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Now, with the ultrasound machine set up, he positioned the transvaginal probe and made adjustments to the numbers on the screen.

I lay in our bed, bracketed by Jesse and Roark, watching them take in the blip on the monitor. My skin tingled with excitement and my heart raced, my entire being waiting in anticipation of their reactions, as Michio explained the small white circle on the screen.

Roark gripped my hand, lacing our fingers together. “That’s her?” His brogue was filled with wonderment.

I nodded, shakily. “Yeah.”

Jesse’s gaze flew from the screen to my flat belly. He touched my naval, splaying his fingers, his hand so large it covered my entire stomach from hip to hip.

His teeth worried the corner of his mouth, his eyes soft and glassy. “Is the baby healthy? Does everything look okay?”

Michio dragged his attention from the screen. “She’s healthy. They both are, as far as I can tell. But she’s only six weeks along. I need to run tests, and I can’t do that—”

“I know.” Jesse’s expression tightened. “We’ll get whatever and whoever you need.” Fear pushed through his determination, shattering in his eyes, as he looked down at me. “We’re not going to lose you.”

The sharp edge of his voice ripped and tore inside me. I moved to grasp his hand, but Roark beat me to it, pulling our laced fingers over Jesse’s on my belly.

Michio removed the probe and covered our hands with his. “The baby drew my venom when I bit Evie.” His eyebrows pulled together. “I don’t know what it means or how it will affect them.”

Jesse’s gaze lowered to my neck. “Both times?”

I wasn’t surprised he hadn’t missed the second set of bite marks. He didn’t appear upset, only eager to understand, which was a testament to how much he trusted Michio not to harm me.

“Just the first time.” Michio studied my face. “Can you think of anything else that’s changed or evolved in the past four weeks?”

I thought back and remembered the drive between Las Vegas and the dam. “I don’t sense nymphs anymore.” I looked at Jesse and Roark. “Not since Virginia. I passed numerous nymphs on the way here and didn’t pass out, didn’t feel their pain, didn’t feel anything. Do you think…?”

“She’s protecting you.” Michio sat back on his heels. “And protecting herself. It’s just a guess but not completely implausible, considering she’s given you the power to mentally wipe out aphids.” He climbed off the bed and packed his equipment away. “You need daily exposure to sunlight.”

“But you won’t go to the surface without one of us,” Jesse said, firmly.

I sighed. “I have all this energy. Unless you want to spend all day, every day, fucking it out of me, I need to run or something.”

“There are miles of tunnels down here.” Michio narrowed his eyes at me. “But pay attention to your heart rate. And I want you eating a full-balanced diet, including vegetables.”

“Lots of canned mush, then.” Roark rubbed his jaw. “Though that fella with the ronnie said he was going to start a hydroponic vegetable garden at the bottom of the dam.”

I scrunched my nose. “What fella? And what the hell is a ronnie?”

“Link brought that farmer with him, love. Ye know, the lad with the hairy mouth mirken that looks like someone shat on his lip?”

I vaguely remembered a man with a mustache. “Does this farmer have a name?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I call him Ronnie.”

Of course, he did. I gave him a scolding look, made ineffective by my wide grin, and reached for my clothes. “Are you done with all the poking, Doc?”

“Until tomorrow. Don’t roll your eyes, Evie. These exams will be daily. Get used to it.”

Michio hadn’t been lying. For the next six weeks, not a day sneaked by without him prodding and sticking. I always received a clean bill of health, but he was diligent in his quest to not overlook anything, and not only during exam time. If I so much as sneezed, the medical bag came out.

Over the weeks, Link chased down the people and supplies Michio requested, and slowly, the equipment, medications, and doctors trickled in. Like Michio, the new physicians and nurses—all of them men—had yet to find anything worrying in my exams. Shea’s pregnancy was deemed healthy as well, the ultrasound readings placing her one week further along than me. As the inches grew around our waistlines, she tired easier and slept more, while I felt stronger, hornier, and more energetic than ever.

I jogged the tunnels every morning. Darwin always joined me, as well as one or all of my guardians. It was one of my favorite parts of the day, stretching my legs, flexing my lungs, and tracing my gaze over the bunch and pull of their muscular, half-dressed physiques. Stopping myself from tackling them to the ground was more arduous than trying to keep pace with their long-legged strides.