Beth gave up and headed for a chair, wishing Kahtar had come with her. Not that having her Covenant Keeper warrior chief husband with her, using an alias and disguised as the Police Chief of Willowyth, would make things any less weird. She couldn’t imagine what he’d say about her dad’s costume, but she already missed him. Kahtar—alias Kent Costas to the outside world, including her parents—hadn’t been to visit his new in-laws since the wedding, and Beth had a bad feeling he never would. The thought of sleeping without him made her lonely.
Settling back in the comfy chair, Beth noticed her father staring at her, still frozen in place.
“Beth’s pregnant!” Ted shouted. “Isn’t she?”
BLOODY STRANGE—HALLOWEEN
BETH LOOKED AT her mother, as though she could confirm her father’s outrageous claim. The faintest of cryptic smiles quirked Carole’s lips and Ted whooped as though it were medical confirmation of an impossible pregnancy.
“What?” Beth demanded.
Ted shot across the room and hauled Beth out of her chair, engulfing her in a hug.
“No, Dad. What are you guys talking about? I just got married! I didn’t even get my wedding dress preserved yet. There’s no way—”
But Beth couldn’t seem to deny it. The words wouldn’t come. She didn’t have the ability to lie; something she saw as a handicap, but the Covenant Keepers told her was a gifting. How can this be true?
About a month after their wedding Beth had mentioned children and Kahtar had gone quiet for half the day. Finally Beth had pressed him, and Kahtar had announced that whatever kind of immortal repeating freak he was, he was a sterile one. So her mother had to be wrong. Shifting under her father’s stranglehold Beth asked, “Mom, what makes you think that?”
Across the room Carole settled more comfortably against the couch. “You’re pregnant, Beth.”
It settled against Beth as truth, but she persisted, determined to oust the impossible. Kahtar had said with equal conviction that pregnancy was impossible, at least without the help of the clan doctor. “Even if I am, how do you know?”
Carole shrugged. “Mothers sense stuff.”
It bounced against Beth like a lie, causing a stir of nausea in her belly and raising her hackles, like the boy being rude to her dad had raised Carole’s. Beth wanted to call her mother out, to demand she explain how she could possibly glance at her across the room and know she was pregnant, but a familiar sparkle of light outside the window glinted dangerously and she kept her mouth shut. The Old Guard watched her to ensure Covenant Keeper secrets were kept. There were questions she could never ask.
Besides, the one she really wanted to have words with was Kahtar. He’d said he couldn’t make babies.
Still smothered in her father’s big hug, Beth realized he was talking, going on about the power of mother’s intuition. Her thoughts were too scattered to listen. If Kahtar’s wrong, what does that mean? Despite his centuries of experience Kahtar wasn’t infallible, and with his murky origins, maybe he didn’t want a child of his own. What if this is a bad thing? The thought made her shudder.
“Aw, come on! Babies are the best thing that can happen, you’ll see!” Ted’s hug tightened and bones in Beth’s back cracked neatly into place. Usually she loved when he did that. It made her feel even taller and Dad seemed so safe and capable then. But right now Beth wanted to burrow into his chest and hide. “Hey, Bethy, focus on the wonderful even if you think its bad timing.” After kissing both her cheeks, Ted grabbed Beth’s hand to haul her upstairs. “I know what to do! Let’s get on Amazon and order stuff for my grandchild.”
“Dad, no!” Beth tried to plant her feet as he tugged.
“Don’t slow me down! I have to baby proof this entire house, make the spare room into a nursery, get a bigger car, start a college fund, and build a swing set!”
“No!” Beth scrambled for an excuse, her thoughts on Kahtar. When he’d told her he couldn’t make babies he’d been apologetic, but confident she’d have joined with him even if he’d told her before their marriage. It was the truth, so she’d accepted it.
Beth shivered now, certain he’d left something unsaid. Some part of her brain managed to come up with an excuse to curtail her father’s sudden need to shop. “Don’t waste your money until we know something for sure—at least until I pee on a stick or get some other scientific confirmation!” Or talk to my husband! What didn’t he tell me?
“Your mother’s always right,” Ted said with a chuckle, tucking her arm under his and patting it as he marched her up the stairs. “And don’t worry about my money. Even if you spent all yours on your big house and imported chocolate, Carole and I have invested wisely. We’re real life thousandaires. If you play your cards right, someday you and your child might inherit literally up to hundreds of dollars from us.”
Despite everything Beth laughed. At least she’d made her father happy.
“What’s nine months from now? Carole! When do you think the baby will come?” Ted shouted to Carole from the top of the stairs, as though she were an obstetrician instead of retired military like him.
“For sure a long time from now!” Beth interrupted, desperate to divert him so she could go panic in the spare room by herself. “Besides, the cute stuff is gender specific! Let’s wait!”
“We’ll get boy stuff and girl stuff and I’ll just return what we don’t need!” Ted grabbed his wallet from a stand by the railing and dug out a credit card.
“I thought you spent your money wisely,” Beth tried.
“No. I said I invested wisely. I spend foolishly. Didn’t you see my blow-up Halloween decorations out front?” Ted grinned.
Beth had an urge to hug him and tell him he’d make an even better grandfather than he had a dad, and he’d been the best father she could imagine. But what kind of father will Kahtar make? She had a really bad feeling he’d never planned to find out. Beth widened her eyes, hoping tears wouldn’t spill.
“July or August. Buy girl stuff,” said Carole from downstairs.
Ted squeezed Beth’s hand, his grin growing wider.
A girl? How can she possibly know that? I swear she can scan inside me like a clan doctor! How can anyone know the sex that soon? From the railing Beth stared down at her mother. Carole kept her eyes on the magazine, but Beth knew perfectly well she wasn’t reading it.
We are definitely the Addams Family. Only weirder.
Somewhere deep in Beth’s heart the thought of a baby girl sparked something new and hopeful, surrounded by a fear that Kahtar could somehow crush it.
THREE POLICE CARS pulled into the small lot in front of the Willowyth Police Station and parked. Doors opened and Warriors of ilu dressed as officers exited and hauled out an assortment of young perps. In the last vehicle Kahtar sat alone watching the subdued frat boys clutching sheets of clear plastic around their naked essentials.
Dressing as a pack of hot dogs no longer appeared to have been a good idea to the young men. The design flaw in using a vacuum cleaner to suck the air out and hermetically seal a giant plastic bag around a group of human beings had become apparent to even the dullest of them. Kahtar wondered how the boys from the ends of the pack were responding at the hospital. Helping them with his giftings was forbidden, but mouth to mouth resuscitation wasn’t. Their blue color had faded by the time the ambulance loaded them in. Kahtar figured other than losing a few thousand brain cells—that they’d obviously never miss—the boys would be fine. He wiped his mouth off, still able to taste their alcohol. Imbeciles!
He had no intention of following his men inside the station. As chief of police he had no obligation to book intoxicated students into jail for the night. He’d rolled out of bed over twenty-three hours ago; it had been a long day. Kahtar rubbed a hand over his face and tried to turn his mind from the drunken rave.
Fifteen students is hardly a rave.
The thought popped into his head in Beth’s voice, and he could picture the way she’d try not to smile when she said
it.
“It’s a rave in Willowyth,” he said out loud, banishing images of his wife from his mind. Tonight she was at her parents, their first night apart since the wedding, and he needed to get some sleep not tempt himself to go see her. He put his car in gear, but before his foot touched the gas pedal, Francis Snickerbacher, Cultuelle Khristos Warrior of ilu and one of the newer cops, pushed through the doorway and waved, heading in his direction.
“Now what?” Kahtar groused, throwing the car back into park and yanking the keys out of the ignition.
Kahtar met Francis halfway across the lot. “Thought you’d want to know Beth called for you four times tonight. She didn’t want to leave a message.”
Kahtar paused briefly. Maybe she just missed him as much as he missed her, but as warrior chief and as her husband he certainly wasn’t going to ignore it. He glanced back at his squad car, jiggling the keys in his hand. It’s a long drive. He handed them to Francis. “Put these on my desk.”
Hurrying to the back of the parking lot where he wouldn’t be noticed, Kahtar scanned quickly, then closed his eyes and disappeared.
FOR A BRIEF moment Kahtar thought he’d appeared inside the wrong room. Lit by the light of an alarm clock, the guest room at the White’s had changed from peace signs and the preservation of Beth’s childhood to a king-sized bed with navy and gold draperies. Beth lay nestled under the blankets, sound asleep with cell phone in hand. For the first time in hours Kahtar relaxed.
Scanning gently through the house for any sign of trouble, Kahtar tried not to wake his shieldmaiden mother-in-law. However, it was the seeker Ted White who turned restlessly in his bed as the scan whispered around their bedroom. All seemed well enough and Kahtar pulled it back, unbuckling his duty belt and silently settling ten pounds of gun and accessories on the nightstand.
Leaning over the bed, Kahtar eased the cell phone out of Beth’s hand and put it on the nightstand too, pausing to plug it into the charger. They’d been apart not even twenty-four hours and even in sleep the touch of her heart raced for his as though they’d been separated for years. Relishing the taste of that heart, like diving into clear water on a summer day, Kahtar bent lower and pressed his lips against hers. Beth opened her eyes immediately. The touch of her heart lightened his mood despite the anxiety in it.
“You came!” Beth patted the bed beside her. Kahtar sat cautiously, expecting the protest of bedsprings from his weight, but the only sound was the rustling of Beth pushing back blankets to invite him beneath.
“I can’t stay.”
“My parents would be thrilled. Dad super-sized this bed just for you.”
Kahtar was glad the dark hid any expression in his eyes, and even gladder Beth didn’t press him. She didn’t need to know that he’d never be allowed to visit with her parents. Maybe she already knew. She scooted closer as though seeking comfort and Kahtar couldn’t resist sliding down beside her, outside the blankets, and dropping his head to the pillow next to hers for a moment.
Threading his fingers through hers, he held their hands against his chest. Since being joined with Beth, night had become his favorite time, and after two thousand years of night terrors that was a welcome first.
“My night was so strange. You should have seen my dad dressed as a Girl Scout.” She grinned in the dark and her perfect teeth shone white. Kahtar lifted her hand and pressed his mouth against it in a lingering kiss. It felt thinner against his lips, somehow frail, although he’d kissed it goodbye just that morning. “It’s been a weird visit,” she continued.
“Did you say anything to your parents you shouldn’t have?”
“No! You don’t need to worry about that. I never will!”
“What do I need to worry about then? Why did you call the station four times?”
Beth took a deep breath. “Remember when you told me someday you’d love to love any baby I’d have with a little help from Welcome Palmer?”
Whoa. Kahtar extricated himself and sat up so Beth wouldn’t see his eyes. They’d been married only two months; he hadn’t expected this so soon. He ran a hand over the top of his bristled haircut and sighed. “I remember. Are you thinking about babies so soon, love?”
“Yes.” It shot out of Beth’s mouth as truth even he recognized.
Kahtar nodded into the darkness, again taking her hand in his. “Maybe it’s for the best. This is the oldest I’ve ever lived to be in any repeat. I’d pass from this life easier knowing you had a child to fill your heart.”
A smile quavered on her lips. “Don’t assume you won’t be here for thousands of diapers and the painful teenage years too.”
“One can only hope, but longevity isn’t often in the warrior chief job description.”
Beth kissed his fingers. “Neither was marriage until this time around.”
He smiled. “So you already want a baby?”
She nodded.
Kahtar wondered if she’d change her mind once she realized what it would entail as a Covenant Keeper. “Do you really want to talk about this right now?”
“Yes. It’s why I kept calling. We need to talk about this. Tonight.”
Tightening his grip on her hand he angled to face her in the bed, hoping to read her reaction in the faint light of the alarm clock and charging electronics. “Cultuelle Khristos believes all babies deserve to be conceived in love.” When Beth returned his smile, he continued, “Even if it’s just the love of a friend or acquaintance.”
The smile faltered. “What?”
“There are no petri dishes or artificial insemination involved with fertility problems. This wouldn’t involve Cobbson Clinic or even an Arc doctor. I would like it to involve Welcome Palmer though. He would be my first choice as a father. He’s a good man. I could well love a child the two of you created.” The last sentence came out hoarse and Kahtar cleared his throat. When he’d first considered this, it hadn’t seemed as painful as the reality of it.
“Wait,” said Beth. “What?”
Kahtar licked his lips. “You will need to be with him. We would scan and know when conception is most likely to occur, so likely it wouldn’t be more than a few months of trying.”
Beth’s mouth dropped open and Kahtar squeezed her hand, but she pulled from his grasp. “People in the clan do that? Welcome would do that? You’d want him to?”
“Infertile couples do, sure. I don’t think Welcome has ever done it, but I think he would for us.” Always scanning, he sensed Beth’s blush and open hand swing for his head. He reacted without thinking, catching it in his hand and fighting his warrior instincts to permanently disable that hand. He let it go after a warning squeeze.
“Ow,” she said. “That hurt!”
“Sorry. Never take a swing at a warrior, Beth. You don’t want to get into trouble for hitting one. It’s no small thing. I’m on duty.”
“Isn’t there a special dispensation for when your stupid husband tells you to sleep with another man? If another man even touched my heart like you do, I think, Kahtar, I think I’d half die.”
Jealousy surged through Kahtar and he growled, “If another man touched your heart like I do I’d kill him with my bare hands! Welcome Palmer wouldn’t do any such thing. It would just be sex.”
“Oh!” Beth drew out the word and it took Kahtar a few beats to recognize sarcasm in it. “Just sex.”
Kahtar chuckled.
“I really want to smack you again.”
“Don’t. It’s almost a bigger crime than if I were to hit you. The penalty is brutal.”
“The clan rules make no sense at all.”
Kahtar chuckled again. “I really love you, Beth.” She’d forever make him see the world through fresh eyes.
“I love you too. I really don’t get it though. If it’s just sex, how does that create a child born in love? And what would you do with your heart if you’re having sex without it? Is that even possible?”
“Your heart would be with mine the whole time. I’d be there too. The child would be
conceived in our love, but also by using another man’s body.”
Beth said the f-word quite loudly. “Are you kidding me? You’re talking about having a threesome? I do not think so, Kahtar Constantine. I mean, hypothetically that’s kind of hot, but in reality there is no way I’d do that. It’s invasive! You would want to do that?”
The truth. She spotted a lie before it left a man’s lips. “Of course not, but I would for you.”
She shook her head. “Wow. This is so not how I pictured having this conversation. Now instead of talking about babies I want to ask questions about your sexual predilections.”
Kahtar fought an urge to burst out laughing, not wanting to wake Beth’s parents. “You don’t know them?”
She grinned. “I know. You just sounded really kinky there for a second.”
Kahtar chuckled low. “Welcome is beautiful. Most of the Palmers are. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. But that’s not what I’m interested in. He has good genes and a stellar heart, Beth. I’ve long appreciated that heart of his. I cannot imagine a better father for our children.”
“I can.”
“Surely not Honor Monroe? Beth, there’s no way I’d be comfortable with that. He was practically your lover for a time.”
“Ew. He was not. You’re just dying for me to smack you tonight. I was talking about you, you numbskull.”
The comment made Kahtar’s eyes well with tears. Sweet ilu, the woman could touch his heart in uncharted places.
“Are you okay?” she said.
He sniffed. Not once in his existence had Kahtar regretted his inability to father children, not being who he was. Yet here he sat with his Orphan of the Inquisition wife, in her seeker father’s house, nearly immediately after their wedding, wishing they could have a child together. “That’s the most loving thing anyone has ever said to me. I’m sorry to have to disappoint you.” Loss for what they could never have touched him and tears spilled out of his eyes, warming his cheeks.
FOREVER The Constantines' Secret: A Covenant Keeper Novel Page 2