Page 53 of Redeeming the Angel

“Hey,” I whispered in her ear, “Would you like to go back to Aisthanesthai and talk now?”

She nodded, then plastered a false smile on her face as she murmured her goodbyes to everyone.Xochitl gave me a suspicious look, and I made a placating gesture before Kerainne tugged me out of the room.

“It’s like an omen,” she muttered under her breath.

I transported us back to the portal by the lake.Then when we passed through, Kerainne transported us to my house again.My heart leapt at the notion of being alone with her again with no worries of Zareth or anyone else returning to the tower.

Once we were inside, I lit the fireplace and gestured for her to sit while I made tea.I confess that I drew the process out longer than I needed to, but damn it, her presence changed the very air in this house.Making it feel cozier, more alive.

When the tea was made, I set it on the little table in front of the couch and sat beside her.She looked so distressed that I pulled her into my arms.

“Kerainne, what’s wrong?”I stroked her soft hair.“Did something about those silly movies bother you?You said something about an omen.Tell me, and I’ll do what I can to make it better.”

“No!”She shoved me away and rose from the couch.“Thishasto stop.And it’s not only because of how you hurt me.I also did something awful to you that you still don’t know about.It’s long past time I tell you about it.”She paced in front of me, wringing her hands.“And once I’m finished, you won’t want anything to do with me anymore.”

I highly doubted it, but with all the secrets she’d kept from me, I was definitely intrigued.

“Challenge accepted.”I gestured at my recliner and sat on the couch to give her a respectful distance before summoning a bottle of wine and two glasses.I had a feeling tea wouldn’t be enough for either of us.“Do your worst.”

Chapter Nineteen

Kerainne

Past

Three months after Lucian and I made love for that seemingly endless day and night in Luminista, I was back home at the palace, waiting for the right time to tell my parents about our betrothal.Although I knew that unlike with Nik and Del, Mother would approve of the match, something held me back.So I held the secret close to my heart and comforted Nik as Delgarias had gone off to what I’d assumed was tending to duties as Keeper of the Prophecy.

One afternoon, I was designing dresses for important events such as Lucian’s official request for my hand in marriage, the signing of the betrothal contract, and my engagement party.I was rummaging for my blue pencil when I felt it, a spark of life low in my abdomen.

My breath fled my body and for a moment, I remained frozen, my hand on my belly, waiting to see if I’d imagined it.There it was again.I was pregnant.For a moment, satisfaction washed over me in warm rippling waves.I imagined what a baby that was half me and half Lucian would look like, then grinned in the confident knowledge that it would be the most beautiful baby in the universe.And unlike my mother’s pregnancy with Nik, which I’d only experienced vicariously, this was all mine.Every movement, every kick, every centimeter of growth would be all mine to feel.The baby would be all mine as well.No painful separation as he, she, or they were taken back to their real mother’s breast.

Iwould be the real mother.A mother!Me!The bond I shared with all little ones rejoiced.

But when I started fantasizing about Lucian’s broad smile when I told him the good news, reality reared its ugly head.This pregnancy could mean that my marriage would end up happening sooner than I’d like.The likelihood that a Leonine Princess would be permitted to bear a Jagwolfe prince’s child out of wedlock was probably zero.I needed time to figure out when and how to break the news, to my parents and to Lucian.

The problem was that if I could feel the spark of a seedling within me, it would only be a matter of weeks—perhaps even days—before my mother would sense it too.I know I sensed Mother’s pregnancy when her belly was still flat.

A shielding spell would buy me time.It would be several months before I’d begin to show.And surely by then I’d have a plan about how to proceed with the betrothal and perhaps even negotiate an arrangement for Lucian to spend the next century or more in Medicia with me.Maybe he could rule beside me while my parents were hibernating.Most luminites needed to hibernate eventually and I didn’t know when Mother and Father had last rested.

I dashed to my laboratory to find the ingredients for a shielding spell and cursed when I saw that I was out of a few things.So I rushed to Nik’s laboratory and froze when I opened the door to see her standing in front of a shelf full of herbs.

“Will you ever remember to knock?”Nik snapped at me.

I ignored the outburst, noticing that my sister was holding her own belly protectively.“You too?”

Nik gasped, grasping my meaning when I touched my stomach.“Going to luminista didn’t stop the Yearning?”

I shook my head and started pacing the length of her laboratory.

“Lucian?”she asked softly.

Who else?A voice inside me laughed as I nodded.“I don’t want him or anyone to know yet, though.I’ll be married off immediately.”

“At least he’d have to marry you and stay here until the child is old enough for their first death.”Nik’s reassuring tone was offset by the concern in her eyes.“So, you played that part very well.”

“I don’t wantanyoneto know until it’s agreed that Lucian will live in Medicia with me.I don’t want to live in Luminista.”I resumed pacing back and forth, twirling a lock of my hair sporadically.At least Nik’s problem with our parents might be solved with her pregnancy.“What of you?I see you’re preparing for a shielding spell too.That’s why I’m here.I ran out of Canwyl plasma.Since we get it from Shellandria, I knew you’d have some.Are you going to try to change Mother’s mind about allowing you to marry Del when he returns?Since he’ll be the father of their grandchild, they may reconsider.”

They had to.Didn’t they?

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