“You stole this young lady’s sight, warlock,” Roman announced. “Now I shall take one of your senses to return the eyes you took from her.”
Wait, what? Yes! Go Roman!
“What madness is this!?” Ridley shouted desperately. “I have already lost a hand because of her.”
“That was nobody’s fault but your own. To attempt to steal the power of another is one of the worst crimes a warlock can commit. You must be punished.”
Roman threw a blast of golden magic at Ridley’s face. It slithered right into his ears, and he started to scream. Alora was still holding his hand, still listening to what Roman was doing to Ridley with a mix of horror and fascination on her face.
With only the slightest nod of his head, the magic shot from Ridley’s ears into Alora’s eyes. I’d seen some crazy shit in my time, and now I had another to add to the list. She whimpered and finally loosened her hold. I hurried to her side, catching her in my arms before she hit the ground. She stared at me as I took her in, blinking her eyes as they focused on me.
She could see.
“Hey,” I murmured, rubbing my thumb along the base of her neck.
“Hi,” she murmured back, staring at me in amazement. I smiled, and she returned the expression, eyes wide as she took in every inch of my face.
“Like what you see?” I asked huskily.
“Yes, actually,” she replied, a shy look marking her features. “I do.”
“I can’t hear! I can’t hear!” Ridley shouted, clutching at his ears.
Roman grabbed him and made a motion akin to stuffing a gag in someone’s mouth, and Ridley fell completely silent. A second later, the door to the house flew open and Marcel emerged. He took in the scene before him, his mouth gaping wide.
“What have you done to him?” he asked, stunned.
“Take us to Theodore, or I will end his life here and now,” Roman threatened.
Marcel looked at the sorcerer properly, and his mouth fell open even wider. “Roman Patel, it cannot be,” he whispered in shock.
“I’m afraid it can and it is. Now, take us to Theodore, or you are both as good as dead.”
Finally, Marcel came to his senses and led us inside the house.
Tegan
I wondered if I was dreaming.
I’d been stupid. No, we’d been stupid. Ethan and I had been too lost in each other, too eager to sate our passions and desires that we hadn’t given a single thought to the possible consequences. I was on the pill, sure, but we should’ve been using protection, too. The problem was, after that first time without a condom, we pretty much abandoned the idea altogether. It felt too good not to use one, and now, well, now we were paying the price.
The weird thing was, I didn’t exactly hate the thought of having Ethan’s baby. In fact, the opposite was true. Everything was moving way too fast, but I still felt a weird sense of contentment at the idea of us having a child.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Far from it.
According to Delilah, a high percentage of mothers carrying dhampir babies didn’t survive the birth. And then other times the baby didn’t survive. An overwhelming sense of grief hit me at the thought of losing my child. I’d only just discovered I was pregnant, and I already couldn’t stand the idea of losing the baby. I wasn’t strong enough to deal with that kind of heartbreak right now. There was already so much else to deal with.
I looked up at Ethan, and there was no mistaking the utter joy on his face, tinged with an edge of guilt. He was remorseful that he hadn’t been more careful with me, but his joy was so intense that it outshone the remorse tenfold. He wanted this. He really, really wanted it, and whatever worry he might be feeling that something could happen to me or the child was eclipsed by the sheer intensity of his want. He wanted us to have a family together, and though I was fearful of what might happen, I wanted a family with him, too.
I reassured myself with the fact that I was half-witch. I also had power in my blood. It felt like those factors strengthened the possibility of both me and the baby surviving.
I had to hold onto optimism if I was going to get through this.
Delilah must’ve sensed we needed privacy because she quickly made her excuses and turned to leave. Before she made it out the door, she stuck her head back in and asked, “Um, should I tell the others?”
I shrugged and turned to stare out the window. “Sure, if you want.”
I didn’t really care about them knowing. I was too wrapped up in my own worries. I tugged the blankets tight around myself, my stomach queasy as hell. It rumbled, and a stab of pain shot through my gut. Bloody hell. I didn’t know much about regular human pregnancies, but I had a feeling they weren’t anything like getting knocked up by a vampire. Delilah mentioned something about the foetus forming a lot faster and that it could be faster still, considering I was half-witch.