Blood of Eve (Trilogy of Eve 2)

Michio dressed, pinning me with a stern look. “Tell them.”

My chest crushed beneath the weight of his command.

“Tell us what?” Jesse’s head snapped up.

His lower half was covered in sweatpants, the smooth skin of his chest glistening with water and his cheekbones sharpening with the intensity of his scowl.

Michio stepped behind me. I waited for him to lash out at Jesse and Roark for fucking me. Waited for him to blame Jesse for knocking me up.

Instead, he folded his arms around my waist and touched a warm kiss to my temple. “Do you want me to tell them?”

I shook my head and dug deep, searching for the right words.

Roark watched me struggle, his mouth turned down and his jade eyes several shades darker than usual.

I feared their reactions. What if they suggested an abortion? No, they would never want that. What if Roark turned on Jesse and beat the shit out of him? Or what if they weren’t upset? If they reacted with relief because humanity’s future was more important than my own? I mean, it was, but… Fuck, I was tangling myself up in what-ifs.

I pulled in a deep breath and pushed it out. “I just…I want you guys to be happy. I’m…God, I’m so happy, and I want you to feel this way, too.”

My eyes teared up. Fucking hormones.

Roark crossed his arms and gave me a What the hell? look while Jesse cocked his head and stared hard into my eyes.

Shit, I was dragging this out, making it worse. “I’ve experienced some weird changes. The extra energy. I can blow up bugs. The…uh, high-octane sex drive.”

Jesse’s eyes snapped wide, and his gaze dropped to my stomach.

“No.” Roark shook his head, his arms falling at his sides.

I clenched my fingers around Michio’s hands at my waist. “I’m pregnant.”

As the words left my mouth, Roark spun away and smacked his palms on the wall. His head dropped between the support of his arms, and the muscled line of his spine pinched as he sucked in a heavy breath.

My ribs constricted so tightly it felt as though everything was suffocating inside.

Beside him, Jesse paled. His shock quickly tightened into denial then darkened into anger.

“There must be a mistake,” he growled. “The child can’t be mine.”

The steam-filled bathroom closed in around me, the rush of my breaths adding to the stifling humidity. Had I been where Jesse and Roark stood now, listening to one of them tell me, in not so many words, he would be dying, I would’ve been in denial, too. Then I would’ve lost my fucking shit.

But instead I stood on the other side, enveloped in Michio’s arms, my heart breaking and my legs locking, braced for the ground to shake beneath the quake of their outrage.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed on Michio behind me. “She had an IUD.” The landslide of his voice grew louder with each word. “I saw it on the screen!”

He wrestled to temper his fury, his features distorting then smoothing as he reined himself in.

His tone lowered as he glared at Michio. “The child has to be yours.”

God, it hurt to see him grasping for irrational straws. Even more painful was watching his desperation wet the corners of his eyes.

Michio shook his head, his tone gentle. “You know she’s not mine, but she will be. I intend to raise her with or without you.”

His declaration was a calming whisper in my veins, filling me with weightless relief.

“This can’t be happening.” Jesse’s gaze swung around the bathroom and locked on Roark. “I want proof of his infertility.” His hands fisted at his sides, his feet braced apart, his neck blotching with the rise of blood. “This is not the prophesied child. It’s not!”

Roark lowered his arms and leaned a shoulder against the wall, his eyes pink and glassy, and his brogue cracking. “How far along?”

“Four weeks.” I watched with a tight throat as Jesse and Roark slumped beneath the gravity of my response.

Jesse pressed a fist against his forehead, and his mouth parted, fighting for air. Then he straightened and glanced around again, as if looking for an answer that disproved the one he refused to accept.

When his gaze returned to me, it was wider, harsher, and unblinking. “This is my fault. I knew better.” His jaw flexed, and his voice thundered through the room. “I fucking knew about the prophecy and did it anyway!”

I pulled out of Michio’s embrace and took a cautious step forward, my hands up, placating. “There’s no blame here, Jesse.” I touched my stomach. “This was supposed to happen.”

“No.” His teeth clenched, his lips drawn back as he glared at my hand on my belly. “Not this.” He stabbed a finger in the direction of my womb so forcibly his entire body launched with the thrust of his arm. “Anything but this!”

He pivoted and gave me his back, his hands curling around his nape, yanking his head down.