“It’s as good a name as anything.”
A reluctant smile pulls at the edges of my lips. “You can’t even turn into a bat.”
“Rylan can.” Wolf makes a show of shuddering. “Freakish thing. Too big. Could probably carry you on its back if you wanted.”
I feel the man in question approaching. “I think he’s done with his call.”
“Spooky.”
I shoot a look at Wolf, though I can feel Malachi watching me. There’s a tension about him that makes me think he’ll lunge forward if I suddenly topple. It’s a strange thought, that he’ll always be there to catch me. I trust him. I do. But my need to stand on my own is nearly overpowering. “I’m fine, Malachi.”
“You’re shaking.”
I hate that he’s right. I lift my hand and study the tremors as Rylan closes the distance between us. He’s moving inhumanly fast, and I shouldn’t be able to track him so effectively as a result. The seraph bond is freakish.
Too much change. Too much information. Too little time.
Dealing with the long-term effects of the seraph bond will have to wait until we’re out of crisis mode, whenever that happens.Ifit ever happens. The thought depresses me. Instead of responding to Malachi’s question that isn’t a question, I twist to face the door as Rylan walks through.
His expression is a careful mask, giving away nothing. “I spoke with her.” He doesn’t make is wait, thankfully. He just sighs. “It’s…complicated.”
“Threat?” This from Malachi. He links his fingers through mine, tense enough that I can tell he wants to haul me back into his arms and wrap me up in himself. I’m not entirely opposed to the idea, but I just got done telling him that I need to stand on my own, so I can’t walk back on it now.
Rylan shrugs. “She didn’t start making threats, but that’s not how she operates. At this point, she’ll wait and see, and if she decides she needs to act, we’ll hear from her in a decade or so. Shedidgive some interesting information.”
He moves, strangely stilted, and sinks onto the edge of the bed near me. “When seraphim became pregnant, they would retreat into their fortified locations for the duration. Based on when they’d go missing, it was estimated that the gestation cycle is similar to a vampire or human. Forty weeks, give or take.” He looks at me, dark eyes conflicted. “We don’t have information on what happens during that time. They would disappear with a retinue of vampire…servants…and reappear with a brand-new seraph baby. Most of the time, the vampires that went with them were never seen again.”
Wolf whistles. “Suppose it’s too much to pretend they were just moved to different colonies.”
“They wouldn’t be able to because of the seraph bond.”
Damn it. I press my lips together, fighting against the urge to scream that it’s not fair. That we deserve to catch a breakfor once.“You think they drain the vampires and kill them during the pregnancy.”
“We don’t know what to think,” Malachi cuts in with a warning glance at the other two. “Seraphim don’t drink blood.”
“Other ways to drain a victim.”
“For fuck’s sake, Wolf. Shut up.”
Drain them of power, of life, of what makes themthem. The thought leaves me cold. I was only interested in blood when I lost control earlier, but that’s the thing: I wasn’t in control at all. If that hunger had switched to more magical things, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Neither would the men. “You have to leave.”
“Absolutely not.”
I glare at them all. It’s not easy with them arranged the way they are, but I make a valiant effort. “I am not endangering you just because I’m pregnant. That wasn’t part of the bargain.”
“None of this was.” Rylan shrugs. “We work with the realities we have. It might be that you’re just mirroring a full vampire more than your seraph half. They need to consume large amounts of blood.”
“I’ve never needed blood before.” I was never even offered it until Malachi, so if that was a requirement of living, I would be long gone. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“It makes as much sense as anything.” He doesn’t look away. “We are working on theory here. There’s no reason to jump to the worst-case scenario.”
“That’s enough.” Malachi’s voice has gone harsh. “We all need sleep and then we need to come up with a plan for tomorrow. Everything else can wait.”
Until I get hungry again. Or the magic goes weird. Or…
We have been more unlucky than we’ve had breaks that went in our favor. First we used me to break the blood bond that trapped Malachi, only to discover I was actually half seraph and had bonded with all three men. A seraph bond isn’t something that can be reversed.
Then, we finally thought we’d have some time to figure things out, to explore the new powers the bond had allowed us to share, only to have my father show up and take the men.