Page 108 of The Deer and the Dragon
My heart stuttered again as I remembered Azrames yanking me on the shores of the lake.
Be reverent.
I had no idea if my choice was clever or foolish, but I had no cards left to play. I swallowed as I handed it over. She raised a speculative brow as she eyed the bauble.
“What is this Norde to you? Geir, you said?”
I swallowed again.Great-grandfatherwould make my blood too thin for the clairsentience I’d need to satiate her anger, butfatherwasn’t believable for my delicate scent. “He was mygrandfather,” I said, hoping that the extra quarter might make my gift for seeing through the veil believable. My mother and her quarter blood certainly appeared to have no trouble communing with angels.
“Truthfully,” I said, looking at Anath, “I have no idea who you are. Please don’t take that as disrespect. I came to the clinic because it has the best reputation in the country for fertility and because…” My throat bobbed once more as I looked for ways to word what I was saying so they wouldn’t detect dishonesty. It was true. I hadn’t known who Anath was, and they could see the earnestness on my face. I did my best to play into her suspicions, heeding Caliban’s advice by acknowledging my fae connections. “I’m an unconventional person who was raised knowing of my grandfather’s people. I’m seeking…unconventional solutions. I think we might be a good fit for one another.”
The doctor turned the broach over in her hand gently, allowing the tiny, spoon-like dangles to clink together delicately. She eyed the ornate tree in the center.
I was surprised when she returned the broach to me. Some part of me thought she’d close her fingers around it and melt it down. Instead, after a terrifyingly long pause, she gestured for me to take a seat once more. The panic subsided as quickly as it had flared.
“My apologies, Merit Finnegan. Clairsentience is a rare gift, and my clients have been almost exclusively human. I hope you’ll be gracious enough to understand why it might make us…cautious. Please, Anath, offer your apologies.”
Anath released me slowly. “Are you harmed?”
I shook my head numbly, sinking back into the chair. Fear was appropriate, so I didn’t try to hide it. She stepped away.
“Your apologies, Anath,” the doctor repeated. “Miss Finnegan is a VIP client in more ways than one.”
The woman’s jaw remained set, her expression dispassionate as she said, “I extend my regrets.”
And because I was still reeling, the best I came up with was “No problem.”
The worst had happened, and I’d overcome it.
This was working out even better than I’d hoped. She’d detected no lies when I’d told Anath that I was ignorant—whether the woman in the tailored suit was a demon, fae, entity, or angel, I had no clue. If I was lucky, Doctor Ayona would assume that the only thing I’d acknowledged was an understanding that, because I was a citizen of a different realm, the fertility clinic might provide answers that I couldn’t get in the mortal world.
“How exactly did you hear of me?” Doctor Ayona asked at last.
Unfortunately, her compatriots stayed uncomfortably close.
Jessabelle remained on my side of the desk while Anath rounded the desk to stand behind the doctor. The intimidation made it difficult to grasp for something believable. The same sensation of flipping through vivid blurs of colors and sounds as I searched my memories blinded me before I pieced together as many half-truths as I could into a Frankenstein of an answer.
“From a demon,” I said hoarsely. “My friend—a Norde—is partnered with a demon.”
She didn’t have to know that those two statements were not connected. It might just be enough.
Doctor Ayona looked over at Anath. “I wasn’t aware the demons knew of our operation, though I suppose if it had to be anyone… How are our relations with Hell?”
Anath furrowed her brow. “Do you mean the realm in its entirety or your kingdom here, Astarte?”
I had assumed from the moment I met her that I was speaking with Astarte, but hearing it on Anath’s lips was something else entirely. Her mighty kingdom of Bellfield, with its elite, private fertility clinic, her captured god, and her terraformed seal.
Astarte narrowed her eyes slightly, which prompted Anath to continue.
“Our relations are nonexistent. We are neither friend nor foe.”
“Let’s keep it that way,” Astarte said. Anath offered a shallow bow in acknowledgement. The doctor turned back to me and repainted her face with professionalism. “There are defectors all the time, Merit. If the Nordes haven’t claimed you, then allow me to welcome you to my little kingdom. I understand, of course, that a bestselling author has a life to live and that life requires motherhood. I think we could strike up a bargain, if you’d be so inclined?”
The word stabbed through me.
I could almost see Caliban’s silver eyes glint like chipped ice as she tempted me to violate one of the few things he’d made me promise. I fought the urge to look over my shoulder and peer out the window at the BMW.
“What do you have in mind?” I asked, wanting to stay both conversational and noncommittal. I assumed it was fine that I no longer sounded relaxed. They had to realize they’d just struck me with the terror of a goddess’s wrath.
