Page 30 of The Arcane God

Greya looked up, meeting eyes with Steig again, whose face was haunted by what they had just learned.

“We need to help them,” Steig said passionately. “We can’t leave them alone out there.”

“What do you expect us to do? Wander aimlessly around the Chasm Mountains until we find them? Risk more lives in the process?” Greya asked. She hated to be the logical one—the practical one—but it was the truth. She had no idea how to get to them, or even what she could do when she got there.

“Fuck!” Steig said, turning to slam his fist down onto one of the wooden shelves on the side of the pantry. “I don’t believe it. There’s no way Ty is gone. That fucker is indestructible. It’s not possible. I refuse to believe it.” Steig’s voice was choked, rough with rage and sadness and worry.

“Reject it if you will, but I’m more concerned than ever now. Because I need to make sure my sister and her baby are safe when they return here. That’s my duty now. Are you going to help me with that? Or should I remove you as an impediment with my Gift?”

Greya knew she was being harsh, but after all they had just learned, and everything the Coven had been through, she had no more sympathy left. She needed to protect her people.

Steig went silent as he swallowed her words. “So it’s true what she said? She is having Ty’s baby? You left that little detail out before.”

Greya would have felt guilty, but she had just been protecting her sister after all. The cat was out of the bag now, and she nodded in confirmation.

“Ty was supposed to be king,” Steig said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Without him…I have no idea what the future of the Underworld looks like. But…” He stared up at her, his dark eyes menacing, and she Knew he meant what he was saying. “Cole is responsible for all of this. For pushing Ty out, for escalating the conflict between witches and daemons, for separating me from my family. I have no doubt that is part of why Ty and Ena fled—to protect their baby from him. He has to go. So yes, I will help you. Whatever way I can.”

Greya hadn’t realized Ty was supposed to be king after Cole, and she, like Steig, had no idea where that left the Underworld, or the Covens, but a small flicker of hope stirred in her, knowing she had a new ally.

“Good,” Greya said, the corner of her mouth tilting up in a devious smile. “Then you can be my spy.”

Chapter Twelve

Ena

Ena and Turner continued on, leaving the disastrous river, and all of Ena’s heart, behind them. It stormed on and off over the next two weeks, causing them to take shelter repeatedly from the onslaught of snow, but they made progress nonetheless, putting one foot in front of the other, just like Greya had told her.

Blessedly, Ty’s horse and all his supplies were still with them, which meant they had more food to share between them, because without Ty’s venator, they’d had little luck trapping small game. Still, Ena knew they would run out eventually. It was only a matter of time. What would they do then?

And would it even matter?

She knew that was a dark thought, but it felt like she was living in a daze—sleeping, eating, riding, sleeping…going through the motions, but she wasn’t all there. She was doing what she had to, but part of her was still in disbelief about it all. And anytime she thought about him…she felt a hole of dark grief grow inside her that was so gapingly large it threatened to swallow her whole. Sometimes she wanted to let it.

One morning, as she awoke in their significantly worse-for-wear tent, she rolled over instinctively to snuggle into Ty’s warmth, only to be met with a cold emptiness beside her. At first, she felt disoriented, only to remember all over again where she was and what had happened. The weight of it hit her anew like a boulder to her chest. She closed her eyes tight, not wanting any tears to fall. She’d cried enough and she just wanted a break from it—a break from the overwhelming sadness.

She smooshed her face down into the rough wool blanket to stifle them, only to be met with Ty’s scent. She hadn’t noticed before, hadn’t gone looking for it, but the blanket still smelled slightly like him.

She inhaled deeply, the honey, cedar, and stone scent filling her with a fleeting sense of safety that she relished. She knew it was pathetic, but she couldn’t help it.

After getting her fill, she rolled back onto her back, her growing uterus feeling a bit strange in this position as it weighed down on her spine.

Then, out of nowhere, she felt a tiny flutter in her lower abdomen, barely noticeable at all, really.

Was that…what she thought it was?

She waited patiently, almost holding her breath, to see if it would happen again, keeping herself as still as possible, and then—

The tiny flutter came again, more distinct this time. Like something squirming around, just for a second.

Oh, Gaia. Unbidden, a smile crossed her face—her first one in weeks, she realized, and just as quickly, tears filled her eyes, as her heart both swelled and cracked at the same time.

It was real. The baby was real. It was here, inside her, growing into a tiny person. The thought baffled her, like some sort of magic she knew not of. She’d known she was pregnant, of course. Her stomach had already grown to the point it was harder to fit in her trousers, and her symptoms were all consistent with pregnancy—aside from the strange bloodlust. But this…this was the first sign of life. Of a person in there. Of her future.

Ena placed her hands on her lower abdomen, waiting to feel it again, when she felt Turner stir beside her.

He rolled over grumpily, as was his way in the morning, and cracked his eye open to look at her warily. “What are you doing?” he asked sullenly.

“I just felt the baby move,” she whispered, though why she felt the need to speak quietly, she couldn’t say.