“What do you mean?” Lincoln asks, gripping my hand even tighter. He hasn’t left my side since he returned with help. Xane, on the other hand, is crouched in a corner looking a bit worse for wear.
“Who was the father?” he suddenly asks as he stands up.
Everyone turns to look at him and he fidgets in an unnatural way. He has completely lost his cool, and it is apparent that he has wanted to ask this since he heard of my pregnancy about thirty minutes ago and couldn’t contain it any longer.
Xanthe makes a small moue of distaste at him, but then she fixes me with a questioning stare. As does everyone else. Chrissy has also joined us, and she is less than happy to have her bedroom invaded by me and my current crisis, especially as Lincoln is sitting so close to me.
I remain silent, really not wanting to admit to them all that I have no idea, but I suppose I must come clean. “I don’t know,” I say eventually.
“Could it have been mine?” Xane asks, coming a bit closer.
I nod, as it was entirely possible, although I had my suspicions about who the father really was, but now isn’t the time to share.
“How far along?” he asks quietly.
“Four months,” I say, and his eyes pin mine.
“Four months?” he asks. “And you didn’t tell anyone?”
Well, Devon knew, but now also isn’t the time to share that news. “I wanted to be sure who the father was before I told,” I say defensively, and Lincoln turns to Xane.
“Enough! She does not need to have this conversation now,” he says.
Xane glares at me and I glare back, but then turn to Xanthe. “You said something isn’t right. I can feel it too. She was tough, really tough. There is no reason that this would just happen.”
Xanthe asks me to elaborate and so I tell them about all that has happened, and she nods her head. “Yes, it definitely seems unlikely this was a natural occurrence. I think you were cursed,” she states.
I sit up and my tender womb protests, but I need to hear more. “Cursed? By who?” I ask.
“That I don’t know,” she says. “If you say you didn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy, then who else could have possibly known?”
I shake my head. There is no way that Devon would betray my confidence like that. I think back to Pyleah’s reaction when she hugged me. She looked like she knew what was going on. Could she have done this to me? But why? Did she know it wasn’t Sebastian’s? All these questions are swimming around in my head and I sink back down to the pillows and close my eyes.
“I will investigate further,” she says and scoops up the basin.
I open my eyes and say to her before she Astraports out, “Thank you.”
Her face softens and she takes my hand lightly, giving it a quick squeeze, and then she is gone. Xane looks like he wants to say more, but when I look into his eyes, he smiles sadly at me and follows his mother out of the room.
That leaves me, Lincoln, and Chrissy. Awkward much?
“Go and get Devon,” Lincoln orders to Chrissy, not taking his eyes off me.
“You go,” she says petulantly.
He turns and roars at her. “Go!”
She looks defiant for a moment, but then she scampers off, leaving us alone.
He smiles at me and my heart melts. “I have missed you,” I say to him. “I wish that…”
“Don’t,” he says sadly. “Don’t tell me that you wish things were different.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, cupping his face. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, I always will,” he says. “You will always be the one, Liv, no matter what.”
I want to kiss him in that moment, but Chrissy has returned with Devon at record speed, probably fearful of that exact thing happening.