ChapterThree
THORNE
This was wrong. Everything about it. I couldn’t let her leave thinking I was angry with her for what we’d done. My fingers twitched as I tensed, ready to blur to her side, but a strong hand landed on my shoulder, anchoring me.
“Leave her be. You and I have other matters to discuss.” Something in Caleb’s cool voice stopped me.
“I can’t just let her think I abandoned her.”
“You know what happens to hybrid babes. To their mothers.”
I did. That’s what had me so upset. If I’d done this to her, if I was the reason her life was now at risk... I’d never forgive myself. I could survive a lot of things, but not losing her.
“We need to make a plan.”
I snorted. “It’s bloody late for that. She’s already pregnant. The odds of it being one of ours...”
“It can’t be mine.”
“Why?”
“Because... fecking hell, I don’t know why. I’ve already ruined her, desecrated her. I can’t have done this to her as well.”
My lip curled up in a cruel smile. “Denial won’t save you now, Father.”
“It won’t save you either, Blackthorne.”
“I guess I’ll see you in hell then.”
Caleb bared his teeth at me. “Aren’t we already there?”
I raked my hands through my hair. “I can’t believe we were so reckless. How did this even happen?”
He raised a mocking brow. “Given the state she’s in and your eager participation, I don’t think you require my help explaining it to you.”
“But she was on suppressants. She wasn’t even in her fertile period when we were together, for Christ’s sake.”
“Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.”
“Oh, spare me your judgment, Priest. You, of all creatures, don’t get to sit atop a self-righteous high horse when you stuck your cock in her the same as the rest of us. Except I haven’t broken any vows by loving her. You can’t say the same.”
Caleb’s eyes tightened. It was his only outward reaction to my spiteful words, but I knew they cut deep. “Your youth is showing, Blackthorne.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“I mistakenly believed you meant it when you said you loved Sunday and would want to work together to find a way to save her. But apparently you care more about throwing a tantrum than you do taking responsibility for your part in this mess.” He turned and started walking away.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
He answered without looking at me. “Someone around here has to be an adult. Since you seem incapable of it, I guess that leaves me.”
I flipped him off. Childish? Perhaps. But it felt bloody good.
“Good riddance,” I muttered, taking two steps in the direction Kingston and Sunday had gone before coming to a halt.
Abomination.
I shuddered. I may not care for the self-righteous prick, but he was right about one thing. Hybrid births were problematic for a myriad of reasons. Not the least of which was their low survival rate and the havoc they played on their mother’s bodies. And I was already in enough trouble with the Council. If they found out about the babe...