Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,95
needed the reminder gone more than I needed my pride.
Tightening my hold on the silver bangle, I muttered the idiotic words:
“Caleb Owens is a god.”
Cursing under my breath, I looked up at myself through the mirror as a warm tingling sensation coasted over my neck. I could see the faint glow of magic shimmering over my skin as tissue and flesh drew closer together before finally fusing shut. And just like that, my painful reminder was gone.
Damn. The cocky little Caster really was a god.
Signing in relief, I slipped the bangle back on and then finished the rest of my routine before making my way downstairs again. To my dismay, the foyer and hallway were both still dark and eerily quiet with no sign of Trace anywhere.
Needing to stay busy, I headed for the kitchen to fix myself something to eat while I continued to wait for him. I highly doubted I would be able to eat anything with my lack of appetite and how knotted my stomach had become, but I wasn’t sure what else to do with myself.
Passing the living room, something snagged my attention from my peripheral. I turned and then gasped at the sight of a silhouette sitting on the corner sofa. It took my pounding heart and my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness and realize it was Trace and not the twisted angel from my nightmares.
Relief flooded my body just then, but it was doomed to be short lived.
“Jesus, Trace. Where were you?” I asked as I rushed into the room and then stopped short a few feet away from him. He was sitting on the sofa in the dark, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees and an open bottle of booze dangling from his fingers. “I was…worried about…you,” I finished weakly, my heartrate picking up speed as I took in his defeated slump of his shoulders and the fact that he still hadn’t bothered to turn and look at me.
“Nikki stopped by All Saints,” he said as he brought the half-empty bottle of what looked to be vodka to his lips and took a painfully long swig.
Everything in my body turned to ice as I stood there and stared at him, eyes wide, mouth gaping, heart thundering in my chest. The knot in my throat made it almost impossible to speak—to ask the question that needed asking. Because I didn’t want to know the answer. I didn’t want to feel the inevitable blowback that was undoubtably coming my way.
But I knew I had to.
“W-what did she say?” I stammered, unable to even think straight let alone speak properly.
The seconds ticked away unbearably slow as I waited for him to say something. Anything.
“Trace…?”
“She’s pregnant,” he answered, his eyes fixed forward to the open window as though he were too stunned to do anything but stare straight ahead.
33. NO ORDINARY LOVE
My breath caught in my throat as icy dread hit me, cementing my feet to the ground. I was so not prepared for this. I’d spent way too much time hoping and praying that Nikki would come to her senses and keep her lying mouth shut that I’d forgotten to plan ahead in the event that she didn’t.
“She said it’s mine,” said Trace, his voice somber as he continued staring forward. “But I don’t even remember being with her. I don’t remember…” He shook his head as though the rest of that thought had abandoned him right along with his memory of that supposed night.
“Did she say…anything else?” I asked, my nails digging into my palms as I curled my hands into fists.
He looked over at me, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Isn’t that enough?”
I lowered my head and pressed my lips together. Panic and fear flooded my system as the room tilted on me. I had no idea how to fix this—how to make this go away without revealing the parts of our past that were so dangerous to him. I was going to need to walk the thinnest of lines. Any slight move in the wrong direction could send him spiraling.
“What did you say to her?” I finally asked, wanting to keep him talking without tipping him off.
“I asked her for a paternity test,” he said, his face an unreadable canvas.
My eyes widened in surprise. “Did she agree?” I asked and then took a step forward. Frankly, I was dying to hear how she was going to snake her way out of this one.