Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 64359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“What’s that?” Kronos asks the question with his usual open curiosity.
Emrys looks at me, his blood red eyes flashing. “She is already pregnant.”
My blood runs cold as the secret I have tried so very hard to keep is brought to brutal light with those four little words. I thought I had longer. I thought I had a chance to gain some strength and plot an actual escape. I thought…
“Human.”
Emrys says my species in that summoning tone, the one I can’t ignore. He and I are blood bound, connected like maker and fledgling. When he commands me, I must obey. I rise to my feet and pad toward him, wearing the bedding like a cloak that drags behind me.
Three pairs of alien eyes are upon me, but it is Emrys’ gaze that consumes me.
“Are you pregnant?”
I should say no. I want to say no. But I cannot lie to him. I am surprised I have managed to keep this secret a long as I have.
“Yes,” I admit in a soft voice.
This is the secret I have tried so hard to hide. This is the reason I wanted so very badly to escape my past, flee the Sheriff. This is why I could not submit to the scythkin’s mental maze or allow myself even to become the barbarian’s possession.
“Who is the father?”
“I got pregnant to a numahn,” I admit.
Emrys pauses for a moment. “Who?”
I don’t want to tell him. This is my greatest shame, and my greatest fear coming to pass in a single moment. This will not please any of my alien owners. They will be appalled. I am appalled. It is something I try very hard not to think about.
Tears start to flow down my cheeks in a slow cascade of misery. Suddenly, the slavery I was in just minutes ago now seems so much more wholesome and safe than this. I am not what they wanted. I am not empty and breedable. I am already used.
Strong arms wrap around me. Atlas has picked me up and is cradling me in his lap. “It does not matter what happened,” he says. “We will not be angry at you.”
I wish I could believe that, but I feel anger radiating from Emrys already. He is not pleased at this development, and I know Kronos must be disappointed as well. My entire purpose as far as he is concerned is continuing his bloodline. He can’t do that while I am pregnant. I can’t even look at him. I bury my face in the neck of Atlas’ incredibly realistic human suit and I breathe deep, trying to center myself.
“You’re already angry at me.”
“I’m angry you didn’t tell me something this important. We could have had a chance to look after you better. Feed you better. I would not have…” Emrys clears his throat. “I would not have made you my sacrifice if I knew that you had a little baby inside you. I have infected you, which means I have infected the infant as well. It will not be as it was. It will not…”
“Was it hurt? Has it been…?” I can hardly form the questions. I am grateful for Atlas holding me, because if he was not I think I might faint. I knew that when Emrys had me on his sacrificial altar there was a chance I might not survive, but I was in a state of such surrender and utter despair, believing I had finally come to the end of a tragic road that there was no way out. All I hoped for was that my heart would keep beating long enough for the life inside me to live.
“I do not know,” Emrys says. “I do not like that I do not know. It depends what species the baby is. It depends on who the father was.”
“Numahn,” I murmur softly.
It takes a moment for the significance of that statement to settle into the minds of those who heard it.
“Which numahn?” Emrys asks the question with a carefully controlled anger.
“Just… a guy.”
“Do NOT lie to me!” He snaps sternly.
I burst into tears and bury my face in Atlas’ arms. I don’t want to answer any more questions. I don’t want to be interrogated and tell him all my shameful secrets.
“That’s enough.” Kronos speaks for the first time. “We do not need to know who the father is, or how he came to be the father. We will look after the infant regardless, as our own. She is our mate, and her progeny is our progeny. Simple as that.”
“Will you feel the same when the little abomination is born addicted to blood and craving death?” Emrys asks the question with barely controlled fury. “You do not understand. You wanted to have a baby. I did not. I performed the sacrifice assuming she was an empty vessel. Nothing was ever supposed to take root in her womb. Now I am to become a father to a creature…”