The nurse’s expression didn’t change one iota. “Have you had the symptoms of pregnancy?”
I nodded. “I’m late and I’ve been . . . sick.” I didn’t feel like it was necessary to even bring the issue of the bands on my wrists into the equation. “I’ve had unprotected sex. Once,” I tacked on like that made a difference. “I really would like this to be private. I mean, the whole doctor-patient privilege thing still works, right?”
Alex snickered. “Privacy at the Covenant? Not likely, but I have a feeling she’s not going to want to piss off Apollo’s daughter.”
The skin around the nurse’s mouth tightened. “When I took the oath, I did so for everyone I treat. I am not—”
“ . . . like other pure-bloods,” Alex finished for her. “Got it. So this conversation and its potential results won’t leave this office?”
Damn girl, I thought.
“Right.” The nurse put the clipboard down. “We can do a simple urine test and then go from there. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good?” I said, glancing at Alex. She nodded.
The nurse reached into a cabinet and pulled out a small plastic cup with a lid. She scribbled “Jane” across the piece of tape. “Ready?”
I was showed where the nearest bathroom was, and I did the whole pee in the cup thing. That cup of potential doom was placed in a little window and then I went back to the windowless room where Alex was waiting.
Leaning against the wall, I smacked my hands over my face. It sort of hit me right then that this was really happening. There was a good chance I was pregnant and I was going to figure out what the hell that meant other than being pregnant. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Seth . . . doesn’t know, does he?” Alex asked.
“No,” I said from behind my hands. “It wasn’t something I really thought about until recently and I didn’t want to get him . . . worried?” I didn’t know how Seth would react. I didn’t know how I would react if that test came back positive. “I don’t know what he’d do or even think. It’s not exactly something we’ve talked about.”
Alex wrapped her fingers around my arms and pulled my hands from my face. “Honest? He’s probably going to be as shocked as you, but Seth loves you, Josie. He really does, and that is something amazing.”
My heart did a little jump. “I know.”
She gave a little shake of her head. “I don’t know if you really do.” Dropping her hands, she drew in a deep breath. “I never believed that Seth was capable of loving anyone more than he loved himself, but he does with you. And because of that, you shouldn’t be afraid of telling him if that test comes back positive.”
I tipped my head back against the wall. “Even if he’s a hundred percent okay with this, how can we do this? There is so much screwed up stuff going on right now, and I . . . I just don’t know.”
“You’ll figure something out. Trust me,” she said. “You will, because you’ll have to.”
She was right, because we would have to figure it out. I lowered my chin. “If this comes back positive, please don’t tell anyone. I’m going to tell Seth, but I don’t want this getting around.”
“Of course not,” she replied. “Obviously I’ll keep my mouth shut, since I just threatened a pure-blood if she ran her mouth.”
I laughed nervously, but every single muscle in my body locked up as the door opened and the nurse walked in. I searched her expression for any hint, but it was impressively blank. Still, my heart was pounding like I’d run up several flights of steps.
The nurse, whose name I realized I’d never asked for, propped her hip against the counter and loosely folded her arms. “When we do urine tests, we usually repeat them more than once if we get a certain result to ensure accuracy, so we repeated the tests.”
“Okay,” I whispered as blood began to roar in my ears.
“It’s positive,” the nurse said. “You’re pregnant.”
Chapter 29
Seth
Standing before the shades, I quickly counted them. There was definitely more than twenty. More like thirty. A few of them looked like they’d played chicken with a car and lost, their flesh torn and patchy in some areas. Shades didn’t want to let go of their mortal bodies. Even when the mortal had died, they rode the flesh until nothing was left.
It smelled like the River Styx had thrown up in here, and then a few hellhounds had come in and taken a dump. In the back, against a low wall that led to a bare kitchen, were the tied-up mortals.
They didn’t look very alive.
I clapped my hands together.
Heads jerked up. Eyes of all different shapes and colors widened.
“Hey,” I said, smiling. “My name is Seth. I have a few questions.”
Dark shadows leaked through the whites of their eyes like ink into water. A low hissing sound radiated from all corners of the room, like the air being let out of several balloons. They rose at once.
“I’m glad to see you guys are going to be so helpful.”
A blonde that appeared to have run face-first into a blender charged me. Reaching down, I unhooked one of my daggers. I didn’t have to do much. Just lifted the blade and stepped to the side.
She impaled herself.
A second later, black smoke poured out of her gaping mouth, shooting into the air. It billowed across the ceiling, seeking a way out.
Lifting my hand, I shoved a couch across the room. It tipped up on one side, blocking the door. Smiling, I turned as another shade barreled down on me. This one was a little fresher, but it too ended up on the floor.
Glass shattered behind me. A second later, Aiden landed in a crouch. Torin hit the floor in a controlled roll. Unfortunately, that controlled roll went right through some splatter. Sucked for him.
Aiden popped up and was immediately swarmed by the shades rocking the mortal bodies. They went after him like daimons jonesing for aether. As Torin rose, wiping off the blood and other stuff, I was sort of offended that the shades didn’t want to play with me anymore.
A shade went flying back as Aiden delivered a brutal punch that might have—gods’ bless his pure soul—killed the mortal if it wasn’t already dead.
“Ah, I think you’ve got it covered.” Raising my hand, I pushed Torin back toward the wall, away from one of the free-roaming shades. “And you,” I said. “You really shouldn’t have followed Aiden.”
Dipping down, Aiden took out the legs of one of the shades. He lurched up and looked over his shoulder, dark brows slamming together. “Seriously?”
I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest as I stayed back from the melee. “Wouldn’t want you to get out of practice.” When Aiden cursed and whipped back around, I laughed. “Hey, I’m just looking out for your best interests.”