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“Yup,” Shannon says proudly. “This is my mate. Malphas.”
Malphas. I remember him now. Before I left for the shadows, he was the clan artist of Nuit.
Not a hunter, I think. Or a fighter. If I must battle him to keep my Kennedy, the odds are in my favor.
“Hold up, big guy.” Shannon holds up her hand. “You look pretty pissed off there for some reason.” Dropping it, she rests her palm on her belly. “I’ve got a baby on board, alright? Keep your distance.”
“As does she, my mate,” rumbles the artist before glancing up at me, his golden gaze fiercely protective as he moves in front of his female.
Shannon barely notices. Gaping at my mate, her eyes as strangely pale as her hair, she gasps, “Kennedy? You’re pregnant, too? Awesome!”
“I—what?”
Through the bond, I sense my mate’s surprise, followed quickly by the sensation that she is going to throw up her morning meal.
That is not good. For cycles, I’ve been encouraging her to eat enough; already so much smaller than a demoness, she cannot afford to lose her meal. I’d even bartered a renewing light spell for some of Moloch’s stores of fresh meat. No ungez, at Kennedy’s request, but the lean porrit—similar to something Kennedy enjoyed called ‘chicken’ in the human language—has enough nutrients to keep her strong while she’s carrying our spawn.
Only that’s the reason behind her sudden queasiness and her surprise.
My sweet mate didn’t know she was expecting—at least, not until Malphas just told her she was.
And when she turns on me, her pretty human face creased in scrunched lines, I see that her eyes are watering.
She’s leaking.
Something made my mate leak… no,cry…sensing her upset, I’m the reason Kennedy cries.
I hurriedly straighten, no longer prepared to challenge the others. My attention is solely on my mate.
I don’t understand what I did, though it’s clear the fault for her tears is mine. Even the bonded couple standing before us are aware of that.
When the pale-haired human makes a sympathetic sound, I want to tell her to leave us. I made her cry, but the female’s unexpected appearance in Nuit has somehow affected my mate. She should go. This is our home. It might have been Malphas’s once, but he was gone and I returned with my Kennedy.
My Kennedy…
Ignoring the others, I take a step toward her, my hand outstretched. She’s frozen in place, the same sort of expression on her face that she wore when I first brought her to Sombra. Not quite fear or fury, but she’s not gazing up at me with love and affection as she normally does.
She looks at me as if she doesn’t know me.
I reach for her. She turns from me.
Suddenly, the scent of blood fills the air.
“Kennedy,” I rumble, horrified that I cut her. It does not matter that she jerked her head away from me or that I never meant to harm her. I should have been more careful even so. “I didn’t mean—”
Her tiny hand covers the edge of her jaw. “Don’t worry about it. I just… is it true? Loki, am I pregnant?”
She’s slipped into her Earth language. On purpose? I’m not so sure. Since I gave her my essence, we’ve mostly spoken Sombran to each other. In her eager way, she wanted to fit in with the rest of the village.
Her human language is something she uses when we’re alone. Almost like it’s a secret just between us.
I don’t think that’s what she is doing now. Eyes darting to and fro, her tiny human teeth nibbling her lush bottom lip, her mind is blank. I cannot tell how my human mate is feeling past the sudden surprise that flashed through her.
And it hits me: my Kennedy was unaware that she was with spawn.
“I… yes, my mate. For many cycles now.” I move toward her. Her hand still covers her face. “Let me see. You are bleeding, my heart.”
She doesn’t move her hand. I reach to lay my palm on her fingers, to guide them away, but Kennedy jerks away from me.
