The Struggle(96)

I tipped my head back against the wall. “Even if he’s a hundred percent okay with this, how can we do this? There is so much screwed up stuff going on right now, and I . . . I just don’t know.”

“You’ll figure something out. Trust me,” she said. “You will, because you’ll have to.”

She was right, because we would have to figure it out. I lowered my chin. “If this comes back positive, please don’t tell anyone. I’m going to tell Seth, but I don’t want this getting around.”

“Of course not,” she replied. “Obviously I’ll keep my mouth shut, since I just threatened a pure-blood if she ran her mouth.”

I laughed nervously, but every single muscle in my body locked up as the door opened and the nurse walked in. I searched her expression for any hint, but it was impressively blank. Still, my heart was pounding like I’d run up several flights of steps.

The nurse, whose name I realized I’d never asked for, propped her hip against the counter and loosely folded her arms. “When we do urine tests, we usually repeat them more than once if we get a certain result to ensure accuracy, so we repeated the tests.”

“Okay,” I whispered as blood began to roar in my ears.

“It’s positive,” the nurse said. “You’re pregnant.”





Chapter 29


Seth

Standing before the shades, I quickly counted them. There was definitely more than twenty. More like thirty. A few of them looked like they’d played chicken with a car and lost, their flesh torn and patchy in some areas. Shades didn’t want to let go of their mortal bodies. Even when the mortal had died, they rode the flesh until nothing was left.

It smelled like the River Styx had thrown up in here, and then a few hellhounds had come in and taken a dump. In the back, against a low wall that led to a bare kitchen, were the tied-up mortals.

They didn’t look very alive.

I clapped my hands together.

Heads jerked up. Eyes of all different shapes and colors widened.

“Hey,” I said, smiling. “My name is Seth. I have a few questions.”

Dark shadows leaked through the whites of their eyes like ink into water. A low hissing sound radiated from all corners of the room, like the air being let out of several balloons. They rose at once.

“I’m glad to see you guys are going to be so helpful.”

A blonde that appeared to have run face-first into a blender charged me. Reaching down, I unhooked one of my daggers. I didn’t have to do much. Just lifted the blade and stepped to the side.

She impaled herself.

A second later, black smoke poured out of her gaping mouth, shooting into the air. It billowed across the ceiling, seeking a way out.

Lifting my hand, I shoved a couch across the room. It tipped up on one side, blocking the door. Smiling, I turned as another shade barreled down on me. This one was a little fresher, but it too ended up on the floor.

Glass shattered behind me. A second later, Aiden landed in a crouch. Torin hit the floor in a controlled roll. Unfortunately, that controlled roll went right through some splatter. Sucked for him.

Aiden popped up and was immediately swarmed by the shades rocking the mortal bodies. They went after him like daimons jonesing for aether. As Torin rose, wiping off the blood and other stuff, I was sort of offended that the shades didn’t want to play with me anymore.

A shade went flying back as Aiden delivered a brutal punch that might have—gods’ bless his pure soul—killed the mortal if it wasn’t already dead.

“Ah, I think you’ve got it covered.” Raising my hand, I pushed Torin back toward the wall, away from one of the free-roaming shades. “And you,” I said. “You really shouldn’t have followed Aiden.”

Dipping down, Aiden took out the legs of one of the shades. He lurched up and looked over his shoulder, dark brows slamming together. “Seriously?”

I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest as I stayed back from the melee. “Wouldn’t want you to get out of practice.” When Aiden cursed and whipped back around, I laughed. “Hey, I’m just looking out for your best interests.”

Torin attempted to peel himself out of the corner I’d put him in, but I shook my head. “You wouldn’t last long with these bastards. Sorry. You’re going to just have to watch.” I paused. “And remember that secret you promised to keep.”

He opened his mouth, but I pivoted and grabbed the closest shade. Spinning it around, I shoved the blade deep into its chest. The shade escaped, along with all the ones Aiden was taking down. They were crawling across the ceiling, aiming for the broken glass.

Then, a thought occurred to me. I’d seen a furie grab hold of one before. She actually ate the fucking thing. I was not trying that, but I was a god now, so I wondered if a hit of akasha might take the bastards out.