Page 7 of Demons of Eden

A little voice in the back of my head whispers the possibility he did this all on purpose, but I ignore it for now. There are bigger things to worry about. I can have a crisis over who Ash is or isn’t later; I need other answers first because seven weeks?The festival was only twelve days ago!

“What do you mean by the equivalent of seven weeks? None of this is making any sense to me. How do twelve days turn into seven weeks?”

“Well, for the first two weeks, it’s basically the same as a regular pregnancy. They’re counted from your last period rather than from the day of conception, so there’s no change there. From conception, the pregnancy progresses much faster, though.” She pauses, allowing that to set in before continuing, “Demon reproduction isn’t something I know a whole lot about, but I do know the very basics about hybrid pregnancy between a demon and a witch. The foetus develops roughly three times as fast from conception onwards, essentially meaning that two weeks after conception, you’ll be the equivalent of roughly eight weeks pregnant. It’s the normal two weeks of your cycle, plus two weeks at three times the normal growth rate.”

“It’s growing at super speeds? Is there anything we can do?” I demand, more than a little horrified at the mental image of something growing so quickly inside of me. What will that do to my body?

“There isn’t. As far as I know, anyway. I’m sorry, Eden. There’s no way to slow down the pregnancy.” She hesitates, taking a moment before adding, “There’s no way to terminate it, either.”

“I knew that much,” I grumble.

There’s a reason why witches don’t risk sleeping with demons, and it’s not just our two species' rivalry. Alone, the rivalry likely would have provoked a little hate-fucking in itself, if not for the inherent danger in risking it for this particular thrill. With witches knowing of no way to end an accidental pregnancy when the child has demonic blood, those who don’t approve have only one go-to solution for the problem. Unfortunately for me, it’s the permanent kind.

“I am so fucking dead.”

“No, you’re not. Just because I don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t. We’ll figure this out.” Suvi squeezes my hand again. “I’m not letting anyone hurt you,” she adds with a fiery look in her eyes. My heart pinches; fear and guilt are a real bitch of an emotional cocktail to swallow. How am I supposed to accept that being close to me will put her in danger?

“What’s there to figure out? And who could we ask for help?” I demand, shrugging off her comfort as the full reality of my situation really sets in, along with the full weight of panic. I’m not trying to be harsh, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so epically fucked in my entire life. That’s it. I’m hunting Ash down. I’ll turn him into a barbecued demon. This is all his fault, the stupid soon-to-be chargrilled fucking hellspawn! “If our coven elders find out, I’m so dead. No one in history has figured out how to remove the demon without killing the mother!”

And I sincerely doubt they care enough about me to put much effort into trying in the first place, which means I’m definitely a dead witch walking at this point. The clock is now ticking down to my imminent doom, just as soon as they figure it out…

“How are they going to know?” Suvi asks, sounding almost irritated at my admittedly depressing assumption. “I’m notgoing to tell them, and I’d hope you’re sane enough not to go blabbing around about this either.”

“I think they’ll notice,” I retort, unable to make the sudden horrifying mental image of my stomach stretched out vanish from my brain. I’m pretty sure everyone will notice my belly going from flat to looking nine months pregnant in only three months. “How does it even protect itself from termination anyway? It’s a clump of cells. It doesn’t seem fair for us to be so easily outmanoeuvred by it, demon cells or not.”

“It’s actually no more aware than a regular foetus,” Suvi informs me gently. “It’s an automatic defence mechanism, not a conscious decision on its part.”

“Yeah, and now I don’t get one because of it,” I snap while resting my head in my hands. My fingers rub the top of my head as my thumbs massage my temples, trying to fight off the headache which is only getting worse. “What am I going to do?”

“I’m not going to lie to you. This is a shitty, dangerous situation, Eden. There are people who are going to want to kill you to stop this, and others who will stop at nothing to get their hands on this baby. Its potential for power is…well, we both know a hybrid of the two species far outclasses either on their own.”

“I thought as my best friend you were supposed to make me feel better, not confirm all of my worst thoughts.”

“I wish I could,” she says sadly, yet also firmly. “What about the father? I’m guessing from the fact you didn’t know he was a demon, you don’t know him very well? No judgement. I’m only trying to figure out if he could possibly be of any help.”

“Yeah, we only met once,” I admit. A mental image of Ash at the bar, his golden amber eyes reflecting in the club’s flashing lights, begins taunting me as I think about him. “He was so nice, Suv. At least, I thought he was. He seemed perfect, too perfect for me. Honestly, I never would have thought he was a demon.We talked for hours, right till closing, and then…I’m sure you can figure out the rest.” I gesture at my stomach, carrying the result of the night’s activities. “I think I feel so stupid because I actually liked him. I’ve been kicking myself for freaking out and running off in the morning practically every day since then.”

“Maybe he is nice,” Suvi says, suggesting the idea like it’s an actual possibility and not entirely wishful thinking on my part. “Not all demons are murderous assholes. It generally depends largely on their subtype, and even then, no species or group of people are a monolith. There’s a reason the Witch Council keeps the bounty list rather than allowing all-out attacks on their kind when they’re in our world.”

“So what, if he’s not on the wanted list, I should assume he’s an upstanding demon?” I ask sarcastically, already knowing many demons must slip under the radar. To be on the list, there has to be evidence left behind or witnesses alive to talk about it. What are the chances I met a demon who doesn’t use other species for sacrificial magic or as playthings to use and discard, dead or alive? From all the stories I’ve heard, I’m not sure which is worse.

“Look, I know you’re worried. You have every reason to be, but I don’t think you’re a bad judge of character. If he's anything like you felt he was, maybe he would want to help? He’d be able to assist with your magic levels, and he could protect you if other witches find out.”

“That’s a lot to expect from someone I met once,” I point out. “Even if he isn’t murderous, it doesn’t mean he’ll give a fuck about me and the situation I’m in.” The situation he put me in, knowing damn well I was a witch when he hit on me. Hell, he watched me take the potion to prevent exactly this! Did he know it wouldn’t work?

“Fine, assume selfish motivations then. Maybe he’ll protect and help you for the baby? He wouldn’t be the first demonto want a hybrid child, and their species is supposedly very protective of their young. Nobody ever really sees demon children running about our planet, do they?”

“And what? I should just hand them over to be raised by a demon?” I snap, surprised by the weird feeling of protectiveness which strikes me at the idea. I don’t want to abandon them. I thought I didn’t want this. Well, I hadn’t thought about if I did or not, but now…

“I didn’t say that. Even if you did agree to such a thing, you could always go back on it. There are plenty of demon hunters happy to take a job, whether the target’s on the official lists or—are you crying?” Suvi asks, apparently forgetting whatever it was she was about to say at the sight of the tears rolling down my cheeks.

“No,” I lie, sniffling a little as I try and swipe the offending streaks of water away. “I just don’t know how to be a regular parent, let alone how to take care of a babydemon. And I don’t care if it sounds stupid; I don’t want my body to change, but I also don’t want to give them up. If they’re going to exist, I can’t live my life knowing they’re somewhere without me.”

The tears continue despite my frustrating attempts at keeping them at bay, my body shaking with silent sobbing as I fail to hold it in. All the feelings I’ve been having throughout this conversation seem to overwhelm me at once. I’m left unable to do anything but cry. A box of tissues appears beside me, one of them shoved directly into my hand, and then two arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“What do demon babies actually eat, other than every ounce of my power? Will I make it to full term with it draining me to death? What if this turns into a shitty teen drama, and the baby claws its way out of me after sucking me dry? Who will raise them then?” The sob I release is a hideous sound, and I can tell my best friend is equal parts worried and resisting the urge tolaugh at the ridiculous noise. I never normally cry in front of people. Being a loud, ugly crier is enough to shame anyone into holding back their emotions till they’re safely alone.

“It’s okay, Eden,” Suvi promises gently. “Everything’s going to be fine. You know if anyone’s going to raise the kid other than you, it’ll be their favourite godmother, Suvi. The demon will have to fight me for custody.”

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