He frowned at me a moment more before he turned his attention to the ground. Roots grew out of the ground, weaving themselves into a large basket before breaking free. He held it up to me, so I took it and filled in the gaps with my magic. Since it wasn’t in our minds, it looked a little different than it had before, but I was reasonably sure it would work. “Make a lid the same way, okay?”
He nodded, then did as I asked before holding it up to me wordlessly. I gave the lid the same treatment before fixing it to the side of the woven bowl. David used the tongs he had made while I was busy to pick up all the contaminated rocks and deposit them in the bowl. I pushed the lid back on top, then sealed it to the bowl.
“How’s that?” David took the bowl from me before he stared at it for a minute then he finally nodded.
“I think it’s contained. Let’s get it back and we can study them.”
“Okay.” I spun on my heel, then the world tilted and I landed on my ass. I shook my head, but the world spun around me, so I stayed where I was for a minute.
“You okay, Princess?” Kait came over to where I was sitting in the dirt and held out a hand.
“Yeah, I just got dizzy for a minute. The heat must be getting to me.” He pulled me up once I had grabbed his hand, then he held me close for a second. I felt his power run through me as he checked it out.
“Hmm, it doesn’t seem like anything is wrong. I’ll stop at the front desk and have some water sent up to the room for us when we get back.”
“Okay.” He kept his arm around me as we walked back to the carriage, to make sure I didn’t fall over again, but I seemed to be steady now. That was weird.
When we climbed into the carriage, David looked at Kait and said, “What’s your opinion on the rocks? They seem to be a carrier of the sickness. The question is if they are natural, or if they’re planted, and if they have been at all the sites. I’ve been keeping track of all the places we have gone, I could go back out this afternoon to see if there are rocks like these at all of them.”
“I agree they seem to be a carrier and I am leaning towards planted. I don’t think it’s worth going back to the places, though. If there were similar items at the other places, someone must be removing them, because if they weren’t, we would be returning to those same places frequently as animals stumble over them. I think there is something more going on here.” He paused as he studied David for a second. “How were you planning to study them? We can’t touch them.”
“Theres a medical facility at the hotel and they have safety equipment. Sometimes beings that get sick can’t be touched, so they are prepared for that. I don’t exactly know what I’m looking for, but I have a few ideas that I want to test.”
“Maybe we should send them to the castle? They have an extensive lab there and the manpower to get it done quickly.” This from Travis, which earned him a glare from David.
“Why are you trying to take this away from me, man?” He forced a laugh, then said, “Just kidding. But I would like to study it some before we send it anywhere.” Travis opened his mouth, but shut it again at David’s glare. “This is something I have to do.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “They are calling me and I have to find out why.”
Kait raised an eyebrow at me and jerked his head toward David almost imperceptibly. It seemed he agreed with my thought. “David, can I check something real quick? I want to make sure you are still free of the darkness.”
David’s eyes cleared as he thought for a minute. “Do you think it’s still in me?”
“I just want to make sure. If the rocks are calling to you, it may be the darkness inside of you they are resonating with, especially if they have the same power that took over you in them. I’m not saying there's enough within you to hurt you, but there may be enough to respond to the power within the rocks.”
He looked more and more horrified as I spoke. Eventually he nodded, so I put my hands on his head and closed my eyes. My power flooded through him, looking in every corner for any traces of the darkness. I found nothing. I frowned as I pulled my power back. A feeling of dread settled in my chest. It didn’t seem like a good thing that the power in the rocks was calling him if there was nothing left within him.
David's eyes slowly opened. “Well?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t find anything.” He sagged in relief. Kait and I shared a look over Davids bowed head.
We rode the rest of the way in a tense silence. Well, I thought it was tense. The relaxed look on David’s face told me he didn’t feel it. Travis didn’t seem to be as tense either, but he kept shooting me looks, so he could at least tell something was bothering me.
By the time we reached the hotel, I was dead tired. The heat here really sapped my strength, and the more time we spent here, the less time I could spend outside without a nap. I thought I would get used to it eventually but it seemed to bother me more the longer we are here. Travis put his arm around me and walked back to our room, while David and Kait went to the small medical lab in the basement. We climbed into the cool sheets and I fell asleep quickly.
Chapter 19
I woke up alone in bed about an hour later. Hushed voices came from the other room. I stretched and blinked my eyes rapidly. One day, I would remember to take out my contacts before napping. They always dried out so badly when I slept with them in. All three guys were in the sitting area when I entered and they all looked at me with identical guilty expressions.
“What are you guys up to? You all look like a toddler caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” I laughed, but their expressions didn’t clear. “What’s wrong guys?”
“Sit down, please Princess.” Oh shit! What had happened? I did as he asked silently. Once I sat down between him and David, he took my hands. “As far as I’m aware, you never decided on if you wanted to see your mom before her execution. They going to notify me several days in advance so we would have time to get there if you wanted.” He took a deep breath. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I let him finish. “On our way back to the room, a butler caught up with me and gave me a note that an underling had apparently misplaced. They executed your mother yesterday at dawn. I am so sorry.”
Yep, I figured he would say it was done. It was funny. I would have thought I would be angry, but instead relief filled me. A simple clerical error had taken the choice from me but now I had an excuse to have not seen that lying bitch one last time. The guys were watching me with relief. With the bond, I didn’t even have to explain myself, because they all could feel it.
“Don’t worry about it, Kait. It’s fine and it doesn’t bother me. Now, I went straight to bed when we got back, is there any food here?” Kait gestured to the silver cart by the door. There were several covered plates as well as a bowl on the top and a pitcher covered with condensation on the bottom. I hurried over and pulled the cover off the bowl. Macaroni and cheese was in this one, which was one of my favorite foods. Kait had given the kitchen a recipe when we got here, which I thought was super sweet of him. But when the smell wafted up, my stomach turned. I quickly put the top on, wondering what the hell was wrong with it. The next plate I checked had sandwich fixings, and the third held fruit. I made myself a sandwich, and filled the rest of the plate with the exotic fruit, most of which was sweet, yet tart at the same time.
“Aren’t you going to have any mac and cheese, Babe?” Travis was scooping some onto his plate.
“Um no, it smelled like there was something wrong with it.” He sat down next to me before scooping some into his mouth.
“It tastes fine and I don’t think it smells weird.” My stomach heaved as the smell wafted over to me.
“Whatever. Just eat it over there, then, okay?” I pointed to the other couch we had them bring in a few days after we started staying here. He sulked, but went to the other couch.
David sat next to me. His cut grass smell quickly covered over the macaroni. When I finished with my plate, I snuggled into David’s chest. The unique smell of eac
h of the guys screamed home to me and his quickly soothed any jagged nerves from the news. He talked to Kait and Travis, his voice rumbling in his chest. Kait rubbed the pad of my feet almost absently. Travis finished his food, then came and got my plate and put them both on the cart.
“Everybody done?” A chorus of yeses went up, so he removed the pitcher and pushed the cart outside the door. I just woke up from my nap, but I could go back to sleep easily with David’s warmth seeping into me, his heartbeat strong in my ear, and a mix of the guys scents surrounding me. His arm tightened around me, giving me warm fuzzy feelings. I drifted off as they talked about the inconclusive experiments David and Kait had run and what they should do next.
*********
I woke up a while later, in the bed alone, as nausea rolled over me. I darted for the bathroom, barely making it before my stomach revolted and forced out the sandwich and fruit. As I hung over the toilet, my boobs brushed the edge, causing me to whimper in pain. They were throbbing. What day was it?
I had never had such painful boobs at the onset of my period before, but that had to be what it was. I was still trying to calculate the earth date when Kait knocked on the bathroom door.
“Princess, are you okay?” He called through the door.
“What’s today date, Kait? In Earth terms?” I sat back as I answered him. It seemed once the food was out of my stomach, I was fine. In fact, I was hungry again. What the fuck?
“Um, should be around March 10th. Why?”
My mind froze. March 10th? I was a little over two weeks late then, if I was doing the math correct. I opened the door. “Are you sure?”
“Not positive, but that should be about right. What’s wrong?” He was searching my face.
“If that date is right, I’m two weeks late on my period.” His face went white.
“What are you saying?”
I laughed at that and his tone. He sounded flabbergasted. “Nothing. I’m not saying anything.”
I pushed past him and got some water from the pitcher to rinse the taste out of my mouth.
“Princess…” Kait followed me like a lost puppy. I sighed.
“Hold on, let me see if I can check something.” I turned my attention inward, using my power to search my body. A faint, fluttering heartbeat caught my attention and my knees went weak. Luckily, Kait was right behind me and caught me before I could hit the floor. He knelt on the floor, taking me with him and putting my head in his lap. His worried face looked down on me as I grinned foolishly up at him.
“Hi, Papa, how are you?” His mouth dropped open as David hollered from the other room before both he and Travis rushed in. Their faces showed varying degrees of shock as I grinned at all of them. “What’s up, Daddies?”
Kait’s shaking hand stole to my stomach and his eyes unfocused. They all seemed to hold their breath as they watched him, which just pissed me off. I pushed his hand away and scrambled to my feet.
“Don’t you believe me?” I wrapped my hands around my stomach as I struggled not to cry. Kait completely ignored me and nodded at David and Travis with his eyes wide. Travis grinned, and David’s face went white while his knees gave out. Travis barely caught David before he face-planted. He settled David on the floor, then rushed over to me, still grinning widely. It was infectious, so I grinned back at him as I forgot my anger. He swept me up to his arms as he whooped and spun us around before kissing me gently.
“Hey, Momma, how you feeling?” His voice was quiet and concerned. I patted his arm.
“I’m fine once I got that out of my system. I guess its morning sickness. The mac and cheese just smelled absolutely gross, and then I woke up nauseous. I’ve also been super tired recently. We will probably have to deal with these things off and on.”
Travis pulled me in for a hug again and David groaned on the floor. “What happened?”
“You passed out when you found out you're gonna be a Daddy.” Travis was grinning at him over my shoulder, but the grin slowly faded. Worried, I turned around to see what was wrong. With a pensive frown, David climbed to his feet and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind himself.
My heart dropped. We had never discussed having children. Did David not want them? Or was this just normal stage fright? I searched the bond, but David was masking it. All I could feel was a muted anger. Tears welled in my eyes. Travis moved so he was in front of me.
“Babe, it’s fine. I’ll go talk to him. I’m sure he is just stunned. We all handle things differently.”
I could barely get the words out. “He’s mad, Travis, and he’s blocking the bond. I don’t think he wants the baby.” A jolt of fear came through the bond, but I couldn’t tell whose it was. “Go talk to him. Please.” I put my face in my hands and sobbed as Kait’s arms and scent wrapped around me.
Travis quietly left the room while Kait just held me without saying anything until the tears had stopped. I hiccuped as I forced my eyes up to his gorgeous brown ones. “I don’t know what I’ll do without him, Kait.”
His arms tightened on me. “He won’t leave, Princess.” Kait’s voice was hard. “I won’t let him. Besides, I think it’s normal fear for a first time dad, especially for one as young as David, and for someone who has had problems with their own father. People tend to see, and fear, the worst in themselves, and I’m sure he is just worried about being a good role model.”
“Do you know this, or do you just suspect? Did he block you out too?”
“He did, but not before I saw some of what he was thinking. Travis will be able to help him, but please be understanding with him.”
I nodded. Kait hesitated for a second, indecision written all over his face. He seemed to struggle for words. “What’s wrong, Kait?”
He sighed. “Nothing, Princess.” He paused again while he searched my eyes. “Um, how much do you know about pregnancy?”
I laughed. “I know what causes it and a little about what to expect. Morning sickness, tiredness, boob pain, stuff like that. I assume the doctor will fill me in on anything else I need to know.”
He rubbed his face. “So, first thing we have to decide is, Prenatal Care on Earth or in Shadoewynne? Medicine is practiced differently in Shadoewynne. I mean, babies have been born for thousands of years, so it’s not like they don’t know what they are doing, but would you be more comfortable with Earth doctors or staying here? It looks more primitive here, but I promise it’s just as good. We need to get a nursery set up; a name picked out and clothes and diapers - I say we go with Earth diapers, Shadoewynne tech just doesn’t cut it there - are you going to breastfeed or do we need to set up bottles and formula from Earth? Travis had a nursemaid, and a nanny. Do you want the baby to have those or do you only want us to take care of him?” His eyes were getting wild, and he didn’t look like he would stop, so I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed his head and brought him down so I could plant a firm kiss on his lips. At first, he resisted, but then he melted against me, finally looking for entrance to my mouth.
When we came up for air, I rested my forehead on his. “We have a little bit of time on some of those decisions and a few months for the rest. Let’s take this one step at a time, okay?”
He took a deep, calming breath and nodded before saying so quietly I almost couldn’t hear him, “I thought I would never be a father, Evalia. I thought I was destined to only be a mentor to generations of boys that I helped raise, but had no solid connection to.”
“Well, now you will be a father, Kait. But, I know that you have a solid connection with David and Travis, so I think you are selling yourself short.” He snorted, then kissed me again as he led me back to the couch to help me sit down.
I grinned at him. “I’m not helpless, Kait. You better not get all over-protective on me.”
He smiled at me apologetically. “I’m going to have a hard time with that.” I groaned as Travis and David came back in the room. Travis jerked his head toward the door and Kait nodded before kissing my forehead lightly.
“I’m going to go do some research on doctors. We will be in the lobby if you need us.” They left the room quietly, leaving David and me alone. He rubbed the back of his neck before sinking down on the couch next to me.
After a few seconds of tense silence, he whispered, “I’m sorry for the way I reacted, Sugar. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“I know that, David.” I had so many questions that they all crowded to the front of my brain and caused a traffic jam. Not one thought could make its way to my mouth.
He sighed and looked away. He hadn’t met my eyes since he came in. “I know they have told you some about my dad.”
“And? That’s him, not you.”
“You don’t understand.” He sounded defeated. Already. Like he just knew he would be the same kind of father his was, make the same mistakes.
“You’re right, I don’t. My mother was the worst mother there was, she tried to have me killed to further her own schemes. I’m not afraid I’ll be the same because I’m not her. I’m not a psychopath. Just like you aren’t a selfish bastard who will abandon his own child for no good reason.”
His mouth worked, but no words came out. I leaned over and kissed him.
“David, I trust you.”
“You don’t know everything. He beat me, and Mom.”
“Then you were better off without him. You won’t do that to your child because you know what it is to feel that. You know it’s wrong.”
His hands were shaking as he reached for me. He kissed the back of my hands before finally meeting my eyes. His were dark and swirling. “But what if the darkness is still inside of me? What if it takes over and hurts you or the baby?”
“Honey, it’s not inside of you. It’s gone.” His gaze was disbelieving. “Okay, what if I check you every day until the baby is born?”
“No! You can’t use magic like that! It may hurt the baby!”
The Darkness of Shadoewynne: Book 3 of the Shadoewynne series Page 16
