Shadow Watcher (Darkness #6)

by K. F. Breene

  “Whoa, nice ink grandma,” a guy with a Mohawk and a spiked dog collar said as he rolled by on his skateboard.

  “Riiigggght. Yeah. Hey, let’s go inside. I ditched my bodyguards and want to see how long before they find me.” I waved them into the warm coffee shop.

  I didn’t mention that I also wanted to be in a place where I couldn’t be watched easily. If that shifter walked in the coffee shop, I’d know. But hanging out somewhere outside with a pair of binoculars or something, I wouldn’t recognize the magic. Not from a distance, and not without concentrating.

  “Oh, Sasha, aren’t they going to be mad?” Delilah asked in a whisper, glancing down the near empty street.

  “Oh yeah. Really mad. That’ll teach them to spy. My goal is to get home and back in bed before they catch me. Then they’ll bust in and piss off Stefan. Payback.”

  “You’re playing with fire, girl!” Birdie followed me into the shop and sat at a cozy seat next to the window. She was kind of missing the point.

  “Do you anticipate anyone of interest being at the meeting today? Anyone new?” I asked as I sat down a moment later with a Frappuccino.

  “We have a few perspectives.” Birdie sipped her coffee. “Not strong, but they are trying. I think we should switch gears and aim for finding breeders, though.”

  I coughed into my coffee. “What?”

  “I’ve been thinking.” Birdie hit me with that focused glare. “Children believe in magic. We feed them the tooth fairy and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny—but as they realize each of those isn’t real, their belief in magic as a whole dries up.”

  “True…”

  “Right. So then, as adults, re-teaching them that magic does exist is tough. There are exceptions, like us, but mostly, it is a tough road. I think we need to start with children. Like the Boss’ people do. So, I’m thinking that instead of looking for magic users, we should look for open-minded people who wouldn’t mind mixing with Stefan’s people.”

  “You’re trying to breed humans…” I summarized with wide-eyes.

  “Well?” Delilah defended. “It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  “You’re in this, too, Delilah?” I couldn’t help the incredulous tone.

  She raised her chin. “I helped think of it. Besides, Stefan’s people—your people, sorry—are excellent lovers. And great boyfriends if you don’t mind them screwing around. Any woman would be lucky to—“

  “Wait,” I held up my hand to stop her. “Don’t tell me you’re taking part in your own breeding experiment.”

  “Actually, at first it was more of a ‘when in Rome’ mentality, but yes. I want to see if we’re right. And I’m ready for a baby. Did you know they have a daycare setup? It’s free.”

  I stared at the reserved woman sitting in front of me sipping her coffee with her pinky sticking up and couldn’t find any words. She was admitting to not only sexing her way through the Mansion, but to now seeing if that would produce a baby.

  “And you said they were great boyfriends?” I asked with a slack jaw. “You know from experience?”

  “Fine looking man,” Birdie commented.

  My mouth opened wider. Birdie had made that comment. The woman who had told someone to stop masturbating or they’d go blind.

  “He treats me better than I’ve ever been treated,” Delilah said. “If I get with child, he wants first dibs to mate me and take care of us. And I’m all for it. I really like him.”

  “First dibs to mate you. Ahm. So…that’s like marriage. You know that, right?” I pushed. “I mean, not like human marriage, since you’d both, apparently, still screw around, but he’d become your baby-daddy.”

  She broke out in a smile this time, excitement sparkling in her eyes.

  World. Blown.

  I didn’t really know what to say. This was weirder than first learning what went on at the Mansion.

  “Any luck?” I asked in a wispy voice.

  Delilah’s face fell. She took a bite of her cookie. “No. Just got a visit from Aunt Flow this morning. Speaking of, do you have any spare…you know? I’m on my last one and we have to go to Birdie’s club after this.”

  “You can say it. Pad. I may not need them anymore, but it’s not like I’m Charles!” Birdie glared at Delilah. “And it’s our club. You helped found it.”

  I reached into my handbag and felt around the bottom before I stilled. My world screeched to a halt. My heart started pounding and my head got light. I’d used the sugar pills, which meant I should’ve had my period. I usually had it a week before Delilah.

  This had not dawned on me earlier.

  I hadn’t had it.

  Oh shit!

  “I gotta go,” I said in a panicked rush.

  “What? Why? Is Charles here?” Birdie peered out the window. “I don’t see—”

  I was already in flight when the knowing look came over Delilah’s face. I sprinted outside. I needed time to myself. I needed to think about this.

  I needed to get tested!

  Holy shit, what if I was pregnant? Oh holy shit!

  How did I get pregnant? I was on the pill for Christ’s sake. I’d missed a day or two at the council, but I’d doubled up the next day. That should’ve worked. I didn’t think I’d missed one completely.

  I fell into my car. “I didn’t miss one,” I yelled at my car. “I had an empty pack except for the sugar pills. I can’t be pregnant.”

  I filled my lungs and stilled again.

  Remember what is going on in the world around me. This is no time to lose my shit.

  Taking another deep breath, I checked the back seat; kind of hoping a crazy shifter was in it, because he would meet his maker really quickly. Unfortunately, it was empty, leaving me to my problems. Great.

  Then I stared straight ahead for a second. I wasn’t pregnant. There was no way. Stefan’s people had a hard time procreating. Even if the pill didn’t hold up, which was 99.9 per cent unlikely, his sperm should’ve failed. That was the whole deal with his race.

  Right?!

  Willing calm, I drove to the store like an old lady in rush hour. I didn’t want to freak out and run someone over. That would not help the situation. I made it to the closest grocery store and got out on wooden legs. Feeling imaginary things in my stomach, I walked with a zombie lurch toward the feminine aisle. I passed the female hygiene products I really should’ve had to use last week and came upon the pregnancy tests. Then hesitated.

  There was a plethora of options with different prices. Some boasted of super sensitivity and some boasted baby pictures. There were ones with lines, pinks and blues…

  “I just want a normal test,” I muttered with dismay.

  I chose one in the middle price bracket and studied it. The wrapping crinkled as I handled the package. Two lines for yes. One for no. Two tests in the packet.

  My heart beating rapidly, I walked toward the checkout with an embarrassment I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was like buying condoms for the first time. Or handing a box of tampons to a male clerk. I almost wanted to hold my ring up signifying that I did, in fact, have someone regular that helped me make this potential baby.

  I slid the package over the counter with a red face. The fuzzy haired woman in her fifties lazily scanned the barcode of the test, hit a button on her cash register, and glanced at me. “$18.63.”

  I drew a crumpled twenty out of my wallet and handed it over, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face. Once I had the change, I waited with forced nonchalance as she slipped my immediate future into a crisp, brown paper bag. Muttering a “thank you,” I gingerly picked up the bag like I might a poisonous snake and walked on eggshells out to my car. I paused beside my door and took a deep breath, watching as the sun floated toward the horizon.

  Stefan would still be in bed. If I went home right now, he’d wonder what I was doing home so quickly and he’d get up to check on me. If he found me in the bathroom peeing on a plastic wand, there’d be questions.

  I
did not want questions until I had answers.

  So then what? Hit the park, squat in some bushes and have a pee? Yeah, that’d go over really well. I’d probably get found out by some little kid who would then have very unladylike behavior burned into his head. He’d probably live the rest of his life peering in bushes, terrified of what he might find. Either that, or I’d run into that shifter again while in a very awkward situation.

  Excuse me scary stalker man, let me just pull up my pants and put away this pregnancy test and then I will gladly rock your world with magic.

  No. Terrible idea.

  Like a shotgun blast, the solution came to me—the secret house! I would go to the small bungalow where I’d first lived out my days at the Mansion. The only person who would think to look for me there was Stefan, and only then if there was something the matter. Since I had already muffled the link, and he was asleep, he’d be clueless unless Charles or Jonas told on me. Since Charles and Jonas would both get beat up if that was the case. They wouldn’t say a word.

  I didn’t drive like an old lady this time. I drove like a teenage boy. I took corners like my car was a year old and my tires were newer still. I pulled into the lot at the Mansion, gave a glance around, saw someone standing near the lot’s entrance notice me, and put him in a magical cage. He saw me come in, but he wouldn’t know where I went after I turned the corner.

  As it was still daylight though the sun was starting to sink in the sky, no one else was outside. I slipped beyond the concealment charm of the little bungalow and unraveled the cage to free the guy I dropped my stuff in the middle of the floor and took the test into the bathroom. Then, remembering there were two tests, I figured I’d better be safe and take them both. I gulped down two glasses of water. It was always better to have a second opinion.

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath, closed the bathroom door with a soft click, and stared at the package. Slowly, as if defusing a bomb, I took the first test out of the box, tore the wrapping, and stared at it. One white little strip of plastic stared back at me.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what Stefan would say if I was pregnant. He’d probably be happy. But there were the warnings from Cato, and that crazy Mata stalker. Stefan would go way overprotective…

  This isn’t helping.

  I walked with cement feet to the toilet and did my business. I didn’t bother getting up when I’d finished. I sat there, hunched, test held out, watching as the liquid crawled up the test area and ducked inside the plastic. A moment later the liquid was dampening the material within the viewing screen. Slowly, a red line started to form. The picture on the test said two lines meant I was pregnant.

  The liquid continued to crawl. Like a turtle in a storm walking up hill, the material slowly, ever so slowly, dampened. A shadow of another pink line started to form.

  “There’s no way,” I said softly.

  The first line was deep red at this point, but the second line was a ghost. So light I had to look away and look back, adjusting my eyes. Trying not to stare. Trying not to focus too hard.

  The very light pink turned a shade darker.

  “Does it count if it’s way lighter than the other one?” I muttered. If felt good hearing a voice, even if it was mine. I didn’t feel quite so alone.

  I should’ve called Ann for this. I needed someone to hold my hand.

  I got up, with my pants around my ankles, and waddled to my purse. I fished out my phone and called Ann.

  “Sleeping,” came a grumpy voice on the other end.

  “I need you,” I said in a panic. “Please come to the Mansion.”

  “What? Why?” Suddenly the sleep cleared from her voice. “What’s happened? Are you okay? Where are you?”

  “I’m…I don’t know. Just come to the Mansion, please. Secret house. Don’t tell Tim. Call me when you get here.”

  “I’ll be right there. I’ll have to sneak out, though, so have some clothes for me. I’ll be in animal form.”

  “’Kay. Bye.” I dropped the phone back to my handbag and picked the test back up for a second viewing.

  The second line was decidedly darker. There were two lines.

  I didn’t know how to feel. I wasn’t ready for this. I...

  I shook my head. My heart started pounding. I’d barely earned my place, and my mate, and my new life—I was just starting to get used to all the changes, and now this.

  I needed another deep breath. And a second opinion.

  I waddled back into the bathroom and summoned up another trickle of test material. It was probably heavily diluted with the large amount of water I’d drank, but…well…

  I still didn’t know how to feel.

  The liquid climbed up slower this time. The wait was excruciating.

  The first red line flared into existence. And then I noticed something. On the test, pregnant showed the two lines, but the not-pregnant result, with only one line, matched up with the second line on the pregnant result. In other words, it was the second line that was the control line—the line that would come up regardless. The first line was the actual test line.

  And that line was really, really red.

  Oh, shit. I’m pregnant.

  “How did this happen?” I asked the test. “How?”

  I looked at the box. It confirmed that two lines, even if one was faint, meant a positive test. And that test was really, really red. Pregnancy red.

  I was going to have a baby.

  Before I could react a loud crash announced someone coming through the front door in a temper. A moment later, a face covered with rage loomed in the still open bathroom doorway.

  “Jesus, Jonas, that face would kill newborn puppies,” I said as I dropped the test to the other side of the toilet and out of view. “How about a little privacy, huh?”

  “Where the fuck were you, human?” Jonas demanded, stepping into the bathroom. Apparently people on the toilet did not embarrass him as much as it did me.

  The front door crashed a second time. “She in here?” I heard Charles yell. “Oh yeah, here’s her purse.”

  Charles face loomed behind Jonas’. “What the fuck, Sasha? I had to enact the phone tree with the Mata. Why the hell have you been playing speed racer all over this city? Are you trying to get me killed?”

  “Why didn’t you tell us the meeting was this afternoon instead of this evening?” Jonas demanded in a deep, anger-filled voice. “You left yourself vulnerable.”

  “Can we talk about this after I get off the toilet, please? This is kind of awkward…” I let my eyebrows reach my hairline as I huffed. Attitude and embarrassment sometimes dislodged Jonas’ scrutiny.

  As hoped, his gaze took in my precarious position. He took a step back and glared at Charles to get out of the bathroom so he could, too.

  My stomach swarmed with butterflies.

  Charles was staring in confusion at the box that’d held the pregnancy tests. He slowly, as if finding a piece of gold and unsure if it was real, picked up the white plastic test and inspected it.

  “Get out!” I yelled. I needed to hash this out with Ann. I didn’t need all my uncertainty known by the male population. That just wasn’t how these things were done.

  “Is this what I think it is?” Charles asked in a wispy voice I’d never heard before. It was filled with pride, hope, and wonder. It was as if he was looking at a unicorn. He tapped Jonas on the shoulder.

  “Charles, seriously, get out!” I yelled frantically.

  Everything turned to slow motion. Jonas’ shoulders swiveled toward Charles. Both of their gazes fell to the little white wand in Charles hand.

  Charles picked up the box. Jonas took it from him with a delicate, gentle grip. Their gazes went to the directions. Then back to the results. As if synchronized, both heads turned toward me. Their faces were blank. Completely unreadable.

  I felt heat soak into my face, but not because I was sitting on the toilet with my pants around my ankles. Suddenly I felt more vulnerable, more exposed, than I e
ver had in my whole life.

  “I didn’t mean to,” I said overcome by an irrational need to defend myself. “I didn’t plan it. I don’t know how it happened…”

  Both of the guys stared at me.

  I felt my eyes sting in fear and uncertainty. “Is Stefan going to be mad? The timing is bad, I know, but it’s an accident. I promise.” My voice sounded so tiny.

  Jonas took two quick steps toward me and yanked me toward him. He squeezed me to his chest. “Good work, human. Good job.”

  “Oh my god, I’m going to be an uncle! Jonas, bro, she’s going to have a baby!” Charles screeched. “Put her down. My turn. But be careful!”

  Jonas gently lowered me to the ground and stared down at me. The first genuine smile I could remember gracing his lips. His eyes twinkled and all the malice he usually had drifted away. “It’s the Boss’?”

  I blinked a few times, staring at his smile in confusion. “Y-yeah.”

  Jonas slid his thumb down my cheek and then kissed my forehead. He passed me off to Charles as if I was the most precious thing he’d ever come across.

  I blinked in confusion for the second time. Charles’ eyes were glassy. He pulled me into a tight hug, surrounding me in his strength and protection.

  “Loosen up, fool, you’ll hurt her.” Jonas pried Charles’ arms away until the hug was lighter. I felt Jonas’ hand on my head.

  My pants were still around my ankles. Two guys were fawning all over me like grandmothers, in a bathroom, with plastic wands for testing urine in their hands, not worried that my butt was bare. And I was letting all this happen without freaking out.

  This had just become the strangest day of my life. And that was saying something.

  Jonas said, “Human, pull up your pants. We need to talk about this. This is going to change everything.”

  Chapter Five