That was one thing I didn’t ever think I’d be good at—playing baby games.
I focused on my sister and tried to prepare myself for the conversation that was about to take place. As I walked into the room, I was struck by how similar in appearance I was to my twin. Her hair was blonde and straight and fine, and mine was honey brown, thicker and wavier, but apart from that, it was almost like looking into a mirror.
I imagined that if we had lived our whole lives together, I might be used to it by now, but since I’d been unaware of her existence until less than two years ago, the similarities between us still hit me pretty often.
It looked like her Warlock husband, Rand, wasn’t around, which was just as well. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my possible pregnancy with Rand in attendance.
Emma spotted me first, over her mother’s shoulder, and commenced smiling goofily and making sweet gurgly noises. Something hit me in the pit of my stomach. Could I really have one of those little things in nine months? The reality was almost too much to take.
Jolie turned in the direction of her daughter’s attention, and her face lit up as she saw me.
“Bryn, what a surprise! Come in, come in.” She patted the chair beside her. “Have a seat and let’s have some adult conversation please!”
I sat and greeted my beautiful niece.
“Here. Hold her for a second while I straighten myself out,” Jolie said as she handed Emma to me, without allowing me the chance to say no.
I held her, awkwardly, worried as usual that I was going to drop her or do something to otherwise upset her and cause her to cry. Really, I was all nerves around babies. I was in stark contrast to Sinjin, who was as suave with children as he was with people in general.
Thoughts of Sinjin caused a sour taste in my mouth.
Emma gave me a gummy smile, pulling my attention back again.
“Okay. Ready.” Jolie scooped her daughter up again and sat on the couch opposite me. “What’s up?”
“Does something have to be up for me to come see my sister and niece?”
“Come on, Bryn. We know each other too well. You’re worried about something—I could tell as soon as you walked in.” My sister and I shared a telepathic connection, which made it difficult for me to hide anything from her. I took a deep breath.
“Are you busy this morning?”
“Not particularly. Why?”
“I need you to come somewhere with me,” I said as I exhaled. “Unless, of course, you are busy, in which case…”
“Where?”
“The pharmacy.”
“The one in the village?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you know where it is?”
The village was only a ten-minute walk. “Yes, I know where it is.”
“Well?” Jolie started.
“It’s not that… it’s that I, uh...”
Jolie looked confused.
“You’re not sick, are you?”
“Not exactly.”
“What is it, Bryn?” Jolie demanded, frowning at me. “You’re starting to make me nervous.”
“It’s just that … I need to buy something, and I don’t really want to do it alone. I know that sounds weird, but I’m... looking for moral support.”
“Okay,” Jolie started. “What do you need to buy?”
Here goes. “A pregnancy test.”
The look on Jolie’s face was priceless. She went from confusion to shock to joy back to confusion again in the span of ten seconds. Not taking her eyes off my face, she placed Emma on the carpet and threw herself at me, almost strangling me with the force of her hug.
“Oh my God, oh my God! That’s amazing, Bryn!”
“Well, don’t get carried away,” I started. “I mean, I don’t know if that’s what this is yet.”
“Yes, you’re right. You’re right.” She tried to compose herself. It didn’t really work. She grabbed her purse off the table and then reached down, collecting her daughter, before standing up again and facing me with urgency. “Let’s go. We can take the car; it’ll be quicker than walking.”
“What, right now?”
“Yes, right now.”
“Okay.”
I got up and followed the whirl of activity that was my sister, as she located her car keys and gathered up all the equipment necessary for the shortest of trips with an infant. Looked like my days of travelling light might be over…
Maybe.
Luckily for all of us, Rand chose that moment to make his arrival.
“I’m home!” He called out. He walked into the family room, looking eager to see Jolie and Emma. When he did, he threw his arms around his wife, giving her a warm kiss as he reached for Emma and she began making all sorts of sounds at him.
I thought of Sinjin, then banished the thought immediately. It wouldn’t help.
“Babe, can you take Emma for a bit?” Jolie asked.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Bryn and I are just heading …” I shoved her in the side, none too discreetly, with my elbow. The last thing I wanted was this information to get out. Wasn’t there a rule about that, anyway? That you weren’t supposed to talk about pregnancies for a few months?
“Um, we’re just going down to the village for a little while.”
“For what?” He looked from one of us to the other with curiosity.
“A new cafe just opened. We wanted to try it out,” I blurted.
“Really?”
I didn’t blame Rand for being surprised. Gossiping in cafes wasn’t really our style. Especially now, with the Underworld under imminent threat from Luce. But it was all I had.
“Can Emma and I come?” he asked, innocently.
“No, babe,” Jolie said, and reached up to kiss him on the lips to soften her refusal. “We just need a girly chat. You’d be bored anyway. I promise we won’t be long.”
“Well, have fun.”
We left poor Rand looking disappointed and bemused at the same time.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bryn
Jolie pulled up outside the pharmacy. She turned off the ignition of Rand’s big Range Rover and shuffled around in her seat, then faced me.
“Does Sinjin know?”
“He was the one that told me,” I answered, frowning all the while. The last subject I wanted to broach at the moment was this one. Sinjin was still on my shit list, and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
I unbuckled my seat belt and started opening the door.
“Oh. How did he know?”
I cleared my throat and suddenly felt hot. “He tasted it in my blood.”
“Oh.”
I was looking straight ahead, but I could feel her examining me with her eyes. I was sure my closed expression and body language didn’t explain much, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain much. Not to mention the fact that I was in the process of attempting to escape the car.
“Is he pleased?”
I’d known this conversation was coming. It was a natural progression. But that didn’t change the fact that I really didn’t want to have it. Especially not right now. I felt my lips go tight as I answered, “He doesn’t believe it’s his.”
“What?!”
“He says it’s impossible for a vampire to get a woman pregnant.”
“Hasn’t he seen the Twilight movies?”
“The what?”
“Never mind. Remind me to give you a crash course in popular culture sometime.”
I shook my head and stepped out of the car as Jolie did the same. We both turned around to face the pharmacy, and I took a deep breath as Jolie gave me a broad smile. Then she tucked her arm through mine.
“What are we waiting for?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s go, then. No time like the present.”
She had to physically pull me forward because it felt like my feet were stuck in cement. I guess Newton had it right about an object in motion sta
ying in motion, because once I started walking, I didn’t stop. In fact, I walked right past the front counter, where Jolie stopped to ask the pharmacist where we could find the pregnancy tests.
There was no one else in the store except us and the elderly pharmacist behind the counter. She smiled at us both and waved her hand at the display cabinet in front of her as if she was a magician’s assistant. I glanced down and noticed the numerous pregnancy kits that were lined up in a row. I grabbed the one closest to me and handed the pharmacist the money. Maybe it was because she was so old, but it seemed to take her a few millennia to complete the transaction.
Afterwards, Jolie and I got back into the car like two naughty school kids buying their first pack of cigarettes.
“Where shall we do it?” asked Jolie excitedly.
“We?”
“Sorry,” she said, but her smile was still in full effect. “You. But you’ll let me be there when you do it, right?”
“As long as you stay outside the bathroom.”
She giggled and nodded. “Will we take it back to my room?”
I was about to object when I noticed a figure wrapped in dark clothing that was loitering at the far end of the street. As soon as I spotted the figure, it leaped behind the back wall of the pharmacy.
“What the hell?” I was immediately on high alert.
“What?”
“Someone was looking at us and just hid.”
That got her attention. We looked at each other, sharing the same thought. Had Luce sent one of his henchmen to spy on us—or even launch an attack?
“Oh, that sounds weird.”
“Yeah,” I started. “Really weird.”
Exercising great caution, I slowly got out of the car, simultaneously feeling for the boomerang that was habitually concealed at the back of my yoga pants.
“You stay here,” I said as I turned to face my sister. She just nodded.
Then I hurried to the side of the building, where I was fairly concealed by the bushes and trees. Scaling the wall, I nearly reached the end of it when the figure crept around the same wall, his gaze searching the sidewalk, in the area where Jolie and I had just been standing.
I was maybe twenty feet from him and held the boomerang up high as I released it in one swift, smooth movement.
“Ow!”
Result! I had temporarily disabled my target. The boomerang whizzed back into my hand and I sprinted around the corner of the building, where my target had pulled back. I was now prepared to make my follow-up move. A large male figure shuffled out from behind the foliage, clutching his forehead.
“That was uncalled for!”
Of course, I knew him immediately, although he was so muffled up against the daylight that I could scarcely see his face.
“Sinjin!” Jolie came up behind us, and I was so flustered with Sinjin, I didn’t bother reprimanding her for breaking my order to stay in the car. “What on earth are you doing?” she demanded of the vampire, who looked more like a homeless person in his various mismatching layers and the scarf wrapped around his head and face.
He ignored the question and addressed me again. “You got me in the bloody head!” He had the nerve to sound indignant.
“Good. I’m glad. You deserve it for spying on us and making us think you were one of Luce’s soldiers.”
“Luce’s soldiers!” he said, sounding offended. “And I was not spying on anyone.”
“What were you doing, then?” I insisted.
“I was … keeping an eye on you both. Making certain you were safe.”
“I was with Jolie and therefore, I was keeping her safe!” I railed at him.
He frowned at me. At least I thought it was a frown, but it was difficult to make out, owing to the scarf. “I am the Chief Protector, in case you have forgotten. And we are on high alert. When the queen and the princess take it upon themselves to leave Kinloch Kirk for no apparent reason and without notifying me, I make it my business to monitor the situation.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “Why were you hiding behind the building, then?”
“I did not wish to intrude.”
“Never bothered you before.”
“What were you doing at the chemist, anyway?” he asked.
“Hah! So you were just being nosy.”
“Guys, guys,” Jolie said, staging an intervention. “This is getting us nowhere. Sinjin does have a point, Bryn,” she continued as she turned to face me. “His job is to protect us.” Then she faced Sinjin. “But why all the cloak and dagger stuff, Sinjin?” She cleared her throat. “And why are you dressed like that?”
“I wear no cloak and I carry no dagger,” he muttered. “And, in case you haven’t noticed, there is a decent level of sunshine, and as I am vampire…” His voice faded away as he motioned to his clothing.
“And what’s this about you not believing you’re the father of Bryn’s baby?” Jolie demanded as she threw her hands on her hips.
“Jolie!” I said, my mouth dropping open. “That was supposed to stay between us!”
“So that is why you were in the chemist?” Sinjin said as he eyed me narrowly. “Well, you have just wasted your money. I have already confirmed you are with child.”
“Forgive me if I’d prefer a second opinion,” I grumbled.
He shrugged.
“You know,” said Jolie as she faced us both, “I think I should just leave you guys to it. You have a lot to discuss and you don’t need me along as a third wheel.” Then she faced me. “But call me as soon as you have any news?”
“Yes, I will,” I managed as she nodded and gave us both a smile before she piled back into the Range Rover and pulled out into the cobbled street.
Once the car disappeared around the corner, Sinjin and I both stood there, feeling as awkward as we looked. There was just so much to say, but where to start?
Sinjin cleared his throat. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a walk, Bete Noir ? There is a delightful brook close by.”
I was surprised by his friendly tone. Maybe he’d realized he was acting like a prick and this was his way of apologizing?
“Shouldn’t I do the test first?”
He appeared resigned. “As you wish. There is a public latrine at the start of the river walk.”
A public latrine? That sounded just charming! But any port in a storm. “I guess that will work,” I grumbled.
“Shall I join you?”
I turned to face him with a frown. “To watch me pee on a stick?”
He grinned and then nodded.
“You can wait for me outside.”
Which was just where I found him a few minutes later.
“Right,” I said, my heart doing strange little backflips as I walked out of the restroom and then stood underneath a leafy tree just off the path. I glanced down at the white plastic object in my hands and couldn’t help my nerves.
“How does it work?” Sinjin asked.
We both stared down at it. “Two blue lines means I’m pregnant. It takes a couple of minutes to develop.”
“It is a matter of supreme indifference to me, my dearest heathen.”
I looked at him sharply, trying to decipher his expression. It was completely unreadable. I did notice, though, that he was staring at the test intently. Just like I was.
Slowly but surely, a first blue line made itself known.
“One line,” I said.
“The second will arrive shortly,” Sinjin answered, sounding bored.
And just as he predicted, the second blue line became more and more visible until there was absolutely no denying it.
“It’s true.” I said, after a while, shaking my head as dawning realization claimed me. Sinjin was right. I really was pregnant.
“Of course it is true. Do you doubt my abilities?”
I glared up at him. “Do you doubt my loyalty?”
I couldn’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses. But my instinct told me that my last comment had hit home.<
br />
“Let us walk,” he said as I found a trashcan and did away with the plastic indicator.
He’d been right about something, else too. The river walk was breath-taking. The last blooms of summer were still in evidence, and two adult swans drifted by with their scruffy-looking cygnet in tow. There was something very soothing about the sound of the water as it trickled over the rocks.
Sinjin and I walked about a foot apart, and there was an awkward silence between us. I stole a sideways glance at him and found him looking straight ahead, walking with his arms behind his back. Bundled up as he was, he looked completely ridiculous. Even so, I wished he’d just put his arm around my shoulder and tell me everything was going to be okay. After the way he’d behaved and the things he’d said to me, I figured I must be getting soft.
“I want you to know something, Bryn.”
I could always tell he was about to discuss something serious when he used my actual name instead of one of the many ridiculous nicknames he had for me.
“What?”
“In spite of what has happened between us, I will not take it out on your child. Your blood and that of the queen will still run through this baby’s veins, and I will be his or her sworn protector.”
“Sinjin.” I’d heard enough. “Stop talking and look at me.”
He broke his long stride and turned to face me.
“Take off those sunglasses, please,” I said. He did as he was told, and his ice blue eyes met mine. I felt my heart rate increase and I swallowed hard. “ You are this baby’s father.”
“I am afraid that is quite impossible, as I told you earlier.”
“It’s not impossible because I haven’t had sex with anyone else!” I was almost shouting now, trying to find a way to get through to him.
His expression remained implacable.
“I’ve said all I can say,” I announced with finality, then sighed. If there was no getting through to him, there was no getting through to him. I turned around and faced the way we’d just come. “I’m going home.”
“Allow me to transport you.”
“No, thanks.”
“A woman in your condition …”
“Oh, bugger off,” I said very Britishly.
He did not bugger off, of course. He shadowed me all the way to Kinloch Kirk while I tried but failed to ignore him. But he was still there all the same, unseen but in the shadows. He disappeared once I walked inside Kinloch Kirk.
The Champion Page 4