Midnight Marked (Chicagoland Vampires 12)

“No,” I said, and when she looked at me, I said it again. “No. Big no, little no, no. We’re not trying to get pregnant, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you or trust. It doesn’t have anything to do with anything, really. It’s just—it may not ever happen. It’s all very fuzzy and up in the air.”

She frowned, then cast a quick and wary gaze at my crotch before lifting her gaze to mine again. “You’re going to need to explain that. Jeff was vague on the details, and I’m not really sure I understand how pregnancy could be fuzzy or up in the air.”

“Because it’s a prophecy, not a pregnancy test. Gabriel thinks we’ll have a child—me and Ethan. But that would basically be a miracle among miracles.”

“Why?”

“Because no vampire child has ever been born.”

She leaned back in surprise. “Ever?”

“Forever ever. Three known vampire conceptions in the entire history of the world. None made it to term.”

Her expression fell. “Damn, Merit. Those are pretty shitty odds.”

“They are. Which makes Gabriel’s prediction that much more awesome, and that much more questionable. And, to add insult to injury, we have to go through some kind of test before it happens.”

She frowned. “What kind of test?”

“I don’t know. Something bad that we have to endure.”

She snorted lightly. “Hasn’t there already been plenty of that?”

“I had the same question. I don’t know what it will be, or when, or if it’s sitting out there around the corner just waiting for us.”

Or were we already in the middle of it—this nightmare with Reed? Was this the nastiness we had to survive, individually and together?

“What?” she asked.

I shook my head, not wanting to talk about Ethan, but she thumped me on the shin. “Ow. You are violent tonight.”

She grinned. “It’s very effective. And if you don’t spill, I’ll do it again.” To prove her point, she made a circle of her thumb and index finger, held them near my shinbone.

“Ethan and I are fighting. I think.”

“That is just shocking, because you’re both so easygoing.”

“Sarcasm will get you nowhere.”

“I disagree, but I’ll skip the argument. Spill.”

I sighed. “You know about the Botanic Garden?”

“I got the earful, yeah.”

“He found out Reed was going to be there by calling my father, having him make a phone call or something, confirm Reed’s attendance.”

“Hmmm,” was all she said.

“Yeah.”

Mallory pulled up her knees, wrapped her arms around them. “The territory near your father is tricky, tricky ground. On the one hand, yeah, he’s an adult. Could have told Ethan to pound sand. And just making a phone call isn’t necessarily risky.”

“And on the other hand?”

“On the other hand, Ethan even potentially involving your father with Reed again? That’s dicey.”

“Yeah, it is. That’s exactly what I said.”