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“No. Wait…” I reach out for him, but I’m too late. Always too late. He’s gone. And I fear it’s for good this time. He wants to stay away from me. I’m his Achilles’ heel in a world that devours the weak and shows no mercy.
Alwar comes back in the room and sits next to me on the huge bed.Hisbed. It’s covered in soft furs and smells like him—spices and herbs and whatever they use for soap around here.
“How are you?” He strokes the length of my hair with his pinky.
“I’d be better,” I snap quietly, “if you left me alone and didn’t treat me like your pet Chihuahua.” I’m hurting right now, and I don’t want him to know.
“I see your bitter humor is back.”
“Wasn’t aware it left,” I choke out.
“Many things have changed of late, including you.”
I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.
His hand drops to his side. “I found the stones below the wall, just as you said, Lake.”
My mind swims in his words until I find something that makes sense. He’s talking about the fact that Monsterland is built on top of River Wall Manor.
“So I was right.” I wish I weren’t.
“Yes, and I want to thank you. Not just for telling me the truth, but for your brave act. Rool and Matowereplanning Benicio’s coup before his death. It seems everything Rool told us was false. The Blood Army is alive and well. You caught on just in time to prevent us from letting the vampires inside the keep.”
“Did Gabrio make it?” I ask.
“Bard arrived in time to save only you.”
I push my head back into the pillow. “Gabrio…” The tears flow in a steady stream.
“Bard saved youandthe baby,” he says. “Just barely.”
“I should’ve seen through Rool sooner,” I mutter. “How could I have believed he’d follow me that easily?” They disdained me. And for good reason. I had no business being their queen. A new vampire. A proxy. A… “What baby?”
“Yours and Gabrio’s.”
“Oh, that.” I wince. “I lied, okay. I was never pregnant.”
Alwar cocks his head to one side and points to my stomach. “Are you certain about that?”
I slowly look down and find a basketball-sized bump where my flat stomach used to be.
“What the hell is that!” I sit up and start crawling back on my hands, trying to escape something that just shouldn’t be there.
“You’re pregnant.”
“How!”
Alwar folds his arms over his chest. “Evenyoucannot be that naïve.”
“No. I mean…how? I’m a vampire! And that-that-that is averybig baby!” How long have I been asleep?
“Did you not wonder why you left the Scholar People’s temple feeling altered? I personally should have known something was different when I saw you sweating.”
I look down at my body. I’m not covered in the No Ones’ script anymore, and I have a huge stomach. I’m so confused. “Alwar, what’s happened to me? Just say it!”
“Apparently, when you were busy trying to drink my brother to death in your fit of bloodlust, Bard tried to soothe you, but he ended up healing you.”
“My heart started to beat again.” I cover my mouth. “He turned me back to human. Is that even possible?”
