Page 49 of The Goddesses' Gifts

“Ah, shit,” I scowled and hustled to camp.

I slowed my pace when I heard Oz’s voice. “If you let me go, we can go find Lobikno and he will know what to do.”

Lhoris’ answer was muffled.

“Ozanna?” I called.

“Lobikno!” she called back, sounding relieved. “Thank the Mother! Get over here, Lhoris needs you.”

“Eughhh,” I groaned. “No, Oz. That’s your job!”

“Oh, for pity’s sake,” she grumbled. “He’s unwell, you ass!”

“Oh,” I said and started walking towards them. “Lead with that next time.”

I found Lhoris on his knees more or less trying to insert his face through her navel.

“I think I figured out the problem,” she said with a rueful half smile. “He doesn’t know how to do the current thing …” she trailed off, waving her hands over him in a near panic. “He doesn’t know what to do. He won’t let me go.”

I stood there with my hands on my hips staring at them, dumbstruck by what she was saying. “Well, shit.”

“Agreed,” she nodded. “Now please, do something?”

How could he have known? Between the torment of Irnon’s gift, the bond from the miscarriage, the whole near-death experience, and, most importantly, believing he wasn’t the father … how the fuck could he have known that aching pull was his baby calling for him?

My mouth went dry when I moved to stand behind Lhoris. “It’s pretty instinctual,” I said, not exactly to Oz or Lhoris, but part of me knew it was a good thing to say. “A lot of elves need someone to syphon their current the first time they try to draw it out.”

You could learn to do more with it, but that was for those with uncommon talents. I hadn’t learned how to do it until there was a pregnancy to tend, which had unfortunately been one of Dulanzo’s little pets ... a community project. She didn’t cry when it was my turn to hold her belly. I didn’t mistreat her, just let her stare at me with her blinking, listless gray eyes …

I stopped breathing for a moment and shoved that thought as far away as I possibly could. This would be important to Lhoris. I couldn’t let the bullshit of my past intrude on one of the few meaningful moments I could share with my little brother. If he was still in the woodlands with the Pernala’s, his foster father would have prepared him for this role. A role I might have realized needed filling sooner if I hadn’t been so intent on keeping away from Oz.

“Lobikno,” Oz said, her wide eyes set on Lhoris. Her shaking fingers combed through his hair in an attempt to soothe him. “Please?”

“Yeah,” I nodded and put my hands over his and nudged his left hand with a little pulse of my magic. It passed through and caught the very edge of his current and pulled it out. He twitched in surprise. I caught my little pulse of energy in my right hand and took a few steps back.

“You just make sure you catch it with the other hand, so you don’t lose more than you need to,” I cautioned. “If there’s two babies in there, she probably can’t keep up with the demand for power.”

“Two,” she winced. “I was okay until you said it, Lobikno. Two? I thought Zelfek was full of shit when he mentioned the possibility.” And then she covered her face in her hands and started to fucking cry, of all the ridiculous things. “Why’d you have to say it?”

I wasn’t fucking ready for any of this. I’d managed to keep myself calm through our earlier talk but to be blindsided by this little complication … and then ... Tears were always followed by beatings. Angry, terrifying tears. My old survival instincts kicked in and I checked the bond to make sure Oz wasn’t angry. She wasn’t. Just sad and scared.

She isn’t going to hurt me.

“All the shit we’ve been through, and the thought of twins is what breaks you?” I asked in an incredulous whisper.

“I’m not broken,” she sobbed. “I’m just a person and I might be carrying twin sibling cousins.”

I blinked at her and scrunched my nose while I thought about that. “Well, when you put it like that ...”

She gestured at me, “See, you get why it’s upsetting.”

My face heated. “It’s not like there’s any incest involved.”

“No, it’s just …” She sputtered. “… incest adjacent.” She moaned in misery.

I pressed my lips together to stifle the giggle that wanted to bubble up. “That’s a little dramatic,” I snorted.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she grumped, but she stopped leaking. “I’ve had a day.”

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