The Ghost’s Deadly Secrets (Paranormal Romance)

by T. S. Ryder

  She tried to be quiet as she made her way up the stairs to her room, but on the second floor, she stumbled on the carpet and pitched forward; as she threw her hands out to catch herself, she knocked over a suit of armor. And it' halberd skittered across the floor, knocking the leg out of the next suit of armor. Which fell onto a table, collapsing one end, while a bowl of fruit that had been on it fell off the other side and shattered.

  Crap.

  Her heart caught in her chest and Jessica scrambled to her feet, running as hard as she could to get to her room and shower before she was called to Pearl's office about sneaking around in the middle of the night.

  I'll tell her I was getting a snack, she thought, and suddenly she realized she needed one–her stomach was twisting in on itself in that aching way it got when she went too long without eating. As soon as the cramps hit her, a swirl of dizziness made her stumble. The twisting in her stomach turned to retching and vomit spewed from her mouth. She gasped, fell to her knees and vomited again.

  ***

  An hour later, she was lying in the university hospital wing while Pearl sat beside her, telling her she was pregnant.

  "Who was the dragon?" the headmistress demanded, while Jessica's mind reeled with this news.

  "Pregnant," she repeated, tentatively pressing a hand to her stomach. "But how could you know that?"

  Pearl sighed. "Jessica, you really need to pay more attention to your studies. When dragons have sex during the spring equinox, the women they mate always gets pregnant. And as the gestation period of a baby conceived during the equinox is only four months, it’s hard on the body."

  Jessica's mind whirled. Holy shit! She had to tell Braden. What were they going to do?

  Pearl stroked her hair tenderly, as if she was Jessica's mother, then withdrew at the younger witch's uncomfortable look. "I'll inform your brother. You rest and decide what you want to do now."

  Jessica was grateful for the headmistress' departure. This was unexpected. Very unexpected.

  But he clearly knew everything about the spring equinox. Which meant that he knew that they'd have a baby together, and he still wanted her. A smile blossomed on her face and she pressed her hands into her stomach, wondering how quickly she would be able to feel the baby move. And then she grabbed her cell phone, dialing Braden's number to tell him the good news.

  There was no answer.

  Chapter Four

  He was probably sleeping.

  That's what Jessica ought to be doing, too, after the long night they had. The problem was she was feeling a little sore between her legs, even though the previous night she had felt nothing but pleasure. No matter how she shifted, that whole region had a dull ache to it. The waves of nausea that kept washing over her didn't help, either.

  Nerves churned in her gut. If women who mated with dragons during the spring equinox always got pregnant, then Braden knew she would get pregnant.

  Why wasn't he answering?

  Jessica slipped out of bed, eyeing the sleeping potion that Pearl had brought her. The headmistress was acting as though something terrible had happened. Like Jessica was going to die. But that was ridiculous. Nothing was going to happen to her, and as soon as Braden woke up and called her back, everything was going to be just fine.

  Her stomach clenched, churned, and Jessica ran for the bathroom. The stone tile floor bit into her knees as she dropped next to the toilet. Her body heaved so violently that she thought she might throw up her stomach.

  When the retching stopped, sweat beaded her brow. She lay down beside the toilet, too exhausted to try to make it back to her bed. Jessica glanced down at her pajama pockets. Her cell phone was still there. Not bothering to try to sit up, she yanked it out and dialed Braden again.

  No answer.

  ***

  By the time dusk was falling, Jessica still hadn't heard from Braden. Her nausea hadn't improved much, but a ginger-based potion Pearl brought her had at least helped her keep down some chicken soup, and she no longer felt like she was going to die every time she moved.

  She had tried to phone Stafford, but she hadn't gotten an answer from him, so there must be something wrong with her phone. That was why Braden hadn't phoned her back. It had to be.

  But wouldn't he have come to see her, then?

  "I'm not sitting around waiting and letting my childish fears get the best of me," Jessica muttered, as she yanked on her riding boots. "He doesn't know my phone is being ridiculous. He doesn't know that I'm worried sick for him. There is only one thing left to do. I have to go and find him."

  She hoped he was in the same apartment he had been in last year when Stafford took her there for a party. If he wasn't… well, she'd run into one of his flock members, and they'd be able to get word to him that she wanted to see him. Simple.

  Jessica nearly tripped as she headed for her broom closet, but caught herself just in time. A scowl crossed her face. Feet that were too small for her body had made her a klutz, and people thought it was because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. But who wanted to look at the ground when the sky was so interesting?

  Just as she retrieved her broom, an old willow-branch one with a bicycle seat, the door to her room opened. Jessica repressed a grimace and turned to face Pearl. The headmistress' gaze swept down her riding outfit, and a pinched, concerned look came to her face.

  "Flying while pregnant is not a good idea."

  "It's safer than driving," Jessica argued. "Besides, I don't have a car."

  "That's not what I meant. It will be very uncomfortable."

  Jessica's shoulders hunched. She put the broom back. "Then I'll get Stafford to give me a ride to town on his bike or something. My phone's not working, and I need to talk with Br—my dragon."

  Pearl sighed heavily. "Jessica, I know that the dragon you… slept with was Braden. Even if he wasn't the most obvious suspect, there were witnesses who saw you two together last night."

  Jessica bristled both at Pearl's tone and her wording. She was acting like Braden had committed a crime! Since when were two consenting adults having sex illegal? Well, at least in heterosexual couples. There were plenty of times in the past where homosexual couplings were illegal… Jessica shook her head and focused on the situation at hand.

  "Braden didn't do anything wrong. He kept asking me if I was really certain that I wanted it, so you can stop acting like I was some sort of virgin sacrifice. But my phone's not working and I have to talk with him."

  "That's why I came here." Pearl ran a hand through her graying, white-blonde hair. "Jessica, I think you ought to sit down."

  Jessica remained standing. Her heart beat hard against her ribs. What had happened? Had Braden got into an accident? Was he in the hospital? Was he dead? Bile scorched the back of her throat but she swallowed it back down. No, nothing had happened to Braden. Pearl was just going to give her a lecture.

  "Jessica—"

  "I don't want to hear whatever you have to say. I know you don't like dragons and I don't care why. I love Braden! We’re having a baby together. And I'm not staying in your stupid university, either. I'll leave the coven if I have to!"

  Pearl's gaze was full of pity. She didn't even flinch at Jessica's outburst. Instead, she shook her head and sighed. "Oh, Jessica… I wish that I didn't have to tell you this. The dragon's gone."

  Jessica felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "Wh-what?"

  "This morning he attacked a witch. He put her in the hospital and then fled when the authorities tried to question him. If he returns, he'll be jailed. If the witch dies, which she might, then he could be imprisoned for life for murder."

  Jessica felt like the world was spinning around her. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, muscles so tense they hurt. "Braden's not like that. He would never attack anybody. He wouldn't leave without me."

  "Honey." Pearl's voice broke as she stepped forward, holding out her arms as though she was Jessica's mother trying to comfort her. "Honey, he was at a
bar all morning. One of those dragon-only places. And all the dragons he talked to are all saying the same thing. It's all over town. He was laughing about how you… He used you."

  No. It couldn't be. Braden wouldn't do that. He couldn't do that. She had used a spell on the magic eight ball. He was so gentle with her. He couldn't have been using her. He just couldn't. Jessica swayed on the spot, feeling light-headed, as if she was about to collapse. Pearl hurried forward, embracing her as she led the young witch back to her bed.

  "I want to see Stafford."

  Pearl sighed. "I tried to get him to come to see you. He wouldn't. He said something about you breaking your promise."

  Her promise not to pursue Braden? "Why would he think that was more important than this?"

  "You have to know that he's in love with Braden."

  Jessica flinched. No, he wasn't! If Stafford was in love with the dragon, he would have told her. They shared everything with each other. He'd never not told her about his crushes before. Why would it stop with Braden?

  Unless it was because she was also in love with him. Would Stafford tell her if he was in love with the same man she was in love with? Their tastes were usually so different that they'd only experienced mild crushes on the same man in the past. But if Stafford felt as strongly as she did for Braden… would he be hurt enough to abandon her now?

  Jessica hid her face and the tears that rolled down it from the other witch.

  "It's okay," Pearl crooned, as she stroked Jessica's hair. "It's okay, you didn't know. I should have known that you were going to sneak out. You've always had a naive, romantic mind. It's my job to protect my girls. I've never had children of my own, you girls are all that I have. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I failed you."

  Jessica melted into Pearl's arms, burying her face, trying not to think.

  ***

  Braden never called.

  By the end of the first week, none of Jessica's clothes fit her anymore. Pearl brought her new clothes, but they were always a few sizes too small. The young mother-to-be didn't want to leave her dorm room. She refused to even go to classes, instead preferring to thumb through her favorite romance novels. They had always been a safe haven for her, but now everything in them sounded like a lie.

  Braden had left her. She refused to believe it for the first few days but, as nights passed hunched over the toilet bowl, the only person to sit with her was Pearl.

  Even Stafford had abandoned her. He had basically raised her since they came to the coven, and just like that he was gone. He never returned her calls, never came to her. It broke her heart as much as Braden leaving.

  No matter how much she tried to find an alternative explanation, horrible thoughts kept pouring into her mind. Maybe Stafford would leave the coven and go off in search of Braden, and they'd have a happily ever after without her.

  Why would they want her with them?

  During the second week, Jessica didn't have the energy to do anything but to lie in bed and try to nibble at a few crackers that Pearl gave her. Nothing settled in her stomach and she was constantly slipping in and out of dreams of Braden sneaking through the window, either to rescue her or eat her.

  The third week was a little better. Jessica had to force herself not to think of Braden or Stafford, had to force herself not to call either of them anymore. But the worst of the sickness had passed, and she was able to start eating again. The world outside her bedroom still felt strange and dangerous, though, so she stayed inside, studying from her spell books and not even glancing at her romance novels. It was time to grow up.

  The first day of the fourth week, Jessica was up and showered, her hair and teeth brushed, before Pearl brought her breakfast. The headmistress' brow arched when she saw Jessica dressed and set her breakfast, oatmeal, on the nightstand.

  "You're feeling better, are you?"

  Jessica tugged the uncomfortably tight band of her skirt, but nodded. "I realized that I need to be seeing an obstetrician or a midwife. I want to make sure my baby is healthy and that the pregnancy is normal for a dragon birth."

  Pearl looked startled, but Jessica didn't spare the energy to figure out why. She felt better than she had during the first week, but she was still bone-dead tired, and even now all she really wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep.

  "I can get a midwife to come here," Pearl said. "It’s better for you to stay inside for the duration of your pregnancy."

  "I'd appreciate a midwife coming here," the young witch replied. "But can you arrange for it today? Braden may have abandoned me, but I'm not going to lose my baby."

  Pearl stared at her for a long moment before she smiled and nodded. "Of course, Jessica. Remember, I'm here for you, no matter what."

  "I know. Thank you."

  Pearl smiled and nodded. "Eat your breakfast. I'll be back soon."

  Chapter Five

  "I feel like my skin is going to split open and the baby will just spill out," Jessica sighed, leaning against the bounteous pillows that surrounded her.

  The midwife nodded. "Human bodies aren't designed to get so heavily pregnant so quickly. But they are designed to get pregnant, so don't you worry. You'll be just fine."

  Nine weeks into the pregnancy, the midwife said it was time to have the first ultrasound. Jessica still hadn't left her room, although now it was more due to her increasing size than anything else. Her stomach was heavily distended, so much so that she had abandoned all attempts to dress and just wore a robe all day long. And it hurt. Her skin was expanding, but it felt like a rubber band about to snap, and no matter which way she laid when she went to sleep her spine always ached when she woke up.

  Pearl was with her every time the midwife came, and she was here now, sitting at Jessica's side, holding her hand as though Jessica was a nervous wreck. But after everything that had happened, hearing nothing from Braden or Stafford for the past nine weeks, Jessica was grateful for the headmistress' presence, even if she was a little smothering at times.

  "This is going to be a little cold," the midwife said, smearing a blue jelly onto Jessica's uncovered stomach.

  Jessica shivered at the cold sensation, but the midwife didn't say anything more as she took the wand and pressing it into Jessica's stomach.

  "I want to see," Jessica said, pushing herself onto her elbows.

  Pearl put her hands on Jessica's shoulders, helping her up as the midwife turned the screen to face her. A vague, round shape appeared on it, but nothing was distinct enough for Jessica to tell what was what. She huffed, annoyed. "That just looks like a black jelly bean."

  "That's your uterus," the midwife said. "And see that?"

  She pointed to a small gray ball inside the jelly bean-shaped space.

  "That's my baby?" Jessica focused on the little image. It was so tiny! "Is it supposed to be that small?"

  "Yes, it's perfectly normal… hold on." The midwife frowned and moved the ultrasound wand across Jessica's belly.

  Jessica's heart skipped a beat and she squeezed Pearl's hand. "What is it? What's wrong? Is my baby okay?"

  "Your babies are fine." The midwife pointed. "Look. Two heads. You're having twins."

  "Twins?" Jessica gasped.

  She had been having a difficult enough time deciding how she was going to support one baby! And now she was going to have two? She’d always wanted twins, but this news left her numb. What was she going to do? Should she give them up for adoption? The babies she’d always wanted… Was it fair to them to keep them when she didn't know if she could give them a good life, a life they deserved? Tears welled in her eyes.

  "Twin pregnancies carry a higher risk than a one-baby pregnancy, especially dragon twins," the midwife said, worry creasing her face. "Plus twins are usually born early. But we'll do our best to give these little ones the rest of their time to develop properly."

  The midwife still looked troubled as she cleaned the jelly off Jessica's stomach. The young witch struggled not to cry.

  She needed S
tafford back. Her brother might be being a stubborn idiot, but once he knew the situation he'd come around. Even when they were kids, they were closer to each other than anybody else. When their ultra-religious parents disowned Stafford for coming out to them as gay, Jessica had disowned them right back, and never regretted her choice.

  She hadn't had contact with her parents in years. Did she dare call them now? No. They’d never cared about her while she was trying to be their perfect angel, afraid her scatterings of magic meant she was devil-spawn. They wouldn't care about her now that she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock.

  "This is exactly why dragon-human mating ought to be illegal." Pearl brought Jessica out of her swirling emotions. "It's dangerous for human mothers to carry dragon young. How many girls have to go through this before the coven recognizes the problem?"

  Jessica was too heartsick to argue with her. She closed her eyes and tried to do some deep breathing to calm her racing heart. Pregnancy could be very hard on the cardiovascular system, and in her case there was an even higher risk. She had to keep herself in a calm state, both for herself and the babies.

  "I'm going to give you the number of a dragon specialist. He's got over three hundred years of experience in the field. If anybody can help your babies pull through this, it's him."

  Jessica opened her eyes and reached for the paper, but Pearl took it before she could. "I'll call him for you, honey."

  The midwife smiled at Jessica. "Try not to worry too much. You'll just have to hope for the best and get lots of bed rest. Got it?"

  Jessica nodded, not daring to speak. She just wanted to be alone right now so she could call Stafford. As Pearl showed the midwife out, a frown creased her brow. Call him? No. She wanted to see him, to demand to know what his problem was. She wasn't going to keep lying around. She was going to get right up in his face.

  He couldn’t ignore her then.

  ***

  In the end, the only thing that Jessica could find to wear to go and see her brother was a giant orange Mumu. It was a hideous thing that made her look like a pumpkin, but that didn't matter so much when she slipped out of the dorms for the first time in nine weeks. She cradled her distended belly with her arms, feeling even more off balance than usual. She made sure to take every step carefully to avoid falling flat on her face.