fireplace.
Then an idea came to mind, and I smirked up at the brownie. “I’ll be by the kitchens to discuss the menu for tomorrow.”
He knew what that was code for—I needed another hit.
Peter cleared his throat. His uncharacterized graveness put a trickled fear into my blood. “Dr. Shaw suggested the soup while I was in the kitchen.”
“What does that mean?”
“She came into the kitchen to look over your menu.”
My shoulders dropped. “What does that mean?”
“She took it.”
My skin prickled, and I took a deep breath.
Anger wasn’t good for the baby. Anger wasn’t good for the baby.
The chanting didn’t work.
In the last month, every emotion I felt was heightened, especially my wrath.
“She had no right! Dr. Shaw is banned from this house, you hear me? Banned! Barred! I don’t want to hear her name spoken again. Tell Marquessa I don’t need a doctor.”
It had been Marquessa who’d said I needed a doctor. Marquessa had been my grandmother, Loretta’s friend, and since Grandmother Loretta was no longer around to see over me, Marquessa tried to step in where she could.
I knew the woman had good intentions. Everyone had good intentions, but I refused to be a hostage in my own home.
“I will make sure your message is delivered,” Peter said.
I didn’t actually mean to give him that order, but I let it go and told him he could leave when he asked.
Ewan closed the door behind himself when they were finally alone. “You wanted to talk to me?” He stayed as far away from me as he could get, and it wasn’t because of what had occurred. I could still feel the loss and sadness that came from him.
Immediately, my troubles were set aside so I could focus on him.
Ewan and I had gone through problems in the beginning. I’d be the first person to admit that I was not the easiest person to get along with, but I thought he knew how I felt about him. That he doubted my feelings for him hurt.
I held out my hand, and Ewan flew across the room and took it.
He knelt by my chair and brought my fingers to his lips again, but this time, I saw everything he was holding back. How could I have missed the melancholy?
I knew my fingers were cold, but I needed to touch him, so I grabbed his face in my other hand. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
He cringed before he smiled. “That’s not important. The only people who matter to me right now are you and the baby.”
The phrase “heartache” had never been truer than every second that I could feel the honesty seeping from his words. I didn’t know who the father was, and I didn’t want to know, but Ewan knew the baby wasn’t his and was still willing to stick around.
The heaviness in my chest was too much to bear. I wasn’t built for this emotional stuff. “I love you just as much as I love the others. Just because we haven’t had sex yet doesn’t make you any less my boyfriend than they are.”
The tightness in his features told me my words had missed their mark. “I don’t want to be…”
I didn’t know what else he’d planned on saying at the moment because a second later, the door opened and I was tackled to the ground a second before I heard the ping and thump of metal.
My back slapped the coarse rug, knocking the breath right out of my lungs.
Ewan was over me and had cradled my head for the landing. “Stay down.”
I covered my belly. “What’s going on?”
We were behind a couch. Then I was behind the couch by myself because Ewan flew away.
And when I say flew, I mean he moved like a dark cloud. His body became incorporeal. I watched his face empty right before he went out of sight.
I heard the ringing of metal and continued thumping and breaking of wood. I heard furniture move as it slid across the floor.
Something gleaning flitted over the couch and hit the wall.
They were stars. The sort I recognized from anime movies with ninjas.
I thought, what the heck and then whispered, “What the heck?”
Turning on my side, I looked under the couch and tracked a single pair of boots. The style looked handmade, and the material wrinkled like hide. In the firelight, I could also see Ewan glided in the air. He’s shadow abilities came from his father.
“Still trying to kill my bride, I see.”
A male spoke. “I’m not here to kill