“No, not necessarily,” Xane says. “It could be anyone.” He casts a glance at Devon who sits up suddenly with a look that says it all.
“You think that Other bitch did this?” he says with such venom that I have no need to worry if his affair with her is over for good.
“Perhaps,” he says mildly. He turns back to me and adds, “Your husband is also incredibly powerful now, and he always was a ruler.”
My mouth drops open in shock. “What? You think that Constantine did this?” I ask him angrily. “How dare you? There is a strong possibility it was his.”
“And a just-as-strong one it wasn’t,” Xane replies.
“That is what I meant by this being a targeted curse,” Xanthe interjects before this turns into a full-scale argument. “Whoever did this wanted you to remain pregnant with their child, but any others would be lost.”
Devon and I turn our shocked looks to her. “How is that even possible?” I ask.
“Anything is possible with black magick, if you are prepared to suffer the consequences,” Xanthe says.
The Underworld, July 2014 – Lincoln
“I want her out of this house!” Chrissy yells at him and he pulls her into a spare bedroom out of earshot.
He turns to her with a menacing look. “She has just been through a trauma. I am not kicking her out because you feel uncomfortable having her here.”
“Yeah, that’s the excuse. You are loving it, aren’t you, being her hero,” Chrissy says sarcastically, and he resists the urge to hit her.
“She just lost her baby,” Lincoln says, holding onto his temper. “How can you expect me to ask her to leave?”
“It’s easy. You say, ‘leave now.’ Simple as that. And I find it very convenient that she just happened to be in our garden when this happened. It was like she was looking for you to save her,” she says.
Lincoln has had enough of this. He slams her to the floor with a hand to her chest and the shock registers on her face. “I have had it with you and your jealousy. Get over it, or get out,” he growls at her.
She swallows and puts her hand on his. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I know that you still love her. But it’s over with her. I just want you to love me as I love you.”
“I do still love her,” he says. “I always will.” He takes his hand off her but doesn’t offer to help her stand. He hates this position he is in. Chrissy is his Alpha, but he resents her. He doesn’t want her and he sure as Hell doesn’t love her.
“She stays until she wants to leave,” he says with finality. “And stay away from her, she doesn’t need the stress of you right now,” he adds and heads to the door. He wants to go back to her and make sure she is okay. He wishes that he had known about the baby. It is obvious that Devon already knew. He is probably the only one she told. There was a time when the first person she would have told was him, and he can’t help but wish for those times again.
“I’m pregnant,” Chrissy blurts out as he turns the door handle.
He freezes and it feels like time is standing still. He turns slowly, ready to blast her for lying to him, especially now after Liv has lost her child. “That is sick,” he says as he looks at her.
“I know this isn’t the best time for this,” she says, cautiously approaching him, “but it is the truth, Lincoln. I swear to you.”
He remains silent, listening to her heartbeat. She appears to be telling him the truth and it hits his gut like a sledgehammer. “How far along?” he asks stiffly.
“Three months,” she says quietly. “I was waiting for the right time to tell you.”
“And you pick now to do it?” he asks bitterly.
“Lincoln, we are having a baby. We are your family now. It is time to move on from what you had with her and focus on the future. Your heir,” she says, putting her hand on her stomach.
He closes his eyes. He doesn’t want this. It is the last thing he wanted, but it is his own fault. In his grief over losing Liv, it had completely slipped his mind to curse himself again to not bear a child, and he has mated in Wolf form. Now he is stuck with Chrissy.
Liv will never take him back when she finds out about this. It was a slim hope that he has clung to. She was going to kiss him before he knew it, he was ready to lean down into her soft embrace and press his lips to hers and kiss her like she has never been kissed before, but now it has disintegrated into nothing. His anger boils up and he wants to hurt Chrissy for giving him this news now.
But he knows that if this is the truth, he must walk away from Liv for good, and it is going to be the hardest thing he has ever done. He knows that he cannot stay here so close to her, but more than that. There is no way he wants to raise a child that isn’t hers while he lives next door to her.
“Get your stuff together,” he says. “I am going to speak to the Pack. We are going back to Earth. Today.”
He turns his back to her and leaves the room with a heart of lead.