Tribes of Man: The Beginning [Tribes of Man] (Siren Publishing Classic)
Page 22
“How do you feel about that? Becoming a dad and all. And how is that possible at all, I thought you had the mumps when you were fifteen?” Bryce’s voice was casual, nearly nonchalant.
“I’m not sure how it’s possible. Truthfully, I’m still digesting it. I’m sure it was a surprise for her, too. She didn’t even know she could become pregnant after the attack.”
It was a surprise, she interjected. A happy one.
Gideon knew Raina could sense how he was feeling and was trying to make him feel better. He could all but feel her arms around him.
“So how did it happen?”
“The old-fashioned way, I guess. Maybe with a little bit of magic thrown in.” Gideon realized that he was standing there like an idiot with his shirt in his hand and pulled it over his head.
“I hadn’t realized your scars were still so bad,” Bryce pointed to Gideon’s chest. “Do they hurt?”
“No, these are OK. My leg hurts if I use it too much.” Gideon was embarrassed that he had forgotten that his scars were on display. No one had ever really seen them. Even Raina had only seen them in reflection.
“Kind of ironic, isn’t it? You can make fire and not be burned. It must be nice mastering the thing that hurt you the most.” Bryce paused. When there was no reply, he continued, “Is that all you can do?”
Gideon stood and held his hand out. He concentrated on a sword. It appeared in his hand.
Bryce took a stumbling step back, his composure shaken for the first time. “You can make things appear out of thin air. Nifty trick.”
“Actually, the only think I can conjure is a sword.” Gideon began swinging the sword with an eye-popping skill. “If we fulfill the prophecy, you’ll be able to do this, too.”
“I will?” Sounding excited, Bryce unthinkingly stepped further into the room, right into the path of the sword.
It disappeared right before it struck him.
Bryce took a very long breath. “A very nifty trick.”
“What is the prophecy?” Bryce asked.
“Let’s go downstairs, and I’ll tell you all about it. Then I want to go see Raina.”
Gideon brushed past Bryce and rounded the corner on the staircase. Before he could start down, Bryce caught his shirt.
“I’m happy for you about the baby, Gideon. You’ll make a great dad. I always thought it was a shame that you wouldn’t get the chance.”
“Thanks, bro. You know I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I fell in love with Raina so hard and fast, I didn’t even know what happened.”
“That’s all right, Gideon. I would never want to get in the way of destiny.” Bryce smiled. He flexed his hand, imagining how nice it would be to conjure a sword. “So Gideon, tell me everything about this prophecy. It sounds fascinating.”
* * * *
It was six in the morning by the time Gideon got to the hospital to visit Raina.
He walked in to hear Raina whining, “Asia, I want to go home.”
“I’d like to keep you one more day at the very least. You seem strong, but I’m afraid you’ll relapse.” Asia stood by Raina’s bed, holding her hand.
“I won’t, I promise.” Gideon made the visual connection so that Raina could see through him. Raina moved her head restlessly.
“You know you can’t promise me that,” Asia continued.
“Gideon, tell him it’s OK for me to go home.”
“It’s OK for her to go home,” Gideon said dutifully. “Actually, it really is. You’ll be seeing her all the time. Not only are you going to help us fulfill the prophecy, but you are the only doctor we’d trust to see her through this pregnancy.”
Asia beamed. “So I’m not going to get zapped once we do the ritual?”
Raina giggled. “Zapped?”
“Yeah, you know, memory zapped. I was half convinced that you’d erase this crazy week from my memory.”
“There’s no way we’d do that. We know we can trust you, and we need to have a medical doctor who knows what’s going on. You’re going to change the world. Once you do, you’ll be the leading medical expert on our kind.”
Asia looked like he was trying to look stern, but the smile snuck through. “All right, I’ll discharge you. But you have to rest at home, OK?”
“Deal. Oh, thank you, thank you. I’m dying to get home and start planning for this baby.”
“I’ll go get the paperwork started.” Dr. Matthews closed the door behind him when he left. He must have seen the ring box in Gideon’s hand.
Gideon gathered Raina into his arms. He touched her stomach tenderly. “I can’t believe we made a baby.”
Raina kissed him and ran her hands up and down his arms. “Me either. I thought I had to give up that dream.”
“For all our powers, we’re just regular people, aren’t we, Raina?” Gideon wasn’t nervous at all about what he was going to do.
“That’s true enough, I suppose.”
“Regular people get married when they love each other and make a baby.”
Raina’s breath caught. “That’s true.”
Silence.
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
Gideon got off the bed and down on one knee, even though she was still in the bed and couldn’t see him anyhow.
“Sometimes simple words are the best. Raina, I love you. Will you marry me?”
Raina got off the bed and knelt on the floor beside him.
“Yes.” Sometimes simple words were the best.
Epilogue
A month later.
“Well, I think we’re ready,” Raina said.
“I thought you were never going to finish that stupid translation,” Eric griped. “I’ve been ready for this for weeks.”
“Try centuries,” Kristano chimed in.
“Hey, I wanted to make sure I got it right. There was a history as well as the ritual words. What if I made a mistake, and the world blew up?” Raina handed out papers with the words on them.
“In addition to the ritual, what did the parchment say?” Asia asked.
Raina rubbed her baby bump and blushed. “It said that from the keepers would come the parents of the new age. There was more about each keeper finding his mate and the establishment of a ruling council.”
“Is it anything we have to worry about?” Eric asked. He sounded nervous. “Do we have to find our mates before we do this?”
“No, but you will eventually find your mates.” She directed her comments to the three unattached men. “When you do, you’ll find love beyond anything you can imagine.”
She felt the happiness radiating from everyone in the room.
Kristano sat on the floor in the middle of the ritual circle.
The keepers stood around him, holding hands.
“Let’s change the world,” Raina said.
And they did.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kiel Nichols spends her life surrounded by books. On her quiet days she can be found curled up with her sweet kitty and her mangy dog, reading or writing. She spends her not so quiet days schlepping her daughter around or riding herd on a classroom of teenagers.
Although Kiel currently lives in the Dallas area, as an adult she’s lived in Massachusetts, Florida, California, Washington, and Germany. She’s looking forward to life’s next great adventure.
Kiel believes that reading a book opens a gateway to different worlds. Writing allows her to temporarily be anyone and go anywhere. She loves bringing the reader along for the ride.
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bes of Man] (Siren Publishing Classic)