Panic strangles me, worried she hurt herself, and I end up tripping over her, which is strange. I never fall, but then again, my head’s usually not so crammed in a cluster-fuck of emotions.
I start to land on top of her, but my arms shoot out to catch my weight.
She blinks over at the ice and then up at me.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, examining her face and head for any visible injuries.
She bobs her head up and down. “I think so.”
“What about . . . ?” I swallow hard as I set a hand on her stomach.
Her breath falters. “I think so. I mean, I can still hear its heart beating.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
While we stare at each other, unsaid words hanging in the air, I’m terrified. I’ve never imagined myself as a father, mostly because I never had time. There’s a small part of me that worries I’ll suck at it, that somehow, I’ll end up like my father, and I never, ever want that to happen.
“Hold on,” Gemma whispers, looping her arms around my neck. “I’m going to get us out of here.”
Electricity pours through our bodies and melts the ice below us. She shuts her eyes and whispers something under her breath, holding onto to me. She looks so beautiful, and all I can think is take me now, because it really seems like the perfect time to die.
Then there’s a flash of bright light, and the next thing I know, we’re tumbling into nothingness.
After what feels like an eternity, we finally stop falling. I push back and glance around at where she took us, and shock instantly sets in.
We’re in the middle of the snowy mountains, surrounded by trees, in the exact spot the piece of the star crashed.
I never wanted to see this place again. It reminds me of everything bad that’s happened, everything we still need to fix.
“Okay, we really need to get you a list of safe places.” I say, pushing off her.
“I’m sorry,” she says as I offer her my hand and lift her to her feet. “But it’s kind of a good place to live.” She brushes dirt off the back of her jeans. “I mean, who the hell would think of looking for us here? I’m betting no one.”
“Yeah, maybe, but we’re going to end up freezing to death.” I dust some snow out of her hair, and she shivers from my touch. “And I thought you hated the snow.”
“I’m getting used to it, but if you’re cold . . .” She steps back and reaches for the zipper of my jacket to take it off.
I capture her hand in mine, stopping her. “I’m fine, Gemma. I’m more worried about you and . . .” I trail off, looking down at her stomach while yanking my fingers through her hair.
God, I wish I could say all the right things, but I don’t even know what the right thing is for this kind of moment.
She turns away to stare at the tress with her arms wrapped around herself. “I’m still not one hundred percent sure I am. I mean, I can hear the heartbeat and everything, which is super weird and, from what I read online, totally not normal. And Nicholas somehow knew without me telling him.” She kicks the tip of her sneaker against the snow. “But I still don’t have any real proof other than I can feel something growing inside me. Aislin even had me take this little test thing, and the results are all messed up. I don’t know why. If the test was a dud or if it’s me or”—She looks down at her stomach—“it.”
“It?” I have no idea why that’s what I say other than everything else seems really complicated.
She lifts her shoulders. “I don’t know what it is, so saying ‘it’ for now. I mean, for all we know, it might not even be human.”
“I’m sure it’s as human as you and me,” I say, trying to be reassuring and calm when really I’m freaking the fuck out.
She’s pregnant.
Holy shit.
“That’s what I’m worried about.” Her shoulders start to shake, and I realize she’s crying.
I suddenly don’t give a shit about anything except making her feel better, so I wrap my arms around her and pull her against my chest. “It’s going to be okay.”
She grips at my shirt, her tears soaking through the fabric. “You don’t know that for sure.”