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The curse mark.

The sides of her throat constricted.

Ronin brought her flushed against him. “You’re okay.”

She relaxed into his embrace. Focused on his arms wrapped around her bare waist, their hips pressed together. A body she’d learned the past few days with her own, but this form of intimacy was different. Her layers were pulled back, leaving her fully exposed, and bits of herself spilled out like the oozing insides of a pumpkin. Burdensome parts of her.

Ronin squirted shampoo into the palm of his hand. The scent of pineapple and plantains infused the air as he coated her hair with it.

She swallowed down her sob and tried to mirror his calmness, but her thoughts kicked up in a tailspin and she lowered her head to look towards her naked stomach.

Pregnant.

A child.

With Ronin?—

“I-I thought I was sterile,” she blurted out through the stream of water cascading over her lips. “That is why I told you not to worry about preventative measures. I thought it would be okay.”

He must’ve been outraged, convinced she’d deceived him.

Solaris drinking a potion all those years to avoid pregnancy was justified, but what about Kaleo? Her time with him was proof. She never had a scare, nor did they use any protection.

“You showed me your whole life up to Cassian cursing you to Kaimana, and I never asked how you broke the curse.” Ronin finished rinsing her hair. She couldn’t find pleasure in his fingertips moving across her scalp as he did so. “I was too pissed about everything else you’d showed me. I could’ve asked, but I didn’t. It’s not all on you, okay?”

“You shouldn’t have to ask?—”

“I know you didn’t intentionally keep it from me. After everything you’ve been through, I get why you didn’t think to tell me about the curse. Go easy on yourself, please.”

“Ronin, I am pregnant.” She needed to say the words. To make sure he was aware, in case he had missed it earlier. “It is why marrying Solaris did not break our mothers’ curses.”

“I know.”

Marina’s vow sharply overturned Naia’s thoughts. I will find you and make you suffer for eternity for what you have done to Mother.

Naia’s body shook uncontrollably.

Even if Marina found Naia, she could not harm her. Not when Naia was carrying a child that belonged to Cassian?—

Ronin is no longer protected.

“I have to do something. The reason she could hurt you—” Naia struggled to breathe. The edges of her vision withered like a burning leaf, and she slouched forward. Water sprayed the sides of her face and in her hair.

Ronin cupped her cheeks. “Babe.”

She clung to his elbows, her lungs constricting as she fought to grab air. “The child must be a boy, since you are no longer protected by Lady Ruelle. I must—I cannot sit around and do nothing. Marina will come—she will kill you like?—”

Kaleo.

“Naia,” Ronin said louder to get her attention. “Look at me.”

Water flowed into her eyes, but Ronin was right in front of her. She forced herself to focus on him. His hair was damp, the ends sticking to the tops of his shoulders. Dried blood streaked his cheeks, crusted in the creases of his clavicles.

Naia’s main concern was the gauntness of his face. The hollow sharpness of his cheekbones gave him a sickly look. Shadows sat beneath his eyes. All proof of how much blood he’d lost during the fight; how he’d put her over himself.

She had the right mind to order him to get out of the shower and to go get food or the potion he needed to replenish his lost blood, but his current condition didn’t dull the vibrancy in his eyes. They burned with a stubborn intensity, cutting through her fears and calming her heart.

“Nobody can come into this house, including Marina,” he told her evenly. “There is a spell around it.”