Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
ARABELLA
After a long shower, I was feeling substantially better.
Saint had yet to return, but I was able to find everything I needed.
I got dressed in a pair of black shorts, something that was more than unusual for me to wear, and a black tank top.
I brushed my hair back and braided it before leaving the suite and taking the hallway back upstairs.
I could hear my mates talking, but they were being quiet about it, to the point that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. When I reached the top of the stairs, my gaze met Ashur’s, his sunglasses cast aside and his unusual gaze filled with…something.
“Flower, you’re done already.” Saint sounded surprised.
I nodded and offered all of them a small smile. “Sorry about that. I’m feeling much better—Zain!” I let out a small giggle as the man flashed across the space and lifted me up, kissing me lightly before letting me slide down his frame.
Cy appeared next to him and brushed his lips over my forehead, seemingly to assure himself of my state after a quick look over.
“What are you guys talking about?” I asked curiously, noticing that Razar, Blackwell, and Saint specifically appeared to be having a silent conversation. Seeing Saint serious wasn’t something I was used to. The other two didn’t seem super upset, just tense, which somehow made it more confusing.
“Just want to make sure you’re okay,” Damian answered for them.
“And our plans for when we arrive,” Amun added.
“Oh.” I looked over Ashur’s head and towards an upcoming land mass. “Are we nearly there?”
“Soon,” he said, standing and taking a step in my direction. I slipped from between Cy and Zain to meet him, not hesitating to wrap my arms around him. I shivered as his large hand wrapped around the back of my neck, tilting it back while examining my expression.
“What are they talking about?” I asked again, knowing Damian and Amun hadn’t given me the full truth. The others probably wouldn’t tell me, but Ashur… I had a feeling he would.
“Why you could be sick,” he answered immediately.
That answer surprised me, because with how weird the guys were acting—the silent conversations, the meaningful glances at each other—I thought it’d be something different. I gave him a quick, appreciative kiss before turning in his arms and nearly jolting back, finding Razar right there.
“I’m serious, it’s probably nothing,” I assured Razar, resting my hand on his chest. He let out a low rumble of disagreement. I expected Saint to make a quip, but instead he just sat down, offering me a reckless smile that didn’t hide the concern in his gaze.
“Okay, something is totally up,” I pressed. Each of them stared at me with guilty expressions—except for Blackwell. He was just staring at me. “Come on—fess up, just freakin’ tell me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t want you to worry,” Damian said.
“Well now I’m annoyed and worried.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to keep my demeanor light, and walked towards Blackwell. Saint made an amused noise but didn’t stop me.
“Blackwell.” I used my most compelling voice. “Come on, I know you want to tell me.”
“Oh, I want to tell you,” Blackwell agreed. “Just not positive that’s a good idea.”
“Tell me,” I groaned, hitting his chest lightly, which probably felt like literally nothing to him. In fact, I knew it did because his lips pressed up just slightly.
“We’re concerned that you got sick because you’re pregnant,” he blurted.
I reared back, offering him an arched brow. “Like…you think I’m pregnant and have morning sickness? There’s no way.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Saint murmured, causing me to snap my head to the side and offer him a bewildered look.
“Okay, Mr. Blunt About Literally Everything, enough with the cryptic statements. Blackwell suggested I was pregnant before, and you didn’t act like this. What gives?”
“I just…I felt something,” Saint said quietly. “It was a small surge of power, but god terrors have a connection to their counterparts. So while I don’t have life magic, I can sense it, if that makes sense…and I just felt something. I don’t feel it right now, but it was something.”
Oh.
I drew my lip in and looked around at all of them, trying to temper my own reaction at his words because…
well, I knew how I felt about the prospect, despite us being in the middle of literally saving the world.
What I shouldn’t have been surprised to see was my own hope and happiness reflected in each of their expressions.
They tried to hide it, no doubt waiting for my reaction, and I hated that they felt like they had to do that…
Then again, wasn’t I about to tell Saint he was crazy?
He was, right?
“Can you feel anything?” I asked Amun.
His eyes warmed at me seeking his opinion, and he shook his head. “No, but I wouldn’t so early on.”
Yeah, early on like really fucking early on.
I looked back at Saint, realizing this is why he’d been acting so weird. “I…I don’t understand how that would be possible, Saint. I mean, it would be a week at most, right? So there wouldn’t be much to go off of…”
“Magic,” he explained. “A small collision of magic, as in a successful mating occurring, could cause it. And the baby would be a nightmare, so the gestation period could be far quicker than a human.”
I see.
Blowing out a long exhale, I nodded and put my hands on my hips. “Okay, well, I guess we’ll wait and see. No point in overthinking it, right?”
Blackwell chuckled. “Yeah, not that easy, love.”
“Why?” I asked, surprised by the caution in his gaze.
“Because you should be back home, not going to some isolated island, let alone going to face War—”
“Nope.” I shook my head and put my hand up. “Nope, nope, nope.” I rounded and looked at all of my mates. “Even if I was pregnant, which I don’t think I am—”
“Can’t say that for sure, though,” Zain pointed out, his eyes filled with so much warmth that I had to fight to not find it sweet.
“Even if I was,” I continued, “it doesn’t change anything, The plan moves forward.”
“The hell it does,” Razar growled, the words slipping past his lips like he hadn’t meant to say them.
“It does,” I insisted patiently. “There’s too much at stake—”
“And you shouldn’t be one of those things,” Damian said, his jaw clenched so tight I was worried he’d shatter it.
“I am more than protected with each one of you on your own, let alone with all of you.” I looked directly at Ashur and all the way across to Amun, the entire group staring at me with concern now. “You know that. All of you know that.”
“Doesn’t mean we want to take that risk, precious,” Amun said softly.
“The idea of you being in danger is enough to drive me crazy under normal circumstances,” Blackwell admitted, “but while pregnant…”
“And what about what I want?” I asked, knowing that this conversation needed to be had now. I didn’t love that it was so serious, but it was better that we have it now so that when we found out I was pregnant, whenever that time may be, it would be a celebration.
“What you want is all that matters,” Ashur agreed.
“He’s right,” Cy admitted.
“I’ll be more careful than ever to keep out of danger, because if there is a chance…
of course I would want to be more careful.
” I let my voice soften to show them that the concept didn’t bother me.
“But I also don’t want to sit around until we know.
Let’s find the sis metas and go beat War.
Let’s finish this. If I’m pregnant, I do not want my child to be born into a world with someone like War in the picture, okay? ”
That seemed to seal the deal as my words registered with all of them, earning expressions of determination and nods of agreement from each.
Reframing the situation like that, saying it out loud, seemed to shift the mood of the group.
Now it would no longer be about delaying the war, in their minds, but instead finishing it—which would happen faster with our plan to involve the sis metas.
“Well, the first part is about to happen, flower,” Saint said, breaking the intense conversation as he nodded towards the coast. “We’re here.”
Right on cue, the yacht came to a stop a few hundred yards from the shoreline, and everything turned into a flurry of activity, the subtle rocking causing me to shift on my toes.
The captain instructed us to take smaller boats to shore, adding that he would wait for us.
I only heard this distantly because I was captured by Razar and Blackwell, both of whom were practically glued to me.
I didn’t mind, but I was surprised they weren’t saying anything—clearly my words had gotten through to them.
When we went to the lower deck and boarded a smaller boat, I sat next to Ashur, who slid an arm around my waist and pressed a kiss to my temple.
I shivered as I realized that the power under his skin was being repressed—extremely so.
I stared up at him, and when he looked down at me, I swallowed, feeling the intensity radiating off of him.
“We brought most of our bags,” Damian said, nodding towards the center where they were piled, “but there are some supplies and clothing left on the boat, so hopefully he will keep his word on staying.”
“As long as we don’t disappear for days, I imagine he will,” I murmured, thinking about the Oceanic Forest and the timeline there.
“He did say something odd, though,” Zain said. “He said that he didn’t know how far away our island was, that this is where his coordinates took him to. He seemed concerned about us sailing, even though the island is right there.”
“He’s human,” Razar pointed out. “Maybe he can’t see it.”
As he said it, a subtle wall of magic waved over us, and my eyes shut as I sucked in a hard breath. I groaned, feeling dizzy and leaning into Ashur, his chest producing a primal sound that sent a surge of heat through me.
“My moon.” His voice was deep and rough. “Open your eyes.”