“What about the Church?” Jonas asked, his aura Dark with anger. “No one’s addressed that yet. I told you Remir said the Church —”
“Remir?” I welcomed any information I could find about the Djinn.
Jonas clenched his jaw. “Dead, torn apart by demons. But before he died, he mentioned the Church when he warned me about Ravyn’s pending death.”
I found myself pitying the departed Djinn and frowned, not liking this sudden welling of emotion for everyone and everything. Bad enough, I loved Arim. Did I have to start feeling gladness and sorrow for everyone I knew as well?
A glance at Arim showed his gaze centered on Jonas. He demanded that Jonas recount what had happened to Remir and swore when Jonas finished. “By the Light, I hope what I’m suspecting is wrong. We can’t afford to trust anyone but ourselves anymore. Jonas, you’re in charge of the Sarqua Djinn. Alandra, the Aellei are yours. Both of you focus on your people and ferret out any possible traitors. Pray to the Dark you find them before I do.”
His eyes blazed, power welling in the inky orbs, and I couldn’t focus on anything but his magic. Damn, my lover was hot when riled.
His nephews nodded with satisfaction. I could see their relief that their uncle had returned to normal…or so it appeared. I still wasn’t sure what had happened when I’d brought Arim back from the brink of death, or how Sava seemed to know what to do to save him.
“If you need me, call out.” Arim tapped his head. “Darius and Aerolus, I’m open to you. But if you can no longer feel me, it’s because I’ve cut myself off.”
“Why?” Marcus asked.
“Because he’ll be hip-deep in battling a Dark Lord,” Aerolus answered. What normally passed for a smile flitted over his lips. “Not the one by his side, but the other one we don’t favor so much.”
“You’re not really going up against him by yourselves?” Darius asked.
I had wondered how long it would take the most stubborn of the princes to come to his senses and object. Not that I didn’t agree. If Arim thought he was going to confront Sin Garu with only Sava by his side, he was looking to get his ass handed to him — by me.
“You stupid —”
Arim placed a hand over my mouth and ignored the ice frosting his fingers. “Later. We’ll talk about it and other things later. Give me a minute, Blue.” He left my side to confer with his nephews.
Which left Jonas and Sava ample time to corner me while the affai shared their joy with one another.
“Are you going to tell him?” Sava asked.
“Tell who what?” Jonas stared between us, talking in the same hushed tone.
I snarled as much as I could while whispering, “Sava, shut up. I’ll deal with this in my own way.”
“She needs to tell Arim she’s carrying his children,” he explained to Jonas.
Children? Wait. What?
“Holy shit.” Jonas looked flummoxed, and I hurriedly shushed him. “So what are you having? Little shadows? Will half the kids be Storm Lords and the other half Dark Lords? That’ll be fun.” He pretended to hang from a noose. “How many are you expecting?”
“Shut. Up.” I ran my hands through my hair in agitation. I so did not need this right now. “Ravyn was muttering a lot of nonsense. I think the Next addled her brain.”
Sava kept grinning.
“I don’t remember Ravyn saying anything.” Jonas stared from Sava to me and back again, awaiting an explanation.
Sava happily answered, “While the rest of you were frozen by our touchy little Dark Lord, Ravyn showed up to congratulate the affai on their pending bundles of joy. She included Lexa as well.” He turned to me. “I distinctly recall she looked at you and mentioned ‘children.’”
“But that doesn’t mean I’m pregnant now.” I immediately lowered my voice when Arim’s head jerked up, and his startled gaze met mine. I hunched down so Sava blocked his view. “She likely meant an early congrats for the children I’ll have later. As in, one at a time a few years down the road…if we survive this war, that is.”
“Hmm, maybe.” Sava didn’t look convinced. “Still, you should level with Arim. If it were my aeva, I wouldn’t want her anywhere near Sin Garu with a babe in her belly.”
“True.” Jonas crossed his arms over his chest. “Think of the child.” He glanced at Sava, then grinned back at me. “Sorry, children.”
“You two are a royal pain in the ass, you know that?” I snapped. “And not one crack about you being a king, Sava.” The Aellei opened his mouth and closed it without a word, his lips curled. “I don’t feel a life inside me, and I’m powerful enough to know the truth. Bottom line is that if Arim goes up against Sin Garu alone, in the state he’s in, he’ll die.”
“State?” Jonas glanced at Arim, who kept looking over at our little group while he spoke in a low voice to his nephews.
