all kinds of upset if Fen drowned. I’d been twelve kinds of freaked when he’d nearly been sacrificed by witches and I hadn’t even been his mom then.
I put a hand to my belly. I was bringing a kid into a world where witches might try to sacrifice him. He would be part demon, and though we’d managed to break Gray’s contract, what would happen if one of his relatives tried to enforce that legacy on his son?
Why hadn’t I thought of any of this before I’d gone and gotten pregnant? I was mom to a wolf king. At some point every alpha in the world would likely force my Fenrir to prove himself far before he was ready.
The son I was carrying would be less than a halfling. He would be a freak in the demon world, part demon, part demon hunter. How would they treat him? Hell, I wasn’t even sure we weren’t about to get involved in a war with that plane. Would I be bringing my son into a world where no one would accept him?
Was this how the queen felt when she’d become a mom? Had she been this paralyzed with fear? Had she wondered what the hell she was doing? If she was even doing the right thing?
If she was ready? If she was capable of being a good mom?
“I’m fine.” The words croaked out of Summer’s mouth.
“You are not, bella. Your arm is still bleeding, and I think I can see bone.” He reached down to gently touch her right forearm.
Summer hissed and tried to sit. She brought her left hand up, touching the collar at her neck. I’d noticed it before, but only in a vague way. It was a thin circlet of what looked to be silver, and there was a charm attached to it. Honestly, I don’t know much about jewelry, but it wasn’t something I would have picked. It didn’t seem to go with Summer’s skin tone. I would have put her in gold. The queen wore a lot of gold, and it seemed to bring out the warmer tones of her skin. But Summer must have some sentimental attachment because she seemed deeply relieved it was still there.
“I’ll be fine. I need to get home. Erna can heal me.” She sounded out of it, but then she’d recently drowned so I wasn’t judging.
“Marcus can heal you,” Dev insisted. “Vampire blood heals quickly and there will be no scars.”
She shook her head. “I know what that means. Vampires don’t heal you for nothing.”
“It means only that I do not want you in pain,” Marcus explained.
“He won’t expect anything from you.” I felt the need to plead Marcus’s case. I don’t know what vampires she’d known before, but Marcus wasn’t the kind of male who would ever hold off on offering healing to anyone. Except the bad guys, and then he would be the one getting inside their heads, telling them to gut themselves. “You can heal, Summer. He won’t jump you or anything. Not like the horse thing. It’s dead, right?”
Marcus nodded. “The each-uisge is dead. I drained it and he tasted quite good. He will not bother another traveler.”
Summer shook her head. “I don’t think he was trying to eat me. It was weird. He wanted…”
Summer’s head fell back and Marcus caught her. I heard Dev curse.
“Give her blood.” The good news was with her all passed out and stuff, we could drip that sucker into her mouth.
“Or you can step away from her, vampire,” a new voice said.
A young man who couldn’t be more than twenty stood to the side, and he was holding a crossbow aimed right at Marcus.
Some days it doesn’t pay to get out of bed.
* * * *
Zoey
It’s not easy to walk in an invisibility cloak. Maybe it is if you’re the only one inside it, but I wasn’t, and my human son wasn’t the most coordinated kid in the world.
We were walking down the hallway that led to Myrddin’s apartment when he nearly tripped and sent us both tumbling.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“Did you forget to tie your shoe?” I’d asked him twice if they were tied properly.
He knelt down. “This wouldn’t happen if you got me the Velcro kind.”
I stood there, keeping the cloak around us and trying so hard not to lecture the kid. I could hear my father down the hall at Sarah’s knocking on the door. It was all a part of the plan. He’d led us to the residential