Page 60 of Wrath

“May I see it?” Lupe asked.

Kelsey handed it to him. “Be careful,” she warned.

Lupe began to scroll through the book with painstaking gentleness, his fingers ghosting over the brittle yellow pages.

Kelsey returned to her seat with an audible huff, one of her hands coming to rest on her protruding belly.

“You need to take it easy,” Bri chastised gently. “Brett will kill us if you overexert yourself.”

“Brett can suck a dick,” Kelsey murmured, though her tone held a note of fondness.

Z cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. “How far along are you?”

“Seven months,” Kelsey answered with a heavy sigh. “But it feels like forever. So many goddamn tests and appointments.”

“Jolene is a trained doctor, both for humans and nightmares,” Stefan explained to Z, his hand flexing on the table as if he wished to reach for her. “She’s been helping Kelsey through the process.”

“I’m doing what I can,” Jolene confessed. “But…”

She nibbled on her lower lip anxiously.

“But?” Z prompted.

“No one knows what the fuck is going to pop out,” Kelsey said.

“What do you mean?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“There aren’t a lot of cases of a nightmare and a human having a baby,” Zander said. “Hell, I don’t know of any, now that I think about it.”

“Me neither.” Jolene shook her head solemnly. “And I’ve been in the medical field for forty years now.”

“I wonder if we’re just not aware of their existence because they’re forced to remain hidden.” Stefan tapped his chin in contemplation. “Or maybe this is evolution in the making. Maybe the world knows that things need to change.”

“Well, at least I’m not alone in my misery.” Kelsey rested both her hands on her stomach and leaned back, kicking out her feet. She locked eyes with Z and smiled. “I apologize if I’m putting my nose where it doesn’t belong, Liberator, but how far along are you?”

What. The. Hell?

TWENTY

Z

Istared at Kelsey incredulously…before breaking into laughter. Tears actually pricked my eyes as I doubled over.

Once I finally got myself under control, I wiped at my face with the backs of my hands and said, “I’m not pregnant.”

Kelsey’s lips pursed. “You’re not?”

Disbelief saturated those two words.

“Fuck no.”

Kelsey opened her mouth as if to protest, but Stefan cleared his throat.

“Let’s get back to the conversation at hand. We need to stop these monsters before they can reach the capital. I have already assembled a team of our best fighters. They’ll be ready to move whenever you guys are.”

“I don’t like going into this battle blind,” I confessed, then turned towards Lupe. “Lupe, how long do you think you’ll need to go through that book?”

“If I’m trying to find the creature simply based on the descriptions I’m given, then days. But…” He bit down on hislower lip before pushing back his shoulders. “But if I were to see the creatures up close, I could?—”

---