Page 158 of Blood & Snow
I nod but no sound will come from my mouth now.
I have no proof I'm pregnant, only a suspicion and a growing fear, and now I'm pitting my life against the hope that Xander gets here before they find that out.
Arkady leaves.
The door closes behind him.
The bolt slides home.
I sit on the floor, my arms wrapped around my stomach, and I pray.
I pray that I am not lying. I pray that the nausea andthe exhaustion and the missed period mean what I think they mean.
I pray that there is a life growing inside me, because that life is the only thing keeping me alive right now.
The blond one leans against the wall, watching me.
His gun is holstered, but his hand rests on the grip.
He doesn’t speak or move. He just watches.
I close my eyes and count the seconds that pass that I hear nothing but the buzz of the light and the hum of machinery in the distance.
I count until the numbers blur together, until my mind goes numb, until I cannot feel the cold or the pain or the fear anymore.
I think of Xander.
I think of the way he looked at me the last time I saw him.
How hurt he was when I climbed out of his car after having sex with him.
I think of his voice when he calls mePtichka, and how tender it is.
I'm the little bird, he's the predator.
But right now he's hunting me for a different reason.
Or at least I hope he is.
Does he know I am gone?
Has he tried to find me?
Or has he moved on, already forgetting the girl who cleaned his blood off the walls?
I don’t know.
I don’t know anything anymore.
The door opens again.
The older man returns, and with him is another man.
This one is younger, maybe thirty, with a medical bag in his hand.
He wears a white coat under his jacket.
His face is pale, his eyes nervous.
