Authors: Scarlett Dawn
King Cave (76 page)
Yet we had done it anyway. Because of love. For some mysterious ‘Beauty’ that I remembered nothing of. And now, I was paying the consequences for an experience that was as much an enigma as mermaids were in fairytales, living my life alone in the glacial reality and pregnant with no knowledge of who the father was.
“
Queen Ruckler!”
Bindi shouted loudly. “
Can you hear me?”
Having a pretty good indication she and Antonio had both been trying to get my attention for some time, both wearing identical expressions of worry as they hovered in front of my face, I slipped the ring back onto my thumb, one of the only clues to my memory loss, and asked with a voice that could have inflicted frostbite, “Can either of you tell me where the hell the beauty is in this? Because I sure as fuck would like to know.” At their confused silence, I shook my head hard, a cold shudder racking my body as I turned on my side, curling up, and stared at the ring. “I want to know who the father is.”
Neither of them said a word. Didn’t move, in fact.
“Still you two hold your silence,” my frigid gaze met Antonio’s, “and
still
you do nothing.” I snorted, my gaze returning to the ring. “There is something you could do, Antonio.”
Instant. “What is it?”
“I’ll need you to put a permanent spell on me, so no Vampires can hear the baby’s heartbeat, and when I start to show, you’ll need to modify my appearance for everyone else.” I twirled the ring. “I’m going to keep this child, but I sure as fuck am not giving up going into battle because I’m pregnant. Killing Coms is the only joy I have left, and I won’t have that taken away, too.”
Bindi made an odd noise in her throat, and then finally stated, “You need to think of the baby, since you’ve decided to have it, and literally fighting in a war is not healthy for it.” She paused, her voice garbled. “Besides, I haven’t done my internal examination, and I might yet find an indication that states you shouldn’t be up and moving around, much less fighting.”
I turned the ring on my finger. “I’m the Queen Shifter. I can’t just disappear for months on end. I haven’t injured the baby yet with my fighting.” I held up a stopping hand when she started to argue. “If and when it would be required of me not to fight…
so much
…then I will do it.” I lowered my hand, turning the ring again. “But I will need that spell, Antonio.”
He nodded. “I can do that easily enough, but the baby will also need a protection spell when it’s born.” He rolled his shoulders, sitting back on the bed. “I’ll have to work on that.” In other words, just like the spell I now had from him to cover my Vampire side.
I blinked, my eyes meeting his. “You could also work on the reversal spell I want.”
No answer.
“Is it because I’m all grown up, Antonio?” I asked bitterly, emotion actually entering my tone and my veins for a moment, ice melting. “Do you only love defenseless baby hybrids, and not adult hybrids that fuck up their lives all on their own?” I didn’t give a fuck if Bindi knew right then. Hell, she probably already did and just couldn’t say it.
Pain etched his features. “I love you, Lil. No matter how old you get or how many scrapes you get yourself into. I’ll always love you.”
Twisted fucking
truth
.
I snorted even as a fresh batch of freezing tears welled in my eyes. “Get the hell out so Bindi can do the exam.” Coldness welled again as I stared at the ring, watching Antonio do as told from the corner of my eye, and I whispered on the barest breath, “Love is overrated. All it brings is emptiness.” I twirled the ring again. “Definitely not beauty.”
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ISBN: 9780857991232
Title: King Cave
Copyright © 2014 by Scarlett Dawn
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 4/132 Arthur Street, North Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2060..
