Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Earlier on Aquillia
Nikos
“Lila is here.”
It’s the first coherent thought I’ve had in weeks since I realized I was pregnant.
Shamed by what I did to her when my mating urge took over and horrified that I put her and her babies in danger, I didn’t put up much of a fight when my father confined me to my rooms in the palace below.
She had every right to banish me from her sight and not return my mating bite.
I am not worthy of her love or attention.
Panic washes over me when the guards wheel my pod out into the land palace and put me on display.
I just knew my father was going to use me and our baby to get her to comply with his wishes, but I didn’t think it would work.
I thought I burned all of what might have been between us down to a fiery heap.
What is she doing here? She can’t be here.
My father will use her and our baby as a pawn, but I am so starved for affection, not to mention proper nutrition, that I don’t have the energy to do anything but float listlessly and watch.
My father has ruled over us for so long, none of us risk fighting back.
Nobody wants to be thrown in the dungeon or worse, the Molastay Trench.
I thought for sure she would outright reject any manipulations from my father.
I didn’t think she cared enough to rescue me, but I was wrong.
I watch silently and listen with growing awe and gratitude.
Not only does she bargain for my and our child’s freedom from my father, but she also swaps herself so we can go free.
How can she be so kind and generous and brave after what I did to her?
I can’t allow even just the smallest bit of hope to creep in, though, because things might not be exactly how I’ve dreamed them to be.
Now I just have to hope that my father’s plan is foiled.
There is no way my father will be able to keep her contained with all her extra mimic abilities, but he doesn’t know of the full range.
He will allow his arrogance and confidence to cloud his judgment.
Although I wish she didn’t swap herself for me, I am grateful our child will be safe once more, and I don’t doubt she will be able to get herself out of any place my father may keep her.
I feel our child growing in my belly. It is everything I thought it would be and more.
I spend most of my time thinking about what he or she will look like.
Father wouldn’t let me go to the surface and sun with the other expectant parents.
He thought I would use it as a chance to escape.
I did consider it, but where would I go?
I am not welcome anywhere else, and I thought my child’s mother hated me because I put her other children in danger.
I haven’t been eating well, since he’s deliberately been starving me in the hopes it will control me.
I worry that it has done some damage to our baby.
I haven’t been allowed to see a doctor either.
He’s tried to keep my pregnancy hush-hush, not wanting to be shamed that I don’t have a matching mating bite or mate in tow, but of course nothing like that can be kept quiet.
He stripped me of my crown prince title, which is rightfully mine through birth, and gave it to my younger half-brother Raen.
I hate him and his mother. They make mine so very unhappy.
Nixie and I were barely born when he moved his pregnant mistress into the palace, and then less than a year later, he moved another one in until my mother had five of them living with us.
Thankfully, there were no more children until about ten years later.
Now we have a few half brothers and sisters who constantly remind my mother of his infidelity.
I lose interest as Caspian approaches the pod and starts wheeling it in the direction of the transport pad.
I feel my heartbeat pick up slightly at the thought of leaving Lila behind, but it slowly settles as I realize Lila is capable of looking after herself.
My father has well and truly underestimated her, and I feel a small smile creep across my lips at the thought of what might happen.
Even I don’t know the full extent of her abilities.
Seeing that Xavier is unconscious between the two Adams brothers is not going to go favorably for my father, and I almost raise the energy to chuckle, but even that is too hard.
Idrift in and out of sleep, struggling to keep myself alert and awake.
I’m not sure how much time has passed when I open my eyes and find Lila on the other side of the glass.
Her beautiful green eyes are filled with sadness as she looks at me.
She puts her hand up on the glass, and I stretch out my own, mirroring her as she leans her forehead in.
I give a small flick of my tail, the only movement I can really manage, but it’s enough for me to rest my own forehead against hers, just the glass between us.
My belly presses against it too. There’s a small flutter of movement, the first I have felt in days.
It’s as if our baby can sense its mother’s presence.
Dr. Link’s voice comes through the speakers in the side of the pod.
“Nikos, I’m going to pump a supplement into the water.
Just keep breathing in and out. It might feel a little funny, but I’m worried about your and the baby’s health, and this is a good start.
” I turn my gaze so he comes into my line of sight.
He presses a few buttons, and I hear a whirring sound before something pours into the pod where he has it hooked up to his machines.
The solution disperses through the water, and I keep breathing normally. I feel exactly when it hits my system. There’s a big jolt, and for the first time in weeks, my body doesn’t ache.
“I’d like to come in there and do a scan if you don’t mind.
I want to assess the baby’s health. Lila is going to assist me.
” They both climb the ladder on the side of the pod while I allow the medication to circulate, drawing it into my body through my gills as well as absorbing through my scales and skin.
Bit by bit, it feels like I’m waking up from a long sleep.
I’m still not back to tip top shape, but it’s an improvement.
I watch with a glimmer of interest as Link removes his Galaxy Circus uniform, leaving him in just his briefs.
His shiny silvery skin shimmers in the bright light of the exam room as he pushes off the side and plunges into the water.
He splashes beneath the surface, sending up bubbles, but quickly rises to the top, and then he holds onto the side of the pod.
He looks at Lila who also strips off her clothes, tossing them onto the floor.
My interest in life suddenly returns when I see the silver scar of my mating bite around her nipple.
Pride swells deep inside at the fact that this gorgeous, amazing woman wears my bite.
I couldn’t be prouder to be carrying her child, even if she never returns the mating bite.
Lila’s body shimmers like it did the first time she mimicked me, and when the mist clears, she’s in her Aquilian form.
I have never seen a more beautiful mermaid before.
Her hair retains the opalescent colors that it now is, and her tail also shows the same coloring instead of the color it was when we swam together originally.
She sparkles and shines as she drops into the water too.
I watch as she and Link have a conversation before she dives down toward me.
She approaches me slowly, holding her hand out cautiously.
Nikos, can you hear me? Her sweet voice echoes through my mind as our fingers touch, and my soul seems to sigh with relief. She’s here. Everything will be alright.
Yes, my beautiful pearl. I can hear you, I reply, and I see her release her own sigh of relief.
Grabbing my hand in her tight grip, she gives it a squeeze.
Link wants to look at you and our baby and make sure everything is okay, but to do that, he needs you to go to him.
He can’t breathe underwater like we can, she explains, but my head is practically singing songs of triumph as I focus on the words “our baby.” She acknowledged our baby, she’s not going to reject us.
She frowns, the worry lines between her eyebrows making a cute wrinkle that I want to reach out and smooth away, but that is still too hard.
Yes, Lila, take me to your cyborg so he can check on our baby.
They haven’t been very active, and I am worried I have failed at keeping them healthy and safe.
I wrap the hand that is not holding hers around my distended belly like I can protect the baby like that. If only.
She must hear the shame and worry in my tone, because her frown turns to a scowl. None of that is your fault. It is all your father’s, and he paid for that.
What? He did? I look at her with surprise, and the scowl softens as she looks down at my belly, taking her free hand and placing it over mine.
Yes, no one treats my mate and baby like that, she tells me, looking into my eyes, and my heart sings. She’s claiming me. My heart and head pound with the knowledge, and happiness fills my soul. If Cronus hadn’t killed him, I would have.
The warlock king? I’m confused but also so incredibly relieved that my father is dead. Who is on the throne now? Raen? I ask her, and she tugs me slightly, flipping her tail and swimming us up toward the cyborg who is waiting patiently for us.
Yes, it’s a long story, but no, not Raen. Tirrian ate him. I’ll tell you everything once you’re back to full health. That’s all you need to worry about for now.
But my kingdom. I can’t leave the throne vulnerable like that. I will need to return and take my birthright. We breach the surface of the water, and she shakes her head before speaking out loud.