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HALWEN
Iglanced at my arms again, checking my flesh was still attached. Yup, still there. But I burned so hot that it should have blackened and peeled away, a furnace inside me.
Sweat dripped off the end of my nose; I wiped my face on my sleeve, panting through my teeth. I might have thought Aphrodite had fucked with me if I hadn't felt the exact same thing yesterday morning before Typhon melted through our wall and gave us an ominous warning. Shame the dragon-armed guy didn't warn us about psycho gods as well as the titan; we might have escaped this cell.
Then again, the bitch kidnapped us fromLucifer's palaceso maybe nothing would have stopped her. The fact that she outmatched the devil was scary as fuck.
I clenched my teeth against a whine, squirming where I sat with my back against the wall, my legs stretched in front of me.
Em was still passed out from whatever Aphrodite did when she transported us, but he was breathing and his heartbeat was strong; I tuned into it with my blood magic at all times. All my magic was returned now, my body gradually recovering from Aphrodite’s bullshit. Wane had woken up long enough to lay his head in my lap and cling to me, fighting the power I sensed ravaging him.
I knew why I wasn't passed out. Aphrodite was trying to mess with my head. This wassomuch worse than being unconscious with them, and panic spiked itself through my chest like a permanent wound.You win this round, bitchface.
I tested my burned fingers with small movements, holding my breath in anticipation of another sharp flash of pain. When it didn't come, I exhaled in rough relief, scraping my palm down my face. My fingers had healed, and my nose was no longer broken, but nothing would stop the heat razing its way through my whole body. It wasn't helped at all by Wane's head in my lap and the soft breaths puffing over my stomach.
I wasn't stupid; I knew this was arousal, but I also knew it wasn't natural. Was there such a thing as a horny curse? Because I was seriously starting to think I'd been struck with one.
I peeled the shirt from where it was glued to my chest, trying not to wake Wane. Whatever dark magic coursed through them, they needed to sleep it off. And that was without all the exertion Wane's shadows must have taken from him. How the hell did he take down a titan?
His magic was far more powerful than I'd seen it before, close to invincible. Only the bone pin had kept Aphrodite conscious; if we could get it off her, she was screwed. And hopefully, her buddy Cronus would be screwed too. It was obvious they were working together.
Cronus … was he the reason Wane's shadows were amplified? Volatile?
He'd thrown me in the Labyrinth to fatten up my magic for him to devour like a roast pig. Had he done the same to Wane? Pushed him to the limit of his ability so he could take his shadows for himself?
And why the fuck had he tried to cut them away and not just eaten Wane like he devoured his sons eons ago?
My skull hurt trying to fit so many questions inside it, and I was too hot, too sweaty, and too pained to make any sense of them. My nose and fingers didn't hurt anymore, but a knot tightened in my lower belly, gripping so vicious that my nostrils flared.
When had this started? I tried to remember when I'd begun feeling hot, but my head was too much a mess. I whined when the next cramp scythed brutally through my pelvis. Like the worst kind of period pain, a ten out of ten on the agony scale.
I shifted, trying to curl around myself and clutch my belly, and Wane came awake with a gasp.
"Shit," he breathed, scrambling up and reaching for me the second he was sitting. Panic sharpened his sleepy silver eyes. "Where's the pain, itzaia?"
I shook my head, tears squeezing out of my eyes. "Stomach. I don't—know why—"
"Shh," he soothed, his fingers soothing gently over my abdomen. "I'm here, Haley, it's going to be alright."
My body locked with the next cramp, a cry escaping my clenched teeth. I was so hot it felt like the air rippled above my skin, and I screwed my eyes shut as it flared hotter.
"I think—I might know what this is," Wane said, pulling me into his arms, my back to his chest, and settling against the wall. "I just don't understand why."
The kiss he laid on my shoulder was so tender it hurt.
"I need you to find Em in the mate bond and give him a tug. You're going to need both of us. Okay, Haley?"
I swallowed and nodded, keeping my eyes shut as he pulled me back until I was laid against him, my head on his shoulder. I felt through the fire and pain for the place I was bound to Em and yanked on the thread, desperation making me pull harder than normal.
Emlyn came awake with a ferocious growl, protection and warning laced in his voice. My bottom lip wobbled.
"Hales?" he breathed, the rustle of clothes telling me he'd rushed across the cell. "Haley, darling, what's wrong?"
"Hurts," I said through gritted teeth, curling around myself when another cramp struck. This couldn't be as simple as my period coming, right? If it was, it was the worst one I'd had in my entire (one hundred and) twenty-seven years.
"She's cramping really hard here," Wane said gently, feathering his fingers over my lower belly. "I can feel the contractions."
"Your cycle was never this bad before," Em murmured, taking my face in his hands and pressing a kiss to my forehead, not seeming to care that I was a sweaty mess.1"Is it worse because you—died?"
