The Prophecy

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  “Cool.”

  Josie glanced at me.

  I grinned down at her.

  She shook her head. “But it might not show a heartbeat, right?”

  “Depends at this stage. This test should give us a clear understanding of when you conceived, unlike our last time, even if it’s too soon for a heartbeat.” Dr. Morales looked over at me. “Either way, like we discussed earlier in the week, she really should be seen by an OBGYN soon. This early on in a pregnancy, it’s not a big deal, but the sooner the better. I’ve made some calls like I promised, and I expect to hear back from them very soon.”

  “Hoping that call comes soon.” I crossed my arms. “Real soon.”

  “Me too.” Smiling at Josie, she reached for the blanket. “May I?”

  Josie nodded. “Yep.”

  The doctor pulled it down and then rolled Josie’s shirt up, exposing her lower stomach. “This is going to be a little cold. Just a heads-up.”

  Must’ve been a lot cold, because Josie jumped when the gooey liquid hit her skin. Picking up the wand, Dr. Morales moved it in circles along Josie’s stomach.

  Josie glanced up, giving me a quick grin. “I’m glad you made it back for this.”

  “Yeah, I am too, babe.” My emotions and head were all over the place. Total rollercoaster from start to finish. Had the fright of my life when I saw Josie in this bed, and now…maybe I’ll get to see my child’s heart beating.

  Today was a strange day.

  “I should be able to see a gestational sac no matter what,” the doctor was saying as a grainy image began to appear on the screen of the ultrasound. “Good news, guys. I can say without a doubt that the pregnancy is viable.”

  Josie exhaled roughly. “You can?”

  Dr. Morales nodded. “Yes—and there.” She smiled as she twisted at her waist, pointing at the gray and black blobs. “This here is the sac, and see that little blinking right there?”

  I squinted. There was something there. No idea what, though. “Yeah, I see it.”

  “I do, too,” Josie said.

  “That is the baby’s heartbeat.”

  The baby’s heartbeat.

  The floor had to have moved under my feet. The whole room moved, but good gods, there it was. Our…our child’s heartbeat. I honestly had no idea what was what on that screen except for the part that flickered, and the image of that blinking splotch was firmly implanted in my brain.

  “Really?” Josie whispered, finding my hand without taking her eyes off that screen. She gripped tight.

  “Yes.” Dr. Morales moved the cursor. “Let me see if I can measure this. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, but…I think you’re about six weeks, give or take five days.”

  Josie bit down on her lip as she stared at the screen. “That’s what we thought.”

  “You thought right.” Dr. Morales moved the wand along Josie’s stomach and the picture on the screen flipped. Green lettering appeared on the screen. “The heart rate is one hundred and twenty-one beats per minute. That’s a really good, strong heartbeat.”

  Josie’s chest rose with a heavy breath as her gaze moved to mine. “That’s our baby.”

  “Yeah.” My voice sounded thick. “Yeah, it is.” I blinked, because my vision had gotten a little wonky there for a moment.

  Josie folded her other hand around mine as she squeezed her eyes closed. I bent down, brushing the hair off her cheek with my other hand. I kissed her cheek and then rested my forehead against hers. Dr. Morales was saying something about printing off the picture, and she reiterated how she expected to hear from the doctors soon, but my gaze was locked with Josie’s. In that moment, no one else was in the room and everything that had happened outside of it didn’t matter.

  Emotion swelled in my chest to the point it was almost painful as I whispered against her lips, “Boy or girl?”

  Josie let out a laugh that danced across my lips. She threw an arm around my neck, burying her face in my shoulder. I sat on the edge of the bed, folding my arm around her shoulders.

  I didn’t let go of her hand.

  She didn’t let go of mine.

  Chapter 20

  Josie

  It was unbelievable how in one day I could go from experiencing fear and hatred and heartbreaking loss, to witnessing something so breathtakingly beautiful as my baby’s heartbeat, I almost couldn’t believe it.

  Seeing my baby’s heartbeat didn’t take away the hurting Colin’s death had left behind, but it was a much needed reminder that there were still miracles out there.

  There was still life in all of this.

  And sitting on my bed, freshly showered and wrapped in a fluffy soft robe while Seth checked on Cora and Gable, I clung to that piece of knowledge. There was still the beauty of life.

  My child was still okay. More than okay, according to Dr. Morales. His or her little heart was beating strong.

  Pushing my wet hair back from my face, I lifted my gaze to the ceiling. I didn’t want to close my eyes for any real amount of time, because even though I was clutching at that good feeling, the image of that furie sinking its claws deep into Colin’s chest waited for me. I knew if I let my thoughts wander I would hear the sound of the half-blood’s bones shattering as she slammed into the wall.

  And I knew if I wasn’t careful, I would think of my father.

  Of how I’d called out to him this afternoon and he hadn’t responded. Of how he didn’t come to my aid when the furies were unleashed. I would think of how he had to have been watching, because he’d gotten Seth.

  But he hadn’t appeared to me.

  The door opened before I allowed that train wreck of a thought process to take hold, and within a heartbeat Seth was strolling into the bedroom. His gaze immediately found me in the softly lit room.

  “How are they?” I asked.

  “Good.” Walking around to where I sat, he bent down and kissed me on the temple. He straightened. “They know to stay in their rooms for the rest of the evening.”

  That was good to hear. “Do they have food, though? Should we—”

  “They have food, babe.” Turning, he began to unhook the daggers around his waist, the ones hidden under his shirt. “They have everything they could need right now.”

  Except for Colin. He’d been so good with them.

  I fiddled with the sash on the robe. “I think I need to be there with them.” I started to scoot off the bed, but Seth turned and the look in his eyes stopped me.

  “You need to be right where you are.”

  “I’m fine, Seth. There’s nothing wrong with me except for a sore muscle.”

  “I know you’re okay, but today has been shit for you.” Seth twisted, placing the two titanium daggers on the dresser. He reached around to his back. “There’s no harm in taking it easy for a few minutes.”

  I guessed he was right, but I felt like I’d been taking it easy half the time already. Shoulders slumping, I sighed. “Tell me about this other demigod.”

  Seth placed a gun on the dresser, next to the daggers. “It was who we expected. Ares’s son.”

  “I expected as much, but I was really hoping that wasn’t the case.” I watched Seth lean against the dresser as he toed off his boots. “How was he?”

  “Other than causing an entire bar full of old men to throw down like they were in a wrestling match, and then being a smartass?” Bending down, he tugged off his socks. “He’s seems all right.”

  “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming.”

  One side of his lips kicked up. “He knows who his father was. Actually met Ares a few times.”

  “Whoa.” My eyes widened as I pulled my legs up onto the bed. I tugged the edges of the robe over my knees. “That’s probably bad, isn’t it?”

  “I really don’t know.” He pulled the leather band from his hair. Gold strands glided forward, resting against his cheeks as he dipped his chin. “He knew of me—of who Alex and I used to be. The amount of stuff Ares could’ve told
him is insane. At the end of the day, he’s going to be a wild card. Either way? We can’t let the Titans get their hands on him. Not with his abilities.”

  Biting down on my lip, I nodded. “You said…you said Apollo showed up?”

  Seth looked up as he tugged off his belt. “Yeah. Came out of nowhere. Told me to get to you and I did.”

  I opened my mouth, closed it, and then tried again. “Do you think he’s still with them?”

  “I damn sure hope so, because I’m not going back there anytime soon to get their asses.” He dropped the belt on the dresser. “I figure Apollo can bring them back.”

  “But what if he doesn’t?”

  “That’s their problem.”

  “Seth.”

  He flashed me a quick grin that I lost sight of as he reached behind his head, gripping the collar of his shirt. He pulled it off over his head. “If I don’t hear from them in a couple of hours, I’ll go back and check on them, but I seriously doubt Apollo is just going to leave them there.”

  My gaze flickered over all the glorious bare skin on display as Seth tossed his shirt aside. It landed somewhere on the floor, in front of the bed. Dragging my gaze away from Seth, I stared at the space the shirt had disappeared to. “I went to the library this morning, after you guys left. Not only did I not find Medusa, the doors she’d taken me through were gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “Yep. Completely gone. Like they’d never been there, and when I asked the librarian about Medusa, there was no one who works there that looks anything like her.” I wrapped my arms around my knees. “And when I got back here, I…man, I feel so stupid, but I called out to Apollo. You know? Like, I asked for his help. I mean, how can we entomb the Titans when there aren’t even six demigods left to naturally unlock their abilities? What are we supposed to do? So, I called out to him, and he…he didn’t answer.”

  I didn’t hear Seth move, but he was suddenly there, sitting on the bed beside me. His fingers curled around my chin, guiding my gaze to his. “Babe…”

  “I didn’t really expect him to. I figured he doesn’t even pay attention.” I lifted a shoulder. “But he is paying attention. He knew something had happened to me. Instead of coming to me, he went to you. Why?”

  Pain flickered across Seth’s face. “I don’t know why. I wish I did. Damn, do I ever.”

  Closing my eyes, I leaned forward, all but face-planting his shoulder. Harsh words festered in my chest, and I didn’t want to give a voice to them, but they slithered up my throat. “I hate him.”

  “Psychi mou.”

  “I know I shouldn’t. I know that makes me a bad person, but I hate him.”

  “It doesn’t make you a bad person.” He folded his arms around me, pulled me to him and lifted me up at the same time. I ended up in his lap, my face still fused to his shoulder and my robe slipping down one arm. “It just makes you mortal.”

  “But I’m not mortal.”

  His lips coasted over the inch of bare skin at my shoulder. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do.” I turned my head so my cheek rested on his shoulder. “He didn’t save my grandparents. They died. He lied to me about my mother. She died. I really don’t even know if Erin is okay or not. He could be lying about that too.” I drew in a shaky breath. “And you said Zeus knew I was pregnant. That means Apollo has to know. Does he not even care?”

  Seth’s hand tangled in my wet hair. “He cares. I’m not saying that because I’m trying to make you feel better, babe. But I think he cares. He just has a shit way of showing it.”

  Tears burned the back of my eyes as more words bubbled up. I whispered, “I don’t hate him.”

  His arm tightened around my waist. “I know.”

  I swallowed hard.

  “Hug me back,” Seth said, voice soft in my ear.

  I gave a half-hearted attempt at pressing against him.

  Seth chuckled. “Hug me back, Josie.”

  Letting out an absurdly loud sigh, I let go of my robe and wiggled my arms free. I threw them around Seth.

  “That’s my girl.”

  I hugged him tight as I shifted around so my knees slid along either side of his hips. “What are we going to do, Seth?”

  “That’s a loaded question,” he said as he scooped the strands of hair out from under the robe.

  It really was, but I figured I’d start with the obvious. “What are we going to do with the Titans? Great. We have Ares’s son. Awesome. But we don’t have enough to unlock their abilities. The whole plan is bad.”

  Seth slightly pulled back so he could kiss my cheek. “The plan has been shit from the beginning, really.”

  I couldn’t help it. That made me laugh. “It has.”

  “We’ll figure something out.”

  Leaning back, I slid my hands off his shoulders, to his chest. His skin was warm under my palms. “We keep saying that, but we aren’t figuring anything out.”

  “Kind of hard to argue with that statement.”

  I smirked, but it quickly faded. Lifting my hand, I traced the line of his jaw with my finger. His eyes drifted shut and thick lashes fanned the smooth skin under his eyes.

  “I keep saying it, because we have to,” he said, “We don’t have a choice.”

  Seth was right.

  We had to figure out so much that it left little room to focus on the pain and fear or anything else, but what had Seth said when he walked in?

  I had time to take it easy?

  In all honesty, we really didn’t have the time. Every waking second needed to be focused on finding a way to entomb the Titans and stop the pure-bloods who were attacking the half-bloods.

  A sharp pain pierced my chest, and it felt so real that I sucked in air. The image of Colin started to form, his face waxy and eyes unfocused—

  I cut off that train of thought, refocusing on Seth. He was staring at me in that intense way of his, the way that made me feel like he could see inside my very head.

  I didn’t want to think or feel any of the heartache waiting for me or the fear of the vast unknown waiting for both of us.

  Not right now.

  My gaze traveled across his face, committing the angles and planes to memory with more than just my eyes. I traced the curve of his cheek with the tips of my fingers and then mapped the bridge of his brow with my thumbs. From there, I trailed my finger along his upper lip and the fuller bottom one.

  “I like that,” he said, his voice rough as he tilted his head back, eyes closed as he exposed his throat to me. “It feels good.”

  I could tell that he did thoroughly enjoy this, because he was hard against the curve of my ass.

  Then again, I had a feeling that if I looked at him a certain way, he enjoyed it, and I loved that. I may have been an awkward, uncomfortable mess ninety percent of the time, but Seth always, always made me feel beautiful and wanted, desired and cherished.

  Dragging my fingers down the center of his throat, I lowered my mouth to his, kissing him softly. Seth made this pleasant little humming sound against my mouth. I kept lowering my fingers, marveling at the way his stomach muscles clenched in response. My palms pressed back against the loose sash on my robe. Seth’s lips parted on a soft inhale, and I took advantage of it, dipping my tongue in as I wrapped my fingers around the sash, pulling it free. The robe parted and, with a wiggle of my shoulders, it slipped down my arms, stopping at my elbows. I reached between us, my fingers going for the button on his pants.

  Seth groaned into the kiss as he gripped my arms, pulling my hands away and holding me back. Breaking the kiss, he opened his eyes. They were pools of liquid amber.

  “Babe,” he murmured, his gaze dropped and drifting over my bare chest. “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?”

  His chest rose sharply. “I think I have a good idea, but we really shouldn’t be doing that right now.”

  “Why not?” I pressed my mouth to his, and Seth’s opened, welcoming the kiss.

&n
bsp; He was breathing heavier. “Do I need to remind you that you were just hurt? And Dr. Morales said—”

  “I have a pulled muscle, Seth.” Smiling, I rocked against him, rewarded by another deep rumble coming from within him. “And we can take this easy.”

  “Josie,” he all but groaned. “You know I want you. Always. But when Apollo came for me tonight, I thought…I feared the worst.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Those seconds that it took for me to get back here, I feared the worst. That there’d be no more moments like this,” he continued, stopping to groan as I moved. “They were only seconds, Josie, but they felt like an eternity.”

  “Seth,” I whispered against the knot in my throat. “Then let’s take back those seconds and make them ours.”

  He started to respond, but I brought our mouths together, silencing his fears, and we kissed…we kissed like we’d never have the luxury of doing so again.

  “I don’t want to think about anything right now,” I told him, moving away from his mouth to nip at the delicate skin of his throat. “I just want to feel the good that we have. I just want you, Seth. I just want these moments.”

  Seth shuddered as he let go of my arms. “How can I say no to you?”

  “You can’t.” I reached for the button on his pants again. “Because you love me.”

  “I do.” One hand curled around the back of my head as the other slipped inside the robe, settling on my waist. “I love you so fucking much I think it’s killing me sometimes.”

  I shuddered and almost lost sight of what I was doing, but I got his pants unbuttoned and the zipper tugged down. Seth’s arm tightened around me as he lifted up just enough for me to get his pants down to his thighs. His entire body jerked when I reached between us, wrapping my hand around him.

  “Josie,” he growled my name.

  I rose up. His breath fanned my throat as I positioned him where I wanted him. Seth’s other hand found its way between the halves of the robe and tightened on my hip as I slowly worked my way down his length, inch by inch. I got halfway down and started over. I had to.

  Seth groaned. “Gods, you really are killing me.”

  My gaze flew to his. “Am I…am I doing this right?”