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“Mm. Sensible.” Perry sighed. “Would it be a travesty were we to invite them to stay?”
Sebastian set his phone down and narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“How very perceptive of you.”
“My intuition is next to none.” Perry kissed Sebastian’s cheek, then moved as gracefully as he could to put some distance between them. Loose gold coins tumbled from his body and became lost between the sheets. “When are we to leave, then?” he asked as he struggled to sit up. Sebastian moved to help him, bracing him from behind. “I imagine the sooner, the better with my due date so close at hand.”
“Today, if we’re able.”
“Today?” Perry, surprised, peered over his shoulder at his mate. “When I meant soon, I’d thought perhaps tomorrow—I hadn’t realized we were in such a rush.”
“Misha is insistent.”
“Why?”
“The longer our lair sits empty, the more vulnerable it becomes. In addition, Everard has availability this evening. It has been too long since his last visit. I would sleep better knowing he has checked on you and the babe.”
A creeping feeling that something wasn’t quite as it seemed spread through the back of Perry’s mind, prickling its way along his skull, but he pushed his doubts aside. Misha was an expert and Sebastian was right—as healthy as the babe seemed to be, having Everard there to assure them all was going well would do them both a world of good.
“When shall we leave, then?” Perry asked. “I only care for the jewelry I’ve brought and Pake, of course. The rest of my belongings can be shipped to us at a later date.”
“We’ll aim for noon,” Sebastian said, and picked up his phone anew. “I’ll notify Misha and get in touch with Everard. While I do, you should rest. I’ll pack your belongings when I’ve finished.”
With great effort, Perry climbed out of bed and onto his feet. “I’m pregnant, not paralyzed,” he said as he picked what jewelry he could find out of the sheets. “I’m sure you have matters to tend to, my love. I’ll be fine on my own.”
* * *
What should have been a five-hour drive took seven, owing to a certain mischievous miss who thought it hilarious to kick Perry in the bladder, but at half-past seven, right as night was setting in, they arrived. It was strange to be back in Aurora after living in the country, and while Perry was glad to be back in his lair, a certain uneasiness persisted that he couldn’t shake. The house hadn’t changed much, as construction had been done on parts not often seen by the eye, but there was something different about it. Something cold. Like in their absence, the workers had stripped out what made the place a home and left behind an empty shell.
Upon arriving, Pritchard and a small team of core Attendants met them in the garage to help unload their belongings and coax Pake back into the atrium. Perry would have helped, but Pake seemed glad to be home, and trudged his way out of the van and into the house without having to be bribed. It was a good thing, as Perry was sore all over and in dire need of a bed. After Everard saw to him, he’d call it a night. Traveling while pregnant was nowhere near as fun as traveling while not, and he would be sure to remember it the next time Sebastian took his heat.
“I’m off to bed, darling,” Perry told Sebastian as he waddled around expensive cars on his way across the garage. “Would you prefer I lie down in the bedroom, or in the hoard? Which will be most convenient to Everard?”
“The hoard. I’d rather you be safe. I will show him in when he arrives.”
“Wonderful. Thank you.” Perry reached Sebastian, who was standing by the door into the house watching as Pake led a group of Attendants down the hall, and gave his mate a chaste kiss. “Should I happen to fall asleep, don’t feel poorly over waking me. I will be delighted to see Everard, and I would be quite cross were he to conduct the examination and leave before I had a chance to say hello.”
“I will wake you,” Sebastian vowed, and kissed Perry very sweetly before sending him on his way.
The hoard room was not all that far from the atrium, so Perry followed Pake for some way, then split off down the hall in the hopes he’d feel refreshed by the time Everard arrived. Before he reached the hoard room, however, something peculiar stopped him—a familiar voice. It belonged to Misha, and it was coming from behind a door that had been left ajar. “It took you long enough. I’ve been waiting. Where have you been?”
“Misha? What are you doing here?” The uncomfortable feeling that had plagued him since this morning returned in full force. “Why aren’t you with Reynard? Have you been hiding all this time?”
“The details are irrelevant. There has been a new development and I must speak to you before it’s too late.”
“Too late? For what?”
“Come inside, koshka. All will be revealed, but not where someone might overhear. Privacy is essential. You must come here.”
Perry glanced down the hall, which was empty, then at the door. It hadn’t budged since he’d arrived, and it was open to such a small degree that he couldn’t spot Misha through the crack. “Darling, I’m so terribly exhausted from today’s trip. Is this why you called us home? So we could talk? I appreciate all the work you’ve done to keep us safe, but I’m not sure how much I’ll retain of what you have to tell me. Pregnancy brain is every bit as real as egg brain, and I am deep in its throes.”
“It is of no issue. Come.” The door crept open another inch. “You can sit while we talk inside, but you must come. What I have to say must not be heard by your dragon.”
The feeling of wrong intensified, and the hair on the back of Perry’s neck stood on end. “Come again?”
“It is a sensitive topic, and must not be overheard.”
