Page 54 of First Bite
Cole looked at me with an expression that made my blood run cold with worry. “If what they’re saying is possible, there’s a good chance I might have gotten you pregnant.”
“What!?” Braden boomed as he started to charge across the room toward his cousin.
Cole stiffened up to meet his incoming assailant when I quickly stepped in between them, putting my hands up to stop them while my mind raced through the impossibility of what I’d just heard.
“There is no time for this bullshit. Stop it!” I shouted.
“It was never confirmed to us at the time if Kelly was pregnant because Emile insisted we leave,” Cal continued, “but seeing you now, it seems evident that was the case.”
“How can this be?” Logan asked, rubbing the back of his neck. “If this were possible, Life Bloods and vampires would have been making little hybrids for centuries. It can’t be the case. We would’ve known about this.”
“I’m telling you, the warlock had a weird enchantment over all of them,” Jordan said. “Maybe he spelled them to be able to have a child. I don’t know for sure, but something very strange was going on.”
“And, as usual, there’s no one to ask because every last one of them except for Kelly—who is currently abducted and living with Enzo—is dead, right?” Zac added. “Perfect luck.”
“If you think you could’ve gotten her pregnant, you know what you need to do,” Jessa said.
“Get the bourbon, Logan,” Cole ordered.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demanded, unsure of exactly when this conversation got away from me. “Tell me now.”
“When immortals choose to procreate, they do so carefully because even when the mother becomes pregnant, her body still produces eggs for a few days, making it possible to get pregnant with more than one child,” Cole said.
“Multiple babies?” I asked as the blood drained from my face. “Like a dog or what?”
“Multiple babies, yes,” Cole continued as his cousins pounded dark liquor like it was iced tea. “The reason they carefully plan these pregnancies is that during those days after impregnating the mother, her mate is overcome with sexual desire for her. It’s basically a natural pull to impregnate the mother with as many babies as possible. You give off pheromones that—”
“The important part of what Cole is trying to say is that you don’t have to worry about one mate trying to get back into your pants and produce more babies,” Logan interrupted. “You have to worry about all four of us.”
“There isnothingfor her to worry about at all,” Braden insisted as he shot Logan a glare. “That’s why we need the bourbon, Elle. We need to suppress our craving for you.”
“Why the fuck does this shit keep getting weirder and weirder?” I asked, half shouting. “Now, I might be pregnant, and I have to worry about all of you coming after me so you can make more babies? I can’t deal with this anymore,” I said as I walked toward the hallway.
As soon as I took a few steps, I got the strangest feeling. It was as if dark, angry energy washed over me. The air felt thick, and my head got heavy. I tried shaking my head and blinking my eyes to snap out of it, but something was pulling me in a very negative direction.
“Are you okay, Ellie?” Zac asked as he rushed to my side. “You don’t look very good.”
“I—I don’t know. I don’t feel right,” I managed as I leaned into Zac, feeling my legs start to give out.
“Maybe she’s in shock,” Logan said. “She just got way too much shit dumped in her lap on top of everything else she’s been dealing with.”
“I think it’s time you four find a place to stay for the night,” Cole said to our unexpected guests. “And make it somewhere other than here.”
“Don’t listen to my rude-ass cousin,” Braden said defensively. “You’re more than welcome to stay here.”
The fact that Braden jumped in to insist that they stay in this house with me seemed very out of character. I knew my vampires would do anything to protect me, and letting four strange vampires remain in the house with me was anything but protective.
“Get her upstairs, Zac,” Cole said. “She needs rest. She doesn’t need any more conflict.”
As Zac brought me to my room and laid me on my bed, I felt the heavy feeling slowly lift from me. I’d never experienced such an unsettling sensation, and I worried that maybe Logan was right. Maybe I was in shock. Maybe all of this impossible, outrageous-sounding shit was true. Maybe this was all more than I could handle.
All I wanted to do was close my eyes and pretend that my worst-case scenario wasn’t actually coming true, and after Zac covered me up and began to stroke my hair, that’s precisely what I did.
