Page 91 of Minding the Minotaur
“Why were you there?”
Sammy bites her lip, and then in a low voice, she explains the events that led up to it. How she woke up from her coma, all the tests they did on her. Finally, she looks up at me, her eyes shining, and whispers, “Arlo. The results of those tests show I’m pregnant.”
My jaw drops. I try to say something, but all that comes out is a strangled growl.
“Oh—” Sammy’s face crumples. “Aren’t you happy?”
I wrap my arms around her, my jaw working. “Babe, I am. I am so happy. I mean… Ihoped, but I didn’t dare think it could happen so soon.”
“It’s very early days,” she rushes on. “There’s no guarantees. And with the coma, who knows… but at least I’m here with you now. Oh Arlo, they wanted to do experiments on our baby.”
Rage fills my chest. “WHAT THE FUCK?” I roar.
“They said they were going to… conduct tests while I was pregnant to see… I don’t know what exactly. Something about me having five times the enzyme levels of any of their other test pregnancies. It’s so scary, Arlo. What if… what if they come after me?”
“Let them try,” I growl fiercely. “The whole of the Labyrinth will rise up against them.”
She clings to me, her face still clouded with worry. “They saw you—bits of you. Enough to know you’re a monster.”
“They wouldn’t know what species I am.”
“But the enzymes in my blood… Eventually they’ll put it all together. It’s the same research company that you sold your sperm to, Arlo. They’re bound to work out it’s the same…” Her voice trails off, her features pinched and pale.
I’m silent, trying to take all this in.
Sammy continues, “I think it’s because you can breathe out there on Earth, but I can’t. And maybe our babycould…”
“Which means our youngling could live above ground,” I say, stunned.
“Yes, Arlo.”
“Fuck, I get it.”
“Now can you understand why I’m so worried?”
“I can, but they won’t find us here, I promise they won’t, pet. Me and Otis and Jax will make sure of it.” I sound confident, but the news has shaken me on so many levels, my head is reeling.
Fortuitously, Tippy arrives with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Sammy devours it ravenously.
“Ah, that does feel better,” she sighs, dusting the crumbs off her gorgeous tits.
“And now we need to stop talking about this, at least for now, and you must rest, and trust that I will keep you and our baby safe.”
She sighs. “I trust you, Arlo. And Otis, and Jax, now that I know he saved my life.”
“Yeah, well, admittedly, trusting Jax takes a leap of faith,” I laugh. I am finally, grudgingly, gaining a small morsel of respect for that malnourished-looking human.
I put my arm around her and stroke her hair, making soothing sounds, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. It still hasn’t quite sunk in that my beloved is pregnant. I am filled with a raw mix of joy and fear about what this could mean. One thing I know is that I must not let Sammy dwell on this. She needs to recover from her ordeal.
And I have to work out how to break the news to Otis that I have been sighted, however briefly, in the portal cape.
There’s no doubt that our sheriff will be mighty pissedwhen he finds out I’ve exposed myself, and all of us monsters, to danger, yet again.
But what choice did I have?
When I tell him Sammy is pregnant with my baby, he’ll understand. I know he’ll do everything in his powers to protect her. And by the sound of things, she is carrying a unique youngling, one that could have superpowers even.
It’s mind-blowing. But for now, I keep my thoughts to myself.
