“It hurts her!” he snapped, and my eyes narrowed on him. “I’m sorry, Flower. It’s fucking killing me. What happens if we’re not meant to breed? What happens if our child dies?”
“You can’t think like that. Think about it this way. Danu fixed you to create this life. Your child is supposed to live.”
“That’s not reassuring. Danu fucked me over every way she could before the bitch bailed and left me to deal with what she did.”
“Ristan,” Ryder warned.
“It is okay, Ryder, let him speak.”
“I’m scared,” Ristan admitted.
“I’m aware you’re scared, we all are.” I took Ristan’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I don’t believe Danu gave you a child to take it away, demon. I know you two had a chaotic past, and you don’t want to share how fucked up it was, which is fine. I get that it’s your business, but she was trying to fix things in the end. I don’t think her last days were filled with shit she wanted to mess up. She gave her life for me, and she fixed you so you could create life.” Dropping his hand, I turned to look at Ryder, then back to Ristan. “I’ll check at the guild to see if there’s anything in the libraries or archives that includes the gestation period of children born of demons or angels. All the details on Olivia’s mother are there also; I’ll pull it too. Alden may have more information.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ristan offered.
I shook my head. “I need you to stay with Ryder. New recruits are gathering at the guild. I don’t want them bailing before they’ve signed a contract.”
“Be careful, Pet,” Ryder warned.
“I’m always careful.” I smiled as I crossed the room and lifted on my toes to kiss him. “I love you. I’ll be back shortly. Liam has the triplets at the Blood Castle, so keep our spies outside of its borders. I know their tower that matches ours is supposed to be foolproof, but it’s not one hundred percent.”
“You have them checking in every hour, on the hour. They think you’re the most overprotective mother in all the lands.” Ryder snorted, watching me.
“I am,” I shrugged. I wasn’t ashamed about it, not when we had enemies marching toward us, and traitorous allies looking for any weakness to exploit. “I make no apologies for being overprotective; I grew those little monsters from scratch. They’re our world, and our enemies are very aware of it. Better to have spies watching the spies and be certain of who is on our side and who isn’t. You taught me that too, Fairy. Now kiss me like you fucking mean it, big boy.”
“Sassy witch,” Ryder chuckled as his hand threaded through my hair, pulling my head back to bare my mouth for his heated kiss. His tongue pushed past my lips, claiming me as a moan built in my throat. Coughing sounded behind us, and he pulled away slowly. “To be continued when you get back.”
“Are you two done tongue-fucking each other?” Zahruk asked.
“For now,” Ryder snorted, looking over his shoulder to where his second stood.
Zahruk was decked out in armor. His freshly polished swords slung low on his hips, and his hair was pulled back into a leather strap, away from his face. His sapphire gaze observed me, a slight smirk lifting his full mouth into a slant. He was perpetually ready for war, or to stroke his swords. I wasn’t sure which one he preferred, but that was his business.
“There have been some skirmishes from within the shifter camps. I guess not all of them agree with aiding our war. Some went into the Unforgiving Forest and have not been seen since. The camps on the other side have yet to send word that they made it through alive.”
“Unfortunate, but if they were fleeing rather than helping, I fail to see where it’s our fucking problem.”
“My brother, Fang, was in the group that fled,” Zahruk admitted.