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“Now is the time to say my favorite word,” Tariq coaxed.
“And accept our gift,” Sulat added.
She took the dagger, smiled, and uttered the word that brought her so much happiness. “Yes.”
Tariq’s happiness was a tangible thing, lightening his steps as well as his spirit. Despite the challenges of the last few days and the many that still lay ahead of them, he couldn’t stop smiling. He even looked forward to telling Vixi that she’d been right about Jody, despite the gloating their little whirlwind would do once she heard.
He and Sulat had talked for hours last night as Jody slept between them, too exhausted for their quiet conversation to disturb her rest.
Both of them were experiencing the same thing—a visceral, undeniable attraction that strengthened by the hour. It wasn’t the sharhal, the mating fever that only came once in a lifetime, but it was something close to it.
Looking back, he could see his interest had grown despite his anger and guilt, but those feelings couldn’t compare to what he felt once they’d kissed.
Those feelings couldn’t be ignored. Not that either of them wanted to. Neither of them understood how this could be happening, but understanding would have to wait. For now, they needed to focus on keeping her safe while making her understand that she was a part of their lives now and forever more.
The blade they gave her was one of his, an heirloom handed down to him by his father, and it looked good in Jody’s hand. Not that she’d ever need to use it. It was a symbolic gift but an important one.
The next step would take more time and require an important conversation. Claiming Jody involved mating marks and an exchange of nanotech. Once bitten, she’d carry that tech for the rest of what should be a very long life, longer than that of her son and any normal humans she knew. For now, it was enough that she had accepted their blade and the promises that went with it.
His good mood lasted until late afternoon. Local forecasts predicted a storm was headed this way, the first in a series that might last the better part of a day.
He hated storms now. Every gust of wind and boom of thunder brought back dark memories. Even now, with hope in his heart and Jody by his side, he knew the next few hours wouldn’t be easy.
Normally he’d retreat to his reading nook, opaque the window to blot out the view, and try to drown out the thunder and wind with music. It never worked and left him feeling even more isolated, so today he joined Jody on the couch.
“Did you hear from Vixi? Is something wrong?” she asked the moment she looked up from the tablet she’d been reading.
“There’s nothing new to report. I wish I had good news to share, but at least there’s no bad news either.”
She frowned and laid a hand on his arm. “Then what’s wrong?”
Talking about it was the last thing he wanted to do, but she needed to know. “Bad memories,” he told her. “Raenia died when we were caught in a storm. Days like this take me back to the moment it happened.”
She took his hand and squeezed it hard. “I hate storms, too. Always have. It’s all too loud and violent for me. I swear a storm sent me into premature labor with Jacob. I was home alone, trying not to think about the chaos outside, when lightning struck the building. The power went out, the whole building shook, and I was so scared…” She snuggled in beside him. “By the time the skies cleared, Jacob was on his way into this world.”
“Where was your mate?” he asked.
“Gone. Kyle volunteered for mission of some kind, a plum assignment, he called it. An opportunity he couldn’t pass up. He went even though it meant leaving me alone a month before our baby was due. He promised he’d be back before the big day, but of course he wasn’t. Jacob was ten weeks old when he came home, and by the time he could crawl, Kyle was gone again.”
“He didn’t deserve you,” Tariq muttered.
“He didn’t love me,” she corrected him. “Oh, he thought he did, but he only loved the idea of a wife. His one true love was, and still is, the military. He’s not a bad man. Just a bad husband.” She sighed. “And lousy father, which is why it annoys me that Jacob joined the military. I know it’s his way of trying to get Kyle’s approval.”
Tariq thought about Vixi and how often he wished she’d chosen a safer path for herself. “As much as we hate it, we have to let them make their own decisions.”
She laughed. “I won’t tell Vixi you said that.”
“Please don’t. I’d never hear the end of it.”
Their conversation helped, and when the first clap of thunder boomed overhead, it didn’t make him jump the way it used to. Given time, he’d get over this too. So long as he never had to fly into a storm again.
He scoffed at the thought. Nothing on the planet could get him outside on a day like this.
12
“Now? Okay. How is she doing? How far apart are the contractions?” Jody’s question roused Tariq from sleep. He blinked, stretched, and was about to ask what was going on when Jody’s question finally sank into his sleep-fuddled brain. Contractions.
He scrambled to his feet as the adrenaline kicked in. They only had one pregnant patient at the moment. Phaedra.
