Page 6 of Demons of Eden

“Well, you saw the nausea. Also, headaches and exhaustion. I’m all achy; stuff smells extra bad,” I list my symptoms off, trying to make sure I don’t miss anything. “And like you said, my magic is all weird. I can barely even use basic energy commands. I failed to summon a water bottle from across the room earlier; I’ve met toddlers with more power than I have at the moment.”

“Hmm. Well, it’s not surprising you’d struggle even with the basics, considering how low you are. How long has this been going on for?” Suvi asks while leaning over and placing a cool hand on my forehead, closing her eyes in concentration.

Knowing she’s still listening, even as she does her healer thing, I try to think of exactly when it all started. “I’m not sure when it began, maybe about a week ago? It wasn’t this bad at first. I was a little more tired than usual, but this morning I couldn't even get out of bed. I felt so awful.”

“Okay, I’m not picking up any obvious signs of curses or infections. Are you okay with me doing a more intense scan? You’ll feel my presence, similar to a shared meditation or collaborative magic. Some people also experience tingling, tickling, or mild burning sensations as it moves through their body. It shouldn’t hurt, though,” she explains. The words sound rote, like it’s something she’s had to repeat so many times before she’s on autopilot, forgetting who it is she’s talking to.

“You do whatever you gotta do, Doctor Suv,” I tell her jokingly, letting my eyes close as I wait it out. I trust Suvi to treat me, and I’d never worry about her presence pressing against mine anyway with how close the two of us are. Considering we’ve cast complex spells together before, where a little presence mingling is to be expected, it won’t be anything new. Not to mention that witch projects real hard in her sleep after drinking a little too much when we go out. I’m surprised the other witches in her building have never complained. Suvi has some really weird dreams, and getting sucked into another witch’s mind when you’re unconscious is a little like getting brain-punched. Once she projected an insane nightmare with cat-faced clowns and a constant sensation of falling. It was wildly unsettling, and she’d had the audacity not to remember a single thing about it!

Suvi’s hand pulls away from my forehead, and I feel her leaning over me, her familiar energy brushing against mine as she reaches out. As always, she feels like warmth, sunflowers, and full-bodied squeezie hugs, comforting in all the right ways. Despite having my eyes closed, while we’re connected, I’m fully aware of both of her hands being held a couple of inches above my head. She remains in the same position for a few moments before very slowly moving down my body, maintaining the same amount of distance between me and her hands as she searches for a cause to my sickness. It tingles as she probes away with her magic, but thankfully there’s no pain during the examination, not even a mild burning.

I can still feel the concern radiating from her, and because of the connection, I can also tell when her worry intensifies. She comes to an abrupt stop over my middle, hand dropping to press gently over my lower stomach. “There’s plenty of vitav remnants clustered here. Why is it being pulled—fuck.”

My eyes fly open, and I stare up at Suvi, who’s currently looking at my stomach like there’s some kind of evil alienparasite about to burst out from it. Goddess, please don’t let my life turn into a sci-fi horror flick. I’m pretty sure even witches can’t breathe in space. “Fuck?” I prompt her quietly, swallowing my nerves along with the lump in my throat.

“I’m sorry,” Suvi blurts, her voice sounding way too upset for my comfort. “I shouldn’t have said it, not here?—”

“Don’t worry aboutthat. You’re my best friend. I’d rather you talk to me as a friend than a patient. Honestly, if you’re saying fuck while trying to be professional, I’m guessing whatever’s wrong with me really deserves that level of reaction.” Trying to keep calm, I take a deep breath before asking, “So, tell me, what the fuck is it?”

Anything but an alien parasite, please.

“You’re pregnant.”

I take it back. Alien parasites are suddenly starting to sound not so bad at all…

“But it’s—there’s a complication,” Suvi adds. She really does sound terrified, her fear ratcheting up my own anxiety higher, even as I begin to doubt her diagnosis. Because how can I be pregnant? Since when? I’ve had sex with a manoncein the last six months, and that was less than two weeks ago! Surely, you don’t find out about these things so quickly? I’m not an expert in pregnancy or babies, but twelve days from conception doesn’t seem long enough to be making me this sick.

“I can’t be pregnant; it’s literally impossible.”

“Have you had sex recently?” Suvi asks as if she already knows the answer.

“Well, I did, but twelve days isn’t long enough for it to be causing morning sickness already. I don’t think,” I answer, desperately trying not to panic. Suvi has to be wrong. She has to be. “I used protection, a contraceptive potion! I made it myself, so I know it was good.”

“Outside factors can cause them to not work as intended, especially during a celebration of fertility, like the beginning of spring,” she points out, nervously wringing her hands as she steps back and takes a deep breath. “The species of the father, mixed with a sacred holiday for our kind. And of course there’s always a chance the potion could fail, no matter how well-brewed it was. Hell, some species don’t even respond to them. Like dragons. Their seed blows right through condoms too…” she trails off, seeming to realise she’s rambling a little.

Species of—Oh shit. He really was some kind of otherworlder, wasn’t he? Is that why the baby—thing—foetus is such an energy drain, both on my body and my magic? I know while magical beings from Earth generate their own energy internally from stuff like eating and sleeping, most otherworlders tend to syphon their vitav from outside sources.

“Do you know what kind of otherworlder?” I ask, already racing through the options in my head. There are a lot of otherworlders in existence, but not many come here, and even fewer come in large numbers, making a lot of them highly unlikely. I’m not certain if fae can reproduce with witches; honestly, I’m about ninety-nine percent sure they can’t. I sigh. It’s not likely to be one of them despite their kind being one of the more common visitors to our humble little plane of existence.

The only other species spotted as frequently as them would be…fuck. Ash couldn’t be one of them, could he?

“You don’t know?” Suvi asks, practically choking on the words as she stifles a horrified laugh, as if she might actually want to scream or cry instead. It does nothing for my slowly crumbling wall of denial.

I shake my head, unable to form words as the obvious answer stares at me right in the face. It also happens to be the answer any witch in their right mind would dread hearing. History tellsus very clearly what a terrible idea a child of our two species would be. They’re too powerful and destructive for any good witch to accept, for any coven to allow to live. I’d be an outcast at best and hunted down at worst.

“Well…congrats, bestie,” Suvi begins, words laced in an obvious, biting sort of humour, even as she reaches to squeeze my hand comfortingly in hers. It’s a physical anchor of reassurance as she breaks the terrible news in the way she knows will freak me out the least. I squeeze her hand back even tighter, needing it as she continues to verbalise what I already know and simply don’t want to accept. “You’re having a demon.”

CHAPTER FOUR

“Congrats, bestie. You’re having a demon.”

What Suvi said replays in my head several times before I can accept what I’ve heard. They’re words no witch wants to hear, especially not me, and definitely not like this. First of all, I haven’t really thought too hard over whether or not I want kids. I’m young, and I’ve never had a relationship get serious enough for it to be a real consideration. Secondly, a demonic baby isn’t exactly the same as having a witch one. Normal witch babies don’t warrant death threats, vitav draining, and, well, the presence of demons…

“You’re sure?” I ask once I find my voice again, despite knowing she wouldn’t be acting this way if she wasn’t certain. It’s not as if it doesn’t make sense. It would explain why I can’t so much as lift a bottle with my magic. Demons consume a hell of a lot of power, and apparently that applies to their unborn too.

“I am. I’m guessing you conceived on the first day of spring, after the festival? They feel about the equivalent of seven-ish weeks to me.”

“It would have been then, yeah,” I answer, images of Ash and the night we’d spent together flicking through my mind. Thatass. How could he not tell me he was a demon? He certainly knew I was a witch, and any demon would know that no witch in their right mind would be happy about hooking up with one of them. I’m sure there are plenty who aren't in their right mind who’ve done it, though.

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