‘I’m pregnant?’ Scarlett whispered, her hand unconsciously moving to her abdomen, her eyes glassy with tears.
Issac nodded.
‘You’re in even more danger than before,’ he warned her. ‘Azariel and Thomas both have their own agendas when it comes to you, but if they find out you’re carrying Sam’s child, they will have you killed on sight. They will never allow a half blood child to be born. I won’t tell anyone, not even Julien. Right now, only you and I know about her, but if you’re to have any hope of saving yourself and your child, you need allies, and there is no one more powerful than the Guardian. I’m not saying you should tell her; it will be your choice who you trust, but you can’t do this alone.’
‘What am I going to do?’ Scarlett drew in a shaky breath. ‘I don’t think I’m strong enough.’
‘You are,’ Issac told her firmly. ‘You don’t have a choice; your daughter needs you.’
‘My daughter,’ she whispered.
‘It’s still early days, I can’t say for sure how your pregnancy will progress. As I said there has never been a joining of our species that I know of. For now, make sure you eat properly and get plenty of rest, you’re still recovering. You have to exercise your wings every day, if you’re to have any hope of regaining full use of them, you need to strengthen the muscles.’
Scarlett nodded.
‘I have to go now, before Julien comes looking for me,’ he told her. ‘Contact me if you have any concerns about your pregnancy.’
She nodded mutely.
‘Scarlett,’ he said gently, ‘no matter what you believe, you’re not alone.’
She watched silently as he bowed his head in farewell and left the room, leaving her standing there. Her eyes filled with abject misery and confusion, reeling in the knowledge that she was not only going to be a mother, but that she’d just painted an even bigger target on her back, if that was even possible. Not knowing what else to do, she crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over her head to shut out the world.
She must have drifted off to sleep. She wasn’t sure how many hours had passed, but when she opened her eyes the light outside her window was dimming, as dusk fell. She rolled over staring at the ceiling, her mind still refusing to process everything Issac had told her.
There was a knock at the door, and without waiting for her to answer it swung open and Olivia walked in.
Scarlett frowned as Olivia approached the bed and pulled the covers back.
‘Come on,’ she smiled pleasantly, ‘you’ve been wallowing all day. You haven’t had anything to eat and you can’t continue to stare at the ceiling. Come downstairs for a while.’
‘I don’t want to,’ Scarlett murmured.
‘I know you don’t,’ Olivia replied sympathetically, ‘but you’re going to have to trust me on this one. Lying in bed, alternating between sleeping and brooding, is not going to do you any good. You need a distraction and I have the perfect one. We’ve kicked the guys out, it’s just us girls. Roni and Jake are getting married in a couple of days so we’re having a kind of mini bachelorette party for her.’
‘A party?’ Scarlett frowned, ‘I don’t think…’
‘You don’t have to think,’ she shook her head, grabbing Scarlett’s hands and pulling her up into a seated position. ‘It’s not a huge party, that’s not Roni’s kind of thing, it’s just a small gathering of close friends, some drink, some food and some music.’
‘Really Olivia, I don’t think I’m great company right now.’
‘We don’t need you to entertain us Scarlett,’ she smiled. ‘You can just sit in the corner not saying a word and get quietly drunk if that’s what you want, but you need to take the first step. You need to be around people again. If it gets too much, you can come back up here and sleep until dawn. I won’t stop you but I’m at least going to get some food into you first.’
It was like being beaten with a velvet lined baseball bat; the woman was a force of nature, one who didn’t seem to take no for an answer. It was probably just easier to give in. She’d choke some food down, smile politely and excuse herself as soon as possible.
‘Okay,’ Scarlett sighed.
‘Okay?’ she smiled widely, holding out her hand.
Scarlett reached out with a frown and took Olivia’s hand, allowing her to pull her off the bed. She was still fully dressed, having crawled into bed with her clothes on earlier and she wasn’t about to change. She didn’t have many clothes anyway, just a few Olivia had loaned her and so her only concession to making herself presentable was to run her hand through her wild curly hair and run her tongue over her teeth.
‘They’re debating on Chinese or Thai at the moment,’ Olivia threw over her shoulder as she led Scarlett down the stairs. ‘You may have to be the deciding factor.’
‘Either’s fine,’ Scarlett mumbled as they walked into the kitchen and into a group of chattering women who stopped and turned in their direction.
‘Glass of wine?’ Roni offered as she looked up from the bottle of white, she was pouring.
She almost accepted until her brain reminded her, she was pregnant.
‘Um no,’ she frowned, ‘best not.’
‘Probably a good idea,’ Olivia replied, ‘you’re still recovering.’
‘Recovering from what?’ Louisa asked as she leaned on the island with a large glass of red in one hand.
‘A virus,’ Olivia replied smoothly, certain Scarlett didn’t want anyone else to know what she’d been through.
‘That sucks,’ Louisa commiserated.
‘This is Louisa,’ Olivia introduced, ‘she’s Jake’s sister and an ER doctor, so you two will have something in common.’
Her eyes sparkled with amusement and Scarlett wondered how the hell Olivia had known she’d been posing as a doctor in Baltimore until recently, although it was not by any means the first time. She’d been a doctor several times over the years and through various previous identities.
‘You’re a doctor?’ Louisa asked curiously.
Scarlett nodded. ‘Until recently; I’m taking a bit of a break,’ she answered vaguely.
‘This is Danae,’ Olivia moved on before Louisa could question her further.
Scarlett blinked as she found herself staring at a tall gorgeous blonde, her hair so pale it looked like she belonged in an episode of Game of Thrones.
‘Danae is Davis’s twin sister. She’s also a cop; she works with Jake,’ Olivia continued.
Scarlett nodded, as Danae studied her with serious pale blue eyes. She could tell that Danae knew what she really was; no doubt either Jake or Davis had filled her in.
‘And this is Shelley,’ Olivia wrapped her arm around a sweet little bubbly honey blonde. ‘She’s married to Jackson and they run the local pub, The Salted Bone.’
‘Now known as the most haunted pub in North America,’ Shelley laughed brightly. ‘It takes some getting used to, let me tell you.’
‘A haunted pub?’ Scarlett repeated.
‘A really, really haunted pub,’ Shelley nodded. ‘There was like, a tear between this world and the spirit world or something, now it’s a kind of ghost hotspot.’
Scarlett blinked slowly.
‘The locals are all used to it now,’ Shelley continued. ‘The spirits are pretty good actually, they do allow me, Jackson and Miller, that’s our son by the way, our privacy. They tend to stay out of our apartment which is above the pub, but the rest of the building they mill about freely. It’s a bit of a jolt the first time you see them walking through walls. The out of towners are priceless. The looks on their faces when they see them for the first time and then when they go to take photos and find only light flares on their screens. It drives them mad.’
She laughed loudly in amusement.
‘Wine, Shelley?’ Roni asked as she passed a glass to Olivia and picked up another.
‘No,’ Shelley smiled, her cheeks flushing prettily, ‘I can’t drink… at least for the next seven months.’
&nb
sp; Roni placed the bottle down on the counter with a small thunk.
‘You’re pregnant?’
Shelley nodded, her smile widening. ‘We didn’t want to say anything until we were sure but I’m now into my second trimester, so surprise!’
‘You’re not kidding,’ Olivia wrapped her arms around her friend hugging her tightly with a little sway. ‘Congratulations.’
‘I know,’ Shelley’s eyes filled, ‘oh there go the hormones again,’ she laughed as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
‘Get used to it,’ Louisa laughed as she lifted her glass. ‘Congratulations honey, we’re all so happy for you but I’ve got to ask…’
‘I know what you’re going to say,’ Shelley nodded.
‘What’s going on?’ Olivia asked.
‘It’s not common knowledge but I had a miscarriage last year, just before Stu and I broke up. I was told that I’d never be able to have children. I had a lot of scar tissue due to a medical condition I didn’t know I had. Anyway, when Jackson and I married, I adopted Miller and we were happy as we were. We weren’t even thinking about another child. Because we knew I couldn’t have children we didn’t bother using anything. When I first found out I was pregnant I had a complete meltdown. After what happened before, I was convinced I was going to lose this baby too. But when I went in for tests and scans, all the scar tissue was gone and there was no evidence I’d ever suffered from any kind of gynecological condition.’
‘How’s that even possible?’ Roni asked curiously as she poured Shelley an orange juice.
‘Diana,’ Shelley shrugged.
‘Diana?’ Scarlett blurted out without meaning to.
‘The Goddess Diana,’ Shelley nodded. ‘There was this whole thing,’ she shook her head, ‘when the tear between worlds happened in the pub, the spirits kind of kidnapped Miller, then the Goddess turned up with this guy, The Bone Man.’
‘Armand was here?’ Scarlett glanced at Olivia, ‘but he never leaves the Quarter.’
‘I guess when a Goddess shows up on your doorstep you make an exception,’ Olivia shrugged. ‘I’ve spoken to Diana several times, and I can’t imagine her taking no for an answer.’
‘You throw that off your tongue so casually,’ Scarlett replied, ‘as if you speak with Gods and Goddesses all the time.’
‘I do,’ Olivia shrugged.
‘Anyway,’ Shelley continued, ‘they brought Miller back to us, the breach was sealed, and all was well, but before she left, she placed her hand on my womb and it felt all warm and tingly. I thought it was just because she was a Goddess. Kind of like getting a static shock off someone.’
‘She healed you?’ Scarlett murmured thoughtfully.
‘I guess so,’ Shelley shrugged, ‘there’s really no other explanation.’
‘Well congratulations,’ Scarlett replied quietly, not really wanting to think about her own impending pregnancy.
‘Thanks,’ Shelley smiled warmly.
‘Isn’t Tammy here yet?’ Olivia frowned, ‘she’s late.’
‘She called,’ Roni’s eyes locked on Olivia’s and something unspoken passed between them. ‘She’s not coming.’
Olivia nodded, although she didn’t look happy.
Beau suddenly started barking, racing around in circles and then to the back door, where he jumped up, standing on his hind legs and scratching.
‘What’s wrong with Beau?’ Roni frowned, ‘he can’t need to pee that badly.’
‘Nope,’ Olivia grinned, ‘it’s a surprise! Come on, everyone down to the lake.’
Olivia opened the door and Beau darted out as soon as he could squeeze his body through the gap. They all descended the steps down to the yard which spread out all the way down to a wooden jetty and then a little further along to the sandy shore.
Night had descended, the sky glistened with pretty little pinpricks of light and a cool breeze blew in from across the vast lake. Olivia, with Beau dancing along happily at her side, bypassed the jetty and headed for the shore, with her glass of wine still in one hand. Finally, they all stopped on the sand, staring out across the black water.
‘What are we looking for?’ Louisa took a sip of her own wine and stared out across the lake.
‘There,’ Olivia nodded.
She hadn’t needed to point it out. At that precise moment a huge wave appeared from way out in the center of the lake and rushed toward the shore, gaining in speed and strength, doubling in size like a Tsunami.
The others stepped back nervously, their eyes wide as they took in the wave, which was so tall, if it hit the shore it would engulf Olivia’s house and probably wash away half the woods.
‘Uh Olivia?’ Roni edged back a little.
‘Uh huh,’ Olivia sipped her wine calmly as she watched the gigantic wave barrel toward them.
When it was finally a short distance from the shore it rolled in under itself transforming into a huge sphere of water which spun toward them like a giant hamster ball. When it reached the shore, it collapsed in on itself, rippling along the sand, revealing a stunning dark-skinned woman with tightly curled black hair.
‘Show off,’ Olivia muttered with an amused smile.
‘Olivia,’ she smiled in return as she elegantly stepped onto the sand shaking the water out of her hair, ‘did you know you’ve got a Hydra in your lake?’
‘Calypso,’ Olivia laughed as the two women embraced, ‘you can blame Hades for Lulu, she wasn’t my idea.’
‘Lulu?’ her brow rose.
Olivia lifted one shoulder and took a sip of her wine.
‘Callie?’ Roni exclaimed in delight as she stepped forward and threw her arms around her.
‘Veronica,’ Calypso smiled returning her embrace before pulling back and taking her hands, ‘you didn’t think I’d miss your wedding, did you?’
‘You’ve met Danae and Shelley,’ Olivia spoke from behind her.
‘Yes,’ she smiled, ‘we met last time I was in town, how are you?’
‘Good,’ Danae nodded.
‘Congratulations on your forthcoming blessing,’ Calypso turned to Shelley, ‘all children are a blessing but yours doubly so, I imagine.’
‘Thank you,’ Shelley beamed as she rubbed her barely swollen belly.
‘And this is…’
‘Scarlett,’ Calypso finished for her, as her gaze dropped for a fraction of a second to Scarlett’s belly, long enough for Scarlett to realize she’d probably detected her pregnancy as easily as she had Shelley’s, but strangely enough she chose not to say anything.
‘You already know each other?’ Olivia asked curiously.
‘We’ve never met,’ Scarlett replied defensively.
‘No,’ Calypso replied, her eyes glittering with interest, ‘not technically. The last time I saw you Scarlett was in New Orleans, down on the river walk on the banks of the Mississippi. You appeared to be having difficulty with some demons.’
Scarlett’s thoughts were drawn back to that moment on the river walk when Sam had thrown both of them into the muddy waters of the Mississippi to escape the demon Sabine. A strange storm surge had appeared, and the violent churning waters had swept them down river to safety.
‘The storm surge in the river,’ Scarlett whispered, her eyes widening in realization, ‘that was you?’
Calypso said nothing she merely winked at her and turned back to Roni.
‘Okay,’ she linked her arm in Roni’s, ‘I need a big glass of wine and then you girls can fill me in on all the gossip.’
Olivia watched as they walked arm in arm back up toward her house, with Louisa, Shelley and Danae trailing behind them.
‘Is that really the Goddess Calypso?’ Scarlett whispered.
‘Yeah,’ Olivia drained the rest of her wine. ‘I first met her back in 17th Century Salem where she was posing as a slave girl, named Tituba.’
Scarlett turned slowly and stared at Olivia. She looked so normal, yet she was not only incredibly powerful in her own right, she jumped through time an
d conversed with Gods and Goddesses, who seemed to treat her as an equal. Maybe Issac was right. Although she was still far from trusting Olivia West, she would make a powerful ally, one that both Azariel and Thomas would fear.
‘You lead an incredibly strange life, Olivia West,’ she murmured.
‘It’s Beckett-West actually,’ she linked her arm through Scarlett’s and led her back up the hill toward her house. ‘Welcome to Mercy,’ she laughed, ‘your life will never be the same again.’
Theo blinked as the strange scrolling words once again appeared in front of his eyes. It was happening with alarming frequency and yet he still didn’t understand what it meant.
Blinking a few times until his vision cleared, his eyes once again focused on Jake who was sitting in between Jackson and Tommy drinking shots.
Staring down into his empty glass he turned and headed back to the bar, climbing onto one of the stools and setting his glass down on the glossy wooden surface.
‘Another one?’ Jackson’s new bartender Darren shifted over behind the bar and picked up the empty.
Theo nodded, not much in the mood to talk. A stream of smoke wafted in front of his face and he turned his head to the right to see a woman perched on a barstool at the end of the bar. She was dressed like a screen siren, with glossy wavy hair, secured in elegant rolls at her temples. She raised an old-fashioned martini glass and took a sip, before taking a drag of her cigarette. Although her clothes were dated, she would have looked like any other woman, if not for the fact that she appeared in different shades of gray, like an old Hollywood film reel.
‘Evening Norma,’ Theo nodded.
The woman smiled, winking at him cheekily as she disappeared into thin air.
The new bartender, Darren, set Theo’s beer down in front of him, his eyes widening slightly as two burly men flickered and fell through the wall, rolling through stools and tables, as they punched and kicked each other, wrestling around on the floor.
Theo had to hand it to Darren, he was handling the level of spirit activity in the pub a lot better than most. He’d certainly lasted the longest. Jackson had had a devil of a time trying to keep staff since the veil between worlds had disappeared within the confines of his pub. It was a hot spot; a place where the living and the dead could exist side by side and it took some getting used to.
The Veritas Page 23
