Chapter 20
Vyktor was relieved beyond belief to have Aria in his realm.
Eldor’s portal had taken much longer to get to work than he had hoped, and he’d known how much danger she was in.
It had been the most powerless he had ever been, at precisely the moment he most needed to be powerful.
If Eldor were not the only one who understood the technology, Vyktor was afraid what he would have done to him.
As it was, Eldor had gone into exile a good way off immediately following the successful activation of the portal.
A wise choice on his part. Seeing Aria in that horrible little cell, his child fluttering in her belly—Vyktor would have torn Eldor’s heart out if he had been anywhere in the vicinity.
She was safe, but there was no denying that he had failed his mate by allowing himself to be betrayed by Eldor, and he hated it.
For six long weeks she had been at the mercy of her humans, and they had been cruel in a way Vyktor could not fathom.
They had deprived her of all company. They had denigrated and alienated her.
They had made her the scapegoat for the entire invasion, though she had been nothing but a servant willing to give her life in the fight to defend their cities.
During the day, she would smile and when he made love to her, she responded as eagerly as ever.
But in the dark of night, when she thought he was asleep, he would hear her begin to whimper and then cry.
He let her have her grief one night and then the next, but finally he could not stand it.
As much as she wanted her privacy, he could not bear to listen to her pain go on and on like this.
As she sat in the window, tears rolling down her cheeks, Vyktor rose in the darkness and wrapped her in his arms. “I have you, pet. It is okay. You are safe now.”
“I’m sorry,” Aria sniffled. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“You have lost your world,” he murmured. “It is a real loss, one you should grieve. And you are pregnant. In my short time on Earth, it became apparent that human females become exceptionally emotional at this time. There is nothing wrong with you, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“But… I’m happy here!” She looked up at him with a watery smile and burst into tears all over again. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“You were brave for so long, pet,” he said. “You denied your fear and your anger and your sadness, but it’s safe here and maybe some part of you knows that. Maybe what you’re feeling now isn’t what you feel about what is happening now. Maybe it is all those feelings you couldn’t have before.”
“Maybe,” she sniffled. “I guess.”
“Come back to bed,” he said. “If you cry, I want you to cry on me.”