“There you are!” she says. Her voice is rich with a touch of motherliness to it. “I was going to send Ben to go wake you.”
“Here I am,” I say awkwardly.
The woman who must be Maggie comes around the corner. “Let me get a good look at you.”
She takes both my hands, and I gasp at a tickling sensation, yanking away from her.
“Sorry!” She blushes. “Sometimes I forget to ask. It’s been so long since I’ve been called on to use my skills. May I check on you and the baby?”
“Check on?” I ask.
“Kalos didn’t say anything to you?”
“No.” The sensation of being ambushed makes me want to inch away.
The woman rolls her eyes. “Ah, well, he did seem in a bad mood when he got back. I’m Maggie, and I used to be a healer before coming to work here.”
Something starts to boil over in the kitchen, and Maggie whisks to it. I blink as I absorb her pointed ears.
“You’re fae!” I say, forgetting my manners. People don’t usually go around proclaiming what they are. “I’m so sorry!”
Maggie’s laugh is warm. “No problem. You probably haven’t met many of my kind. I am fae, though on this side of the gates that doesn’t mean as much.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, hoping that she’ll answer my questions.
Very few people are open about their origins in our world. Nemo barely spoke about it, and even then, it was pieced out as prizes given after completing a job I’d been leery of. I was willing to get into all sorts of trouble for one of those prizes.
I’d like to think I’m not so eager now… but I’m still the same person, if a little more wise and less shiny.
Maggie’s smile is warm. “When we’re separated from the fae realm, we stop being fueled by it. We age, though slowly, and we’re limited to what fae magic we can do. Those born in this realm are different.”
“But you can still heal?”
“My ability to heal came from a witch in my line, not on my fae side.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know that witches ever went to the fae realm. I know very little about what realms there are. What I do know is limited to anything I could pick up from conversation. Most smugglers and fences know about the fae gates, but my awareness ends there.
“Kalos asked if I wouldn’t mind being the healer to check on you and the baby’s development.” Maggie tilts her head. “Dragons normally don’t gestate like witches do, so I’m surprised he thought to ask me, but I’m happy to use my gift to keep an eye on things.”
“Thank you,” I breathe. “I have no idea on what’s going on in there, so having someone who knows what is normal would be a relief.”
“Of course, dearie.” She wipes her hands on a rag. “Now, let’s try this again.”
She holds her hands out, and I place mine in them. The tingle of power isn’t a surprise this time. Maggie closes her eyes for a moment in concentration before opening them again and squeezing my hands in comfort. “Everything looks good!”
What tension that didn’t ease after Kalos said the baby was healthy loosens now. “Really?”
“Yes, we’ll keep track of how they are growing, but everything that’s needed is there.”
“That’s good,” I say lamely, even as my eyes well.
Maggie squeezes my shoulder in comfort. “You’ve had a busy week. I’ll prepare you a snack so you can settle that growling stomach of yours and take a minute. It won’t be a big snack since dinner is almost ready.”
I open my mouth to say I can make it myself, but she beats me to it.
“Please, let me. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to take care of someone. Kalos and Ben are so self-sufficient. If they didn’t need me to cook for them, they’d be unstoppable.”
I huff a laugh. “If you insist.”
Maggie’s movements are efficient as she prepares the food, and soon I have a platter of salami and cheese in front of me with some grapes on the side.
I furrow my brow.
Maggie answers my unspoken question. “Kalos said that you’ve been nauseous with colder foods, but that with the heat needs of the child being satisfied, that shouldn’t be a concern. I’d like for you to test that if you don’t mind? I want to make sure there isn’t anything he missed.”
My stomach growls again, making my cheeks burn. “I’m hungry enough to try anything. It would be nice to know I can eat ice cream without ending up vomiting.”
I start slowly with nibbling the cured meat before my nerves settle, and I eat it.
Maggie keeps an eye on me as she continues cooking dinner.
“How do you feel?” she asks.
I analyze the sensations of my body. Nausea doesn’t rise up like it’s done for the past week.
“Wonderful.” The relief of that is strong. “I feel like I could cry.”
Maggie laughs. “That will be normal for pregnancy.”
“I could use some normalcy.”
12
KALOS
MAGGIE OUTDID HERSELF FOR DINNER, as always. Though I notice that she’s overloaded Katarina’s meat serving with one of the hot sauces she brews from scratch. Maggie knowing exactly what we need is the norm.
What isn’t the norm is her and Ben excusing themselves from the dining room to give Katarina and me privacy. Do they expect something more to happen other than us discussing the logistics of how her life will change? Do they think I want to have a relationship with this woman? That I’m able?
They both should know better.
“How do you feel?” I ask, awkwardness I can’t shake clings to the question.
“Better,” she says, and her smile softens the tension of the situation.
She looks better. The dark circles under her eyes have already started to lighten, and her grin is reminiscent of the wry way she’d teased me that night. The night I’d taken her over and over again. The memory threatens to let loose the beast that wants to fawn over her, demand things from her.
Our tryst had been in the low light of the moon, and the accent lighting directed on the pieces of my hoard on display. I’d missed details about the woman carrying our young in the darkness.
Her face is pretty enough, her small mouth lush in a way that tempted the dragon that night nearly as much as her scent, which now satisfyingly carries a hint of my own. Her hair is an ordinary color somewhere between blonde and a soft brown, but her green eyes sparkle like my best emeralds. They are arresting. Dangerous.
There’s a brightness to her. A shine that I’ve rarely seen in my life except for centuries ago.
I wonder if that shine pulled in my dragon, though nothing else about her is similar to who we lost.
“For the pregnancy, you should live here,” I start, continuing before she finishes chewing. “Ben has already paid the rent on your apartment through the next year, so you don’t need to worry about going through the motions of moving until you want to.”
It had been his idea as a way to make her feel less trapped and reliant on me. It’s a good one.
“Oh, you didn’t need to—” she starts.
“I have many things at my disposal, including money. If having the apartment comforts you, allow me to do this.”