“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“He’s … not going to be able to be at the appointments.”
Dr. Sam propped a hip on the exam table. “Is he in the military?”
“Ah…” She glanced at iAm. “Actually, yes.”
“Thank him for his service for me, will you?”
God, she hated lying. “I will.”
“Okay, so let’s get down to business.” She opened the folder. “Have you been taking prenatal vitamins?”
“No.”
“That’s going to be first on our list.” Dr. Sam glanced up. “I’ve got some good organic ones that won’t make you sick—”
“Wait, so am I pregnant?”
The doctor frowned. “I—I’m sorry. I thought this was your ultrasound checkup?”
“No, I came in to find out whether I have a stomach flu or if I’m … you know.”
The doctor pulled the chair the nurse had sat in up really close. Then she put her hand over Beth’s. “You’re very definitely pregnant. And you have been for a while. That’s why we need to get you on those prenatals right away—as well as try to put some weight on you.”
Beth felt the blood drain out of her head. “I—that’s not possible.”
“Going by your HCG results, I’d say you’re into your second trimester—although, of course, levels vary significantly. But right now you’re over one hundred thousand. So as I said, I’m hoping you’ll let me do an ultrasound so we can see what’s going on.”
“I … I … I … I…”
“Yeah, she’d like that,” iAm said remotely. “Can you do it now?”
“I … I…”
“Yup, right now.” Dr. Sam didn’t move, though. “But let’s make sure Beth’s on board. Would you like some time with your friend?”
“I can’t be four months. You don’t understand … it’s not possible.”
Maybe this was a vampire thing, she thought. Like, the reading was wonky because she was a—
“Well, again, HCG levels are really only an indication in the very beginning—and solely in relation to how much they’re increasing.” The doctor stood up and opened a drawer, taking out a little boxy device that had a sensor attached to it by a thick wire. “May I check for a heartbeat?”
“It’s not possible,” Beth heard herself say. “It’s just not.”
“Will you let me see if there’s a heartbeat?”
Beth collapsed back onto the table and felt the doctor put something the size of a thumbprint on her stomach—
A tiny little rhythm sounded out. “Yup, we have a heartbeat. Nice and strong. One forty is what we like to see, and you’ve got it down pat.”
Beth could only blink at the ceiling tiles far above her. “Get the ultrasound machine,” she said roughly. “Now.”
SIXTY-FOUR
As John paced around the foyer’s mosaic floor, he was acutely aware of two things: One, his sister had been gone for hours. And two, Wrath was at the end of his rope.
The King had taken up res on the final step of the grand staircase, his torso moving back and forth like the passing of seconds was being measured by his whole body.
For no good reason, John went over to the plastic draping over the archway into the billiards room. Work had progressed the night before—in spite of the size of the square footage, the floor was almost entirely up. Tonight, they were supposed to bring in a load of the new marble and start laying the stuff. Then they were going to have to work on the walls, which was going to probably take longer—
Wow. He was actually trying to distract himself.
Letting the sheeting fall back into place, he glanced over at Wrath. You’d think that at a time like this, John would be the worst person to sit with the guy, what with him being mute and the King being blind.
But Wrath didn’t want to communicate, so, hey, it worked.
Everybody else had fled the scene after Beth had left with the Shadow—and John had meant to follow suit. Husband totally trumped brother, especially when it came to shit like this. But once upstairs, even after he’d had a sesh with Xhex? His footfalls had taken him back down here.
And so he waited.
It was funny, he had the sense that if he’d been anyone else, Wrath would have thrown him out.
“Has your phone gone off?” Wrath demanded without looking up.
John blew a short, descending whistle, the closest he could come to a no. Then again, if he had gotten a call, they both would have heard the phone.
“Text?”
John shook his head, before remembering he had to whistle again—
Out of nowhere, the vestibule’s bell went off, an image appearing on the discreetly mounted monitor by the grand entrance’s acres of molding.
Beth. iAm. Outside on the front steps.
As Wrath jumped to his feet, John rushed for the access button before Fritz came, whistling in an urgent ascending call so that the husband knew the wife had returned.
The second he hit the unlock, the vestibule’s inner door swung wide.
John would never forget what Beth looked like as she careened into the house: Her face was pale and drawn, her eyes too wide, her movements sloppy and disordered. She was carrying her coat instead of wearing it, and she let the thing, as well as her purse, fall unheeded to the floor.
Such pedestrian objects went scattering everywhere. A wallet. A hairbrush. A ChapStick.
Why was he noticing this—?
And then all he could see was his sister racing across the mosaic depiction of the apple tree in full bloom … as if she were being chased by a madman.
As she jumped at Wrath, it was not in joy.
She was terrified.
In response, Wrath held her effortlessly, lifting her off the floor, the strain gritting his jaw having nothing to do with how much she weighed.
“What is it, leelan?” he asked.
“I’m pregnant. I’m—”
“Oh, God—”
“—having a boy.”
John threw a hand out to steady himself. He couldn’t have heard that right. There was no way—
Wrath slowly let her back down to the floor. And then he took a little TO, falling onto that lowest step like his knees had given out of him.
And gee, what do you know, John did the same, a curious combination of despair and disbelieving joy taking the starch right out on him until he found himself sitting on the floor.