Page 87 of Prince of Ruin

Oh. Oh, shit. The realization slams into me like an ice-cold wave.

“It’s Clavicle’s,” he confirms just as I come to that conclusion.

My mouth drops open, but I can’t find any words. I’ve been looking at Clavicle as a fae all this time, even if he was trapped in a mortal body. Butsomehow seeing him as a fully human man who could reproduce with another human….

“Holy shit.” Fresh tears blur my vision, but they’re not the same ones I shed the past week. These ones are from joy, hope, a new start. Aden always dreamed of having a child. It was the one thing I could never give him, and I felt horrible for it. “We’re going to have a baby.” I study at Aden, a laugh escaping me—until I remember the volcano. Then terror seizes me. “What about Mother Terra?”

He spreads his fingers over his stomach and wets his lower lip. “I guess, now that I know there’s finally a little human growing inside me, I kind of feel what you were feeling. Protective to the point that I have tunnel vision for one thing. One person, who I would protect at all costs.”

I rest my head on his. “This is a helpless babe you’re protecting, Aden. That’s understandable. But you’re a grown adult, and I had no right to try and control you or your decision. There’s no excuse for how I behaved.”

He releases a shuddering sigh, then leans back and lies on the bed. I recline beside him, pulling him into my arms so his head rests on my chest.

“Mother Terra will have to take me by force,” Aden says. “Or risk losing all her worshipers when she wipes them out in her fury.”

I run my fingers up and down his back. “We’ll go to the human realms until everything blows over. Who knows? Maybe when you’re gone, she’ll decide to show some mercy. Either way, I’m here for you, Aden. Not to control you, but to serve you. And I swear by every god above and below that I’ll protect your baby at all costs.”

Aden nestles closer. “Ourbaby.”

I smile into his hair and press a kiss to his temple. “Ourbaby.” And, gods, how I wish Clavicle could have been a part of this little family. Not the ruthless prince I used to know, but the sweet, fidgety boy I’ve come to know. I wish he would have wanted it. That he wasn’t as put off by this world as he is.

“I always wanted to be a seahorse dad.”

I tilt my head and look down at him as he lies his head on my chest. “Seahorse dad?”

“Yeah. I mean, in our world, it’s the male seahorse who carries the eggs while they develop, and it’s the male seahorse who gives birth. So, when a transgender man like myself gets pregnant, they’re called seahorses.” His lips tilt into a small smile as he rubs his flat belly. “It’s one of the reasons I never had reconstruction surgery. Because, despite being a man, I always wanted to have a baby, too. And now I’m carrying a baby, Tarsus. I’m pretty fucking excited.” His eyes are shining with a new light that fills me with hope.

But then his smile fades, his fingers curling into a fist on his stomach. “I only wish Clavicle would have stuck around.”

My heart squeezes by the sorrow in his voice, and I wrap my arm around him.

“The Clavicle I knew would have rather died than returned to the human realms.Thisversion of Clavicle wants nothing more than to live a normal life among mortals.” I cover his fist with my hand, easing his fingers back out so both our hands are palm-flat on his abdomen where a mini-Aden grows. “I think he would have liked being a dad. But maybe not in this realm.”

“You’re on Team Clav now?”

I chew my lip. Sorrow tugs hard at my chest until it’s painful. “You know…it might be better for you to go back with him, until all this blows over.”

Aden snorts. “No thanks. He ditched us, Tarsus. I’m not going to run to him and ditch you all like he did.”

“Not even for your baby?”

He looks at his fist curled on his stomach. I link my fingers through his, unclenching his fist so his fingers link with mine, and give his hand a gentle squeeze. I wonder what Clavicle is doing now. It’s been a week, long enough for him to realize that he’s safe. No one’s coming to kidnap him from his world again and demand he make bargains with their gods.

Closing my eyes, I imagine him sitting on a bench in the park, surrounded by autumn leaves, a smutty book in hand while the sun dances off his pink hair, his shirt buttoned low on his chest like it had been at the Ren Faire. I imagine him shoving up his glasses, one foot tapping impatiently on the pavement as he eagerly flips the page to find out what happens. That’s the Clavicle Aden fell in love with. The Clavicle I now see clearly, who I’ve slowly come to care too much for, despite myself.

And for the first time since I banished him all those decades ago, I find myself hoping he lives a long, full life with no regrets. It’s what he deserves after all the pain he endured in this world.

My eyes are just beginning to drift closed when I hear a bang at the window. My body tenses, and I leap out of bed just in time for the window to shatter. I have bars on my windows, specifically to keep bats out, but Abaddon has no problem placing his talons on two bars and pulling them apart, forming a gap large enough for his massive bat body to squeeze in.

I leap in front of Aden. “Get the fuck out Abaddon!” I feel that power burning in my palms, surging through my veins. I’m strong, I’m powerful, but my magic is dedicated to harming none, and now I understand Wolf’s need to bear Shadow Magic. Because Abaddon uses one wing to easily throw meacross the room. I land with a thud against the wall, the air knocked out of my lungs.

“Not this time, Tarsus,” he roars.

I open my eyes just in time to see…to see…

“No!”

He’s grabbing Aden with his clawed feet while flapping his wings to take flight, like Aden is nothing more than a rag doll. And all I can think about is the baby in his womb.

---