“I’m keeping the baby.”
My mouth drops open into the widest smile, but she raises her hand in the air so as to prevent me from speaking.
“Because this is as muchmyheir as it is yours. And, well”—she lifts her eyes to the sky, as if recalling a certain memory, a hint of a grin back on her lips—“why delay fate?”
“My beloved, my divine fated perfection,” I utter in awe.
I place my hands over my heart as I drop to my knees. The joy at her words makes me feel light and buoyant, like I could takeflight. Instead, I crawl on my knees up to her chair and bring her hand to my lips.
I peer expectantly into her eyes. “Does this mean?—”
“I have not yet forgiven you, Gemini,” she says very seriously. “But …” Her shy grin reappears, clearer this time. “Yes … we can try to fix what you’ve broken.”
Her words sting, but I nod profusely, willing to agree to anything as long as it means she’s giving me a second chance.
“I’m moving in,” I blurt out.
“What?” she says with surprise. “No, Gemini?—”
“Do you think I’ll have the mother of my child livealone?” I say a little too harshly, her hand still in my firm grip. “I might be a fool, but I am notthatkind of fool.”
She narrows her eyes in suspicion. “This ismyhouse,” she says, and I can’t tell if this is her way of agreeing.
“I am but a humble guest in the Vulturine neighborhood,” I respond as a way to further soothe her apprehensions.
Silence settles between us, and I focus on the faint bird chirping somewhere in the tree above us as Veil stares at our clasped hands, appearing to think.
“You can take the guest room,” she finally says.
Frustration shoots up my body, but I nod solemnly, vowing to find my way back into her bed as quickly as I can.
45
VEIL
Gemini took no time to move in, reappearing a few hours after our talk with half a dozen suitcases and a satin pillow under his arm. That very night, he slept in the guest room, only a few doors down from my room.
Regrettably, it took me having him so close yet so far to realize that maybe the reason for my recent bout of insomnia had something to do with not sharing a bed with Gemini every night. It only made the entire situationthatmuch more irritating.
I refuse to crack so easily, even keeping our physical touches at a minimum, which has proven much more difficult when he is determined to walk around naked most of the time.
Aside from his obvious provocation, Gemini has been surprisingly docile in the week since he moved in, respecting my physicalandemotional distance.
But that was never the problem, was it?
It’s the things he did behind my back that did the most damage. Like broken pieces of glass, I can still see the cracks after carefully placing them back together. The glass might stillfit, a memory of once was, but they are still two separate pieces now.
My foot wobbles, and I break out of my pose, cursing under my breath. I bring my hands to my hips and walk in a small circle, head slightly falling forward as I try to catch my breath. I’ve been practicing a new routine for my next act at Animus, but my focus isn’t as steadfast as I want it to be.
“Sore?” Gemini asks from the same corner he always sits in when he accompanies me to the circus.
His attention is trained on a book in his lap, but I can tell he’s been carefully watching me this whole time.
I purposely started coming to my practices without him. A small defiance I craved, and admittedly, a part of me wanted to hurt his feelings. After a week of pitiful eyes and morose silence, I finally let him come.
“I’m just … distracted,” I answer, puffing a sweaty strand of hair out of my eyes.
“You shouldn’t push yourself, my beloved; it’s not good for the baby,” he says.
