by Nely Cab
He stared at me for a brief moment. “Nothing at all?”
“Just a kiss…or three,” I said, and David’s jaw clenched. “He kissed me. Not the other way around,” I explained. “I used him to go find my father, to see if I could stop the transformation. I didn’t want you to turn into a Creatura because of me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this when I last saw you in Bucharest?”
“I tried, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain. You left. You…” I huffed. “You just left me there. You wouldn’t take my calls. Do you know how many times I tried calling you?”
“Yes. Four hundred and forty-seven. You left five voicemails I listened to over and over again so I could hear you say you loved me.” He sighed. “Isis, I was angry. And hurt.” He paused and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Outraged.”
“I know. I didn’t expect anything less than anger from you. But I thought you’d at least let me explain.” I tucked my legs against my chest, under the white shirt. “I messed up. I seem to have a real knack for it.” He said nothing. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you, too. I made a mistake when I left you in Bucharest.” He pulled me close and pressed me against his chest.
“So… is there anything I should know about you and your arranged bride?” I looked up at him. “I mean, since we’re being honest and all.”
“That, you really don’t want to know,” he said. I frowned at him. “I’m kidding. There was nothing between us but empty kisses.”
“Kisses?” My eyes widened, and I broke his embrace. “As in plural? With an ‘s’? As in more than a few?”
“Please…” He drew me against him. “Don’t. I honestly don’t want to talk about her anymore. It’s upsetting us both, and it’s a waste of energy—which we could be using doing other things.” He pushed me down on the mattress. “Like making up for lost time.”
He propped himself up on one arm, half of his weight over me. Using his other hand, he brushed the length of my leg, and my muscles tensed.
“I’ve missed you, terribly,” I told him.
“Serves you right,” he pecked my lips, “because I’ve been miserable without you.”
I sifted my fingers through his wet, black hair and reached for his lips. His hand moved under the oversized shirt I was wearing. He traced small circles below my navel with the tips of his fingers, and then abruptly, he pulled away from me.
“It concerns me you haven’t been seen by a doctor.” He sat up and looked at his phone. “Did Galilea change her phone number when she arrived here?”
“I don’t know.” I picked up my phone from the night table and handed it to him. “You can check.”
David clicked on my phone’s display screen and compared Galilea’s phone number to the one on his phone.
“Same number. Why didn’t I think of calling her myself?” He tapped the screen on his cell phone, and then held it up to his ear. “Galilea? Yes, it’s David.”
CHAPTER 8
The address Galilea gave David took us right outside of town, to a gated community hidden by trees. I’d passed by it many times and didn’t even know it existed. It was a perfect hideout.
The gateway was wide enough to allow one car to exit and one car to enter. A female security guard approached us as soon as we pulled up to the gate.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“We’re guests of Miss Galilea Kristos,” David told her.
“And your name, sir?”
“David Chios.”
“One moment while I verify, please.”
The guard walked back to the security booth. From the car, I could see her talking on the phone. A minute later, the gate rolled open, and she waved us in.
The houses in the neighborhood were fashioned in Old Spanish style, complete with terra-cotta shingles, balconies lined with potted flowers overlooking the street, and blooming bougainvillea plants spread across the yards.
David brought the car to a stop at a canary-yellow house with white trim and a brick-red roof. Dr. Gunn’s wife—Eileen—was waiting for us at the door. I tightened the sweatpants strings on my waist—the ones David wore earlier—and stepped out of the car.
“Isis.” Eileen hugged me, and then shook David’s hand. She studied the scratches on his face. “What happened to you?”
“Demons,” I said. “They found me, Eileen.”
“They attacked Isis as she was leaving my house,” David added.
“Attacked?” Eileen’s eyes immediately fell to my stomach. “Have you experienced any sharp lower abdominal pains or bleeding?”
“None,” I said.
“You know she’s pregnant?” David sounded surprised.
“Yes,” Eileen said. “Galilea gave us the news yesterday.”
“I see. Well, in spite of Isis saying she feels fine, I’d still like Dr. Gunn to examine her. If possible?” David hugged me with one arm. “She took a number of falls, and I’m concerned for hers and the baby’s well-being.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.” Eileen opened the door wider. “Come in. Tobias is in the lab, prepping.”
“And Galilea?” I asked as I observed the stone floors and rustic interior of the house.
“In her room. I’ll get her, and then I’ll see if Tobias is ready to start.” She moved some newspapers off the couch. “Have a seat.”
I sat down, but David remained standing. It wasn’t long before Galilea walked into the living room. She walked past me without acknowledge my presence.
“David.” She kissed him on both cheeks, and then paused to study the marks on his face. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Likewise,” David said.
“Galilea, we need to talk,” I said, rising from the sofa. “Actually, I need to do the talking. I’m sorry I’m such a poor excuse of a friend.”
She didn’t respond. Didn’t even look in my direction.
“I don’t want you to be angry at me anymore,” I said.
She crossed her arms. I took a step closer to her.
“Galilea, I value your friendship, and I don’t want to lose you.”
After a moment, she said, “Apology tentatively accepted.”
“Thanks.” I hugged her, but she didn’t return my embrace. “Why are you in pajamas in the middle of the day?”
“Because I’m sick,” she said.
“Sick?” David creased his brow. “Of?”
“Her, mostly.” She jerked her chin in my direction, and then sized me up. “Are you shrinking or something? What’s wrong with your clothes?”
“I borrowed them from David. I fell in a lake.”
“How?” Galilea asked.
I pulled my shirtsleeve up to show her the marks the demons’ claws had left on me. She glanced at David’s face, and I saw as realization washed over her face.
“Oh.” Galilea’s jaw dropped. “I shouldn’t have left.” She clasped her hands. “Are you okay? I mean, is the baby okay?”
“I think so,” I said. “I feel fine.”
“You left the house after I specifically told you not to.” Galilea’s brows pulled together. “You never listen to me. How many were there—Turpis?”
“Three,” David answered before I could. “First order.”
“The ones we ran into in Greece were first order, too,” Galilea said. “That’s when I knew she was going to be trouble.”
“What’s first order?” I asked, ignoring the part where I’d been called an inconvenience.
“The eldest of the demon species. Special forces, so to speak,” David said. “Trained to fight, kill, and possess people. Shift into human form.”
“If they can shift into human form, it means they could be anyone,” I said.
“Exactly. That’s why I didn’t want you leaving the house,” said Galilea. “Did the Turpis burn either of you?”
“No,” David and I said in unison.
Galilea scratched the side of her head. “Weird.”
“Isis, David,” Eileen called us from the hallway. “The lab’s ready. Galilea, be a dear and show them in while I find Isis something of yours to wear.”
“Her Christmas presents are somewhere in my closet,” Galilea told her. “Might as well give them to her now while they fit.”
“It’s August,” I said. “Why do you have Christmas presents?”
“Because I like to plan ahead, and also because you have bad taste in clothes.”
***
Dr. Gunn’s new laboratory was set up in a three-car garage, detached from the house. Though it was much smaller than the lab in Athens, it housed a lot of the same equipment. I wondered if these machines and supplies were his, shipped from Greece, or if they were new. Galilea had told me he had medical equipment, but I hadn’t asked how he’d gotten it. Given David’s family had provided Dr. Gunn with a lot of financing in order to have him render his services exclusively to us—and to keep his mouth shut about the Chioses being immortal deities—I wouldn’t be surprised if all the tools and machines were fresh stock.
The doctor was sitting at a small table, stroking the keyboard on his laptop. His hair was disheveled, and he was wearing the same glasses he’d broken in Greece.
“Hello, Isis. Long time,” Gunn said. “David, I’m surprised to see you. Glad, as well. I’ve been trying to get Isis to come in to keep record of the progress of the mutation as you asked me to do before you left Bucharest, but the girl’s been a ghost since we got here. No visits. No calls…” Gunn adjusted his glasses. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my word, but she hasn’t made it easy. Unfortunately, I haven’t any new information to share with you. I assure you, not a single penny of your funding has been used after we last spoke, except for the freight expense of my medical equipment.”
“You told him to continue the research?” I asked David. “Why?”
“Because he loves you, dummy,” Galilea said. “And before you accuse me, I knew nothing about it until now, so save that scowl on your face for another time.”
“I told Dr. Gunn and Eileen not to tell you,” David explained.
“And I kept my promise. Now, let’s begin, shall we?” The doctor rose from his computer and patted the examination table set up on the right of him, an ultrasound machine next to it. “Beside pregnancy symptoms, how’s your other situation, Isis?” Dr. Gunn flipped the ON switch on the ultrasound machine. “Any changes you’ve noticed about yourself?”
“Well…” I looked at David, then back at the doctor. “My senses are sharper, and I feel stronger. And…”
“And?” Gunn asked.
“And lately, I have a very persistent desire to sink my teeth into people.”
Dr. Gunn turned off the machine and backed away from me, blinking.
“Have you acted on your impulse?” David asked.
“Not intentionally.” David’s jaw dropped, and Dr. Gunn took another two steps back. “But I didn’t kill anyone.” I glanced at both of them. “I didn’t. Ask Galilea.”
“Which was a total disappointment,” Galilea said. I scowled at her. “What?”
“Are you experiencing anything similar, David?” Dr. Gunn moved behind the ultrasound machine.
“No,” David said. “But I’ve lost control over other things, like traveling between realms and flying.”
“I see.” The scientist turned to look at me. “Isis, is it okay if we proceed with incredible caution…on your end?”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” I told him.
Hesitantly, Dr. Gunn stepped around the ultrasound machine, which he’d been using as a barricade. He flipped the switch on the machine, and it beeped to life. He asked me to lift my shirt and lower the waistband on my sweatpants to expose the lowest area of my abdomen. The blue gel he squeezed on my stomach was cold, but it felt refreshing in the warm temperature of the garage. He took a fan-shaped wand from the side of the cart and placed it on my stomach between my hips. A distorted black-and-white picture appeared on the machine’s screen. The doctor moved the wand around and around until he found his target.
“There,” the doctor said. He clicked a button on the keyboard several times, and the image enlarged. “Can you two see this small flicker?”
“Yes,” David answered.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A heartbeat,” Dr. Gunn said. David squeezed my hand. I had never seen him smile so wide in all the time I had known him. “And by the looks of it, this baby has a strong and healthy heartbeat.” Dr. Gunn pressed another button, and a line with numbers appeared on the screen. “He—or she—measures 5.3 millimeters, which tells me you’re six weeks along in your pregnancy.” He pressed the wand deeper into my stomach. “Eileen told me you suffered a few falls today.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” I said.
“It was a violent attack.” David ran his thumb over my hand. “I can’t believe she didn’t suffer any broken bones or worse.”
“Trauma of such magnitude may have caused others drawbacks.” Gunn looked closer at the monitor. “If there’s a tear…”
“What happens if there’s a tear?” I asked.
“One second, please.” Gunn continued gliding the wand.
I held my breath. David stood very still beside me, awaiting the doctor’s diagnosis. It seemed like hours had gone by, but Dr. Gunn still didn’t say anything.
“Are you going to say something, or do we have to torture it out of you?” Galilea asked Dr. Gunn, exasperation in her tone. “What do you see in there?”
“From what I can observe,” the doctor squinted at the screen, “the gestational sac is intact, and I don’t see anything indicating a problem. As a matter of fact, it looks like a normal human pregnancy.” He looked baffled. “Nothing out of the ordinary. At all.” He clicked the keyboard, and a piece of paper ejected from the bottom of the machine. “Here you go.” He handed it to David. “Baby’s first portrait.”
David propped his elbow on the examination table and showed me the black-and-white image, displaying a black circle encasing a pea-sized, white dot, which Dr. Gunn pointed out to be the fetus.
“It’s so small,” I said.
“Not for long.” Galilea peered over David’s shoulder at the picture. “Can I have a copy, Dr. G?” The scientist clicked a button, and a replicated image ejected from the machine. “Thanks,” Galilea said, prancing around with the image. “I’m going to be such a cool aunty. I have to frame this. I’ll see you guys back at the house.”
“Congratulations,” Dr. Gunn said, handing me a wad of napkins. “Clean up. I’ll need to take some blood samples, and then we’ll be done.”
Dr. Gunn walked to the other side of the room and fiddled with some papers. I didn’t know if he was trying to give David and me some privacy or if he was genuinely working.
“Let me help you,” David said, taking the napkins from me. He set the picture of the sonogram beside me and started to wipe the gel off with gentle sweeps.
“There’s a baby in there,” I told him, as if he didn’t already know. “There’s a tiny person living in my stomach. I can’t fathom it.” I shook my head. “How did it get in there?”
“Well, I remember you were the one who undressed me. I didn’t put up much of a fight, and then—”
I slapped his arm playfully. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, how is it possible there’s a heartbeat in a miniscule 5.6-millimeter soul growing inside me? It’s like…like…”
“A miracle?” David asked.
“Or magic.”
I picked up the picture of the sonogram and stared at it. David leaned down and put his head next to mine.
“Isis,” David turned to look at me, “did you really try to kill someone?”
I pulled the hem of my shirt over my stomach and sat up. Don’t you dare lie to him, I warned myself.
“Yes,” I said. “Eros followed Galilea to my house. He kissed me—” I measured his reaction for a quick second before I continued, “a
nd…I bit him. I tasted his blood. I didn’t even realize what I was doing.” I looked down, ashamed to be admitting this to him. “If he hadn’t stopped me, I wouldn’t have stopped on my own.”
David’s lips pressed together. Dr. Gunn appeared at my side.
“Are we ready?” The doctor asked.
“Could you give us one more minute, please?” David rubbed his face with one hand. The doctor nodded and left us. “How long ago was this?”
“Last night.”
David’s nose flared. I cringed.
Wait for it… Wait for it…
“His lips were on you last night?” He growled.
And there it was.
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned I could’ve killed him?”
“I wouldn’t give a damn if he were rotting in hell.” David’s chest rose and fell faster than normal. He took a moment to compose himself. “What did he want?”
“You’re not going to like this,” I warned him. “I made an arrangement with him in Athens. He came to collect on our deal. He wanted me to marry him. But Galilea told him I was pregnant, and he said the deal was off. Then he told me I should tell you I was pregnant.”
“Oh, he was giving you advice—like good friends, was he?”
“I can’t believe you’re throwing a jealousy fit right now.” I jumped off the examination table. “May I remind you that you’re the one who’s engaged? I should be the one having a fit. I’m the other woman, David.” I pointed to myself. “Me! I’m carrying your love child, for goodness sake!”
David stared at me for a moment. He suppressed a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“My lovechild? What types of books have you been reading?”
“None.”
“She’s been watching plenty of telenovelas lately.” Galilea was standing off to the side, listening to us. “They make her melodramatic.” She turned to David. “You’re engaged? Never mind, that’s none of my business. Are you done in here? I want to show you this über cute crib I found online.”
“Isn’t it a little early to start picking out cribs?” I asked. “We don’t even know the baby’s gender.”