ENTANGLED (#2 The Valkyries)

Chapter 38 - Lies & Revelations

"Yes. That is my hope."

Mid-step, I halted, my heart clenching. That was why he'd chosen me? Bitten me? Did he even want me or was it just my genetics that mattered? I'd thought... I covered my mouth, blinking and holding back the sob on the brink of erupting.

By the gods, I was such a fool.

"I've heard about the potency of those bites. If she isn't pregnant yet after your heat, she will be soon."

A broodmare. I was nothing more than a broodmare for him. And Mist had known. She'd known and didn't warn me. Pazuzu didn't care about me at all.

Spinning, I lurched away from the gardens and ran. Tears blinded me through twists and turns of the path, and swiping at them, I stumbled into a stone ledge. A cry burst from my lips at the sharp pain, but holding my hip, I continued my unsteady flight and clambered over a short wall. The buzz of the palace wards tingled my skin as I shoved over the top and found myself on a rocky outcrop.

I sank to my knees. Keening whimpers escaped and echoed off the black stone, engulfing me in my misery, in the agonized sounds of my betrayal.

With a hand on my abdomen, I acknowledged the truth.

I'd begun to wonder at the unusual nausea and tiredness that plagued me, but it had been a tiny flicker of an idea. Something I'd considered in passing over the last day or two, but not truly recognized.

But now... My period had been due a week and a half ago.

Not only was I a fool, but I was a pregnant fool.

The child was Pazuzu's. Of course it was. If he'd gone to the effort to select me based on my genetics, a descendant of his long dead mate, he'd have ensured no other's seed took root within me. Had Claw fed me contraceptives until it was time for Pazuzu to claim me? Why had Pazuzu waited six months? He'd said his bite would give me greater resilience. What would have been painful or too rough in the past didn't bother me now—a good thing given Pazuzu's endowments and bed play—so I seemed to have some kind of faster healing. Was it all from his bite, or had Claw given me something in those six months? There had to be some reason Pazuzu hadn't simply bitten me right away after he'd baited the hook to get me to Muspelheim.

My thoughts circled like a whirlpool sucking me under and no matter which way I looked at it, I was unable to come up with answers. I didn't have enough information, damn it. I'd have to confront him and ask.

After scrubbing at my eyes, I pushed myself up to standing, swaying as a wave of dizziness assailed me.

A side effect of pregnancy?

Cold washed over me in a gust of gritty, ash-laden air, and I coughed, covering my face from the onslaught.

A pair of shadows blocked the red sunlight.

What the hell?

I squinted up, trying to see... Was it some of the harpy palace guards doing a patrol? They didn't call out or speak and I backed away as they approached.

As I shifted, I got my first glimpse—hairy beasts with bat-like wings. Definitely not the harpy guards. Shit, they were twice my size and radiated menace. I reached a hand behind me. Surely the palace wards were right there. I hadn't wandered so far, had I?

I didn't dare take my eyes from them, but my frantic searching didn't encounter the familiar electric tingle. My pulse pounded, breath rasping as my heel caught on the uneven rock and I fell back onto my butt.

Massive claw-tipped fingers reached for me, grabbing my arms and I screamed, "No... no, oh no. No. No!" Whatever these gorilla-like creatures were, I did not want to go with them.

The scent of decaying flesh clung to their long matted fur and my gorge rose. Were they going to eat me? No way. No way did I want to go out like that. I squirmed and writhed, lashing out with my feet and fists.

"Hel—"

A hand covered my mouth and part of my nose. Desperately, I sucked in air through my one free nostril, crying out despite the muffling flesh. A grunted snarl emanated from the fang-filled maw of the one on the left as they hoisted me into the air.

I kicked and dug my fingernails into the stinking hair-covered bodies but couldn't even dislodge the hand over my nose and mouth. Below me on the rapidly shrinking rock, a figure appeared, but darkness crept in from the edges of my vision and I slumped.