Page 91 of Be the Serpent

Simon nodded. “So I’ve heard.” He looked back to Sylvester, offering him a very shallow bow. “I can extend you as much time as you require. I’ve grown tired of being an only child. With September unavailable, I suppose that means you and I must eventually find a peace between us.”

“Given that the other option is our father finding a way to return from the grave and shake us, that seems very true,” said Sylvester. They both laughed. I had never heard them laugh together before.

It was a beautiful sound.

Tybalt’s hand settled on my shoulder.

“Delightful as this all is, if we’re done with the mopping-up and the aftermath of the latest disaster, I believe you promised to tell me something which is better said in private,” he said. “Is now acceptable?”

Sylvester looked puzzled. Simon smiled the small, secretive smile of a man who had already ridden my blood and knew far too many of the secrets it contained. Good thing this was the only thing I could think of that no one else was supposed to know yet.

“Now is lovely,” he said. “Please, don’t let us keep you any longer.”

“Appreciated,” I replied. “Sylvester, I’ll come by Shadowed Hills tomorrow afternoon, so I can catch you up—and yes, I’ll call first to make sure Luna doesn’t meet me at the door with a knife in her hand.”

He grimaced. “Much as I wish it weren’t necessary, I can’t fault the logic.”

“Okay. You have a way home?”

Sylvester looked surprised, then nodded. “I can call for Etienne if Queen Windermere is unable to loan me the Crown Prince,” he said. “I thought I would stay until my niece arrives. August is coming from Saltmist to take her father home.”

“Great.” Impulsively, I stepped over and hugged him, firmly, holding on until he brought his own arms up and hugged me back. I tucked my head up under his chin, briefly closing my eyes. “I missed you,” I said, voice low.

“I missed you, too,” he said.

I let go and stepped back, smiling at him as I went. His eyes were suspiciously bright. I didn’t say anything. I could feel the tears clinging to my own lower lashes, and if I said a word, we’d both wind up crying.

“All right,” I said, turning to Tybalt. “Get me out of here?”

“Without question,” he said, and pulled me with him into the shadows, which were dark and cold and airless, but still somehow warmer than they had been, and we were gone.

TWENTY-TWO

We stepped out of the shadows and into the dimly lit confines of our bedroom. I shook the ice from my hair and shot Tybalt an amused look.

“When I said to get me out of there, I assumed we’d wind up in the Court of Cats or something,” I said.

“Why in the world would you assume that when home was right here, waiting to serve as a perfectly lovely option?” he asked.

“You know, when you put it like that, I have no idea.” I smiled at him, offering my hands.

Raising his eyebrows, he took them. “Why am I concerned that whatever it is you’re about to say will be in some way distressing?”

“I genuinely hope it’s not going to be,” I said. “I mean, we’ve talked about it before.”

“We’ve discussed a great many things.” He eyed me warily. “Many of them involve knives, blood, and screaming.”

“I think two of those are likely to be involved, at least eventually.” I took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant.”

He frowned.

That wasn’t the response I’d wanted. I tried to tug my hands away. He clamped down harder, stopping me, and kept frowning.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I do believe I must have misheard you.”

“Um, if what you heard was ‘I’m pregnant,’ you heard correctly,” I said. “We’ve talked about this. You said you wanted to have kids. Did you not? Want to have kids?”

“You said we would have to wait until you had finished risking your life in a casual fashion,” he said.