Page 55 of The Baby Hex
“You shouldn’t have told them we haven’t found her yet,” Preston said to Teddy.
“They deserve to know the truth,” Teddy shrugged.
“It’s not good for them to stay inside so long,” I shook my head.
“Everyone deals with trauma in their own way. My money is still on Crilus locking everything down so nothing can mess with his past.”
“The last time I saw Dern….” I started but Teddy shook his head.
“The last time you saw Dern, he pulled you out of your body and left it behind in Sharon Claudis’s basement. He left you defenseless so you could throw some food at me and move some chairs around. He left you defenseless. If he really wanted to help, he could’ve done those things himself,” Teddy rolled his eyes.
“You’re still mad that he shot you,” I sighed.
“No, I’m mad that the more reckless he is, the more you praise him.”
“I hope you know that I was never going to have a normal life no matter what I did. Neither was Othoni. Our lives were always going to be bundled up in spirit work and wrapped in magic.”
“Well, you all need to figure out a way not to stress out my pregnant mate,” Teddy said and glanced at his watch. “Speaking of which. I’m going home. Zinnia is about to wake up from her nap and Ni needs to rest.”
“Bye, Teddy,” Preston said, keeping his irritation with the dragon out of his voice.
If Crilus didn’t come out of the house soon everything was going to fall apart.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Crilus
While I could ignore Mori, Preston, and Teddy all day there was no turning Kodiak away at the door. Once, when an ex-boyfriend broke up with me at a high school dance he sat outside my bedroom door all weekend until I let him in to talk about it. He kept offering to beat the shit out of Hest or to buy me a car or whatever I wanted. Kodiak had never been good with sad omegas and lucky for him, I wasn’t sad this time around. I was keeping Pierce safe, and I’d keep it up for the rest of my life if I needed to.
Kodiak headed straight for the kitchen having picked up the house’s layout over the family link. Pierce and I followed behind him because he hadn’t even waited around for me to introduce him to my mate. He pilfered through the cabinets, finding plates, cups, and silverware and set the table as if we were his guests instead of the other way around. Once the table was set, he pulled two bloodshake pouches out of his pockets and handed them off to Pierce. He headed off to the blender to get them made, leaving me alone with my dad.
“This is really how you want to play this one, kiddo?” Kodiak asked, pointing at a chair for me to sit down in. “Does he know?”
“Know what?” I tried to play innocent.
It was Pierce who had inspired the idea after all. For a short while, I had been his hostage in Teal’s room at Moonglow. He said I couldn’t leave. Pierce hadn’t expressed any concern about not leaving the house and the only time I had lost was when I made the peach tree sprout up in the kitchen. Though, we were drunk when that happened. We were lucky to not have burnt down the house baking a peach cobbler that day.
“At the very least you have to tell him,” Kodiak said. “This doesn’t end well. Hell, maybe it does end well. Maybe he doesn’t mind being locked in by magic, but this doesn’t end well for you. All magic leaves its mark. You know that.”
“We’re safe here,” I whispered. “We were safe here even before my magic because of his blood wards.”
“Crilus,” he said my name with a sigh. “This isherbrand of magic.”
“I know. This is the spell she used to protect the evil alpha of the old pack. Am I evil? Is Pierce?” I asked.
“No, but if he doesn’t know… It’s like you’ve dragged him off to faerie land or something.”
“He’s happy. He just needs a blood supply. If he’d drink from me…” I let my words trail off.
“You can’t be his only source of blood,” Kodiak said. “I always thought when you met your mate, I’d have to give him the talk about if he ever broke your heart or hurt you, I’d behead him. Only, that’s not what I need to do, is it? It’s not him who is playing cave-elf.”
“I think the term you’re looking for is tree-elf,” I shrugged.
“Mori had a vision that he believes means you’re pregnant,” Kodiak said. “That means you’re going to need to see a doctor.”
“Doctors can come here. I’ll open the door,” I crossed my arms as Pierce made his way back to the table with two glasses of bloodshake. Their raspberry pomegranate scent filled my head for a fraction of a second. Noticing my lingering glance, Pierce offered me one which I declined. They smelled great but he needed the blood.
“You tell him or I will,” Kodiak crossed his massive arms, mimicking my posture.
