"I'm sorry?" Eve had heard the words, but they didn't make sense. Kira must have noticed her stomach, but it was from almost being ripped in two. "If you're talking about my pudge here, it because I got hurt and my magic won't heal it." From the corner of her eye, an eye she was not going to turn to Kornae, she saw his body go rigid. "I don't know how much you know about our prophecy, but I'm not going to have a baby because it told me too. We are going to do it without it."
Kira bowed her head. "Your Highness. I know nothing of your world. Only this. You are pregnant."
Eve got to her feet as Kira stood. "I can't be pregnant. End of story. I'm only slept with them!" She waved her hand at her silent, stone vampires. Why wouldn't someone help her out?
She spun to Kornae, the one who was supposed to be her baby daddy but couldn't bring himself to dirty her with his hands. "Tell her, Kornae. Tell her we haven't done the deed. That you haven't come remotely close to anything that could put a child in me!"
He turned to her, eyes icy, voice frozen. "I haven't, Eve. I've not done anything that would result in a baby." With those words, he turned and left the cave.
Her mark obviously wasn't working because she was surrounded by chaos and she was losing her mind.
He was mad. Why was he mad? Kira was wrong. Eve was hurt. It wasn't anything. He was furious. Did he think... "Kira, you have to tell him you made a mistake. Because you did. I'm not pregnant. I've not had sex with him."
"But, your Highness, I'm not mistaken. Your stomach swells, yes, but it's not an injury."
"Eve," a voice came from behind her and she spun. "You've been sick," Sebastian said softly.
"You're not helping!" she shouted, balling her fists.
"And light-headed."
She turned to Fallon. "Look, you guys have been vampires for a while. What you seem to have missed is that Kornae and I have not had sex!" She held up a finger and put it in the 'o' formed by her other hand. "We haven't done this! And that's what it takes, guys." Her rage left as tears filled her eyes. "And you don't understand. I wanted one. I changed my mind, but it was too late. I changed my mind."
She turned and walked to the door before she felt a hand on her elbow. "I'll be right outside, I just need a minute. I need to think." She turned and met Gideon's eyes.
"I can't leave you alone. I'll give you distance, but you can't be alone."
She dropped her head. "He thinks I slept with someone else, doesn't he?"
"If you are certain about not being with him, then yes. He probably does."
"If I'm certain." Her laughter was so sad it hurt her ears. "I've never been more certain. What I had with him was a dream. A beautiful dream." She turned and walked out into the gray.
~~~
She couldn't be pregnant. She couldn't. Sitting tucked up tight under an overhang of rock, Eve lifted her shirt and poked at her belly. What was she supposed to feel? How was Kira so certain? But she couldn't be. Because she wasn't pregnant.
But all the good that had developed between her and Kornae was gone. Of that she was sure. And she did nothing wrong. That was the part that wasn't fair. She never did what she once said she would do.
Her sickness was always caused by something. Not the mad scramble for the toilet as she opened her eyes. Something always caused it. Same for the dizziness and light-headed feeling. She wasn't pregnant!
She could look for Kornae. She could find him and swear to him that she did nothing with anyone else. But what good would that do?
She kicked her feet, small stones sliding down the bigger rocks that she sat on. She was back to being angry. He could treat her anyway he wanted to. It didn't fucking matter. They were all going to die, anyway. Right?
But that wasn't the real reason she was mad. His actions hurt her. Of course they did. But she was far more angry with herself. Because for a second and a half, a wild joy filled her. The thought that there was life inside her, a tiny precious thing, filling that part of her that opened when she held that Seelie baby.
She ran her hand over her stomach and imagined if there could be a tiny heartbeat. How amazing would that be? But, the part she hated herself for was being so happy that she forgot that they might not make it out alive. That the phantom child would die with her, never seeing the light of day, much less the beauty of an Unseelie night. Pressing her hand tighter against the slight mound, she broke down.
Tears for her childless body, tears for Kornae's anger and refusal to forgive himself, and tears for the unborn baby in her mind.
An arm wrapped around her shoulders and she turned blindly into the comfort. Gideon, bless his soul, couldn't let her cry by herself. But it was okay. Her rage was gone again, swallowed by sorrow and she understood what the Shadow court must have been. Sobs racked her and she shifted, screaming her heartache into the vampire holding her, for the love she wanted with Kornae, for their child. A child that would never be because she was going to die. Finally, she grew quiet beneath the hand that stroked her spine.
She looked up to thank Gideon before erupting into a mad scramble to get away from Kornae. She almost made it to her feet, head hitting the rock over her, then she was back on her ass with his hand locked around her ankle.
"I expected words thrown at me, my Queen, not your attempt to knock yourself unconscious."
She sat still and watched him. His eyes were quiet and of course she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I don't know what you mean by what happened, but I've not slept with another Fae."
"That is tricky Fae speak. Sleep has many different meanings, especially in your human world."
"Are you asking me if I fucked someone else?"
"Yes."
His simple answer infuriated her. But, trying to be rational, she tried to see where he was coming from. But she couldn't because she wasn't fucking pregnant!
She took a deep breath. "No, Kornae. I've not let anyone other than my vampires put their you-know-what into my you-know-what." His sigh was like a gentle breeze to the flames her out-of-control emotions. "No, I've not had sex with another Fae. I've not let another Fae touch me in anyway, much less one that would put a baby in here." His eyes followed her finger and she could swear he physically touched her. She pulled her foot away and turned from him, staring out into the never-ending gray. "The only thing I have is the memory of a dream."
"You came into your powers."
She nodded. "That night you did... well...what you did. That was the night the Palace opened up to me. And while it wasn't sex, I assumed that palace thought it was. And now I'm so confused." She could feel the tears well again, but she blinked them away. "But, in a way, I guess I did have you, Kornae. Because that night was the one night that I didn't dream of death and destruction. That came later." She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Instead of horror, I dreamed of being with you."
His breath was harsh as he exhaled. She wasn't going to look at him. Wasn't going to apologize for things she wanted and he didn't. But she didn't have to.
"Eve, can you tell me about that dream?" His voice was the complete opposite of that breath.
"Can you describe perfection to one who has never experienced it?" she asked.
"This is important."
She did turn then. "So is my memory, Kornae. I'll never be with you, so please, let me hang on to it, I'm begging you."
He reached over and cupped her cheek. "Did I kiss you? Light touches that grew?"
She blinked. "Yes."
"Was I behind you, Eve? When we made love, was I behind you?"
Her breath stopped and the single word was so hard to get out. "Yes."
"Did I kiss your shoulder, breathing your scent deep inside me?"
She was incapable of speech so she had to nod.
He closed his eyes and swallowed.
"Could we share a dream, Kornae?"
"I thought it was." He looked in her eyes and again they were empty. "I thought I dreamed about having you. It was dream. Only, it wasn't." He shook his head before taking her hand. "What faerie wants, faerie gets." He took a deep breath and she wasn't sure she could take any more. She didn't want him to say the words. She didn't want him to hate himself. Hate her. Didn't want to carry a child that might die with her.
One didn't always get what they wanted, did they?
But he didn't say it, did he? He didn't have to.
She was pregnant.
~~~
They sat together for an eternity, simply looking at the nothingness of the land around them. Eve knew what was racing through her mind, but she knew nothing of his thoughts. Did she want to? He hated the idea of being a father. Abhorred it. Would he blame her? Would he hate her?
She straightened her legs out and ran her hands down her thighs. What was she supposed to do? She was supposed to be going to fight some big bad guy with her magic that only worked when it wanted to. When it wanted to. Her magic hurt her baby.
And she used it so fucking much. God, what kind of mother was she going to be? She was already hurting her baby. Baby.
She just have made a sound because he turned to her.
"I don't know what to do," she said, flinching at how broken her voice was. "I don't know what to feel. I don't know how you feel. Do you hate me? You should hate me. Though, I don't think it was my fault? But yes, hate."
"Eve, stop. Please. I don't hate you. I don't blame you. How could I? I thought it a dream as well. The first one since you healed me that I haven't woken up with screams echoing in my head."
"Really?"
He almost smiled. "Yes." He took her hand from her thigh. "If I blame anyone, it's Sebastian."
She frowned. "Why him?"
"He told me to lay down beside you. To not think about the past or future. Just lay beside you. And, while I didn't mean to fall asleep there, I did."
"Huh," she said. "Did it help?"
He lifted a brow and she blushed. "I mean before you knew that..." she waved a hand at her belly.
"You have no idea how much."
"If you weren't always such an ass to me, maybe I would have known."
"I was an ass because I didn't want you to know." He shook his head, that soft slight smile playing with his lips. "The whole time I kept you at arms length in order to not..."
"And I was for so long." Her eyes widened. Cora said gestation was five months. "Jesus." She breathed out.
"What is it?"
She did furious math in her head. "I'm two months along." She looked down at the slight swell of her belly. "That doesn't seem like much by human terms. We... They carry for nine months. I'm almost halfway there, Kornae. And I didn't know."
"We didn't know."
Her eyes immediately filled with tears at that declaration.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For saying we. And for sitting here with me while I try to wrap my mind around the idea of being a mother."
"I said we because, on purpose or not, we created it. I'm trying to adjust to the idea as well, Eve. Again, it's we."
We.
But it wouldn't always be, would it? She ran her hand over the tightness of the swell. "Kornae, I have a favor to ask." She looked up into peaceful eyes. "Should anything happen, would you—."
Hands gripped her arms and she found herself falling into not peaceful eyes. "Don't ask me that, Eve. We will raise this child."
"I just want to make sure you—." Her words were cut off by the press of his lips to hers, his hand on the back of her head, sealing them together. Fingers that tightened in her hair at her soft sound against his lips. She could taste the desperation on his tongue as it delved into her softness.
She cupped his face, fighting the need to run her hands over his chest, down his back. He pulled back slightly and there was that warm velvet of the universe staring into her soul. "I'm sorry," he said, not moving.
"I'm not." She leaned forward and let her lips move softly across his.
"I won't be able to stop. Not again. Not when my reason to is gone."
She sat back on her feet. "I don't want you to stop, Kornae. I never did." She took a breath and took a chance. "But, I'm going to want to touch you."
He stiffened, just like she knew he would. But... he didn't turn away.
His throat work as he swallowed He sat back and her heart almost wept. His eyes were empty, but his hands gripped the bottom of his shirt. He was going to show her and she had one shot at making him see that they were not him.
Slowly, he pulled it up and her mouth watered at the tight set of abs that were revealed. Was he using glamor? Then the first scar showed itself, long and thick across the width of his stomach. Her hand reached for it and his body froze.
"I wish I could kill him again," she said, voice harsh from her anger at what had been done to him. Her finger tips brushed his skin and she saw and heard the breath he pulled in. But he wasn't done. When he had the shirt off, he watched her face, his cold and empty.
He told her once, that he didn't need her pity. That was good. Because she didn't pity him. She could sympathize with what he went through, but rage was what filled her. His chest was a mess of zigzag scars. Most of them crossing over each other, showing they went at him time and time again. The cutting wasn't working.
She moved closer to him, and beginning with the one that trailed down his right eye, she did what she said she would do when she first discovered them. He sat there and she could feel his heart pound against her tongue as she ran her mouth over his chest. A sound came from him and she glanced at his balled fist.
Was it anger? Or was it something more?
Only one way to find out. As she moved her lips across his ravaged flesh, she glanced up into a fiery blue. Softly, she kissed the center of his chest, where three lines intersected. He moved then, pressing her onto her back, his lips torturing hers now as they moved across her skin. Then they were moving over the leather of her shirt and was he going to...
Hos hand moved over that soft rise of her abdomen and he was pulling at her clothes, her pants, gone, her shirt gone, and he devoured her flesh. She ran her fingers through his hair, holding his mouth against her skin. But again, that wasn't what he wanted.
He pulled his head back and her entire universe looked back at her and hell to the no she wasn't going to die. Who could give up what she had?
He pulled her to him, mouth hungry and eyes staring into her and there was that intensity. How could he do that? His fingers sliding through her dampness and his lips and teeth attacked her and still he watched her. The heat growing in the gaze with each soft cry she let out, each moan and each arch of her back. He watched her as she moved against his hand, and watched as she cried out her release.
Then, he was between her legs, and holy shit was it really going to happen?
Yes, and with a passion that the dream failed to show. He pushed into her and as she reached for him, he took her hands and held them over her head. She was about to protest when she felt the slight flare of green against her skin. She was pinned.
"But..."
"I'll let you touch me later." His voice was rough and then he was thrusting inside her and her fingers dug into the broken rock. Faster he went and she tugged at the green, desperately needing to hold him and the green tightened, holding her still. Her head pressed back as her body arched beneath his. His hand cupped the back of her head, forcing her eyes to meet his. She tugged again and the green bit into her and she cried out.
His free hand angeled her hips and he slid against that inner spot and she was going to lose her fucking mind between the intensity of his eyes and the green holding her tight and him stroking her just right. Her eyes tried to close and he said, "No." And wasn't the sexiest fucking word in history?
The green fell away and she gripped his shoulders, fighting his eyes and the intensity of everything. "Kornae!" She couldn't look away as her cries grew louder and her body rocked against his and she could feel it rising, so swift and sharp now, filling her, splintering her and she yelled her pleasure into the sky of a dead world.
"Eve," he groaned as he lost rhythm, and he pushed into her again and again and he froze against her and was she watched, a glow came from his heart and met the one from hers and there was such a feeling of peace and love and this was it, the beauty of the feeling bringing tears to her eyes. She felt apart of so much more than herself. She could feel him, as his heart raced inside her and her shocked eyes met his and they were so dark, but subtly lit from within and she had never seen a more beautiful sight.
He traced the line of her tears and if he said to stop wasting them on him, she would hit him.
"I... That..." She had no words as he lay beside her, both breathing heavy and she lay her head on his chest. He froze, but she wasn't going to move. He could deal with it. And after a moment, he did. His hand stroked her hair and she could feel her head rise with his breath and maybe, he was content.
~~~
"So, are we pregnant or not?" Fallon asked as they walked back in together, Kornae not letting go of her hand. There was a glint in the outspoken vampire's eyes and she sighed. "I see, if there wasn't a baby before, there is now." Fallon repeated the vulgar gesture she gave him before and she gave him a new one with her middle finger. His laughter made her smile and her nerves began to calm.
"Kira, you have my apologies." She glanced at Kornae. "Faerie decided we were going to have a baby whether we wanted one or not." She looked back to the red-eyed Fae.
"It used to do that here as well, before Braken bastardized it. I didn't mean to break such important news."
Eve couldn't stop the rueful smile. "Well, I imagine we would have figured it out eventually. But, I certainly don't wish to harm it. So, no more magic for Eve."
Fallon was on his feet. He glanced at Kornae, "Did you two talk?" He pointed to her belly and Kornae looked confused.
Fallon dropped to his knees and pressed a kiss to her stomach. She remembered what he said about loving being a father and why would the waterworks not stop? She ran her fingers though the silky black strands of hair and swallowed at the look in his eyes. "Your mother is a hellion and I want you to be just like her."
Eve rolled her wet eyes and laughed at him.
The others surrounded her and this time was so different when they were trying to touch her for the brand. This was for love. Love of her and the child inside her and she turned smiling eyes to Kornae. They were again that calm that intrigued her so much. But the soft smile on his face was everything to her.
Sebastian's arms surrounded her chest and he pulled her back against his. "I love you." He whispered in her ear and she twisted to meet his eyes. "I love you too." She gave him a soft kiss before turning back around. "Okay, men. If you don't mind, we still have some things we need to know."
A day later, they left Kira's home, Eve having rested as much as she was willing. Kira gave them some water containers she had made from bones and sinew. They were gross, but they did the job. They left some of their fruit with her in gratitude. Eve said, "If you can find a place, or if you can take your magic and use it to push the infection from some soil, these seeds are clean. You can grow your own."
"They shot you with an arrow, your Highness. Would you like to know why?"
She vaguely remembered wondering that when she was hit.
"Why?"
"We no longer have magic. It's been sealed away, along with the king."
"I can't imagine the horrors you must have gone through," Eve said, voice low.
"If you don't free him, you won't have to imagine." Kira said. "I wish you safe travels, your Highness. And best of luck."
She turned and walked back into her home.
With a deep breath, she looked at those she loved. All seven of them. "We have a destination now. Barring unforeseen problems, we should reach the site in three weeks. First stop, water. Next stop, trapped king."
Gideon took one of her hands and Kornae took the other. He claimed right by fatherhood and no one really argued that. They knew that she and Kornae still had things to catch up on. Them having spent a lot of their earlier time fighting.
Fallon and Gabe were taking bets on the next time their next fight. Was clothes going to fly or magic. Honestly, Eve didn't know. But no matter how good they were at it, she really wanted a respite from the constant bickering.
Although, she had to admit, to herself at least, there was something thrilling about facing a pissed of Kornae. For one who wasn't emotional, as he claimed, his intensity had her spellbound. That intensity something she couldn't wait to experience in the comfort of her own home.
She caught Fallon and Gabe grinning and she kicked rocks at them.
"My queen, is something wrong?" Kornae asked her and she pointed at the two laughing vampires.
"Those two won't stay out of my head."
Kornae looked up with a frown.
"It's okay, dad. It's naughty girl thoughts," Fallon said.
"I'm going to choke you senseless."
"And here I thought you were a masochist."
She made a sound of frustration and blew out a breath. Shoving back loose tendrils of her braid, she said, as queenly as she could, "Let's go."