“How do we stop him?” I asked desperately.
Belphegor laughed. “You can’t.”
“What do you mean, we can’t?” Bash pushed. “There has to be a way to defeat him.”
Belphegor crossed his arms over his chest and his wings tucked in. “The only way to defeat him is to cut off his food source. If he can no longer harvest souls to keep himself alive in the human realm, he’ll be forced to return to the Underworld. The hard part is cutting him off.”
18
“We’re screwed,” Fenrir grumbled as we trekked through Caledonian Forest on our way back to the castle. “There’s no way to fight that bastard.”
I shrugged. “I did, and I have Cosima working on something. I’ll request an update once we get back to the castle.”
“Are you all right? We got uh … a lot of information just now,” Raven asked me. “None of it was good news.”
I sighed heavily. “I’m pissed about the fact I fell off another cliff. What the hell? If this shit comes in threes, I swear—”
Bash cleared his throat.
“Oh.” I looked down at my feet. “Yeah, I’m upset about that, too.” It wasn’t like I could vent openly at the moment. Fenrir was with us. I wasn’t trying to make light of the situation; I just didn’t want to talk about it. Not with him around. It meant lying and I was tired of lying.
I peered up and caught Raven staring at me. Her gaze spoke volumes. Her sparkling amber eyes pierced me as she nodded toward Fenrir. It was now or never. She wanted me to tell him. I stopped walking and watched as the group kept going without me. They hadn’t realized I’d stopped.
“Hey!” I called out. Bash was the first to look over his shoulder.
“Mackenzie, what’s wrong?” He frowned, backtracking to see if I was okay.
Fenrir and Raven followed. This was it.
“I’m fine … I just have something to say,” I muttered, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“Well, can we walk and talk, little wolf? I got places to be. Or can’t you chew bubblegum and walk at the same time?” Fenrir smirked.
I snarled, baring my canines. “This is important, asshole. You might not want to be walking when I tell you.”
“Mackenzie …” Bash said slowly as realization dawned on him what I was about to divulge.
“Abaddon isn’t after me, exactly,” I began, finally meeting Fenrir’s dark gaze. “He’s after another hybrid.”
Fenrir tilted his head in confusion. “You’re the only hybrid in existence,” he said, looking at the others for confirmation. When he got none, he realized he was the only one left out of the loop. “What other hybrid?” he growled, his face turning to stone.
“Mackenzie, don’t,” Bash warned. Fenrir’s head snapped in his direction, not liking where this was going.
I took a deep breath and held it for a few beats, releasing it on a big exhale. I needed to tell him. Raven said he wouldn’t hurt a child, so I had to take a leap of faith.
“The baby, Fenrir. My baby is the other hybrid,” I said quickly.
Fenrir stumbled back a bit as his eyes slowly grew. “Your baby?” he clarified, his eyes dropping to my stomach.
I nodded. “Yes. He’s been after the baby this whole time.”
His eyes never left mine. We were locked in an epic stare-off as he took in what I said. No one moved or said a word. It was as if we’d all become trapped in a quagmire of secrets and betrayals.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly.
I pressed my lips together before admitting, “I still don’t trust you, Fenrir. Your goal has always been to kill me. I have to protect my child at all cost.”
His jaw ticked. “You think I would turn your baby over to that monster?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re capable of.”
He scoffed, “Know this, little wolf: I would never do that. I would have hoped you’d know that about me by now.”
I looked away, avoiding eye contact. “You really haven’t given me much reason to think otherwise.”
From the moment I met the wolf god, he’d made it known I wasn’t safe around him. Even on the handful of occasions when he was saving my life, there was always an underlying threat behind his every word or move. Nothing about him made me feel safe or gave me the feeling that I could trust him. Especially with my child’s life.
“I won’t sacrifice your newborn to a demon, little wolf,” Fenrir said. “Especially not to be a human shell. You have my word.”
“We have Bobby working on a way to remove the fae magic in Mackenzie’s blood, in the hopes it will remove the fae blood from the baby,” Bash said. “Hopefully it’ll work.”
“That’s good,” Raven sighed. “Then he won’t have any reason to go after you or the baby.”
“Exactly,” Bash agreed.
The others continued to talk around me, but they sounded far away as the forest began to spin and my vision started to blur. I held out my hands to steady myself as I tilted and stumbled on my feet. I felt Bash’s hands grip me to hold me still.
“Mackenzie?”
I heard him, but he sounded muffled, like my head was covering with a pillow.
My vision turned milky white and I realized I was about to have a vision. The area spun until I was no longer in Caledonian Forest. I found myself standing outside the Queen’s chamber.
Lunas were coming in and out of my bedroom with giddy, smiling faces as they wiped their hands on their aprons and whispered to one another. As they were exiting, I quickly shuffled inside and saw my physical form lying in bed. I was sweating profusely, with the sheets covering me up to my mid-section. My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but sweaty clumps were plastered to my face and I looked exhausted. My eyes were droopy, and I barely looked coherent. Something was wrong with me.
Beside the bed was an ornate bassinet. I walked closer and peered
