Page 44 of Kings of Cruelty

Up until now,I thought I’d skipped the early pregnancy crap. That nausea everybody talks about, the weird mood swings, all of it had been zero problem. Sure, they wouldn’t give me the really good meds while I’d been shot, but apart from that… I guess the gunshot might have distracted from everything else.

Now I’m in the computer lab, and the professor is trying to explain a concept, and all I can think about is the smell coming from the coffee the student next to me is drinking.

No matter how hard I try to block it out, it only seems to smell stronger.

It’s a hell of a time for the baby—mybaby—to start making my body act up.

The thought of it, and the fact that I’m pregnant by what could be one of three men, is enough to make the nausea worse.

I’d thought I’d come to terms with that, too, but I guess the pregnancy hormones are in full force today.

My stomach lurches, and I stumble out of my seat in the computer lab. Everyone looks up at me, startled and annoyed, but before my professor can say a word, I’m darting for the door.

The area outside the computer lab is mostly empty; most students are tucked away in their own classrooms. It means that when I finally retch into a trash can, no one is around to see me vomit.

Fuck. It’s a relief when all the food comes up, but I know this won’t be the last of it. I’ve been feeling nauseated all morning. Yuri had picked up on it, even, and I’d told him I was absolutely fine.

I’m not fine.

I fold forward and kneel in front of the trash can, arms over my belly, and I will myself not to cry.

How am I supposed to do all of this? The studying, the baby, finding the weapons, dealing with Kyran and Silvano, and somehow navigating the weird moods Yuri, Nikolai, and Kotya are all in now?—

“Sierra? You look like shit,” an annoyingly familiar voice says.

For fuck’s sake. Why does italwayshave to be him?

“Gee, thanks,” I say, wiping my mouth off on my shirt sleeve. “I hadn’t noticed. Fuck off, James.”

Where is Yuri, anyway? I glance around, trying to spot him, but the only other student in the area is staring at us in fascination.

So glad I can put on a show.

“I’m worried about you,” James protests. “You’ve been acting so weird, you’ve had those two guys up your ass all the time,” I almost let out a hysterical giggle, “and you don’t want anything to do with me.”

“That would be because you cheated on me, and I’m free to do what I want with who I want,” I inform him. I start to go on, but the nausea flares up again, and I turn my head as I get sick again.

I’m not even done retching, still heaving over the trash can, when James says, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

I ignore him, more focused on trying not to make a mess than I am on him.

“Sierra?” he persists.

I groan, lifting my head again. “No. I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m just sick. I’ll grab my shit and head home so I don’t spread it.”

Like pregnancy is a disease.

Well, it certainly feels like it is right now.

James gets his phone out. “No way. Let me call an uber. Or 9-1-1. You need to take things like this seriously.”

“Oh, my god,” I lament. “James, it’s just a stomach thing. I’m fine.”

It would be beyond embarrassing to be ushered to the hospital for morning sickness, but I don’t want to tell him that I’m sick because I’m pregnant—because then I’d have to admit the truth.

Where the fuck is Yuri? I scan the area again, hoping he’ll pop up, but there’s still no sign of him.

“It’s no trouble.” James smiles at me, and for a split second I remember why I’d dated him. “I’m trying to look out for you.”

---