls.
Slade held out a chair, giving me a signal to sit beside him. His hand came to my thigh as he settled next to me. “Everything okay, sugar?” He brushed sweaty hair from my cheek. “You look a little pale.”
Fuck, he noticed too.My heart stung with the lie I prepared to deliver.
