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“Nereid,” Kai croons as he comes to my side. He gently strokes my hair from my face, before grabbing a cloth from the bedside, using it to wipe the sweat from my forehead. “Did he do anything to you?”
The softness in my husband’s voice has me sobbing into his embrace. I don’t know how to tell them that I’ve lost our… that I was… that… that…
“What the fuck did you do you piece of shit?” Liam’s voice is menacing. “Talk!” He roars the last part when Abel doesn’t answer him fast enough.
“Remove the knife before you do something you’ll live to regret,” Abel sneers.
That gets my attention. I’ve never heard the doctor talk like that, ever. He’s always been the epitome of calm and caring, not once has he raised his voice or threatened anyone. Yet I know that’s what he’s doing, his words were a threat or a warning.
I turn my head so I can look down at Abel and Liam. “W-who are you?” I hiccup.
As I look at Abel now, there are no traces of his usual jovial smile. His expression is lethal, bordering on hateful as he stares down my consort. Which is no small feat to do when Liam is sitting on top of him.
“L-Liam…” The room spins as more cramps tear through me. Clenching my jaw, I pant through the pain, unwilling to let it tear my focus from the scene playing out in front of me. “Get off Abel and come over here.”
It’s not lost on me that Abel hasn’t addressed the gun Gus is aiming at him, and that’s probably the biggest tell of what’s going on. It would be easy to think that Abel is focusing on Liam because he’s the one who had a blade pressed to his skin, but intuition tells me that’s not it. No… this is about so much more. Something that’s been bred into everyone in this room but my consort.
Hierarchy, that’s what it’s all about. And according to the rules of our Society, Liam is lowest on the totem pole. He doesn’t have any power of his own. Myself, Gus, and Kai do, and we’re the only ones Abel hasn’t threatened.
Grunting, Liam does as I say, removing himself from Abel and immediately coming to my side. “Did he hurt you, agápi?”
I carefully free myself from Kai’s embrace, gritting my teeth as I lean back against the headboard. “No…” I trail off as another bout of pain surges through me. “No, he didn’t. But he does have something interesting to share with us.”
Abel slowly gets up from the floor. His gaze shifts between the four of us, lingering on Liam a bit longer than the rest of us. “Are you sure you want him here?”
I hiss in outrage that he dares call Liam out. “He’s my consort, Abel,” I seethe. “He goes where I go. You know this.”
When Abel bends his head, he all but proves my thoughts right. Abel is… I may not know who he is, yet. But I know he issomeonein our world.
“May I sit?” Abel asks courteously, like he didn’t just threaten Liam in my fucking bedroom of all places.
I give him a sharp nod, not trusting my own voice right now. The pain keeps flaring up, making it hard to even fucking breathe. Let alone think. My forehead and back are clammy with sweat, and I know my hair is in disarray. Even though my look isn’t high on my list of priorities right now, I hate that I’m not just feeling weak, I’m looking pathetic.
Then again, no matter what secrets the Drákon doctor is hiding in his closet, he’s seen me worse than this before. He’s seen me howling in pain after failing in the maze, and he’s seen me throw tantrums after being scolded by Nikolaos.
All of those things pale in comparison to knowing my body is getting rid of the life that has unknowingly been a part of me. Something I created with my men, and now I don’t get to keep it.
I’m unable to stop the tears and sounds of sorrow that unbidden escape me as I think about the loss of something I never knew existed, and that I never thought I wanted.
While I’m silently falling apart, Kai goes to get me a glass of cold water and a wet cloth to rest on my forehead. I want to tell him not to bother. I don’t deserve kindness after what my ignorance has caused. I deserve to be banished to the Underworld. The Fields of Punishment would be fitting.
“Abel,” Gus’ voice holds a warning, and a promise of retribution. “It’s time to tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Unable to bear looking at their faces, I hide my face in my hands while Abel fills them in on what he told me before they barged in here.
“As I just explained to Acacia, she’s having a miscarriage—”
Each of my men interrupt Abel with questions and roars of outrage.
Ignoring them, the Drákon doctor carries on. “As I’ve mentioned to Acacia before, Nikolaos suspected something would happen to him the night Acacia was initiated as the Female Ruler. He left very specific instructions with me, one of which was to remove her birth control implant if anything happened to him.”
Sobs tear through me, and I press my hands harder against my mouth to stifle them.
“In his wisdom, the acting Drákon Leader wanted his niece and son protected. The best way he knew how, without being around, was through conceiving a new Heir to the Drákon line. No one would dare harm Acacia while her womb carried the next generation.”
As if it has a life of its own, my hand moves to my arm where there’s something placed under my skin.
Seeing the movement, Abel says, “I had to replace it so you didn’t notice it was gone.”
