Chapter 7
WREN
A large hand reached out to me, trying to swipe those acid-dripping claws through my torso, and I couldn’t move. My feet were stuck, my whole body frozen as I just stood there and watched death lunge at me in slow motion. I screamed and screamed, but nothing happened; no sound came out.
“I’m really sorry about this.” The face of Ekhidna switched to that of Demke, looking resigned. The hands became huge talons that had inky blackness pouring from them. “But I can’t let them die, and they mean more to me than you.” Demke’s voice echoed around like thunder from far away, and I wanted to beg him to stop, to rethink what he was doing. “I can’t love you.”
I saw my parents crawling from the hole in the ground, their faces hazy, but their voices clear. “It was your fault we died. If we hadn’t been trying to escape your bratty teenage behavior, we never would’ve gone on that godforsaken cruise,” my dad thundered, before my mom’s hand slipped on the rocks and she tumbled back into the portal to Hell.
“No!” I screamed, but it came out just as a strangled gasp.
Wren.
My dad looked at me like I was a fuck-up. “You’ll ruin your children the same way you ruined us. Nothing follows you but death and destruction,” he said, disappointment thick in the air between us.
I was shaking my head, trying to tell him I would be better, that I was sorry, but my lips wouldn’t even part anymore. My dad let go and fell back into the pit, and I silently screamed once more.
Wren, wake up.
I stumbled to the ground, and Ekhidna was back, a giant knife in her hand. “We can make this all end now. Wouldn’t you like to be happy? To be free from this pain?” she crooned.
MATE! WAKE NOW!
My eyes snapped open at the sound of Griff’s shout in my brain, and he was there, nuzzling my face with his own feathered one. The coolness of the early morning air on my cheeks let me know I’d been crying in my sleep.
It is okay now, my mate. It was just a dream, Griff purred, and a sob I didn’t realize had been trapped in my chest burst past my lips. Even as the specifics drifted away from my waking mind, the way it made me feel stuck with me like a dagger in the heart.
Wrapping my arms around the Gryphon’s neck, I held tight as he made the comforting thrum in his chest, his words in my mind soft and soothing. His huge head was across my chest, weighing me down in the here and now, and slowly, the thundering of my heart calmed to a dull ache.
Griff didn’t move the whole time, his huge body half in the nest with me and the rest on his haunches on the floor. He must’ve been uncomfortable, but he didn’t shift even an inch. I stroked my hand down to the point where his feathers turned to fur, and his chest vibrated with a happy noise.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
You’re my mate. It is my job to keep you happy and safe. There’s nowhere I won’t protect you, even in your dreams. He let out an aggravated sound that would have freaked me the hell out two weeks ago. It irks me that you have to suffer through them at all.
I huffed out a watery laugh. “Some places I have to take care of myself, Griff, and in my brain is one of them.” I gently pushed at his head, which was massive, and he lifted it slowly, his shining gold eyes looking down at me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the humanity in those eyes. I had a feeling that if he didn’t think I was ready to leave the nest, he’d just plop his big head back down and keep me here until he was satisfied.
You are correct, he told me, making me laugh for real this time.
“You’re kind of bossy—you know that, right?”
He rubbed his cheek on mine once more. My flight is full of unruly Godlings, and my cubs will be the chosen Fates. You need someone to keep everyone in line.
I snorted at the Gryphon calling Demke a “Godling” but I wasn’t going to argue. I might’ve forgiven him, but I was a little miffed still. With a sigh, I pushed myself into a sitting position. I was always so exhausted. Was it supposed to be like this?
The sun was high in the sky, and my bed was empty except for Griff, which told me that it was a lot later than usual. Every muscle in my torso ached with the weight of the babies, and I creaked my way to the bathroom to freshen up. I wondered if I could convince someone to just sit with me in the pool for a few hours, so I could get a little bit of relief.
Who was I kidding? I could ask for the skull of my enemy, and one of them would make me a pi?a colada in it.
“The Gryphon would very much enjoy that request.”
I looked over my shoulder at Teron. It was a weird feeling, when they shifted between one and the other. I was always so happy to see them, but a piece of me was sad that I wouldn’t see the other for an unknown amount of time.
I’m always here, mate. Griff’s voice in my mind made me smile.
Obviously, though my thoughts are meant to be private.
Griff made a rude noise, and Teron rolled his eyes. “How are you feeling, Wren?”
I sighed, and when I was close enough, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He held me to his chest, which was bare, and I soaked in his warmth. He tended to run hotter than the others, like the sands of his homelands were trapped just beneath the skin.
“The babies feel good. They’re moving around as much as they can.”
He kissed my temple, the familiar gesture making my heart thud pathetically. “I asked how you are feeling.”
I slumped into his body. “Stressed. Tired. Sore.”
“Understandable.” He ushered me out of the room, down toward the pool. “Relax. I’ll get one of the guys to bring you something to eat. I’ll give you a checkup this afternoon, and maybe a hot oil massage.”
I almost moaned at the thought of someone massaging my overly tight muscles.
True to his word, he led me to my canopied lounger and held me with soft hands as I shifted myself around to get comfortable. Although, comfortable was subjective at this point.
He squeezed my foot in his strong hands, and I groaned. Laughing, he kissed the top of it and moved away. “Unfortunately, I have a few tasks that need to be completed. Otherwise, climbing into that nest with you would be my only plan for the rest of the day.”
For the rest of my life, Griff amended.
I waved him away. “Go. I’m just going to take another nap, probably.” He nodded and left, and I was physically alone. Well, kind of. If you didn’t count the babies. Or Griff in my head. Or the sleeping dogs around the pool.
I breathed in and out, letting my eyelids droop as I worked at making my whole body untense. Toes, feet, ankles… On and on I went, until my whole body felt like it lacked bones.
A foot suddenly poked out of my stomach, or maybe it was an elbow. I brushed a hand over it, and a bone-deep love flowed through my chest. I mightn’t have been overjoyed about finding out I was pregnant, but I wouldn’t change anything now. I’d come to terms with it, and the knowledge that I wouldn’t be alone in the world anymore meant something.
Fuck, I was going to cry again.
“ Mo stóirín. ”
I looked up at Nate, who was blocking the sun. I licked my bottom lip, trying to swallow back the emotions, but I should have known better. Climbing in beside me, he pulled me onto his chest, and I snuggled my nose between his pecs. Honestly, I wanted to live in this spot forever.
He brushed his hand down my hair. “What’s wrong?”
Shaking my head, I just frowned. “Bad dreams, but Griff chased them away.” I playfully bit his chest just beside his nipple, and he growled softly at me. “It’s all getting real, I guess. We should probably name them soon.”
It had felt too scary to name them. Like it would make me too attached if something happened. But who was I kidding? I was already attached.
Nate looked down at me. “We?”
Raising my head, I looked up into his face. “You don’t want to?”
He lifted me up so he could kiss me, the harsh brush of his beard on my chin contrasting with the softness of his lips. I was obsessed with the sensation. I was obsessed with this man, period. He deepened the kiss, and I straddled his hips, wanting nothing more than to stay like this forever.
Nate pulled away first. “ Mo stóirín, I’d be honored to name the babes with you.” His voice was thick, his Irish lilt almost indecipherable. “It is a privilege I didn’t think I’d ever have again. Thank you,” he whispered against my lips.
He kissed me again, but they were lazy, gentle kisses, relaxing more than arousing. Eventually, he pulled off his shirt and lay down beside me, and we just lounged to the sound of the birds in the trees and our combined heartbeats.
My stomach growled softly, rousing me from my near trance-like state of chill. Nate chuckled softly, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll get you something to eat?—”
“Néit!”
The sound of Tryp’s shout had Nate scrambling to the edge of the lounger. “What is it?” He sounded panicked, and my heart thumped.
“There’s someone at the door for you!”
Nate looked over at me, a frown deep in his brow. Only one person knew where we were, and I trusted her completely. She’d saved our asses.
“Could it be?” I asked, and he shrugged.
“Stay here.”
He was off then, but if he thought I was staying here, he’d lost it. I scooted off the lounger and waddled as fast as I could toward the front wall of the compound, slipping around the outside of the place instead of through the house. Sure, my belly barely fit through the gap between the corner of the building and the wall, but I still made it around to the door just as Nate bounded down the stairs, Milo at his back. I hid off to the side as he flung the heavy gate open.
On the other side was exactly who I’d thought it would be. “Néit, you big, burly fucker. You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Hurrying over, I ignored the pissed look Nate gave me with feigned innocence.
Clio’s face lit up. “Wren Mahone, you look as radiant as ever. Being thricely knocked-up and baking in this Goddess-forsaken heat suits you.”
I laughed, because there was definitely a compliment in there somewhere. “It’s good to see you, Clio.”
She raised a brow, and it was then I noticed that Nate was so tense, his body was like stone. “Not as good as it is to see you right now. It makes it less likely that Néit will tear my head off,” she said beneath her breath. “Remember, you big dummy, that you need all the help you can get.”
Clio stepped away to reveal the woman behind her. She was beautiful, with hair so black, it seemed to absorb the sun, and eyes as dark as night. Her lips were red and full, though somehow, I didn’t think it was lipstick. Gold streaks flared from her like fireworks, but even if I couldn’t see her fate threads, I’d have known immediately that she was a Goddess.
“Wren Mahone, this is?—”
Nate glared at Clio, shutting her up. “This is my Badb.” He pronounced it like bay-ve. “My ex-wife.”
The fuck?
The woman smiled, and in the expression, I could see a thousand deaths. “You may know me as the Morrigan.”
Someone behind me whistled, and I heard Tryp whisper, “Holy shit. ”
That was an understatement.