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“What are you talking about?” I demanded, looking from face to face, finding only variations of the same dumbfounded expression. “Will someone please tell me what’s happening?”

Natasha turned back to me. “You really don’t hear it?” She asked. “It’s quite strong.”

“Hear what? Stop talking in riddles!”

Natasha straightened. “We all hear a second heartbeat.” She delivered matter-of-factly. “A strong heartbeat of a human fetus coming from you.”

The words landed like airplanes at O’Hare airport. This landing was damn near a crash landing. Second heartbeat? Baby? From me? The pieces refused to assemble into anything resembling logic. Cause what?

“That’s...” I began, but my tongue felt dry. “That’s not possible.”

“When was your last menstrual cycle?” Natasha asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but realized I didn’t know. “None of your fucking business.”

With everything that happened, Teresa’s death, Morgan’s transformation, Lonzo’s return and execution, I’d lost track of something as ordinary as my period. Weeks? Months? The calendar in my mind was a jumble of drama.

“Chanel, answer the question!” Zand howled so loudly somebody’s deaf grandma heard him back in Minnesota.

I wanted to say ‘who the fuck you hollering at’, but I didn’t. I was tired of using so many bad words.

“I don’t, I can’t remember.” I admitted. “But this is impossible. Vampires can’t reproduce. Zand, you told me that.” I just didn’t remember when.

“Vampires can’t reproduce with other vampires.” Natasha corrected me, her eyes never leaving my face. “But there arelegends of some vampire males impregnating human females. The stories call them half-bloods. Most vampires consider them myths because in present times, these magical children don’t exist.”

The room spun. I couldn’t move off the wall. I needed to stay on my feet.

“Impossible.” The word was a lifeline I clung to even as evidence mounted against it. “Zand, we’ve been together for a long time. If this was possible, it would’ve happened before now.”

“Not necessarily.” Natasha countered. “The legends speak of very specific circumstances. The human female must be a certain blood type. She had to have consumed vampire blood. The coupling must occur during a specific lunar phase. There are variables.”

I remembered tasting Zand’s blood just to see what it tasted like. Only after he assured me, I wouldn’t turn into a vampire. It was just the one time.

“It clearly is not impossible.” Natasha continued. “You are pregnant with a vampire baby. Our King’s vampire baby. The heartbeat is strong, faster than a human infant’s would be at this stage.”

The spinning room spun up to the highest level. The faces of the vampires blurred together in a carousel of concerned eyes. My knees felt heavy and unable to support my weight. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead and upper lip.

“I can’t be.” The protest died on my lips as a wave of dizziness washed over me.

My vision dimmed. Sounds became muffled. The last thing I registered was Zand’s alarmed and still handsome face. He was suddenly very close to me. He was close enough to kiss. Close enough for me to swim in the pools of his sepia eyes. I was aware of my body falling. My legs were gone. Theywere no longer below me, keeping me erect. Then darkness swallowed everything, and I sunk into the blessed emptiness of unconsciousness. I fled from a reality I couldn’t process. My last coherent thought before the blackout told me that nothing would ever be the same again.

THE END