I walked into the kitchen to heat up a blood bag. Was I deluding myself to think it would work? After all, feeding from Sebastian’s blood from a bag had made me ill, yet I couldn’t resign myself to feeding solely from him. Once heated, I took a sip from it letting it rest on my tongue. The flavor danced across reminding me of my hunger, so I swallowed it. When nothing happened I began guzzling it down with an unbridled hunger. Before I could finish it, I was already in the fridge grabbing another, drinking it cold. After three bags, I rushed to the sink expelling it all from my stomach.

  Lifting my shirt I saw the black lines begin to reappear. They looked like tiny little veins just barely visible next to the scar. I threw the mug and watched it shatter before I fell to the floor in a sobbing heap. I reached for my phone and dialed the one person I could talk to.

  “Gaby?”

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Shawn,” I cried.

  “What’s wrong baby girl?” I could hear him shift, probably on his sofa.

  “I thought I was getting him back, but now. I don’t know,” the tears were racing down my cheeks and I wasn’t sure if Shawn even understood me. “I had to feed from Sebastian last night and Grayson watched to make sure nothing escalated. He disappeared for a while. He said he was going for a run, but he was gone for longer than normal. What if he can’t handle it? What if I have to continue to feed from Sebastian? What if…”

  “Gaby,” Shawn cut me off. “Don’t think too much into that. He probably just wanted to clear his head. I bet having your wife feed from someone else is difficult.”

  “I know it is, but I wish he’d talk to me. He’s making me feel like I’m cheating.”

  “Are you sure that it’s not you who feels that way?”

  Shawn had me there. I did feel like I was cheating, or at least walking a fine line to it and I despised feeling that way. Even if nothing happened between Sebastian and myself, I think I’d still feel the same because of my feelings for him. “I don’t know what to do. Sebastian made a point yesterday. I’m constantly worried about everyone else’s feelings that I put myself at risk. This baby comes first over everyone.”

  “He’s right, Gabs. If feeding from Sebastian is what keeps your baby safe, then that’s what you need to do. You need to be selfish where he or she is concerned. Grayson will come around. He loves you.”

  “I love him too,” I sobbed. Shawn was quiet knowing I wasn’t finished yet. “But what if he doesn’t?”

  “You can play the what if game until the world ends, but in all honesty that man would walk through fire for you. He killed someone for you.”

  “Shawn…” I tried to cut in when I heard his voice crack, but he continued on like nothing.

  “My point is he’s not going to be the one to let you go. Not over Sebastian, not over anything. He is tied to you in more than just blood and marriage, but something more divine. He’s your soul mate. You just need to make sure you stay worthy of that kind of devotion and don’t take it for granted. Feed from Sebastian if it’s what keeps the baby safe. The baby comes first. Grayson may not be onboard with the solution but he is with the results it provides. Just be more mindful of his feelings, Gaby, and try to find ways to reassure him. If you do, I think your mind will be more at ease too.”

  That night I watched with fascination as Grayson prepared dinner. It was the first time since Clive that he’d been back in the kitchen to cook.

  “If you keep staring at me like that, the food will be cold by the time we eat it.”

  I grinned eyeing him seductively. “I think that’s why we have a microwave.”

  I bit my lip in anticipation watching Grayson stalk me. I couldn’t hold in the laughter as the cushion I was on sunk down under our combined weight. Instinctively my arms wrapped around his neck, preparing for what I knew was to come. His lips whispered over mine when there came a deafening knock thundering at our door. I jumped almost smacking my head against Grayson, who’s brow pinched together.

  “Gabriella, open this door. I know you’re in there,” my mother’s voice pierced through the door ringing throughout our apartment. She was furious. I wondered what it could be about, then it struck me.

  “Shit. We forgot to tell her.” We’d been so wrapped up with me that we forgot to tell her that we eloped.

  Grayson was off the couch and at the door in a flash. He hesitated giving me a brief glance. Sitting up, I nodded and the door opened. My mother shoved past him without even a glance. Her focus was solely on me.

  “How could you?” she began.

  “It’s good to see you too, mother. Would you like something to drink?” I tried for hospitality but it was like she didn’t even hear me.

  “I’m your mother, Gabriella. Why would you keep this from me?” The betrayal was evident in her eyes making me feel instantly guilty. I swear it was a superpower of hers. She knew exactly which strings to pluck to get the reaction she desired from me.

  I sighed. “Mom, I’m sorry. We meant to tell you that we eloped, but we got sidetracked with me being sick then worrying about the baby.”

  My mother’s eyes widened, her mouth formed a thin line. Then she closed her eyes for a moment and licked her lips. “Baby?”

  This time my eyes widened. I had forgotten we hadn’t divulged that either. “Did I forget to mention that too?” I bit my lip nervously. Remembering I was an adult I took a deep breath then let it out as I stood. Making my way to her, I grabbed her hands in mine giving them a gentle squeeze. “You’re going to be a grandmother.”

  Her expression faded away and was replaced by a huge grin and her eyes filled with tears. “A baby?” I nodded in response. “That was the reason for the hasty nuptials?”

  “We wanted to be married before the baby was born and didn’t want to deal with the stress of planning a wedding.”

  “Well of course. In your condition, you don’t need stress. I received a letter from the Vegas nest and they mentioned congratulations on your wedding. I lost it. You should have told me. But a baby? Oh Gabriella,” she wrapped me in a tender embrace. She pulled back holding me at arm’s length. “What about you being sick?”

  I groaned. Sitting her down, I explained everything. My mother’s expression grew grimmer the more I spoke. Once I concluded, she sat there silently pondering over the information I had shared.

  “Gabriella, you can’t just expect your father’s friend to feed you whenever you need. There must be another solution.”

  “We’re just waiting on Damien’s witch, then, hopefully I won’t have to.”

  “I just don’t wish for you to take advantage of his kindness.”

  “Sebastian’s?” Grayson scoffed chiming in for the first time since my mother arrived.

  “Yes,” she responded. “He is Damien’s oldest friend and was probably offering because of their relationship.”

  My eyes shot to Grayson. I was surprised she didn’t know. Grayson’s eyes widened realizing it himself. He stood, heading towards the bedroom. “I’ll give you a few minutes.” He said before he left.

  “Why did he leave? Was it something I said?”

  “Mom,” I placed my hand over hers, bringing her attention to me. “Sebastian didn’t offer because Damien.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to explain this to my mother. The fact that she had missed the whole relationship and the fallout was a blessing. “He offered because—” This was harder than I thought. I cleared my throat. “He cares about me.”

  She smiled cupping my face, but her brow furrowed like I wasn’t making any sense. “Of course he does. You’re your father’s only child, but that’s exactly my point. You shouldn’t take advantage of his generosity.”

  “Mother!” I groaned. She still didn’t understand what I was saying. “He’s in love with me!”

  “What?” Her face pinched like I had just spoken a different language.

  “We had a relationship when Grayson was missing. Grayson knows,” I stated the last part quickly.

  “And the child?” She asked firmly her face remaining expressionless.

  “Is Grayson’s. It never got that far between Sebastian and me. We just…we care about each other.”

  She didn’t look at me when she spoke instead staring at the wall in front of her. “That is an even worse situation, Gabriella. You’re using him.”

  “It’s not like that. He offered.”

  “Because he cares for you and you are taking advantage and exploiting his feelings. That’s not right, Gabriella. I didn’t raise you to use people and manipulate their feelings to get what you want.”

  “How dare you!” She hit a nerve. I had just resigned to being selfish and putting everyone’s feelings on the backburner because my child was more important. If I attempted to refuse Sebastian’s blood, he’d never stand for it because he knew I needed it. I wanted to believe that even if he didn’t have feelings for me, he’d still be persistent and part of me did believe it, but another part whispered that I was only telling myself what I wanted to hear. I did my best to ignore that part. I knew Sebastian was a good person. “I am doing what I have to do to take care of my child. You of all people should understand that. After all, didn’t you lie to me for twenty three years about who my father was? Kept me away from him, all in order to protect me? Now you have the audacity to tell me I’m wrong for feeding from a man because he has feelings for me? That’s the line for you, mother? Not lying, but allowing someone to care for me and give me what I need?”

  I heard someone clear their throat. My eyes shot up to where Grayson stood at the threshold of the living room. “I think you should leave, Persephone. Like you said, Gaby doesn’t need stress in her condition.”

  She eyed me like she wanted to say something. “He’s right. You should go.” I didn’t wait for her to leave, instead I vacated to my bedroom.

  I heard the front door shut, but couldn’t hear if anything was said before it closed. I was still weak and would probably remain so until the baby was born. I didn’t hear Grayson, but I felt him approach.

  “She apologized,” he spoke from the doorway.

  “Great…” I drew out sarcastically. I turned to face him. He looked incredibly sexy leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. “Do you think she’s right? Am I exploiting Sebastian’s feeling for me?”

  He pushed away from the frame. His brow pinched. “Of course not. Do you?”

  I let out a long breath. “I didn’t, but the thought’s been implanted now. Would he really offer if he didn’t have feelings for me?”

  “I think you know him better than that.” I hated that my mother put doubt into my head. “Don’t worry about it so much. We’ll see Maria soon and I’m sure she’ll be able to fix it. In the mean time you need a little less stress, wife.” He closed the distance between us before taking me in his arms and kissing me with such passion that the rest of the evening faded away.

  “I think Ethan is correct. Angel blood is the only way to keep the baby safe. Any other option is just too risky for the fetus,” Maria claimed. It had been a week since the demon attack. It also made for another feeding that I had to take from Sebastian just the night before. Maria had been giving Damien the run around all week. It wasn’t until a few hours ago that Jade had called saying to be at the Angelo Tower at sunset. Over the past few days I had been monitoring the black lines of the poison spreading, but the pain struck out of nowhere. It was so terrible that Grayson had been the one to make the phone call to Sebastian and ask for him to feed me. I didn’t know about it until Sebastian showed up finding me curled into the fetal position on my bed. I was so weak that I didn’t even contemplate what he offered. I took it there on the bed I shared with my husband while he watched from the doorway. Feeding from Sebastian this time was effortless although I didn’t know why. I thought perhaps repetition made it easier to fight the lust or perhaps it was Sebastian that was more in control of the situation. I know it wasn’t me.

  “Anything you can do to help, Maria would be greatly appreciated. I’m feeding from Sebastian every two days,” I begged. Feeding from Sebastian was putting a slight strain on my new marriage. Grayson and I were suppose to be honeymooning, which meant making love constantly anywhere and everywhere we could, but instead we were dealing with the lust that rose each time I fed from Sebastian.

  “I’m not sure, but two days is a little frequent.”

  “We tried blood bags, but it made me sick.”

  She shook her head. “The poison in your system needs fresh angel blood to keep in detained. I think the problem is also the child needs blood to feed from. When you’re feeding from the angel, the child is taking some of that too.” She scratched her head contemplating something.

  “So you’re saying there’s nothing you can do?” Grayson asked. I could see he was struggling to maintain his cool. I watched him last night as Sebastian fed me. He’d looked on helplessly. It was the same expression he wore now.

  “I didn’t say there was nothing that could be done, but what I offer is tricky.”

  “Tricky is better than nothing,” I stated.

  “What you’re asking for has never been done before and has no guarantees.” She went through her bag digging for something. She began setting different vials on the counter. “What I can do is alter one of my spells and create a potion, mixed with the angel blood. It won’t be a cure for the poison, but it could stop the child from taking the angel blood and give you more time between feedings.”

  “Could?” Grayson asked wrapping his arm around me. It was meant to comfort me, but I think he was in need of the comfort.

  “I’m unsure.”

  “So basically it’s a roll of the dice if this will even work,” Grayson stood up pacing behind the couch.

  “It will work. The magnitude to which it will is the only doubt.”

  “And the baby?” I asked folding my arms over my stomach. As much as I wanted a solution, I wouldn’t risk the baby.

  Maria moved to the spot Grayson vacated. Raising her brow, she silently asked if it was all right to touch my stomach. I nodded. Her hand pressed against my bump with her eyes closed concentrating. After a moment she replied. “Your child is strong. Stronger than any I have ever felt.” I watched Grayson stiffen out of my peripheral. “The baby will be fine as long as the poison is contained.”

  I focused on Grayson silently seeking his opinion. He nodded. Letting out a breath I replied, “Let’s do it then.”

  She beheld everything she had laid out, narrowing her gaze. “I don’t have everything I need. I have some ingredients to get first. Damien?”

  “Of course,” Damien answered following Maria out of the room leaving Grayson and I alone. Grayson settled down next to me and I quickly burrowed into his side.

  “There’s not another option, is there?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so baby,” he whispered against my hair before laying a light kiss on my forehead. “The only other option is to let you continue feeding from Sebastian as frequently as you have for the next five months. At least this way you won’t have to so often.”

  “Is there an option three?” I chuckled nervously. I knew he was barely tolerating it, but the less often I fed from Sebastian the better for our marriage. “I see how uncomfortable you are with me feeding from him. I know how I’d feel if the situation was reversed. I didn’t even like you feeding from that woman in Vegas.”

  I felt him stiffen. “Don’t do this for me.”

  “I’m not. I’m doing this for us, because every time I have to feed from him, it takes us days to recover and I don’t want that. We’re newlyweds. We should be worrying about the next time we get to explore each other’s bodies, not stressing over this.”

  The door opened and in walked Maria, her eyes dancing between Grayson and me, pressing her lips like she just walked in on a serious moment. “Are we proceeding?”

  “Yes,” I answered looking Grayson in the eye. After a moment he nodded.

  Maria gave a curt nod. “Alright then. Let’s get started.”

  Gaby

  The potion was the most horrible thing I had ever tasted. But knowing it had the power to ease some of the mess I was in with Grayson and Sebastian had me chugging it down like it was a Jell-O shot at Glimmer. It certainly had the consistency of Jell-O, which did little to help get it down.

  “I would suggest you feed from the angel to test the potion’s potency. Since you fed from him last night, it can wait until the poison reemerges. As soon as it does, and I mean the moment the lines appear, feed from the angel.” Maria demanded. I nodded silently answering her.

  “What do we owe you, Maria?” Grayson asked, never one to want to be in anyone’s debt.

  “Hold out your hand day walker.” I held mine out hesitantly. “Not you,” she waved me away. “You,” she pointed to Grayson. I sometimes forgot that he was a day walker too. I had been called one all my life, but Grayson had only recently become one. In fact it had just been over a year.

  Grayson did as instructed. Maria, quicker than was humanly possible, almost too fast for me to see, pierced Grayson’s hand with a slight prick of a blade, just breaking the skin enough to make him bleed. He hissed, but by then she’d already withdrawn.

  “What was that about?” I asked, wondering what she needed his blood for.

  “That was my payment. Blood of a day walker… Pretty rare stuff,” she gave her limited explanation as she gathered her things. “I hope everything works out for you two,” she said before closing the door behind her. Other than the issues I had with blood, we kept everything else from her. I didn’t know who all knew about The Prophecy, but I didn’t want to accidently give out information that might be useful to someone else. I didn’t know where Maria’s loyalties lied, but I was almost certain they were with the highest bidder.