“The baby?”
I shoot a surprised glance at him, but the question seems to be in earnest. There are so many things I want to say, to bite back and hurt him like he hurt me when he walked away. Maybe pregnancy is making me soft though because instead I shake my head.
“I’m sure the baby is fine.” The look of relief on his face breaks my heart but I pause for a moment as I put the glass down. “They really took Omer?”
Ax nods and I’m surprised to actually see a note of empathy there and I tell him as much.
“I may not feel the same,” he tells me, “but I know you,milovat. You have a tender heart and care for those weaker than you. Even if I don’t understand your sadness, I am sorry for it.”
I let Ax wrap his arms around me, giving me comfort for the boy I can’t save.
∞∞∞
It’s a while later when we are all seated in the living room save for Brutus, who is out front keeping watch again. The dizziness seems to have left me, but now all I feel is hollow as I listen to Ax tell us what he found. How the guards backed out of their agreement to help us.
“Surely you can’t blame them after what they’ve seen,” Sammi argues with him and Ax rolls his eyes.
“They knew what The Watch was like before they agreed,” Ethan adds. “They knew the risks when they agreed to help.” He looks to Sammi for a moment before continuing. “I don’t feel bad leaving Tekir to its fate if its people won’t even help us rid it of The Watch. It was a grand idea, but I’m not risking my life much less for a town that is too cowardly to fight back.”
“Ethan’s right,” Emilio says. “And if even the best equipped guards won’t help or care, then I say we leave and good riddance. We’ll head home to Sicily; I have several places there that aren’t known. You all are welcome to come, of course.”
“You can’t judge people for being afraid,” I add. “These people have spent their lives free and only recently lost a lot of that. I’ve heard of the shit Tahar and his guys do and it’s horrible, even by Tomb standards. We can’t just do nothing!”
Ax shakes his head and is about to open his mouth when Sammi stands suddenly.
“I have to go.”
“What? Why?” Ethan stands, looking frantic at the announcement. She smiles at him, placing a hand on his cheek and I feel a pang of warmth for their growing affection.
“Don’t worry, it’s not bad. I have an idea, I need to go speak to some people though.”
I let my mind wander as they talk and don’t realize Sammi’s actually left until a hand falls on my arm.
“Ana?” Ax says and I get the sense he’s repeating himself. “You look tired. Why don’t you go upstairs and get some rest. Emilio said we can stay here for the night.”
“What about Ethan?” I ask even as I’m already standing.
“I’m going to stay in the slave’s quarters in the back. There’s two exits, so at least if they come back, I have a chance.” Ethan replies.
I frown but before I can object Ethan stops me.
“I’m not spending the night in the forest and can’t move for shit anyway,” he says, nodding to his injured leg. “May as well try to get a good night sleep and hope for the best.”
“Sammi?”
“Stop worrying about everyone else and go take care of yourself,” Ax says with a frown and I feel my lip turn up just a bit as I look at my man. His hair is getting a bit longer now, and his beard, though both are relatively clean and trimmed. Tattoos cover his skin, shiny scars peeking through and black eyes that seem to see everything. Despite all the gruffness, all the violence and death, he worries and cares and loves. Through all his faults, he is a good man.
“Okay,” I agree, and I see the hint of surprise in his face that I don’t object more. Truthfully, I’m exhausted. Maybe it's just the buildup of the last few days or the baby thing, but a warm bed sounds perfect right now. “Don’t be too long?”
Ax nods and I bid my goodnights to the rest and make my way upstairs.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Axle
Itry to plan for leaving tomorrow but can tell Ethan doesn't really want to talk and is focused on Sammi and what she's doing. The woman was annoyingly vague, but my own focus is far from those two, or even what we are going to do tomorrow. All I care about right now is my woman upstairs, and the ill-timed blessing in her belly.
Today when she passed out, I almost lost it. Hearing the commotion outside the closet and being able to do absolutely nothing was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It took everything in me not to burst out and rush to her side. When she said the baby was all right, I was amazed to feel relief. I can barely even comprehend the thought of her being pregnant, of what that means, but I still felt relief. It doesn't matter though.