Page 211 of The Heart of Winter

"You need to do the test, Sariel."

"You’re awfully pushy today," I growled.

Blue stared at me for a moment.

"What really happened on that island, Sariel?" he asked more softly than usual. "Tell me the truth."

I closed my eyes. "You can read it in my interview with Uncle Victor, it came out today."

"I want the uncensored version."

"Hunger happened! Helplessness. Despair. And… him. He gave everything to find food for me. He saved my life. Even when he could barely walk, he crossed to the other side of the island to get to me. Without him, I wouldn’t be here."

"There was more than that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this… situation. You obviously had sex."

I rolled my eyes.

"Please, don’t start this topic…"

But Blue kept going.

"You left our little V-club. Not a virgin anymore."

I made a face but didn’t answer. I wasn’t eager to spill my guts.

Blue slowly turned his head to the sky. Then, almost imperceptibly, his eyes shifted toward Gabriel before snapping back to me.

"So… how was the sex? Really that divine, or is it just a lot of hype?"

I hesitated, but eventually muttered, "I don’t know how it is with anyone else, but with him… it was divine."

"It wasn’t just sex for you, Sariel?"

"No."

"Maybe you shouldn’t wait any longer, Sariel. You know how he must feel now?"

"Do I? He didn’t answer when I called out to him."

"Mind you, that was right after a conversation with a bunch of shrinks sent by my darling brother, no less. They probably told him all the stuff Jacob wanted to say himself, but instead he sent in the vanguard."

"They probably did."

We were quiet for a while. I lowered my eyes to my hands. Every cell of my body was pulsing in pain, and it was steadily growing.

"Winter’s energy changed after the conversation, I could sense it. They filled his head with enough doubt to make him question… us."

Blue gave a light shrug. "I’d bet he’s just afraid of pissing off Jacob. His job depends on him."

"Or maybe I’m just not worth the risk of getting fired to him," I finally said. "The job at DevApp is more important?"

"Fire the parent of his grandchild? Jacob’s strict, yeah, but he’s not a monster, Sariel. I’ve known him a bit longer than you."

"Grandchild? We’ll see about that. First, you need to draw my blood."

"Uhh… what?"

"The pain, Blue. I want to know if this pain I’ve been feeling, this constant, growing ache, has a specific cause. Because I’m almost sure it does. And if I’m right, it might just kill two birds with one stone. Including my father problem." I grinned, all mischief.

---