to come at random, and I will have no control over them.
It’s strange. It makes sense. Even though I never considered that I could be pregnant. Gargoyle pregnancies are so damn rare, and Andros is...well, not a ghost, not an undead. I’m not sure what he is.
“I’ll do whatever you wish,” Asclepius tells me, then reaches out and takes my hand.
I look into the good doctor’s eyes for the first time. “I’m keeping the baby. But does Hades have to know?”
He frowns. “Eventually, before you start showing, he’ll have to know. For now, I’ll tell him that to connect with your magic you need more exercise, time out of your cell, and low stress.”
I feel a tear roll down my cheek. “Thank you, doctor.”
He pats my hand and lets it go. “I only wish I could do more.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I understand.”
He sighs and stands. “And listen, you’re really early in your pregnancy, I’d guess four to six weeks, so take it easy.”
I touch my stomach. Four to six weeks? A smile spreads my lips that I can’t hold back. There is a little child, Andros’s and mine, already growing in my belly.
The doctor reassures me that he’ll be back frequently to check on my pregnancy and that he’ll inform Hades of my new needs. Then Andros leads me back out of the room, and we move through Hades’s castle as if in a dream, or maybe even a nightmare. My daughter, Em, had brought so much joy and so much happiness to my life. The thought of another child, it’s such a blessing. But to have that child here?
I’m not sure how to feel.
My steps falter, and I remember looking at my daughter’s face and knowing that I couldn’t let her grow up to be a prisoner. I’d started planning, planning how to get her free before she got old enough for Hades to use her the way he’d me. And because I used myself as a distraction, she had escaped this place, to go to the surface...alone. I think of her each and every day.
Will that be the fate of this child too?
“He’s coming for us,” Andros says without looking back at me.
I say nothing, because I want that to be true so badly. If his brother just saves us, all these problems will go away. Unfortunately, that’s not the way life usually works.
We return to my cell, and he follows me inside. Instantly, his arms wrap around me, holding me closely, and I can feel the tension and pain within him, swelling his chest. He kisses my face, over and over again, then lightly presses a hand to my stomach.
“I always wanted a child,” he whispers in my ear, his voice filled with heartache.
Yes, he wanted a child. On the surface. With his brother Orion. Not in the Underworld with his imprisoned lover. This is something beautiful in a world full of ugly, and I want him to see it that way, if only for a moment.
“It’s a blessing,” I tell him.
He drops his hand and holds me tighter. And neither of us say what we’re both thinking: that if we can’t find a way out, our child will be a prisoner too,
At just the thought, the cell feels cooler, and I shiver in Andros’s arms.
8
Hades
Before the doctor can speak, I lift a hand. My spies had already told me all I need to know. The witch is pregnant. By another prisoner, a demon. I don’t care who the fuck the father is. I care how this will impact me. The next time I want to use her powers, I want them working properly.
“She’s pregnant,” I say.
The doctor’s eyes widen. Yes, now he’ll know that I have someone listening to his little appointments, but I don’t care. This place is my domain. I will know everything that happens within it.
“She’ll need fresh air, exercise, good food, and less stress, or the child…”
“I couldn’t give a shit about the child.”
“That seems foolish.”
I stiffen as my wife enters the throne room. She wears a beautiful pale blue toga that reaches her feet, where golden sandals just barely peek out. Her hair is like spun wheat, braided down her back, and a dark crown made of black diamonds is nestled in her hair.
Even after so long, I’m proud when I see my wife. She is truly one of my greatest possessions. She’s lovely, if not very bright. I can understand why the loss of her daughter sent Demeter