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Anya peered up at me from beneath lowered brows. “Feel what, Miss?”
Weird.
Eyes narrowed, I shook my head. “You didn’t feel that kick just now? I’m surprised it didn’t punt you across the room.”
“I felt nothing, except your fingers squeezing mine.”
“Wow, okay.” I shifted a little and moved her hand slightly left. Another kick, more intense than the first, had me bending over myself, and I let out a small cough. “You had to have felt that one.”
Anya lowered her hand, the concern etched in her brow telling me she hadn’t felt it that time either. “You’re feeling okay, Farryn?”
She rarely called me Farryn, and the implication that Iwasn’tfeeling okay struck me like a slap to the face.
Clearing my throat, I pushed myself back, wanting some distance between us. “I’m fine. Maybe it’s just a bit deeper inside of me and only I can sense it right now.”
Her lips stretched to a pitying smile, her eyes holding a motherly sympathy. “Perhaps. Could be hunger, you know. You look a little on the light side.”
“It’s not hunger, Anya. I have a pretty good idea what a rumbly tummy feels like.” The quick snap of my tone left me feeling remorseful, and I softened my voice. “This is somethingmovinginside of me.”
“Of course, dear.” She reached toward me and gave my hand a light pat. “You know your body better than anyone. Don’t mind me. These aging hands probably couldn’t feel a thornbush.” The dismissive tone to her voice bothered me, though. The kind of polite reassurance that carried a backhanded slap. “I do think you could use a bite … or two … to eat, though. And if you need anything else, I want you to tell me. Anything at all. Master Van Croix insisted that you be comfortable and cared for.”
“You really don’t have to go through the trouble, Anya.” A new discomfort settled over me, and I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “Seriously. I’m not one for being babied.” It was true. With the kind of distracted parents I’d had growing up, I hadn’t even been babied when I was an actual baby. Aunt Nelle certainly hadn’t gone out of her way.
“I hardly think bringing you a few meals every so often is babying, Miss. The Master simply wants to ensure that you’re comfortable.”
“He left this morning?” I only assumed after the conversation we’d had the night before when he’d told me about Vaszhago.
With a huff that I took as disapproval, she sat back and crossed her fingers in her lap. “Yes. Said he had to look into acquiring new staff. Strange, he usually has me take care of that for him.”
He didn’t want to risk that the murderer he bought to babysit his pregnant girlfriend would decide to kill you on the ride back.
Even in my head that sounded wrong.
“Maybe he just wanted some fresh air. Get out of the cathedral for a bit,” I offered with a smile.
The moment her eyes narrowed on me, I knew an uncomfortable question was about to fly out. “What happened to the two of you, Miss? Where on earth did you go for all those weeks?”
Well, Earth.
Don’t slip, Farryn.
“We thought you might’ve gotten caught up in those wildfires that spread through the forest,” she prattled on, while I contemplated how to answer the question without spilling the beans about her existence in Nightshade. “Nearly lost all of Misty Hollow.” She must’ve been referring to the fires Jericho had set. “So many carcasses of what looked to be a strange breed of animals. I feared finding human remains in the aftermath of it all.”
The Alatum, no doubt. The creepy looking creatures that resulted when The Fallen had had their wings severed by a cursed blade. My heart ached a little at the memory of having watched Remy turning into one.
“We truly thought–well, I don’t even want to say aloud what we thought.”
I didn’t know what to say to her. I couldn’t come out and lie to her face–I just couldn’t. Telling her the truth, though, would’ve meant a conversation that would’ve either made me look like a lunatic, or sent her into cardiac arrest, if she hadn’t already died once.
Nibbling on my lip, I contemplated what exactly I could live with, wishing to all the gods in the universe that she hadn’t asked me that question. “We were …” I swallowed hard and cleared my throat, my palms sweating all of a sudden. “Um. I was–”
“No need, dear.” Brows winged up, she glanced down at my stomach. “Clearly, the two of you were looking for some time alone.”
“I wouldn’t say that wasthe reasonwe left, but it’s certainly been an eventful few months.”
“No doubt. Anyway, I know three mongrels who are chomping at the bit to see you. They’ve been whining at the back door for the last two and half hours.”
The visual of that made me chuckle. “I’ll get dressed.”
