Everything is dark, my onlypany the sea and the strangled sounds escaping from me. I press a hand to my belly protectively when hurried footsteps approach. For a moment I expect the worst until a familiar scent i have missed winds into my nostrils.

    “ra! Tell me who hurt you!” Hands settle on my shoulders and shake me. “Look at me, damn it! I’ll kill whoever is responsible for this. Just give me a name.”

    At first I can’t focus my eyes, too flooded with tears. My fingers scratch at the skin of my throat, searching for air, for my voice. His hands take mine away from my body. I feel kisses on my skin and light forces its iway /iinto my vision. Slowly, my sight clears and before me is Cassian, his face etched with worry.

    “You’re here.”

    “You wouldn’t stop screaming my name.”

    1 bite my lower lip to hold back a sob that, no matter how much I fight, forces its way out. Another follows, and before I realize it, I am broken, in small pieces he tries to hold together in his arms.

    “What happened, ra? Who do I have to kill? I’m… fuck.” His breath brushes my cheek. “You’ve terrified me.

    I dig my fingers into his clothes as I search for air and words. I lose track of time and of where I am, my body so numb that it takes me a moment to realize we are no longer on the beach but back in what I now consider our little cabin. The fire zes immediately, I’m sure thanks to Ank. Cassianys me down on the bed and wraps his body around mine. He strokes my back slowly, though his fingers tremble.

    “Talk to me, love.”

    I press myself closer against his body seekingfort. A long time passes before I can lift my gaze to his and stop trembling. I swallow hard, trying to steady myself and not break into tears.

    “They want to take him from us, Cassian.”

    “What do they want to take from us, ra?” He lifts a hand to caress my cheekbone. “I need you to be more specific scan understand you.”

    “On the beach…” I begin, swallowing again. “The day I escaped the castle and threw myself into the sea, a merm me and saved me from drowning. In return she asked me for a favor.” I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling the again. “I didn’t know she would ask me for this, if I had, I would have thrown myself back into the sea.”

    I shake my head, trying to rid myself of every word the mermaid spoke, as if that could make them less real.

    “Don’t you ever say that again.” He lifts my face between his palms and forces me to look at him. “Your death wouldn’t have solved anything, it would have broken me, and the world isn’t ready for me to take it with me. Tell me, little wild thing, what did she ask for?”

    “She wants our child.”

    The blue of his eyes shifts, darkens. I see the twitch of his jaw muscle as he clenches it and the re of his nostrils. Rage floods every cell of his body; yet his touch on my skin is soft and tender.

    “She won’t have him.”

    “How can you be so sure?” I reply, desperation in my voice and tears in my eyes.

    “Because you are his mother and I am his father, that’s why I’m sure.”

    Deep down I know his words are a way of consoling me, of soothing my nerves, and that reality is different. None of us can

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    be certain. This is just one more thing added to the mountain of worries. Will we live in fear forever? Fear of the sea? Will the threats and enemies ever cease?

    A shaky sigh escapes my lips, and though all I want is to bury my face in his shirt and forget the world exists, his hands iare /idemanding, not letting me break eye contact.

    “I will always find a way to protect you both,” he assures me. He brushes his nose against mine. “For now, just focus on being strong and resting. He’s grown since thest time.”

    He ces a hand on my belly and draws a circle with his palm. His smile is small and hesitant. I close my eyes, letting his touch soothe me, and brush my nose against his again.

    “You said I was screaming your name, how did you get here so quickly?”

    “I was near the camp,ing to see you. I wanted to surprise you, but you started screaming in my head and you wouldn’t answer my questions. You were killing me, ra.”

    His lips lower to a breath away from mine, and I feel his breath ghost across them.

    “I’m sorry.”

    “No, I’m sorry, I wish I hadn’t taken so long toe back.”

    I open my eyes to look at him and see regret and worry etched into every feature of his face. I lift my hand, wanting to touch him, to feel that he is here, real, not one of those fleeting encounters where he vanishes the moment I close my eyes Before my hand touches his skin, something moves inside me. It’s a strange sensation, not painful. A small gasp escapes my mouth and I freezepletely still. It repeats, and this time the gasp gives way to a smallugh. The rage inhabiting Cassian vanishes entirely. He smiles, showing me his fangs, and his eyes gleam with renewed light.

    “Did you feel that?” I ask breathlessly.

    “Right beneath my hand.”

    I cover his hand with mine, waiting impatiently for the movement to happen again. The little one doesn’t itake /ileg

    with a kick that steals my breath in pure astonishment. The knuckles of Cassian’s free hand brush my cheek, and myself melt under his warm gaze.

    “I love you.”

    田