by S M Olivier
My eyes widened at his inflection, and I even heard Alison gasp beside me. “You’re not threatening my grandchild, Horatio,” she said in a voice filled with steel.
I was vaguely aware of the girl wiping my belly off and letting my gown back down. She recovered me with my sheets but still refused to meet my eyes.
He laughed coldly. “Oh, I’m not. I’m just letting Blake know how important it is that she starts taking care of herself. For the sake of her children. She is in a precarious position. I can keep her in a state of…slumber and deliver our grandchildren when the time is right and whisk them away before she can even set her sights on them. Or she can finally see reason, and I will allow her to come home with us on the condition that she behaves and stays with us from this moment forward.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to curse him. My hands unconsciously covered my stomach as if I could protect my babies from the monster simply by touch. Having children terrified me, but not having the ones I now knew existed scared me more. I now carried a piece of Jaxson or Jace and one of my other connection’s child. I never thought I wanted them, but now that they were a possibility, the love I felt for them was instant. They would be a part of me and two of the six men that I loved.
I wasn’t counting Lincoln in the equation yet, not only because my feelings for him were all so new but because we had just made our connection a week or so before I was taken. If Horatio was telling the truth, I would’ve had to have been here for eight weeks. I couldn’t imagine losing that much time.
My imagination conjured up a little boy with a mischievous grin and dimple, like Jaxson. Then I could see a little girl with long dark hair and compelling blue eyes, sitting behind a piano as Jace patiently taught her how to play. I imagined a little girl with auburn curls like Noah. A little olive-skinned boy with captivating dark eyes like Troy. A serious but caring little girl with grey eyes like Remy. I could see a blonde haired and a spunky little girl like her Aunt Jemmy because Drake wouldn’t ever have it easy with the women in his life. I even imagined a bronze baby with unique greenish-blue eyes swaddled in a blanket as their father carried them around on his bare chest.
“Unhook me, Papa,” I spat out. “I’m hungry, and I need a shower.”
He laughed once more. “I’ll come back when you really mean it.”
He strode out of the room, taking Alison, and the technician with him.
Chapter 31
Two more weeks. Horatio kept me in that state for two more weeks before I was finally allowed out of that hospital room. I was then heavily guarded, blindfolded, and transferred to a house. I assumed it was his house, but I couldn’t tell from the brief glimpse I got of the landscape outside. I was surrounded by pine trees and snow. No tell-tale markers of where I could be.
The halo remained on, and my room was my prison. It was a beautiful room, but a cage nevertheless. It had a large bed that occupied the place and had its own ensuite bathroom. Comfortable clothing was stocked in my closet, meant to bring me ease as my baby bump was now making itself known.
I lived in a state of almost unconsciousness. I was just going through the motions of eating, waking up, walking on a treadmill, and watching mindless television.
I got visitors, mainly Horatio or Alison, and it was hard to pretend I was content in this cage. I knew asking for freedom would be suspicious and my attempts at removing the halo were fruitless. All my attempts at removing it provided painful results.
I had to stop. I had no clue what effects the shocks were having on my brain and the babies.
On my fourth day at the new prison, Alison came bustling in the room. “Would you like to come down for family dinner tonight?”
I bit back all my caustic remarks. This wasn’t my family just because they wanted it to be so. I knew Bridgette and her boyfriend were somewhere in this house, but so far, I had successfully avoided them.
I shrugged. “Can I have a bath?” I asked.
I had only been allowed one bath, and it was supervised. It was the only time I was allowed to take off the halo. Not that that seemed to help. I was unable to reach the guys no matter how hard I tried. I figured Bridgette’s connection had me blocked, and I couldn’t get past it.
Alison looked at me shrewdly. “You know I love my sons. More than anything in this world.”
I didn’t know why she felt the need to clarify that. She went from talking about a “family” dinner to professing her love of her sons.
I couldn’t stop the snort from leaving me. “You have a funny way of showing it,” I said scathingly as I looked back at my television. Chopped was on, and I was sucked into the marathon they were having.
“They were too soft to live in my world.” She sniffed. “I love Horatio. I could never leave him.”
“I’ve been a mother for about twelve weeks now,” I said not deigning to look at her. I rubbed my baby bump lovingly. “I would never pick a man over my children.”
“Yet you did,” Alison bit out.
“No,” I looked over at her, expressionless.
I detested the woman standing there. She had wrecked her sons. She had hurt them more than she would ever know. She might try to justify her actions so that she could sleep better at night, but she was still a heartless, selfish bitch.
“I chose my children,” I scoffed. “You heard Horatio threaten them. There’s no way for me out of here, so why fight it? I’ll make the sacrifices I need to stay with my children and make sure they are happy.”
“You may have your bath but don’t try anything funny,” Alison said after several moments of silence.
She removed my halo, and I immediately went into the adjoining room closing the door behind me, not deigning to give her an answer.
The warm water felt amazing against my skin. The bathtub was deep, and I was able to completely submerge myself under the warm bubbles. I had already washed my body and hair in the shower before I decided to take a long soak.
I felt my eyes grow heavy with sleep. Now that I was no longer drugged, sleep barely claimed me. My nightmares were back, and I didn’t have any of the guys to help me. Last night I woke myself screaming, and one of my guards came rushing into the room only to realize it was only a nightmare. He hadn’t been amused, and now I was afraid to sleep.
Now in bath, I allowed the warm water to lull me into sleep and embraced the possibility of napping, even for a little bit. I was so tired, and growing children was hard work. I lived in a constant state of nausea and exhaustion.
“Blake!” I heard a woman cry happily.
I opened my eyes and blinked in a somewhat dazed. It took me a moment to realize I was lying on a comfortable chaise lounge in a cabana surrounding by sheer white curtains on the beach. I could smell the ocean and hear the waves crashing against the shore.
I sat up and noticed I was wearing a long, flowing, white dress, and my feet bare. I felt better than I had in weeks.
“Blake!” I heard my name being called once more.
I turned to see Alex and Anna walking hand in hand towards me.
“Hey,” I cried happily before I braced myself for Alex launching towards me.
I prevented him from crashing into my baby bump.
“Where are you?” Alex cried out as happy tears coursed down his face.
“I’m at a beach,” I said in bewilderment as I bestowed several kisses on Alex’s little face. “Where are you?” I teased back.
Even if this was a dream, I wasn’t going to refrain from showing Alex how much I loved him. His peals of laughter warmed my heart.
“We’re back at base,” Anna said slowly as she sat on the other side of me. Her eyes were wide as she reached out to tentatively touch my belly. “You’re pregnant,” she said slowly with shock.
I smiled at her. They were the only reason I continued to live. They were the only reasons I hadn’t succumbed to the depressions and hopelessness I was feeling. “I know. Twins.” I told her. “Bi-paternal twins. Ever
heard of them, because I never have?”
“May I?” she asked as she continued to stare in wonder at my belly. “What’s bi-paternal twins?”
I nodded, and she placed both hands on the little bulge I had going on.
“This is one of strangest dreams I have ever had,” I laughed as I felt her hands reverently stroke me. “I got pregnant with two babies by two of my connections.” I laughed a bit caustically. “I guess I wasn’t content with having eight gifts or seven connections, I had to add the icing to the cake and become pregnant by two different men at the same time.”
“Are they boys or girls?” Alex asked in awe as he stroked my belly too. “I’m going to be an Uncle?”
I laughed. In here I could easily forget the rest of my world outside. “I have no clue yet, but yes, you sure are.”
“Where are we?” Anna asked once more after a brief moment of silence.
“On the beach,” I responded back with bewilderment.
“Is that where you’re staying, living?” she asked insistently.
I was baffled and thought I heard a door opening in the distance. I looked over my shoulder with a scrunched brow. “No… But that’s where we are.”
“No, Blake,” Anna said insistently. “I need to know where you are right now.”
“I’m so confused,” I admitted with a laugh as I stood up and spread my hands. I twirled. “The last time I was on the beach I was waiting for Lincoln. I was so terrified how to approach him about our connection.” I dug my foot into the warm sand.
“One day, I’d like to go back to the beach, just me and him,” I admitted quietly. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m not enough. That it’s not fair to tie seven amazing men to me when all I ever do is fail people. Time and time again. I felt like I never gave each of them enough of my time. They would never know how special they are to me. I should have done more things with them one-on-one. I should have−”
I stopped as looked over at Alex. I had too many unanswered questions. I realized now that I told the people that mattered the most to me how much I loved them. “Where’s Gavin?”
He ducked his head and looked down at his hands. “Sierra’s pregnant, too,” he blurted out.
His words confirmed my worst fears. I had lost my best friend.
“Blake,” Anna said insistently once more. “That’s not important right now. You haven’t failed anyone. Those men are crazy about you, and they're going mad with missing you. You’ve been gone for almost eleven weeks now and they’re absolute wrecks.”
I looked up at her. “So, I can be pregnant with Lincoln’s child, too?” I laughed mirthlessly. “Imagine that paternity test.”
“It doesn’t matter, Blake, you do realize this is real right?” Anna took my hand in hers as Alex wrapped his arms around my stomach.
“Please tell us where you are so we can come to get you,” Alex begged.
I gasped as I rounded on Anna. “This is a dream, but you’re really here. You’re a dream walker!” Realization dawned as I remembered her gift.
She nodded.
“I don’t know where I am,” I cried as tears began to spill down my cheeks. Damn my hormones. I have never cried as much as I have these last few weeks. “I know I’m in the middle of nowhere surrounded by snow and that’s it. Are the guys really…that bad?”
“Worse,” Anna said grimly. “We’ve been trying to reach you, but we couldn’t. I was so happy when I realized I finally succeeded and got Alex to come along.”
“You’re really at the base?” I asked in shock. “I wear a halo all the time,” I explained to her.
“Since the day after you got taken,” Anna confirmed, “Lincoln was beside himself, and I packed my daughter up and we left immediately. I’ve never seen him this hung up on a girl. He really cares for you.”
I looked at her skeptically. “We argue a lot, and his place is not by me. His place is in front of a screen, and one day soon, he’ll realize that.”
I heard another sound behind me, and before I could talk with Anna and Alex again, I was rudely awakened.
“Were you trying to kill yourself?” Alison hissed at me as I was roughly dragged from the tub.
One off her goons was pulling me from the bath. I had fallen asleep.
“No,” I said despondently. “I can’t sleep at night. I need Jaxson. I need one of my guys.”
The water had gone cold, and I was nearly submerged when they found me. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but that was one of the best dreams I’d had in a long time.
“You know that won’t happen,” Alison said, her voice filled with snark. “Do I need to assign a guard in your rooms now? I’m not going to allow you to hurt my grandbaby!”
The goon must have taken that as his cue to leave, because he set me down and left immediately. I didn’t even care that I was naked when he removed me from the tub. My emotions were swinging wildly.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt my children,” I insisted. “Unlike you. You have no clue the damage you’ve done to your sons, do you? Try not to preach to me when you are the one who decided to become a man’s whore and turn your back on your own flesh and blood!”
I didn’t expect the hard crack of her palm against my cheek. It immediately stung, and I looked at her in shock. I placed a tentative hand on my skin.
“Mon trésor,” I heard distinctly in my head.
“Lincoln!” I cried out in surprise as I tried to carefully school my features.
“Thank God, yes it’s me,” his voice sounded thick with emotion. “Alex opened the door. Do you have a halo on you right now?”
“No,” I said glumly knowing it would be moments before she noticed I wasn’t outfitted with my headgear.
“What are you doing?” Alison asked me with narrowed eyes.
“Waiting for you to leave so I can get dressed,” I said immediately with ice in my words.
If it hadn’t been for Lincoln’s intervention, pregnant or not I would have launched myself at her.
She plopped the halo back on my head and grinned wickedly at me. “If you weren’t pregnant with my grandchild, I would have made sure you felt more than just my palm across your insolent face.”
“If I weren’t pregnant with my children, I would have kicked your ass,” I hissed back.
I could see the battle waging behind her eyes. She wanted to hit me again. I’m sure she had gotten used to people falling for her charms, but I was impervious to them. I knew what lied beneath that beautiful face. I knew the blackness of her heart.
She turned and left without a backward glance, and I sunk down to the floor. Dissolving to tears once more. My face hurt, and I had lost the brief connection I had with my life.
“Sweetheart?” Jace’s distinct voice sounded in my head.
“Jace?” I asked hesitantly between my tears. I didn’t know if I had finally lost my mind and succumbed to the madness.
I was gifted, and I had seen the most bizarre things the last six or seven months, but my mind still couldn’t wrap around the fact that I might actually be talking and seeing my family and friends.
“Yes,” relief was evident in his voice. “Can you tell us where you are?”
“I have no clue,” I said in frustration. “I’m in a house surrounded by nothing but snow and trees. I can’t see anything from my room. I was blindfolded when they brought me here, and I haven’t been allowed to leave the room.
I looked around the room, my prison. “There are bars on my windows, and there’s always a guard at my door. I have a halo on, so I can’t use my gifts. They were offering to let me have dinner with them tonight, but I may have pissed off Alison a bit too much. I kind of called her a selfish whore.”
He chuckled. “I know it’s hard, but you may have to pretend to play nice so you can give us more clues to your location, and then we can come to get you.”
“I’ll try to,” I said despondently. “I need to get out of here.”
Tears began to fall in earnest. I
wanted to be back home desperately, but I didn’t know if I could go back there knowing Gavin wasn’t there. He became so much more than my best friend. He had become like a brother to me.
“Are they treating you…okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“I’ll never own a bird,” I answered him. “Even if I’m fed and well taken care of, it’s still a cage.”
There was silence for a while, and I wondered if the door had been closed. I suspected Alex had figured out the whole ‘entry in the mind’ thing. I knew he had trouble closing the door between Harry and his own mind. Maybe he had figured out how to open and close them at will. If it were left open, I wouldn’t technically ever use my own gift, and I wouldn’t get zapped. I loved loopholes!
“Is it true?” he asked finally.
“What?” I asked between sobs.
“Are you pregnant with… twins?” he asked in awe.
“Yes,” I sobbed. “Bi-paternal twins. I’m a little over twelve weeks by their estimation. They already did a DNA test and we know one of them is yours or Jaxson’s, but I’m not sure who the other father is.”
I continued to sob on the bathroom floor wrapped up in my towel.
“I might be a daddy soon?” he asked with hope.
He never even indicated that he wanted children, so his excitement shocked me. I was still terrified by the notion of having not one child but two at my age. I just turned eighteen! Not to mention, I had other children to raise first. Even with Miranda back in the picture, I would forever feel like they were mine.
I laughed dryly. “Well, you have a fifty/ fifty chance. The others have a twenty percent chance.”
“I’ll take it,” he said with a laugh. “I love you, Blake Thomas.” he said with quiet desperation.
“I love you more,” I said with my own wet laugh.
“Alex is getting tired, but we’ll be back soon,” Jace said reluctantly.
“Promise?” I asked desperately. Weeks of being on my own island weren’t working for my fragile psyche. Even if I could hear their voices every now and then, it would bring me comfort.