The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,2

December, and that was weeks ago!

I'd completely forgotten about my birth control. It was hard enough to keep track of time when every world was in a different time of day, different season, and different lengths for all of those things. And then there was the biggest problem of them all: if I was starting my period, that meant I'd been off my birth control for at least a month.

My heart couldn't decide if it didn't want to beat, or wanted to beat too hard. The end result was a heavy thumping in my chest that made me feel like I couldn't breathe, and the panic was visible on my face. My eyes had dropped to the grass while I counted, and now all I could think about was the very real chance that I could be pregnant.

Sure, this might be my period, but without looking, I couldn't really be sure. Worse than that, I didn't want to get up and have my insides leak, staining my pants. Not in front of Sam! But what would I do if it wasn't my period? What if that was just sweat or something. Gross, but still. It could be, and if so, then -

Sam's gentle question interrupted my paranoid mental rambling. "Sia?" he asked. "Are you ok?"

"What day is it?" I begged.

"Uh, I dunno. Why?"

"Month!" I snapped.

He shook his head slightly, clearly confused. "Early January, I think? Sia, why?"

"Because my birth control shot ran out around Thanksgiving," I whispered. "I think, maybe - hopefully - that I just started my, um..."

"Period," he finished for me as he climbed to his feet. Then he leaned over to offer me a hand. "That's good news, right?"

"If it's really that," I said, ignoring his hand. "Sam..." I shook my head. "If I stand up..."

"You might bleed?" he asked, his tone filled with understanding. "So, let's go to the brook so you can wash up. If your pants get stained, we'll wash it out or get you new ones. It's not a big deal, sweetie."

"It's embarrassing!" I hissed.

"Won't look," he promised. "And sitting isn't really going to make it go away."

"What if it's not?" I asked.

His tongue darted out to moisten his lips. "Then we'll figure it out. Wouldn't be my first kid."

I had to swallow to make my voice work. "What about Nick?"

He bounced his hand, making it clear he hadn't given up. "Brook, Sia. Let's save the panic until we know what we're dealing with, ok? I mean, we can use the bathroom in the house if you'd prefer, but - "

"No," I hissed. "I'd have to walk past the guys."

"So the brook it is." He tilted his head and smiled. "Pretend like I'm just one of the girls, ok?"

I slapped my palm into his and let him pull me up. Almost immediately, I could feel gravity take effect. Part of me was relieved. The other part was horrified. On the upside, my pants were a light brown color, so it shouldn't show the stain too badly. On the downside, they were light enough that anyone looking at my ass might be able to see, and the best I could do was clench my thighs together and try to scurry far enough away that no one would notice.

Sam kept pace, his hand gently on my back until we reached the deeper area where the guys usually washed. It wasn't that deep. Maybe chest-high on me, but it was enough. Better than trying to get clean in knee-high water. Especially if my vag was truly leaking, and eww. Just eww.

"What do you need?" he asked.

I pointed at him. "Stay there."

Sam lifted both hands in surrender. "Staying."

So I moved around a clump of passive shrubs. They tended to eat smaller things, so we'd kept them around to reduce the pixie population. Especially around the water where the pests liked to gather. Now, they were going to work as a privacy screen. Bending over, I stripped out of my pants first, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw the red stain in the middle. I'd honestly never been so happy to start my period in my life.

"Still ok?" Sam called over.

"Yep!" I yelled back, working off my shirt so I could wash up. "I'm, uh... " Fuck, I hated this. "We don't have tampons."

I heard his chuckle a split second before he walked around the shrubs. "So, just blood, huh?" And he held out his hands for my clothes. "Pass those over. I'll have Nick