Page 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I groan, rubbing body oil over my itching tummy.

If I could break Paimon’s fucking nose for speeding up my pregnancy, I would. Right fucking now. Waking up to back pain, itchy, stretched skin, and the urge to pee is not fucking fun. Everyone always talks about how pregnancy is supposed to make you glow, yet there was so little spoken about all of this crap. As if glowing skin, along with hair and nails looking pretty, makes up for the fact that I can’t stand for more than five seconds without my feet and ankles swelling.

And I still have more time to go!

I would cry about it, but at least I won’t be giving birth in that creepy, evil egg.

I’m feeling extra irritable today, as I can’t get comfortable in bed or on the couch. I can’t so much as walk without pain. My back hurts; my ass hurts; even my fucking boobs hurt! Why are they getting bigger? What purpose does that serve when any physical appreciation for the increase would be damn painful? Other than the obvious, boring biological one. I don’t feel like accepting logic, though —especially not today.

Tears prick my eyes as the frustration and hormones mix together in a deadly cocktail of rage. Then, with truly terrible timing, there’s a knock on my temporary bedroom’s door that startles me and has me snapping at the person on the other side, further incensed. “What!?” I hiss loudly, furiously swiping away my tears as the bedroom door opens slowly.

“Happy birthday, little witch,” Ash says happily, as he cautiously steps into the room. There’s still a handsome smile on his stupid witch-impregnating face, though. “I brought you a pastry. We thought you could have a shower and then meet us downstairs?”

He presents his offering of a chocolate pastry on a paper plate. I glare at him for the reminder of what day it is, but he seems oblivious to my agitation. He looks so freaking sincere in his attempt to make me happy as he continues to smile at me. It makes me feel crappy for snapping at him. I sigh.

“Thank you,” I murmur, giving in. I already managed to get up by myself this morning, after some effort, before heading to the shower. My hair has already dried, though, as I’ve been awake for a while now. I choose not to mention it, wondering if I still look like I need another one. The thought makes me want to cry again. “I’ll be down in a few.” I sniff.

“You look like you need a foot rub,” Ash says. Instead of leaving, and without another word, he takes the oil and grabs my left foot. He pours some of the oil in his hands, rubbing them together to make sure it isn’t cold, and then starts massaging my feet.

He’s surprisingly good at this. I don’t know if my eyes roll back in my head or if I look like I’m being possessed, but I do moan. Loudly. It probably sounds like I’m getting birthday sex right now.

Wait, is birthday sex on the table?

No…no. I’m too achy right now. This is good. It’ll have to be birthday foot rubs this year.

After at least ten minutes massaging the left foot, Ash switches to the right, and I quietly think I might die happily right here, so long as he doesn’t stop. When he’s finally, sadly, done, he presses a kiss to my head, then tells me to meet him and the others for breakfast once I’m ready.

I take my time getting presentable, mostly because I only really have one speed at the moment, and it’s slow as fuck. By the time I make it downstairs, though, I’m starving. My pregnancy being unnaturally progressed has left me feeling unsatisfied after every meal and more than a little hungry for most of the day.

“Happy birthday!” Torrin roars like a beast when I step off the bottom of the stairs. I wonder if he was watching the entire time I made my pathetically slow descent. He rushes to my side and scoops me into his arms for a hug. My big belly gets in the way, but the hug is still good. I breathe him in. He smells so fucking good, but I pick up on something else coming from ahead.

“We have several kinds of pie,” he says, clearly catching my sniffing and looking off towards the scent of food. “We’ve also got all of the good breakfast staples, and Suvi should be here in about an hour to help you celebrate. We figured you’d want some time to eat before she arrived.”

“It smells amazing in here,” I admit with a smile as Torrin leads me into the living room.

Daion meets us as we walk in, pressing a kiss to my lips before handing me a single white rose. “Go sit; we’ll serve you, and happy birthday,” he says, then heads off to the kitchen with Torrin, leaving me alone with Rio.

After taking my usual spot on this couch, I glance up at him nervously, trying to gauge his reaction to all of the open affection they’re showing. I know how he feels about me and his brothers. He wanted me to end things with them…and here I am, carrying on with both of them and Ash regardless. He’s probably so pissed.

Rio looks at me oddly, and then, to my surprise, he sits right beside me on the couch, handing me a small but extravagantly wrapped box. “Happy birthday. I’m…uh, glad that you’re not dead.”

“Oh? That's progress, I suppose.” I smile, taking the box from him. “What is it then? Poison? A banishment spell? Some kind of bomb?” I tease, and Rio leans closer to me, gripping my chin between his thumb and finger.

“Eden, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble to protect you just to hurt you now. I don’t want to see you in pain or harmed. Maybe you won’t believe me, but I…I wouldn’t enjoy it.” Rio stares into my eyes, only a few inches away from me, and I can’t resist glancing down at his lips. They part a little as his tongue slips out to lick his upper lip slowly.

I swallow thickly, my mouth suddenly dry, but then Rio releases me and sits back. “Open your gift already, Eden.”

“Now I’m half worried it's a love spell…or at least a lust one,” I whisper to myself, but sitting so close, he catches it and snorts.

His stupid smile is dazzling. I rarely see him smile like that. I think this might actually be the first time I’ve seen it. It’s weirdly infectious, a lot like my contracted case of demonism.

“Do you think I’d need a love potion?” He shakes his head, smirking cockily. “You’ve never seen my charm.”

“You have charm?” I gasp, eyes widening in mock surprise.

Rio’s eyes narrow in turn, his entire aura shifting as he smiles differently for a second, clearly planning something evil. Then, his expression shifts again. He bites his lower lip, his eyes darkening as he turns his entire body to face me fully.

I’m enthralled when he reaches his hand up, tucking my hair behind my ear as he leans in and whispers, “You have such beautiful eyes, Eden. When you smile, it lights up the room. But,” he pauses, his lips just barely brushing against my skin when he breathes, making me shiver as he continues, “nothing is more attractive, although equally infuriating, than your stubborn fire. I bet making love to you is like going into a battle you’d love losing.”

My jaw drops as Rio slowly pulls away from me. For a few awkwardly long moments, I just stare at him. Is it hot in here, or do I need another meal from Ash? Would Rio feed— Nope! No freaking way. That's a line I cannot cross.

But damn, I guess he proved his point rather well. I suppose I should be gracious in my defeat. He did get me a birthday gift after all.

“Point made, no love or lust potion needed. Got it,” I say, cheeks flaming as I turn away from the handsome demon hunter beside me and focus on unwrapping my gift. I need to keep my hands busy before I do something crazy or stupid with them.

“If I was trying to make you mine, I wouldn't need a potion,” Rio says with a sigh that has to be exaggerated.

Dear Goddess, he needs to stop this, like right now.

I don’t respond, just nibble on my lip and keep unwrapping my present, suddenly frustrated by all the paper and ribbons in my way. Who even wrapped this thing, and where the hell are all of the others? I need a buffer in here, like right now. No, actually, I needed them five damn minutes ago. Rio turning his sudden charm on me is apparently a more effective lure than I thought it would be.

The world is so deeply unfair. This is supposed to be my birthday!

“Neither would you…” he adds in a soft murmur under his breath, sounding particularly distressed by that thought, as if he hadn’t meant to think it or say it.

My heart starts pounding because I’m not entirely sure what’s happening right now. Did he mean for me to hear those words, or is my hearing supercharged by my new demon abilities?

“Oh, wow,” I whisper, as I finally manage to get through all of the wrapping and pull a bracelet out of the box inside of it. It’s a charm bracelet, but the only charm is a small dagger. I frown, but when I turn to Rio, he only shrugs.

“It’s a promise. I won’t ever let anything happen to you or your baby. I failed you once, and I won’t fail you again. The charm,” he begins, smirking as he takes it from my hands and helps place it on my wrist, “represents my vow to keep you safe, or to die trying.”

“Wow, that’s?—”

“It’s also a tracker,” Rio adds, cutting me off before I can thank him. My mouth snaps shut as I glance down at the dagger charm. “And if you remove it, I’ll replace it with something you can’t take off.”

“There he is.” I huff, sitting back against the couch, resting my hands on top of my rounded belly as I try not to laugh. “I was beginning to get worried you might be unwell.”

Daion, Ash, and Torrin finally join us again, each of them carrying a huge tray of food, along with a gift bag. I think this might be the most spoiled I’ve ever felt in my entire adult life.

“We couldn’t decide what to feed you, so we brought a little of everything,” Torrin explains before handing me his gift. He sits on my other side as I unwrap the present. His is thankfully easier to get into, or maybe my hands are just more steady now I’m not alone with Rio when he’s acting all…confusing.

Promptly deciding to shelve all insane Rio-related thoughts, I force myself to entirely focus on Torrin’s present for me. I open the box and find a dark blue metal rose with gold-painted edges inside.

“Oh wow…” I murmur.

“It will never die.” Torrin grins, nodding to the bag. “There’s more.”

At the bottom of the bag, I locate a small charm of a blueberry pie for my new tracking bracelet. Looks like the guys coordinated on their Eden monitoring plan. I roll my eyes and chuckle, reaching over to hug him. “Thank you. These are really sweet, even if it is a tracker.”

Torrin’s cheeks turn dark red as he snaps his head to look at Rio accusingly.

“Yeah, I told her. I don’t want her to take it off. Now she knows it’s for her safety.” Rio shrugs, looking unbothered.

“It’s not only a tracker. We thought of the gift before we decided to make it a tracking device,” Daion explains as he hands me his gift bag. It’s much smaller than theirs, but I couldn’t care less about that. Inside, the charm he’s gotten for my bracelet is a heart. I stare at the ruby red colour for a long moment, feeling too much to put any of it into words.

“A promise to protect your heart, however that looks for us, Eden.” Daion says, pressing another kiss to my head before going to sit across from me.

“Mine is a small potion bottle,” Ash announces, pulling the charm out of his gift bag for me. “For the night we met and made the baby.”

He grins brightly while I groan and try to hide my face.

Despite everything though, I think I’m starting to feel glad that the bizarre mixture of events had caused it to be ineffective. Somehow, it’s brought me so much more than the unexpected demon baby growing inside of me. While that may be endlessly complicated, this…this is nice. It feels good to be here with all of them.

Ineffective contraceptive potions, apparently now the true peak of romance. Who’d have guessed?

The rest of breakfast is comfortable but charged with something I can’t fully explain. They all seem dedicated to protecting me and this baby, even now, after Torrin lost his friend because of me. Suvi eventually arrives with a charm for my bracelet as well, and by the time I finish eating, I’m more than ready for a nap.

Growing a baby is so damn tiring.

I’m taking a minute outside for some air, apparently still safely within the demon-warded zone—although I still feel protective eyes watching me through their window—when I see my brother, Forrest.

It’s been so long since I last saw him. With us living so far apart, time just seems to sneak by us these days. I try to run over to him, feeling boosted with a fresh burst of energy from the happy surprise, but it’s honestly a lot more like an awkward waddle.

“Trees?!” I gasp excitedly, stepping into his open arms for a hug.

“Hey Den, happy birthday to my favourite little sister!” He grins down at me before glancing up at the building and staring at the Fletcher Hunting sign with open suspicion and maybe a touch of hostility.

“I’m your only sister. What are you doing here?” I ask, super happy to see my older brother, but also very confused, especially by the glaring going on.

“Look, it’s not safe for you here. I heard what’s going on, and I’ve come to bring you home,” Forrest explains, and I go to take a step away from him.

“What do you mean you’ve heard what’s going on?” It’s then I remember that I haven't told any of my family that I’m pregnant, yet he doesn’t look the least bit surprised.

“Eden!” Rio shouts from the doorway, and just as I turn to see the demon hunter lurching toward us, Forrest grips my arm. I look back, spotting a familiar-looking oversized key in his other hand. One that happens to serve as a pre-spelled teleportation object going directly to our family’s home.

I only have time for two quick thoughts before I feel us falling.

The first is that at least with the key, I know it’s really him.

The second is just, Goddess, not again.