Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Beneath my fingers, the backing of the couch creaked. “I know.”
“And it’s doubtful you would begin feeling symptoms so soon.”
I wanted so badly to believe that. “But it isn’t that soon.”
“It’s fairly difficult for Primals to conceive. Plus, you just Ascended into Primalhood, Sera. You were mortal before then. You would not have been able to conceive.”
“Yeah, see, that’s what I thought, but how mortal was I with Primal embers inside me? How mortal was I after taking Nyktos’s blood?” I said. “Which I did more than once before the Ascension.”
Aios’s chest rose sharply against the delicate lacing of her bodice. “I…I didn’t think about that. There’s no one else like you. I suppose it could be possible, but…”
“I had this dream, or maybe it was a vision, while in stasis—” I closed my eyes for a heartbeat. “I saw two cubs.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“I saw my nota form, and then I saw two smaller versions of her,” I said.
“Two?” Aios whispered.
“Two.”
“Fates, Sera.” Her throat worked on a swallow, and her shoulders squared. “I can tell you if you are. I would just need to place my hand on your stomach,” she explained, her silver eyes wide. “You really think you’re with child?”
A rather huge part of me screamed no. If I didn’t know for sure, then I could continue on with, well, everything until I found out for myself one way or another. I wouldn’t have to think about how I would accomplish everything while with child…or two. I wouldn’t have to worry about how Ash would respond or—oh, gods—the fact that I could be responsible for another human being. Like really responsible, and not in some vague, Primal of Life and Queen of the Gods sort of way. I could have weeks, maybe even a month of not having to deal with what would be a fairly large complication. I could just pretend. I was really good at that.
But that was irresponsible. And while I was that on most days, I wasn’t actively, idiotically irresponsible. Mostly. I cringed, thinking of what I’d done.
Aios opened her mouth and then closed it.
She rose. Her gown whispered over the stone as she quietly approached me. Coming to stand beside me, she smiled. “It will be easier if you straighten,” she said. “You can still hold on to the couch if you’d like.”
For a moment, I had utterly no idea what she was talking about. Then I realized I was still hunched over, clasping the back of the couch.
Gods.
Prying my fingers loose and straightening, I saw I’d left dents in the backing. “I’m not acting like a…a badass Primal right now.”
Her smile softened. “You’re acting like someone whose entire life may change in a matter of moments.”
A whooshing motion swept through my chest, almost as if my heart decided it wanted nothing to do with this and had exited my body. “That didn’t help.”
“But that’s the reality.” Aios took my hand, and I jumped. I actually jumped. Her chin dipped. “Most people would be this nervous, Sera. Even if they were hoping for a yes.”
Throat drying, I swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“I need to touch your stomach—your bare stomach,” she informed me.
“All right.” Knees feeling weak, I grasped the skirt of the gown and lifted it above my waist. “Aios—” I stopped myself.
“What?”
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head. What I was thinking… “What if I am?” My voice cracked as those knots in my stomach doubled in size. “We have many fights ahead—”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it,” she cut in.
“We’re crossing that bridge right now,” I countered. “Everything will change.”
“It could.” Her steady gaze held mine. “But it doesn’t have to.”
Air wheezed from my lungs. I knew what she meant.
“We just need to get to that point first,” she continued, her voice gentle. “Okay?”
Unable to speak, I nodded.
“It will only take a few seconds.” Her gaze lowered slightly.
The touch of her hand was surprisingly cool, and I jerked a little. She murmured an apology, her hand flattening just below my navel. I held my breath, counting as the glow of eather pulsed behind her pupils. Thin streaks radiated out, crisscrossing her irises. Her expression didn’t change. There wasn’t even a flicker of a muscle when she withdrew her hand.
The aura faded from behind her pupils, and she lifted her gaze to mine. What felt like a small eternity passed, but in reality, it could have only been a heartbeat or two.
She took a breath, and I could no longer breathe. “You’re with child. Two of them.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
I didn’t remember walking around the couch and sitting, but I was. I was sitting with my hands limp in my lap and my heart beating slowly, steadily. There was a buzzing in my ears, but I wasn’t running around screaming.
I was calm.
Aios sat beside me. She’d been quiet since she’d confirmed what I realized at some point I’d already known. At least, I think she had been. There was that buzzing.