Page 79 of Demons of Eden

Torrin follows Rio in closely, arms crossed over his chest, a scowl on his face aimed at his brother.

“I told you to wait until they said you could come in.”

“They were finished,” Rio grumbles, as the other two men join us now.

“I’m thirty-five weeks, roughly, and yes, the baby is good. Should be here in the next ten days or so,” I say, rubbing my hand over the rounded belly that feels like it takes up most of my body.

“Ten days…” Daion’s eyes go wide, and he stands there staring at me. I nibble my bottom lip, feeling nervous.

“I need some things…”

“Oh, my car is loaded up.” Suvi shrugs before climbing off the bed.

“What?” I ask, frowning.

“I grabbed a bunch of gender-neutral baby stuff and some essentials for you as well.” Suvi rolls her eyes at me, like I’m crazy for ever doubting her. She glances between Rio and the other three. “Torrin, can you and Ash help me unload?” she asks as I start to struggle to try and get off the bed. Rio gives me a helping hand, doing most of the work, if I'm honest.

“You didn’t have to do that, Suvi,” I tell her, tears filling my eyes. Suvi rolls her eyes at me.

“Of course I did. Don’t be silly. Now you three stay here, and the three of us will go get everything.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

There’s a loud thump against the window, swiftly followed by another. Hoping it’s nothing, I keep my eyes shut, wanting to keep on napping for a while longer. Sadly for me, my heated body pillow, also known as Torrin, groans and shifts underneath me as a third irritatingly loud thump smacks into the glass.

“No, don’t move,” I whine as he starts to manoeuvre me off from him. It’s so hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in ever since my already sped-up pregnancy got accelerated, and I swear it only gets worse every day.

“Gotta go see…uuuh…stupid noise,” he grumbles around a yawn as he settles me back onto the mattress. “Sorry, baby.”

“Traitor,” I huff sleepily, burying my head into an actual pillow as I shift about trying to get comfortable on my side without him here. Mission impossible.

“Eden.”

Torrin’s concerned tone has me on edge immediately. With the fog of sleep abruptly torn away, I sit up, blinking a few times as I clear my eyes to look over at him. Torrin has pulled back the edge of the curtain, tapped away the sun blackout effect, and is now looking at the window with mild concern.

“What’s going on?” I demand.

“I’m…not quite sure, honestly,” he says, his voice a mixture of confusion and apprehension.

“What do you mean you’re not sure?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure there are a couple of sprites chucking stuff at your window.” Something else hits it then, and whatever it is shatters on impact. “Oh. Looks like they’ve moved on from tossing clumps of dirt to plant pots. It’s a good thing the window’s spelled or we’d have a lot of glass to clean up.”

“Fucking field sprites!” I curse, reaching out my hands and waving them at Torrin in an obvious request for help getting up quickly. “They’ve always hated me, but they stopped bugging me when I gave up going out into the fields to help plant stuff. I’ve learnt my lesson, I swear! Whatever it is, it wasn’t me!”

“I think they want our attention,” he replies while helping me stand.

“Well, they’ve definitely fucking got it.” I stomp over to the window, flicking off the locks and roughly pushing it open. “The hell do you bullies want?” I yell out, stumbling back into Torrin’s arms when one of them zooms straight in through the opening.

It circles the room in a flutter of green, making a piercing screech, leaving a scattering of tiny bits of dirt and leaves all over the floor and bed. I’m about to yell again when I realise the root-like strands that grow from its head are all stuck up, in an obvious sign of distress.

The door slams open, Ash, followed by Daion and then Rio, all rushing in and scanning for danger, pausing with the same confusion we’re feeling when they see the cause of the commotion.

“Is that?—”

“A screaming field sprite?” I finish for Rio, who seems to be the most disturbed by the scene they’ve walked into. “Yes, it is.”

“Why is it screaming?” Daion questions. “Aren’t they supposed to be calm creatures? Growing plants, eating bugs, maybe chasing some butterflies?”

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