Page 47 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

“No, but that pill has a seventy-two-hour window, and it won’t hurt an already attached life-sucker,” Wren informed her… poetically .

Rhaena buried her face into her hands. “Oh, my God…oh fuck. Oh fuck …”

“Stay here. Don’t call anybody. Don’t leave. If you need to puke, here’s the trash can. I’ll be back in fifteen.” Wren scooted the kitchen trash can to her side and grabbed her keys as she barreled out the door.

This couldn’t happen. Her life was a fucking train wreck. Neither one of their apartments were big enough, or decent enough , to raise a baby in. They worked all the time. They hadn’t even discussed having kids. Truthfully, she wasn’t even sure he wanted them. Wasn’t sure if she wanted them.

This was…astronomically bad.

The familiar smell in this elevator reminded him of the apartment just past the doors.

The one he didn’t live in anymore. The one where so many things changed the course of his entire existence.

Funny how the thought of that apartment felt nothing like home now that he’d been making one with Sarah about ten miles away.

She was home now. She’d always be home. A soft smile etched across his mouth as he stared at the floor waiting for the elevator to stop.

When the bell chimed and the doors opened, he made to step out, stopping short when he came face-to-face with Wren who looked utterly shocked to see him—and just about devastated.

“Athan!” she choked, conceding a step as her face paled.

“Back so soon? If I were you, I wouldn’t give me more reasons to torture that poor sod. I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt right now,” he grinned.

Wren rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “The poor sod …was perfectly delightful, thank you, and no, we’re not talking about it. I haven’t let Sarah have her chance to run me over for hairy details yet.”

“Well, when you decide to dive into that conversation, I’d leave out words like ‘hairy’.”

She scoffed, shaking her head. “Were you looking for me?”

Athan stepped out of the elevator, but Wren didn’t make any moves to step in, and the doors closed behind him. “Actually, no. I’ve got Rhaena some more leads. Your friend gave her some decent, unintentional information. Thank her again for us.”

“My friend?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Yeah, Leigh? The girl that sold me the statue at your shop. Did Rhaena not tell you?”

“Uhh…no. She—you know what? Why don’t I give it to her? She can fill me in.”

He got the feeling she was hiding something, and her intent stare really gave her away…

and the fact that she glanced twice now behind her at Rhaena’s door.

Athan tightened his jaw, feeling less than easy about the possibility that something was wrong with his partner, and he hadn’t been around much lately to help her.

He knew Jenkins wasn’t in there, seeing as they’d parted ways about twenty minutes ago, so there wasn’t any chance of him walking in on anything…

nude. Wren clutched the leather on his jacket as he strode past her, eyes focused on her door.

“Wait—Athan, now isn’t a good time, okay?”

He turned abruptly to face her, stopping about halfway down the hall. “What’s wrong? Don’t say nothing. I feel it in my gut, and my instincts are way better than yours.”

She fidgeted, shifting her weight to one hip and rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably as she looked down at the grungy carpet. “She’s just—look, it’s not my place to say. She’s fine, dude. I think she just needs a little space.”

“Is she hurt, Wren?”

“Not… physically , no.”

Nope. He was going. He turned, storming towards the apartment and ignoring Wren’s begging for him not to.

He knocked with a knuckle before letting himself in, never giving Rhaena a chance to answer and tell him to leave her alone.

He found her at the kitchen table crying and wiping her nose with a soggy paper towel.

The look of shock on her face quickly seemed to sag into relief, and she slowly stood from the table, breaking into sobs.

Wren burst through the door behind him, startling Rhaena as she raised the towel up to her face.

“I’m sorry—I tried to tell him.”

“You didn’t say anything, did you?” Rhaena croaked, shuddering with another sob. Athan looked between them, growing more irritated by the second as Wren shook her head warily.

“Say anything about what? What’s going on?”

“Go, Wren. It’s okay.”

Wren lingered in the doorway for a second, offering them both an apologetic smile before shutting the door behind her.

Athan approached Rhaena who was visibly shaking, unable to keep herself from crying.

He wasn’t used to seeing her like this. Actually…

he’d never seen her like this. It had to be something awful.

He eased his hands onto her bare shoulders and leaned in to force her eyes up to him.

“Is it Jenkins?” he asked, hoping it was just a nasty breakup. It only made her cry harder, tears spilling over her eyelids as she squeezed them shut. “What happened? Did he break it off? I’m sorry, I’m not really good at this shit, Rhaena. You gotta help me out here.”

“I—” she started, breaking into a howl that heaved out of her caving chest. It had to be more than just a breakup. Rhaena was so much tougher than this. “Athan, I think—I think I’m pregnant.”

Shit.

That was…not what he expected at all. He felt his mouth slowly drop open, and all he could think to do was stare at her. “You’re having puppies?” Her closed fist connected with his gut before he had a chance to smile, and the wind left him in a grunt.

“Could you not be an asshole?!” she wept, not finding it funny at all.

“Rhaena,” he drug out in sympathy. “It’s okay…

come here.” He pulled her into his chest and rested his chin on top of her head while she wailed like a four-year-old denied their favorite toy.

This was a big deal, he could admit…but for whatever reason, he didn’t find it such a bad thing.

“What makes you think you’re pregnant?” he asked, spotting the trash can by the kitchen table.

“I’m eating like my fucking life depends on it,” she sniffed, pulling back and wiping her nose.

“Rhaena, you eat like that all the time. That means nothing.”

“Look, I know your delicate ego can’t handle it, but I’ve also missed a period.

And I’m not on birth control anymore. Last time, they wanted to do bloodwork, and I didn’t think that was a good idea…

for obvious reasons. So, they didn’t give me another refill.

” She turned towards the sink, gripping her hair with both hands, and her snotty paper towel dangling from her fist.

“Oh…” he mumbled, not sure what to say.

“Yeah. Oh .” Rhaena blew out a long, frustrated breath and dropped her hands to the counter, bracing her weight on it. “I’m so fucked.”

Another thought crossed his mind—one not so pleasant and plunging his amusement through the floor. “R-Rhaena…how long have you been off the pill?”

“Almost two months now. I ran out, and they wouldn’t send refills without an exam. Why?” She turned around and leaned against the counter, meeting his eyes—and the panic in them. “What?”

Before Sarah—even after he’d met Sarah, they’d…fuck…how long ago was that? Was it even possible for him to get her pregnant?

The thought momentarily consumed him, and he spiraled in his mind of how any possibility of that being the case could affect both their futures.

He was almost positive Jenkins would leave her, and even if he didn’t…

God, that would be the most fucked up thing ever.

And Sarah…it would devastate her. It would devastate him .

They were already fighting for their freedom to be together for eternity without looking over their shoulders for a nuisance.

They were mated. Bonded. He’d asked her to be his fucking wife. She—

“Athan!” Rhaena barked, snapping him out of a vortex of pure, undiluted anxiety.

Her hand flapped out in front of her, and her attention lingered on the fists clenched at his sides.

He hadn’t even realized how hard he’d tightened them until he opened his palms and saw tiny crescent marks from his fingernails.

“You’re not allowed to be more taken back by this shit than me. What’s the matter?”

“I—the last time we…you don’t think…” He stared at her blankly, trying to figure out how to finish his thought, and if her face could get any more pale, she’d be transparent.

“No. No, that’s not possible. That can’t even happen…can it?” Her voice shuddered, and that paper towel raised back to her mouth in her fist. “No. No, I had a period after…I’m almost positive.”

“You’re almost positive?!” He could feel his control slipping little by little, that unsteady heart in his chest testing the confines of his sternum.

“Don’t do this to me,” she broke, leaning over her legs as her back sputtered in sobs. “God, what did I do to deserve this?”

He stood frozen, and barely able to swallow.

His skin prickled, and his chest hurt. His mouth felt like they were filled with dust and cobwebs, and he felt like vomiting.

Which was selfish considering the fact that he couldn’t fathom what Rhaena was feeling right now.

She was clearly distraught enough by the notion that being pregnant would possibly be the end of her career.

The whole axis of her world tipping in a direction gravity wouldn’t be able to save her from.

And he just added a sweetener. Now she was questioning if she could even figure out which one of them fathered her baby.

Baby…Christ.

“Rhaena…sit down,” Athan whispered, taking her softly by her shoulders and leading her to the chair she’d been sitting in when he got there. He knelt down in front of her and raised her chin, swiping a thumb beneath her puffy eyes.

“I can’t do this. I can’t—” she wept.

“Stop. It’s okay…it’s all gonna be okay. You don’t even know if you are. Is that accurate?”