A human. Abby bit her lip. She really had accepted his world completely.
“Are you hurt?” She couldn’t look into his face due to his glow, but it sounded like he spoke through clenched teeth.
Abby showed him her arms and feet, the scratches and cuts that peppered her body from her flight through the woods. His grip on her shoulders tightened convulsively, and then he pulled her to him with a violent oath. He hugged her tightly before pulling away, staring at her as his glow intensified, making him a shaft of blue light.
He was terrified. Her angel, her savior, was still frightened for her, for what Diana could have done to her.
She lifted her hand to his face and stroked his cheek. “I’m fine, I swear.” Nearly blinded by his light, but otherwise okay.
He dimmed at her touch, making him a being made of light rather than a column with wings. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
He was trembling. Abby snuggled up against him, letting him feel for himself that she was fine, but she was willing to bet they’d both have some nightmares after this. “You called her Megan.”
“Doug’s old girlfriend. The electrician. I took a chance she was really Megan, and it worked.”
“It did.” She shivered. “You got her attention.”
Seth pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and let her go. He turned from her and pulled a cell phone that had been clipped to his sweat pants.
“Dante. I’ve got the Shem. She’s dead, and... Yes, I said she.” Seth rolled his eyes. “Can you listen for a minute? I need you for cleanup instead of backup.” He paused and stared at Abby, his gaze raking her from head to toe. His light dimmed as he relaxed, his features visible once more. “She’s safe. A few scratches here and there, but that’s about it.”
It was over. Doug’s sick evil was out of her life for good.
When Seth was done he seemed calmer, but she’d learned how to read him. He was rigidly controlling his temper. Every time he glared in Diana’s direction, his jaw clenched. He was pacing, his wings fluttering. Abby sat on the ground, tired and cold and bleeding from a thousand tiny cuts, and watched him. She knew he wasn’t done yelling at her yet, but apparently he wanted to wait until Dante came.
A movement out of the corner of her eye had her glancing away from him just in time to see Diana struggling to aim the gun at his back.
Oh, hell no.
Abby leaped up and managed to push him out of the way just as Diana fired. It echoed oddly, but she barely noticed, thanks to the searing pain in her arm. She heard someone scream her name as she slammed into the ground.
“You idiot.” Seth’s voice was shaking. She could feel his arms around her, and leaned back against him gratefully. She was so cold. “Why did you do that?”
She hissed as the throbbing pain in her arm spiked sharply. She peered at the wound. Seth’s hands were slick with her blood. That couldn’t be good.
“Because I love you.”
* * *
He’d had to lie to the hospital staff, tell them he was her fiancé. They’d bought it when Bill arrived, a tearful Trish in tow, and confirmed it.
He’d never been so scared in his life as when Abby passed out in his arms, bleeding like mad. Damn it. Why was Rafe missing, now of all times?
When they’d asked if there was a risk that Abby was pregnant, he’d had to say yes. Seth still wasn’t certain Bill was going to forgive him for that anytime soon.
When the test came back positive, he wasn’t certain Abby was going to forgive him.
He’d nearly lost her, and she was carrying his child. Their child.
Fuck.
He was shaking as he sat by her bed, barely able to string two thoughts together. She’d lost a lot of blood, but the on-call obstetrician had told him the baby was fine. It was the mother they’d been worried about.
“Seth.”
His gaze snapped to her face. “Abby.”
Her smile was lopsided, her eyelids droopy. “Did I oversleep?”
He eyed the IV bag. They must have given her the good drugs. “Sort of.”
“Mmm.” She tried to roll onto her side, frowning sleepily when he stopped her.
“Do you remember anything about last night?”
She blinked, her eyes glazed. “I had the weirdest dream.”
“Was Diana a monster?”
Her gaze shot up to him. “How’d you know?”
He wanted to laugh at how her mouth dropped open, he really did. But the remembered feel of her warm blood on his hands haunted him. “Abby.” He kissed her forehead. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“Do what?”
“Step in front of a bullet for me.”
“What?” She blinked rapidly, but the glazed look still lingered. “That wasn’t a dream?”
He shook his head.
“Oh.”
He sat down heavily in the chair and stared at her, clutching her hand. “When I lost Fiona it damn near killed me. I thought my world would come to an end. I honestly thought that I would die within a few months of her.” He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts. “When I held you in my arms, knowing you’d been fucking shot, how do you think I felt?”
Abby closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You damn well should be.” He kissed her palm. “I can’t lose you.”
She sighed.
“Abby?”
A soft snore was his only answer. Seth sat quietly and watched his lover sleep.
He had plans to finish, and dreams to build.
* * *
She woke up the next morning to sunshine streaming through the hospital window. There was a bouquet of flowers on her nightstand. Her arm ached, but it wasn’t the burning, throbbing agony of the night before. She studied the tubes in the back of her hand that were probably pumping her full of wonderful painkillers.
She remembered Seth being there in the night, but when she looked around for him he was gone. Damn. There was so much she wanted to say to him, to ask him. So when the door to her room opened, she faced it with a wide smile on her face.
Andi stepped into the room, bearing a beautiful basket of orchids. She smiled in relief when she saw that Abby was awake. “Hey, sleepyhead. How’s the arm?”
Abby’s smile dimmed. She loved Andi, she really did, but she’d rather see stormy blue eyes than brilliant turquoise ones right now. “Better. At least it doesn’t hurt as badly as it did last night.”
Andi set the basket next to the bouquet, then sat down on the edge of the bed and scowled at her. “You pushed Seth out of the way of Diana’s bullet. You got shot in the process, but so did Diana.”
Abby shook her head, confused. “What?”
Andi smoothed Abby’s sheet. “It seems that Beth was there, on Piotr’s orders no less, keeping an eye on you and Seth.” Andi shook her head. “I knew he was up to something, but I had no idea he’d hired Beth before I did. Sneaky bastard.”
Abby paled. What had Beth seen? How was she going to explain to her very practical friend the angelic glow bug?
“When she saw Diana take you, she followed, but she lost you in the woods. By the time she found you, Seth had Diana subdued and was calling nine one one.” Seth had been calling Dante, but let Andi think what she liked. “So she sat back and watched. Somehow, she missed Diana getting hold of the gun, but managed to fire on her just as Diana fired on Seth.”
Abby felt slightly sick. “Is Diana in this hospital?” Please let her be dead, please let her be dead.
Andi shook her head slowly. “Beth fired to save you both, and to do that, she needed to make sure Diana was down for the count. She didn’t plan on killing her, but in the darkness her shot was slightly off the mark. Diana died instantly. When the fire from Seth’s town house spread into the woods, Diana’s body was caught in it. It was pretty much destroyed.”
Either that, or one of the Neph had dealt with it in his own unique way. Hadn’t Seth told her one
of them used fire as a weapon?
“The odd thing is, the town-house fire did little damage to the surrounding homes. Those fire breaks really worked. Gotta love quality construction, right?”
“Right.” Another thing she should probably chalk up to the fire-wielding Neph. Abby felt relief pour through her. She sagged against the pillows. “It’s really over, then.”
Andi nodded. “This time, it’s finally over.”
Beth came to visit her about a half hour after Andi left. She seemed haunted somehow, dark circles under her intelligent eyes attesting to the fact that she hadn’t slept much. Abby was both glad and terrified to see her. “Beth. I want to thank you for what you did.”
Beth shrugged off Abby’s thanks, slinging a big white stuffed bear onto the bed and slouching into the visitor’s chair next to the bed. “How are you feeling? Any better?”
“A bit, yeah. I’m hoping to go home in the next couple of days.”
“Has Seth been in here yet?”
“He was here last night. I think he went home to get some sleep, though. He looked exhausted.”
A small smile crossed Beth’s lips. “Yeah, he did.”
Abby frowned. “You spoke to him?”
Beth nodded. “Yes. I had to let him know what was going on.” Beth leaned forward and rubbed her hand wearily over her face. “Piotr wanted to make sure the two of you were safe.”
“You mean he wanted to make sure Seth was safe.”
Beth grinned. “Yeah, he was my primary assignment. You were pro bono.” The grin faded from Beth’s lips. “Nothing happened for weeks, and then the fire started. I was watching the back of the houses and didn’t see Diana go in the front door. All I saw was the flames. I dialed nine one one and wound up just missing you as Diana carted you off into the woods.” Beth gave Abby a look that could have curdled eggs. “You should have known better than to step out of the town house without Seth, Abby. He was the only thing holding Diana back.”
“Yes, I know. And I have the feeling Seth’s kicking his own ass more than he’ll kick mine.”
Beth smiled. “Probably.” She leaned back in her chair, stretching her long legs in front of her. “You willing to take karate with me now?”
Abby nodded. “I think I can find some way to fit it into my busy schedule, yes.”
“Good.” Some of the strain seemed eased from her face. “Do me a favor?”
“What?”
“Don’t ever do that again, okay?”
Abby pouted. “Aw, but it was such fun! I got to fly first class, and see Piotr’s estate—”
Her words were cut off by a large white bear that came flying off the bed into her face. Beth eased her foot back onto the floor. “See the benefits of karate?”
Abby spit fake white fur out of her mouth.
Beth cleared her throat. “So. About the whole...” She flapped her hands around her shoulders like a bird.
Abby coughed, choking on fur bits.
“Yeah. Care to explain that one?” Beth’s brows rose. “If you can?”
Abby grinned. “He’s my guardian angel.”
Beth rolled her eyes. “Fine, don’t tell me. I have the feeling I don’t want to know.”
“Did Dante show up?”
“Yup, and he chewed me up one side and down the other. The man’s an ass. A hot ass, but still. He sent me home, said he’d get my statement later but that he had to ‘secure the scene.’” Beth made air quotes. “Like I don’t know not to step on evidence, even when it’s burnt to a crisp.”
“Did you tell him about—?”
“Seth? Do I look insane? As soon as Seth saw me the—” she made the fluttering motion again, “—completely disappeared. Then he makes up some asinine story about being an alien. I told him he’s a terrible liar, and I’d find out on my own if I had to.” She cocked a brow at Abby.
“Good luck with that.”
“You suck.”
Abby relaxed. Beth didn’t know about Dante. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“Who’d believe me? Other than you.”
“And Grace.”
“How much do you want to bet that Grace already knows?”
“Sucker bet.”
“Yup.” Beth stood and straightened her glasses. “You tell your angel to take better care of you or I’m shooting his ass next. Got it?” The glare Abby received would have scared anyone who didn’t know Elizabeth Rand and her overprotective streak. Seth belonged to Abby, so Beth wouldn’t touch a hair on his head.
“Got it.” Abby nodded anyway. Better to be safe than sorry.
Beth left as the nurse came in. “How are we feeling this afternoon?”
“Sore.”
The nurse smiled. “I can get you some pain meds once I talk to your ob/gyn.”
Abby blinked. “Say what?”
The nurse appeared shocked for a moment before the professional mask slipped into place once more. “I’m sorry, your fiancé warned us last night that it was possible you were pregnant. When we ran the tests, they came back positive.”
“They did?” Abby put her hand on her stomach. A baby? And Seth already knew?
“Congratulations, by the way.” The nurse’s smile dimmed as she stared at Abby. “You seem a little pale. Maybe I should go get someone.”
“Yeah. You do that.” She was going to have a baby.
Seth’s baby.
A Nephilim baby.
“Oh, boy.” She’d known pregnancy was a strong possibility, but she hadn’t thought about what having Seth’s child would involve. She’d love him or her no matter what, but...
“I need to call Marian.” If anyone could tell her what to expect when raising a superhero, it was Seth’s mother.
* * *
That evening, her parents came to visit her. They were understandably upset over what had happened to her, and extremely grateful that Seth and Beth had been there to save her.
“He seems like a nice young man,” Kevin said, putting a pot of her favorite yellow daffodils on the table near Andi’s orchids.
“You spoke to him?” Abby asked as nonchalantly as possible. She reached out to touch the pot of daffodils lovingly.
“Well, yes. He called to let us know what had happened to you.” Carol sat on the edge of the bed and gave her daughter a hug, careful of her injured right arm. “Bill and Trish are planning on stopping by later. How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but otherwise all right.”
Kevin sat in the chair by the bed and held her free hand. “Honey, you have no idea how worried your mother and I were when Seth called us last night.”
“I can imagine.” Abby began unconsciously smoothing the blanket.
Kevin sighed. “Seth called us every night to let us know you were safe. Did you know that?”
Abby stared at him, then smiled softly. “I’m not surprised, really. He’s very thoughtful.” Usually, she thought, wondering where he was.
“He also told us about the baby.” Carol smacked her daughter on her uninjured arm. “Did we not teach you about prophylactics?”
Just as Carol said that, the door opened. Seth stepped in, looking sheepish. In his hand was a small potted plant, but with her parents standing between her and Seth she couldn’t tell just what kind of plant it was. “Blame me for that. I should have taken better care of her.”
“Seth, you did an exceptional job. No one could have done more.” Kevin embraced Seth, quickly followed by Carol. “You did everything humanly possible to keep her safe.”
Seth winced, but he didn’t say anything to that. He came over to the bed and stared down at her. His face seemed drawn, and there was a long scratch down one cheek. He placed the plant on the bedside table between the orchids and the daffodils.
“Hi,” she said quietly.
“Hi.” He didn’t smile. Abby bit her lip worriedly, wondering what was going through his mind. She vaguely remembered the conversation they’d shared the night before. Had she said something wron
g? Something to upset him?
Her parents stood and greeted him like an old friend. He paid no attention to the scars along Carol’s left cheek and neck, the eye patch she wore over her missing left eye, or the way she leaned heavily on her cane. He didn’t react to her father’s less dramatic scars, either. He relaxed as he talked to them, but the looks he kept sending Abby were, at best, enigmatic. He seemed to want to say something, but with her parents present, that didn’t appear possible. He spoke mostly of business, and how busy he’d been that day with a problem at one of the job sites.
He no longer appeared to be angry with her, which was good, she supposed. But neither did he appear happy with her, either. Just after her parents left, he leaned down briefly and kissed her softly on the lips. “Get some rest, sweetheart.” He put his hand on her stomach, rubbing where their baby grew inside her. “You’re sleeping for two.” Without another word, he left the room, allowing a nurse in behind him.
She stared at the potted plant he’d brought her. It was a small rosebush, the kind one would plant in a garden.
The rose buds where lavender.
“Wow. Lavender roses mean wonder and enchantment.” The nurse was playing with her IV. She switched the bags out and grinned. “You lucky, lucky girl.”
Abby stared at the rose bush and smiled. She rubbed her stomach, the knowledge that Seth’s child was growing under her heart filling her with the same wonder she now knew he felt. He’d told her without words, in a way that would grow with their child.
Everything was going to be all right after all.
* * *
She was released the next day. She called Seth to come and get her, not surprised when he answered on the first ring. “The doctors told me I can go home. Would you come and get me, please?”
“Stay put, I’m on my way.”
As if she’d go home with anyone else. He showed up about twenty minutes later, and soon he was wheeling her through the corridors, smiling when she joked about doing wheelies.
As soon as they were in the car and Seth had her settled in comfortably, his cell phone rang. He grimaced apologetically as he answered it.
“Van Licht.” He winced. “Hey, Takeo. What’s the problem?”
He looked tired. He rubbed his forehead wearily as he listened to his business partner. “Okay. Is it something you can handle? I’m taking Abby home from the hospital today.” He listened again, smiling slightly at Takeo’s reply. “Yeah, I’ll give you a heads-up. No problem. See you in the morning.” He disconnected the call and clipped his phone back to his jeans. “You ready?”
All for You Page 27
