Page 55 of Broken Pregnant Mate
She says nothing, just stares into the distance, and I feel a flicker of rage fly through me at the idea that Vern—either directly or indirectly—might be convincing another woman right now that she’s not as brave or amazing as she really is.
“Ash Fields,” I force the words out, glaring at her. “Look at me and listen to me right now. I’ve been a pushover for most of my life, letting the flow of it take me wherever it wants to—but not anymore. And that’s partly because of you. Seeing the way you live your life, how brave and confident you are, it’s inspired me to be something more. So you’d better sit the fuck up and pay attention, because those alphas in there? They need saving, and we’re the only ones left to do it.”
Ash blinks, lifts her head. I can tell she’s not quite there yet, so I go on, “I think a woman named Mary or something is messing with them.” I pause, still hearing the man across the room yelling about stones, and something occurs to me. “Mary might be messing with the stones? TheAmanzite? Does that mean anything to you?”
I don’t know why, but this makes Ash perk up for the first time, returning to the space behind her eyes. She unfurls, finally letting go of her knees, her brow furrowing. “Mhairi?” She breathes, head tilting, eyes widening, even more life returning to her expression. “As in Mhairi Argent?”
“I don’t know,” I shake my head, tugging on her wrist and trying to get her to her feet. I don’t know who she is, but I havea feeling, deep in my gut, that she’s going to try and hurt Aidan. “But we have to gonow. We can still tell the guys—”
Ash is pulling the shackle off her wrist, shaking it away, and running. Blinking after her, I follow, my body feeling weak as we race through the room, jumping over the bodies and mattresses in the way.
I’m going to warn Aidan. Fix this mess.
Carry my momentum all the way into telling Aidan about this baby, challenging him about his other mate. I’ll ask who she is, and if it turns out Ash is right, and he did lie to me about it—I’ll forgive him.
I just want him.
I just want himalive.
Ash and I run through the mansion until we come across an older woman in an apron bustling in the opposite direction, looking like she’s fleeing from something. To my surprise, Ash grabs her and pushes her up against the wall, snarling at her menacingly.
“Ash—” I start, surprised, but she ignores me when I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Amanzite,” she says, giving the woman a look that saysI’ll kill you. “Where is it stored?”
“Just—just down the hall,” the woman squeaks. “The code is just one, two, three, four.”
Ash releases her, and we race ahead, finding a large vault door. Ash punches it in, and the door swings open to reveal a massive storeroom.
It’s not just an Amanzite vault—it’s a treasure trove of weapons, vials, and artifacts. The room stretches deeper thanI expected, illuminated by strange blue-white lights that cast everything in an eerie glow.
Along one wall, hundreds of Amanzite stones are displayed on glass shelves, their dark surfaces gleaming with internal light. They range from tiny pebbles to chunks the size of my fist, each one radiating power that prickles my skin even from a distance.
Even though our Amanzite problem has been solved by making them from magic, I still feel the pull of the stones, the fear that we never quite have enough.
“Holy Goddess,” Ash whispers, stepping into the vault. “This is…”
When I glance at her face, I realize why she looks like that. I’m assuming Dorian doesn’t have any secret cache of goodies. This kind of thing is something that only comes from a leader as greedy as Jerrod—in fact, the line of the Blacklocks. Stealing from the pack.
I let my eyes wander over all the objects in the room—daggers with crystalline blades, ornate bows strung with what looks like silver thread. There are staffs topped with Amanzite and other magically imbued gems, ancient scrolls, leather-bound books, their pages yellowed with age.
“We have to focus,” Ash whispers, her hands shaking as she moves, grabbing stones and tucking them into her pockets. “I don’t know what that guy meant by cheating, but I figure it can’t hurt for us to take some with us. Grab as many as you can carry.”
I grab a small cloth bag from the wall and start filling it with stones.
“Who isMhairi?” I ask, saying the name with the slight lilt that Ash uses.
She glances at me, sweat forming on her brow as she grabs more Amanzite. “Kira’s mom. Emin and Kira. A few years ago…she tried to turn Kira over to the Grayhides. It’s kind of a long story.”
“Fuck,” I whisper, shaking my head, reaching for more Amanzite, urgency growing in me. I can’t stop glancing at the other objects in the room, like a collection of glass vials containing liquids in various colors—some glowing, others swirling with internal movement.
“What is all this?” I ask, when the cloth sack is full and we’re moving back toward the door.
“Mhairi’s been collecting more than just psychics, it looks like,” Ash says grimly, glancing at a set of silver chains that seem to absorb light rather than reflect it as we pass by. “These are spell components, ritual items. Some of this looks like it could be witchy shit, Emaline.”
“Witchy shit,” I murmur. “Like the Hysopp.”
“If they’re real. But we don’t have time to think about it. We need to go,” Ash says, clutching a handful of stones and the crystalline dagger. “Now.”
