Skye
Two more weeks pass in a blur. At first, it seemed like a hundred years. I was constantly poked and prodded and wasn’t deemed healed enough naturally to have Misty and Kenna step back in with their magic, but finally, the morning came when I managed to swallow without pain, and the rush to heal me completely returned with fervor. Misty arrived, working her magic, sewing me together from the inside out. Kenna managed the baby, keeping whoever this tiny person growing inside of me is safe, but I wasn’t out of the woods yet.
The worst thing about this recovery was the sharp and violent return of my pregnancy symptoms. I traded being bedridden with a catastrophic injury for being bedridden with nausea so severe that I lost ten pounds in a matter of days. Alex was amazing through all of it, but I know conversations were being had in the background about the ability of me returning to Lunaria, because right now, it doesn’t seem like an option.
And, this morning, the option to return to my research, and my tenured position, faded entirely.
Alex sits beside me on the couch downstairs in the sunken living room. A fire rages in the hearth, and it’s another snowy, endless late winter night in Moonrise. We’ve been sitting in silence for ages, Alex’s fingers intertwined with mine, but he hasn’t been able to say what he needs to.
I know him. I know he’s gone through every detail and planned every minute of the next several months. He’s been doing that since we found out about the baby and explained how hellish this journey would be for me. He carries the weight of his guilt, and I hate that he can’t feel happy about this yet because he’s worried about me. About us. Me and our baby.
Now, he doesn’t have a choice but to confront his feelings and our reality.
Dad paces in front of us, tapping his fingers on his arm. Maeve appears in a flurry of crimson starlight and glides in our direction, dressed casually compared to the regal gowns she favors during court appearances. A faded sweatshirt with a logo of a sports team Uncle Soren likes catches the light of the fire as she comes into view, looking gravely down at me and Alex, who rises and runs his fingers through his hair.
“This is what I’ve decided,” she says with a soft, unsure sigh. I straighten as much as I can, resting my hands on the slight swell of my belly. “Skye, you need to stay here, at least until you’re further along in your pregnancy and can cope with your symptoms. There’s no help for you in Lunaria, but you have access to the best healers here and our family. I think it’s the safest option.” She gives me a pleading look.
I glance at Dad, then Alex, who are looking at each other instead of at me. I wonder if they have the ability to mind-link because I’ve caught them doing this several times over the past two weeks.
“Fine,” I manage to say, my voice still slightly hoarse.
“You can stay here, at home, or at the palace in your own suite. Whatever you’re most comfortable with,” Maeve adds, giving me the saddest, knowing smile. “It might be easier having you in a suite at the palace because of the proximity to the clinic, since your father insisted on building this fortress in the middle of nowhere.” She sweeps her arm across the living room and lets it fall to her side. “And… you.”
Alex turns to look at her. I feel the air being sucked from the room with each second that passes.
She clears her throat, looks at Dad, and says, “Alex will return to his kingdom.”
“What?” I blurt, trying to rise.
“It won’t be forever,” Maeve cuts in, but I’m already struggling to my feet, clutching the couch cushions for support.
“No, he’s not going back!”
“Skye, please,” Alex says under his breath as he turns to me, taking me by the elbow to guide me back onto the couch, but I clutch him like my life depends on it.
Dad’s throat bobs, and he looks away, stricken, and I could scream.
“You’re agreeing with this? You’re going? It took you three years to find Lunaria! How long…? This can’t…. No. No, you can’t.” I turn pleading eyes on Maeve and my dad. “No. Why? We’re having a baby in six months!”
“I’ll go with him,” Dad says to Maeve, and the air is effectively sucked from the room.
“Blake,” Maeve warns, but Dad purses his lips and nods, turning to face his cousin.
“She’s right. It could take years, even with Evander’s Ghost resources helping and all our transportation technology at his disposal. He’s been gone for thirteen years. We’ll be sending him into an uncertain political landscape.”
Alex stills and watches my dad’s mouth move, standing in shock.
“I could get us there in a few days, with stops along the way, places I’ve seen in his stored memories from his journey to Lunaria.”
“You’re talking about spiriting thousands upon thousands of miles away into a territory that has no working knowledge that we exist,” Maeve says with heat, her eyes narrowing. “Think this through, Blake.”
“Our only other option is sending Alex and several of our best men on a years-long journey away from their families. Plus….” He looks at me and exhales deeply before turning back to Maeve. “I need to be there as your emissary. You know this is the best course of action. I’ve traveled that far before. With the right herbs and specific stops, Alex can make the journey with me without issue. I’ll take another Ghost warrior with me–possibly Zayn, if he’s willing, which I believe he will be.”
The mention of the stranger has an odd effect on Maeve, who turns wild eyes on my father. “Zayn is one of my best palace guards.”
“And there’s a reason you chose him specifically to guard Naomi and Fallon. I’ll need him for a few months. That’s all. I’ll bring him back.”
“You’re serious about this?” Maeve steps toward him, toying with her sleeves. “Escorting Alex into vampire territory?”
“You were right when you mentioned they have no idea we exist. Acting as your emissary means I can scope the political landscape and ensure our reveal won’t cause issues. Alex can see his family and decide the best course of action for him, Skye, and my grandchild while he’s there.”
My spine feels leaden as I watch the conversation. Is my dad… talking about me going to Scarlet Thunder with Alex in the future? He must be. He has to be.
“Alex is the heir apparent to his father, which means he’s first in line to the throne, and if he’s stepping back–”
“I get it,” Maeve hisses, livid. “I just don’t like it.”
“Then you send him on a journey that will take years through terrible terrain with no guarantee he’ll ever return, let alone in time to meet his child.”
Alex looks between Maeve and Dad, his expression shockingly neutral. But I already know he’s made up his mind.
“Dad, it’s dangerous,” I choke out, shaking my head. “A jump like that–especially multiple times–could kill him or both of you.”
“We’ll be fine. You jumped with Alex to Moonrise with barely a shred of your powers left, and he made it in one piece. Zayn, as well, has a unique power profile that will be useful to us.”
“You’ll owe me for taking my best guard with you on this asinine adventure,” Maeve snaps.
Dad rolls his eyes to the ceiling and heaves a breath before looking directly at Alex. “Are you in agreement?”
“Yes,” he says without skipping a beat.
“Then it’s decided. We’ll leave tonight. It’s a full moon, which will make it easier on my powers. I’ll have Kenna bring the herbs and potions we need to ready you for the journey.”
I’m already up and moving through the house, my head spinning. My mind tumbles over the thought of what the next… several months will look like. Alone. Alex and my dad lost in the aether. All the things that could go wrong.
I open my bedroom door and swiftly close it behind me, my face cracking while I choke back a sob.
“I suppose the rumor that pregnancy hormones cause even the most straight-forward, level-headed women to go absolutely mad must be true.”
I open my eyes to Fallon, who’s casually sprawled on my bed in all of her finery–a pale pink gown of silk glimmering in soft lamplight that reflects off her jeweled fingers and polished nails.
She looks up from an old version of the Physics Digest, cocking her head to the side.
“What are you doing here?”
“Spying on my mom. What else?” She smiles wryly and rises, patting the bed. “Come sit with me.”
I glide onto the mattress and lie down facing her. She strokes my hair like she has decades of wisdom in her twenty-two-year-old body, like her soul has been here far longer than her physical form. I’m sure that has something to do with being a Firestone, but I’ll never know for sure.
“I’m not returning to Lunaria.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“My research into the heavens is over.”
“Oh, please. Be serious, Skye. You’ll continue your research at the University of Moonrise, where you’ll be surrounded by people like you–magical. Lunaria sounds boring as hell.”
My answering smile is weak. I think I might be crying because Fallon swipes her thumb across my cheek.
“And you’ll be safe here. You and the baby. You’ll stay at the castle with me, right?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Dad is going with Alex. I need to be here for my mom.”
“Your mother has a rich and busy social life and dozens of close friends. She will be fine, but you could use a break and some pampering.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because,” she says with a sigh, “I’m like you. People don’t give me enough credit for how ridiculously intelligent and cunning I am. I see everything. I know everything. At least, I like to think so.”
I pinch her hip, and she laughs.
“Anyway, I also don’t believe I have a mate. I’m technically not a shifter, so why would I? But I know if I did find someone I loved, I would move mountains for them… if I could. But you can’t move mountains for Alex right now. You made it possible for him to return to his family. You took away the one thing in his way of being free.”
“I ruined our lives.”
“Because he can’t go back to Lunaria?” She rises, her eyes on the doorway behind me. “I don’t think he cares to. I think he’s exactly where he wants to be.”
Fallon silently disappears in gentle, strobing light painted a soft crimson–almost pink. Flakes of stardust fall like glitter on my bed before dispersing.
I scrunch my face into my pillow. Alex rounds the bed, his tread heavier than usual like he, too, is weighed down by all of this. He sits on the edge of the bed and runs his hand up my leg, stopping at my thigh. “I’m going to come back.”
“I know. But not for a long time.”
“A few months, that’s all. And while I’m gone, you can… get our life started.”
I look up from my tear-stained pillow. “How can I? You can’t live here in Moonrise! It’s too sunny. You’re the only vampire–”
“Then change that for me.”
“What?”
He lies down beside me, nose to nose, and exhales deeply. “Change it for me. Use your powers to change those parts of me so we can have a real shot at a life together.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I think you can. I’ve seen your blood sample, remember? I studied it. I obsessed over it. I found what I was looking for in your eyes, Skye. You have the power to change the world. You can also change me.”
“Is that what you really want? It would take away parts of what makes you–you.” I sigh, and he curls his arm around my waist, dragging me closer.
He nuzzles my neck in a way that makes my body flood with heat.
“I want to grow old with you. I want our son to have a childhood without restraints. I want you as my mate, and if that means I give up certain parts of myself, so be it. I just want to try. Look at me, Skye.” I open my eyes to him, memorizing the deep, ocean blue. “I love you. Nothing else matters to me. I have to return to Scarlet Thunder for a while. That’s all. And one day, when we’re settled, I’ll bring you there. Both of you, and I’ll show you my world like you’ve shown me yours.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
That statement means so much coming from someone deeply trained in the sciences, a vocation where everything is almost always up for debate.
“What if I ruin you forever?” I whisper, and he smiles, his fangs glinting in the lamplight.
“You won’t.”
He takes my hand and rests my fingers on his forehead.