Page 8 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“With child?” The words came out barely above a whisper. My heart lurched and slammed against my ribs. No, she couldn’t possibly mean?—

“Yes, you are with child. Pregnant.”

“I can’t be pregnant.”

Sure, Elias and I didn’t use condoms, but I’d been on birth control since I was seventeen. There’d been a gap after my cabin exploded, six or seven days maybe, but after settling in Niev, I’d seen Leah and taken the herbal contraceptives she’d given me.

“Every morning, I take the herbal contraceptives you gave me. I don’t think I’ve gained weight, and my breasts feel fine.

I haven’t missed a single dose,” I rattled on.

“Even when Elias and I don’t. . . don’t.

” I mashed my lips together to keep myself from rambling further.

“I can’t be. I’ve taken the contraceptive.

” The last few words came out desperate.

“You could’ve done everything right, my lady, and still ended up pregnant,” Leah said. “The herbal contraceptive I gave you was formulated for fae. While your anatomy is similar, I don’t know how effective they are for humans, or what the correct dosage should be for someone like you.”

“I . . . I didn’t know that,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear,” Leah said, her tone as gentle as the smile she gave me. “That’s my fault.”

“You’re sure?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want a baby. I did.

I often dreamed about having Elias’s children.

I just didn’t want one right now. Not when Elias had so much weighing on his shoulders.

When he still hadn’t accepted his father’s throne.

When he worried about his mother and his people, and now the missing fae.

I knew Elias would love any child we had together, just as he’d come to love Victoria and the other kids.

That wasn’t my concern. A baby was another added responsibility.

And knowing Elias, he’d want to be there for me, for the pregnancy, while also needing to be in the human realm to find his missing people. I couldn’t do that to him.

“You’re six weeks pregnant.” She eyed me carefully as she told me.

My breath caught. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Emotions surged inside of me. Fear, yes, but underneath was something brighter. Something warm and rising and unstoppable.

Love

“My lady?—”

“Teddy. Please call me Teddy. ”

Her lips tilted up in a polite smile. “I know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear?—”

“The baby—is the baby okay?” I asked her.

“Babes,” she said, watching me carefully.

I hugged a hand to my stomach, breath wrenching from my lungs.

My eyes squeezed shut. “Babes? Plural?” I blinked at her. “As in more than one?”

Her warm smile did nothing to calm my drumming heart.

“Two babes,” she answered. “Both male, both healthy.”

Two babies, both healthy.

The sigh I let out was one of relief. I rubbed my hand over my belly where they were.

My smile came slow, almost hesitant, but when I looked down at my still-flat stomach, I beamed.

“I’m having twins,” I said.

“Two little males,” Leah confirmed.

While she kept her features neutral, I caught the flicker of excitement in her eyes. Was it for me or that two new royals would soon be born?

Twins. Two little . . .

Wait. “Two males?” I asked. “You can see the gender this early?”

“No, I can’t see it the way you’re thinking,” she explained. “Right now, your babes are little more than the size of an apple seed, but my magic lets me detect a pregnancy and identify gender as early as seven days after conception.”

My mouth hung open. “That’s an incredible gift.”

“It is, and I am grateful the Guardians entrusted me with such a gift.”

I bit back the truth about the Guardians and all the lies the Elders had told the fae. It wasn’t for me to say, but Elias would address his people when he was ready.

“My magic also lets me to detect complications early. In many cases, I can correct them before they become serious.”

It didn’t sound like bragging but a fact. A deeply reassuring one, given how rare and fragile fae pregnancies could be.

Again, I put a hand over my belly, where I ran my thumb back and forth. “Do you anticipate any complications with me being a human and the babies half fae?” Actually, I was more a human with mage blood, but I didn’t think she needed me to get into that.

“Right now, they’re developing beautifully,” she said. “I’d like to see you every two weeks. I know it’s a lot, but you’ll be my first human patient carrying human-fae twins. I want to watch you closely.”

I swallowed past the ball that’d formed in my throat. “That’s fine. I’d rather see you too often than not often enough. I don’t want to miss anything.”

“Would you like to hear their heartbeats?”

I did. I so very much wanted to hear them. To memorize them. But I wanted to do it with Elias.

When I explained it to her, she nodded and started to ask what I assumed were customary questions while she made notes on her tablet.

It didn’t take long for us to finish, and although I wanted to give Elias’s mom the good news in the hopes it’d raise her spirits, I didn’t want anyone knowing before Elias.

Although silly, it felt like I’d stolen something from him by not having him with me at the first appointment.

Worse than that, I wasn’t sure how many more he’d be forced to miss.

But it was okay. It had to be .

Already, I loved our baby boys. I ached to hold their tiny hands and kiss their impossibly small feet. Hear their soft coos. Hold their warm, little bodies in my arms.

I pictured them as perfect replicas of their dad with breathtaking violet eyes and the silkiest black hair. Dimples on either side of their beautiful smiles.

Elias might be away, but I had a piece of him growing inside me, and that realization warmed me from the inside out. Now, if only he could get home safe, sound, and soon to share in the joy.