AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not ready.” Not when I could still remember everything that had happened the day before. Not when I could still feel the way those demon hands felt on my body, feel the desperation to avoid taking that blood.
She sighed. “Okay, then let’s talk about something else. I think I’m bigger.”
That got me sitting up. I tucked the sheet around me and examined my bestie. I didn’t even try to fool myself. She was my friend. She was kind of my only friend. Surprisingly, in addition to canceling caffeine and carbs, Myrddin didn’t exactly encourage friendships. There were no girls nights at the Coven House. Every night was worship-the-dude night.
“Well, you are pregnant.” The words still felt weird coming out of my mouth. I’d been so sure Kelsey Jean Atwood would never have kids. She was supposed to be my kiddos’ fun auntie because I was the one who would absolutely have two point five kids and a white picket fence and the whole American-dream thing.
The man I loved couldn’t have kids, and I’d left hers behind.
“I know, but I’m like a couple of weeks pregnant.” Her hand went to that lightly rounded belly of hers. “I asked some women in Frelsi and they said with a first pregnancy I shouldn’t show until I’m months along.”
I’d helped the midwife from time to time, thought about apprenticing under her. This was back when we lived in the Council House. Her name had been Hildie, and she’d had a kind face. She’d delivered many babies, and not only witches. Any pregnant woman was welcome in her practice. She’d caught wolves and werecats and demons in those capable hands of hers.
She’d died in the first wave. I wondered now if that had been a mistake or a choice made by Myrddin because people listened to Hildie.
Hadn’t that been what the witch trials were about? Men taking out wise women who asked the right questions, who tried to make the world better and more fair for other women.
Something Dean had said floated back through my head.Because there should be no witch king. Our society doesn’t and shouldn’t work in such a way.
We’d always made decisions together. Oh, certainly there were witches who were assholes, but we tended to take care of them, tended to put our community first.
What had happened to Nimue?
“Have you seen anyone? Like a doctor?” Even as I asked the question, I knew the answer. “Henri?”
Her eyes closed as though she truly could feel the life inside her. “It’s so early all he’s done is check to make sure my blood pressure is okay. I’m afraid Henri is better at emergency medicine than the kind of long-term care I need. I always thought Sarah Day or Hildie would take care of me.”
Sarah Day. Goddess, how could I not think about her every day? I didn’t want to get into that with Kelsey. “Do you think this is the kid you saw?”
“Yeah, the boy,” she replied quietly.
Kelsey had seen her children in a vision on the night Gray had become the dark prophet. She’d had a vision of a demon child and a tiny she-wolf, her babies with Gray and Trent. She’d told me shortly after as we’d sat and processed everything that happened that night. Of course she’d been wrong since she hadn’t seen…
I gasped as the revelation hit me. “Shit. You didn’t see Fenrir because he’s too old to jump on a bed. He probably won’t be with you because he’ll be with Evan. That’s why he wasn’t in the vision.” A secondary truth washed over me. “You were always supposed to fall through that painting, weren’t you?”
Her eyes opened, and she looked up at me, tears shining there. “According to Gray, yes. I never had a chance to stay here and influence what happened. Neither did the king and queen. I had to go and find Dean. I had to find the book. I know you think I did something selfish, but I would never have left you willingly, Liv. I wouldn’t have left you or Fen or Trent or Gray. I wouldn’t have left Lee or the other kids. I wouldn’t have left Casey or Eddie.”
I hated the fact that I couldn’t cry. The impulse was there, but I couldn’t connect to it. So I took a long breath and tried to banish the instinct. She wasn’t leaving, so I decided I should get dressed. It’s not like she hadn’t seen it all before. Wolves are accustomed to nudity, and honestly, witches aren’t precious about it either. I slipped from the bed and made my way to the dresser. “Well, now we know why he wasn’t in your vision. And I’m sure there’s someone in the village who can serve as a midwife.”
She sat up, watching me as I started to dress. “I’m sure there is. I was told I might feel the side effects quickly since this child was conceived during a fertility ritual. I know the queen’s been feeling it. Hey, do you know why Myrddin would be afraid of the queen’s new kiddo?”
I stepped into a pair of sweats and reached for one of Casey’s T-shirts. So she’d heard. “I have a suspicion. Is it true she conceived the child with Donovan?”
“Yeah, but he was human at the time.”
I whistled because having that confirmed for me was a trip. That had to have been some crazy magic. I shouldn’t give her anything. Myrddin hadn’t told the queen what he feared that day. I should let them all figure it out themselves. I pulled the shirt over my head. “There’s a possibility that a child conceived between a companion and a vampire in his latent phase could be Nephilim.”
She stared at me. “I don’t think that’s the name she’s going with. She’s naming the baby Harriet, after her dad. Quinn hates it. He wanted Rosalind. I think Harry is way cooler.”
I managed to not laugh. Kelsey might be the sheriff of our world, and she could solve a mystery like nobody else, but she wasn’t exactly a walking encyclopedia of supernatural creatures. “It’s not a name. It’s a…being. It’s what happens when a creature of angelic persuasion and a creature of demonic influence have a child together.”
“I thought angels and demons used to get it on all the time. That’s how we got the supernaturals.”
“In some cases the child was purer than others,” I explained, trying not to think about how good that coffee smelled. “I’m talking DNA, and not like sexual purity. And I would suspect in the beginning there were lots of Nephilim. They were very powerful, and that’s probably why they were hunted down and killed, and now we have companions and vampires and werewolves and demons instead of a bunch of superpowered, potentially immortal humans.”
“How would he know if Harriet’s going to be Neph…whatever…or just a regular companion?” Kelsey asked.
It was right there on the tip of my tongue to give her a lecture on how the master knew everything, and if he says the child is a monster then we should take care of it.
