“I’m pregnant,” I said firmly, knowing it was true and also knowing that everything would turn out alright. I sighed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

Then I promptly puked between my feet.

Zev ran to get water, and Jolakaia helped me move away from the vomit. Just like I’d thought I might, I felt a little better now.

“I do not like your symptoms,” Jolakaia said uneasily. “Pregnancy should not cause vomiting.”

I snorted.

“It does for humans,” I told her. As far as I knew, this was textbook morning sickness (despite the fact that it wasn’t actually morning). Zev returned with the water. I rinsed my mouth and took a few cautious sips. Jolakaia insisted I eat something, but when she saw me turn green at the thought of going anywhere near that fish, she instead brought me the Bohnebregg version of a smoothie – a cold slurry of mixed fruit. The tart sweetness was refreshing, and I felt immensely relieved at the fact there was at least one thing around here that was remotely appealing to eat. It might not have had much protein, but at least I could swallow some of it.

It took a while, but I finished it all, and Jolakaia seemed satisfied enough with that. She helped me back to bed with firm instructions to call for her if I needed anything, and to not let myself get dehydrated. I thanked her sincerely, beyond grateful that I had her, and Zev, to rely on until Skalla returned. As Jolakaia headed to the door after watching me lie down, she suddenly stopped as if she’d forgotten something and turned back.

“Congratulations to you and Skalla both,” she said softly. “A child is a great blessing. May this new life be wrapped in cotton.”

My throat got too tight and hot for me to thank her for her words. I blinked away tears as she left and closed the door. But they weren’t sad tears. They weren’t simply happy tears, either. They were tears of shock, hope, confusion, and a new sort of love so sharp it almost felt like pain. May this new life be wrapped in cotton. I imagined a baby – soft and small, maybe with a little set of wings – wrapped in a cotton swaddle, and my heart hurt. But in the best possible way.

I can’t wait to tell Skalla.

I was so focused on the thought of him that I dreamed of him. And when a broad-shouldered figure came through the door in the middle of the night, it was like he’d walked right out of my mind and into the room. Groggy, I reached for him, whispering his name.

But when he got closer, and I realized his scales didn’t glow, that his face was entirely dark with shadow, I knew that it wasn’t Skalla at all. It wasn’t Zev or Jolakaia, either. I inhaled roughly, fear spiking in my lungs.

“Do not scream,” said the figure. And when he spoke it was with Koltar’s voice.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Skallagrim

There must have been something else I did not remember, something I was doing wrong, because I stood before the gates of Heofonraed and they did not open.

I called out to the council, I pounded my fists against the smooth polish of the stone, I flew up and down, looking for another way in. But nothing happened. For a grim moment, I wondered if I’d killed them all, but I did not see how I could have found my blasted way in even in my mate-mad berserker rage. These gates were not like mortal gates, not like the one at Callabarra I could topple with the merest wave of my hand. And the Eaforswynne were still here – the two great guardians of the gate – and I did not see how I could have gotten past those two towering swine with their rolling red eyes and lethal horns without a fight.

No, I was fairly certain I had not killed the council. If anything, they would have been the ones with the power to restrain me in my rage. I paced back and forth along pearlescent stone, my eye falling upon a crack by my feet that seemed wholly out of place and yet entirely familiar. As if I had watched it form.

As if I had put it there.

I stayed much longer than I intended, not willing to go back to Suvi and see disappointment in her eyes. She had been excited. Hopeful. Happy. She deserved what I had promised her and not a single thing less.

But if the gates would not open...

No. I would stay a little longer. Try to find another way.

So at the very least I would be able to tell her that I’d done everything I could.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Suvi

While no one else on Bohnebregg came anywhere near Skalla’s immortal strength, they were all still much larger and stronger than humans. When Koltar wrapped a firm hand around my upper arm, I knew immediately there would be no escaping that grip as he pulled me up and out of the bed.

I still tried anyway, tugging hard, a fleeting animal reaction to run, to pull away from the teeth of a trap even if it tore flesh. In a cerebral sense, I had no idea what Koltar was doing here. But instinct told me it couldn’t be good. Especially if he didn’t want me to scream and let anyone else know he was here.

He’s almost always at the temple... He’s never come here before.

It could be no coincidence that the first time he came to this apartment it was when Skalla wasn’t here. I was alone. Protectionless. Pregnant.

Nausea swept through me, and I thought now might be a great time to hurl, especially if I could aim it down the front of his robe. Might give me a second of distraction to pull away and figure out what the fuck was going on.

“What do you want?” I whispered shakily.

“Come with me.”

No. My whole body reacted to that command. There was no good reason, alien or human, for a man to come take a woman from her bed in the night like this. The last time I’d been pulled from my bed I’d been drugged and abducted, forced into off-world service. Somehow, this felt even more malevolent, despite the lack of violence.

I dug my heels in – literally – planting them as hard as I could against the floor, but when he pulled me I stumbled forward. He led me out the door to the balcony and down the stairs.

Halfway down the steps, I decided to scream after all. I needed allies. I had no idea where he was taking me, or why, and I sure as shit did not want to find out. He follows the way of cotton, right? He’s not going to hurt someone else if I get their attention!

I sucked in a choked lungful of air.

“Zev! Jolakaia! Help me!”

Koltar sighed, like I was a child who’d disappointed him. He stopped on the bottom step and stared at me, irritated but calm, as the house came to clattering life.

Jolakaia, followed closely by Zev, stumbled out of the house. Confusion washed over their features when they saw what was happening and who was holding me.

“All is well,” Koltar said, his voice smooth with authority. “This is temple business that does not concern you.”

For a heart-breaking moment, I thought they’d both take him at his word and let me disappear off into whatever dark place he planned to put me. He was both the religious and political leader of the city. The Honoured Mother’s Eye. I’d never seen anyone disobey him.

Zev and Jolakaia exchanged a look.

A sob of relief strangled my throat when both their expressions hardened, resolute.

“She is our guest,” Jolakaia said. “And she is... ill. Surely this business can wait until morning?”

Koltar’s fingers got slightly tighter on my arm. Because no doubt he expected that by morning, Skalla would be back. I frantically searched the sky for any sign of my mate but I saw nothing.