Page 36 of Grabbed By the Guard

Does he buy it? Does it matter?

Ugh.

Either way, Glaine lets it go.

“I’m sure I will see him soon enough,” he says. “Just like I’m assuming that, since he sent you to greet us, I haven’t been banished from Nuit.”

For a second, I don’t know why he would be—and then I remember. Technically we’re fugitives from the duke’s dungeon, aren’t we?

I wait to see how Loki will respond. If he knows we’re trouble—and the chains were a big clue, I bet—then he might kick us out, leaving me to have to look for another mage.

Only he doesn’t. Instead, he simply says, “You are welcome.”

Glaine bows his head. “Then I would like to take my mate to my quarters.”

Loki nods, then turns, leading the way back into the village. “Of course. And—” His head snaps up, nostrils flaring as he tilts his head to the left. “My Kennedy? I know you are there.”

“Sorry, Loki,” comes a sweet voice that doesn’t sound a little big apologetic. “But I haven’t seen another human mate since Hope and I was curious?—”

Wait. Human mate?

That voice… it isn’t Glaine’s essence translating Sombra to English for me. It’s actually someone speaking my language.

Excitement mingled with homesickness rushes through me as someone steps out from behind the nearest structure.

CHAPTER 14

KENNEDY… AND LILITH

BILLIE

It’s definitely a human woman. She has a heart-shaped face, dark blonde hair that falls down her shoulder, and a pair of big, brown eyes.

Oh, and she’s visibly pregnant.

Is that what I have to look forward to if I decide to throw caution to the wind and continue this adventure in Sombra? Accept Glaine as my mate and start popping out half-demon, half-human babies while he keeps me pregnant and barefoot in the demon version of a kitchen I can’t use?

I chuckle wryly as I look down at my ash-covered feet. Looks like I got the barefoot part down pat before looking up to see that, while I might’ve stared at her belly before, she’s now gaping at me

Okay. I know I’m a hot mess. I got spoiled at the doppelseers, but they obviously didn’t have any curly girl products. Plus my poor dress is trash.

But is it really that bad?—

“Oh my God! You’re Billie! From Thr33peat.” She cocks out her hip, showing off the slight bump of her belly as she strikes a very familiar pose. “‘One, Two, Three’,” she sings out, managing to match my contralto voice, Tandy’s soprano, and Sierra’s signature rasp in the way she calls out each of our ridiculous stage names. She goes from high to low—just like we did—waggling her finger a little when she gets to Sierra’s ‘Three’ before she straightens, cradling that same bump. “You’re Two!”

I’ve run into fans in the strangest of places. Nothing weirder than having a woman about your age start singing one of your fifteen-year-old hits while you’re awkwardly folding your panties in a laundromat, I’ll tell you that, but I’ve learned to take it all in stride. When it’s between having someone recognize me randomly or having a face that everyone on Earth knows, I’ll take a handful of weekly encounters while still living my life over being trapped in her own fame like my best friend.

Does that mean I expect to find a Thr33peat fan in Sombra? It was one thing for Glaine to tell me that there are a handful of human mates who live in his realm. He’s immortal. Time runs differently here. I just never thought that the first one I’d run into would not only be my contemporary, but also the right age to be into my girl group during our heyday.

“I prefer Billie.” My voice is firm, but I temper it with a smile.

“I’m Kennedy. Wow. I was a huge fan growing up. I was crushed when you guys broke up, but… hang on. Do you still know Whiskey Rose?”

My smile doesn’t waver. This is pretty common, too. The second anyone puts two and two together—or Two and Three—and realizes that my former bandmate is one of the most popular performers in the world, they inevitably wonder if we kept in touch. That’s why it was such a big thing when I went to the Jessica’s Journey premiere with Sierra before Patrick Ridgefield opened fire. If only for one night, I stepped back into the limelight beside Sierra instead of standing behind her.

Kennedy. Suddenly part of what Loki said makes sense. The demons in charge passed on the responsibility of me and Glaine to Loki because he has a human mate.

A pregnant human mate.

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