“Fine,” I grind out. “Ernest, have Martha set her up in a room.”
Without another word, I walk out of my office and storm toward the back door and head outside. The girl is mine to do with as I wish. Bessie is giving her to me, to own. That’s fine. I’ll just sell her, then. But before any of that happens, I need to find my dratted wife.
BIRDIE
Arion grunts, then neighs as he stands in front of me. We’ve had our picnic and we were gathering everything to head back into the house when Arion suddenly appeared. He watches me, and it’s then that I know he’s trying to talk to me.
Closing my eyes, I inhale a deep breath and allow him to speak. You can block me from telepathically speaking to you. Magic, Birdie. It is strong inside of you.
So everyone keeps telling me.
He chuckles and shakes his head from side to side before he pins me with his gaze again. You are with child and it is time to go home. Your husband has been attempting to make contact, but like you, I can block someone from speaking to me.
I don’t want to go back, and how do you know? I demand.
There is a moment of silence, then he neighs. I can smell it. The babe is strong, healthy, and you need to be with your husband because this babe is struggling.
You just said it was strong.
For now. This magic is not normal, the gods have created it, Birdie. Without the love bond, without the physical closeness, this child will not thrive.
How do you know so much about the prophecy? I ask, demanding him to tell me the truth, to tell me more.
I feel like there is much more to this prophecy than I or anyone else knows. And the people that do, they’re keeping it to themselves, just like this fucking horse.
Come. I am to take you home.
It doesn’t go unnoticed that he ignores my questions—my demands. He neighs again as if he’s attempting to show me urgency.
I let out a frustrated sigh and tell him to hold his horses, something that he doesn’t find humorous at all, but actually makes me giggle. Turning toward my retreating sister, I rush after her and Jasmine, who are headed back to the castle.
“Sybilla,” I call out.
She stops and slowly turns to face me. Her eyes widen at the sight of Arion behind me before her lips curve up and she smiles widely at her friend. Arion neighs, shaking his head.
“Arion,” she cries out, her feet hurrying toward me, then past me and straight to the horse. I watch as she throws her arms over his neck and nuzzles his softness. “I’ve missed you. Why haven’t you come to visit me?”
There is a moment of silence and I’m sure it’s because he’s communicating with her, and I realize that she must not be able to speak to him with her mind the way that I can. I frown, wondering if it’s part of my magic? It’s weird. You would think that Sybilla and I would have at least that same ability.
Sybilla turns around, her eyes wide as she stares at me. “You’re having a baby?” she breathes.
I press my palm against my stomach. Arion announced it just moments ago, but I didn’t really hear it, not until this moment does it hit me. There is a baby growing inside of me, a real one.
This isn’t a dream, this isn’t something that is going to go away, and I may not ever be able to go home. I don’t think I could leave and take my baby to a whole other world away from my husband, he’s the father of this child, no matter how he feels about me. I wouldn’t ever do that to him.
I start to tremble, the realization just slamming into me like a ton of bricks. This isn’t over, this is never going to be over and my life will never be the same. Sybilla calls out to me, she says my name over and over, but I’m frozen, still in shock or something.
Opening my mouth, I try to say something, to tell her that I’m not okay. I don’t get the chance. Pain radiates throughout my entire body and everything goes completely dark, black, nothingness.
My eyelids flutter open and I turn my head to the side. I expect to be back in Devilrise, but I’m not. I’m still with Sybilla, in my room at her castle. It still blows my mind that she lives in a freaking castle.
“Birdie,” Sybilla’s voice rasps, interrupting my thoughts about her castle and how I’m just a tad bit jelly that I don’t have one of my own.
She’s sitting on the other side of me, so I turn to look at her. She’s at the side of my bed, her hands reaching out before she takes mine in her grasp. Her eyes search mine, as if she’s assessing me to determine if I’m okay.
She nods her head, then turns to look across the room. I’m not surprised to see Aleida and Godiva make their way toward the end of the bed at her silent signal.
“We had no choice, Birdie,” Aleida whispers.
“You had no choice?” I ask.
She nods her head, her gaze flicking from me to Sybilla. “You were trying to transport yourself, we didn’t know where you were going,” Sybilla rasps. “I was so scared.”
“They knew, I don’t know how, but they did. They appeared just as you were starting to fade away,” Jasmine murmurs as she walks up behind Sybilla.
“What is going on?” I demand.
Godiva clears her throat and jerks her chin toward me. “We have bound you to this world.”
“What?” I cry.
“You’re pregnant. We couldn’t take a chance, not with the prophecy, not with the fates, and certainly not with the gods themselves.”
“What does this mean?” I ask on a whisper.
There’s a moment of silence, personally too long of
