Page 122 of Viper

Ella placed a hand on her belly. “I worry they’ll say stuff that’ll upset the baby.”

Viper covered her hand with his own. “It won’t hurt them. I don’t think.”

Her head twitched to the side. “You don’t think?”

“Well, if it feels threatened or worries you’re unsafe, it might at least try to intervene.”

She went still, unease flickering over her face. “Define ‘intervene’.”

“I can’t. I don’t know exactly what tricks the baby’s got in their psychic hat yet.” Viper was intrigued to find out. “They’re less likely to act if I’m with you because they’ll feel more secure. They’ll trust that I’ll keep you both safe.”

A door to their left opened, and a middle-aged blonde in a white lab coat stepped out of the room. At that, they all stood.

She aimed a professional smile at their group. “Mia, I didn’t realize you’d be here. I’m guessing this is your sister, Ella. Hello, there.” Her gaze moved from Viper to Dice. “And you two men are?”

“Remember I said there’d be questions we may not answer?” Mia asked the doctor as they all approached her. “This is one of them.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get the scan underway.”

Viper gently urged Ella into the room. Mia followed, but Dice remained outside to stand guard on the other side of the door.

The room they entered was a clinical white with only three chairs, a small table, a narrow bed, and a bunch of medical equipment.

The doctor offered her hand to Ella, who quickly shook it. “I’m Dr. Greene. Mia tells me that you’re roughly three weeks into your pregnancy.”

“That’s right,” Ella told her with a nod. “I drank plenty of water in advance, my bladder is as full as it can get.”

“Excellent. It’ll make the ultrasound image clearer.” Greene turned on the ultrasound machine and pressed some buttons. “If you could just lay down here for me and raise your t-shirt, that would be great.”

Ella lay on the bed and inched up her tee. She grimaced when the doctor squirted gel on her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Viper asked, his brows snapping together.

“It’s cold,” she groused, taking his hand. A hand she squeezed tight when Greene placed a handheld probe over her lower abdomen. “I’d better not pee.”

Stifling a smile, Viper dropped a kiss on her head. A frantic beat sounded. Fast as butterfly wings. And then a somewhat cloudy image popped up on the screen.

Sidling up to him, Mia spoke to the doctor. “I thought you said having a full bladder would make the image clear.”

“Generally, it would,” Greene told her, not looking away from the screen as she moved the probe along Ella’s belly. “But there seems to be an extra layer around the fetus. Almost a womb within a womb.” She glanced at Ella, curiosity lighting her eyes.

“No questions,” Mia reminded the doctor.

She nodded. “Right.”

Anxiety battering at her, Ella telepathically reached out to Viper and asked,Why would I have two wombs?

His mind softly stroked hers.You don’t. All celestial babies grow with their own protective film; it’s normal. Our baby may be half demon, but it seems they still have the added layer.

And this is a good thing? It’s basically extra protection for them?

Yes.Viper gave her hand a light squeeze.Stop worrying, all’s good.

Blowing out a steadying breath, she concentrated firmly on the monitor. She could make out the baby’s outline. Could see the little head and body. The vision made her swallow hard, her mouth automatically curving.

“I can’t tell you the gender, but I can tell you the fetus is more physically developed than I would have expected.” Greene spared Ella a swift glance. “I think you may be further alongin the pregnancy than you thought. At least by another three weeks.”

Or Ella was simply destined to have a shorter pregnancy, much like celestials. But she couldn’t say that.

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