“We sort of gathered that, too. But your confirmation just… solidifies that Alaric’svisionsor whatever, were accurate. I hate that piece of shit.”
We had also briefly shared what we’d read about Proserpina in that textbook Sydni found in the library, and it all came together like a puzzle.
“There is something else, something that… happened before I was taken.”
I run my fingers along her arm, staying quiet as I listen to the sounds of her body—the racing of her heart and the soft rise and fall of her breathing, steadily growing faster.
“I was…” I’ve never really heard or felt anxiety from her before, but now? It crawls over her like that black aura once did.
“Fuck, how do I say this? Why is this so hard…”
“Cause you aren’t used to talking to anyone.” Placing my hand to her cheek, I direct her gaze back to mine. I gently draw my thumb under her eye, giving her a smile. “Pretty sure it’s because you fear how I’ll react—just like with my gates matching yours.”
Her lips part slightly in the middle as she hesitates.
“I was pregnant.” My brows pull together, confused by the confession. Sinnix, bless her soul, I do hope she made it out alive, stated she had been and killed the baby.
When she swallows, her eyes close and she murmurs, “With your…our… baby.”
I don’t know if I say“huh”or think it, but as her shoulders begin to roll forward, I clear my throat. “I’m sorry, with me? When—Xera, I’m a Vampire, we don’t?—”
“It isn’t what you are that matters,” she cuts me off. “It’s who you are to me, that does.”
Her Mark. Oh shit…
“It must have been right after our first time. I’d never felt exhaustion like that before, especially after being as full as I was.” I remember—she slept the entire drive with Tyson to Eldritch, and half the drive back to Sidence with me.
Even beyond that, watching her over the course of the following month, she slept whenever she wasn’t at work. Didn’t try to do anything beyond her needed tasks. I chalked it up to her trying to live a Mundane life, to bore me, but now I don’t think that’s it. Even if that was her intention.
“Zade killed it,” she continues. “At least, I think so. I’ve come to learn that it doesn’t matter what happens to my life, I’m not what keeps it alive. It grows on its own, I’m just a host. All it needs to do is stay inside me, and I think that Zade unknowingly tore it out of me.”
I keep my thoughts in check, forcing my body to stay calm. There was a time when I wanted kids. It was a big reason I ended things with Elizabeth, to pave the way for that future. But now? That’s not the life I want, nor the one I thought I could have.
“You’d be a terrible mother.” My tone is delivered playfully. “Can’t cook, you’re barely keeping that cat alive, obsessed with a Vampire...” Ican’t read her expression, but I don’t stop. “I’d be a horrible father, too.”
Her eyes roll as she shakes her head.
“Don’t believe me? What’s that scenario everyone uses—if your wife and your kid were drowning, who would you choose to save? Everyone would go for the kid, except me. You’d always come first.”
When she turns her head away, I’m worriedshefeels differently. Does she?—
“I’m not your wife, bad analogy.”
“Not yet,” I counter quickly, and grab her face in my grasp, bringing her back to look at me. “Are you telling me this because you are upset you lost it?”
She quickly shakes her head. “No. If I had known, I’d have taken care of it myself.”
“Then what has you so… anxious? Did you think I’d be elated knowing we could have them? Mad that you lost it? Because the only thing I’m truly upset about is the prospect of wearing a condom. I…” A groan, one that is forced because I’m trying to be playful, falls from my lips. “I love feeling your pussy around my cock,oh-no.”
A rough swat meets my chest, and I release anoof. “Hey, I’m only kidding.”
I mockingly rub at the point of impact, looking up at her. The smile on her face is everything I never want to lose. Her pearly whites, now with double fangs on either side of her upper set, contrast sharply against her all-black, demon skin. I’d take her in this form, Mundane, or a mix—I’m fucking serious about it. I never want her tail to go away.
“No, you idiot. It isn’t any of that.” She pauses, as if lost in thought, before continuing, “Tali made it seem like I’d only be able to reproduce once with my Mark, since you aren’t an Incubus. I find it kind of ironic, really, considering Marks seem to be our most compatible partners. I’d have thought she was lying about it, but she kept making comments throughout… it all.”
I wasn’t joking about the condom thing, that actually terrifies me. I’ll give myself a vasectomy before fucking her if I have to, each and every time.
“What were the comments?”
