I stood. “You all go out and start rallying the troops. Make sure Louis gets the sorcerers in place around the Four and all that shit.” I made shooing motions with my hands. “I’m going to check on Mischa, then I’ll follow you to the border.”
I could see more than one of them wanted to protest. Braxton had that look in his eyes where he was trying to figure out if he was fast enough to throw me over his shoulder before I managed to kick him in the balls.
I shook my head at him. “Don’t even think about it. We’re equals, remember? I’ll be your worst nightmare if you don’t respect that part of our relationship.
Blue eyes glittered and his expression was calculating. Still, he didn’t say anything more, he just reached out and cupped me around the back of my head before pulling me in for a leisurely goodbye kiss. I knew what the bastard was doing – using his animal magnetism to cloud my senses, reminding me I was much happier by his side.
As he pulled away I narrowed both eyes at him and gave a growl. He laughed before turning to walk away. I seriously wished I had time to punch him in the jaw. Later. Definitely something to put on my to-do list for later.
“Thank you for checking in on Mischa,” Lienda said as she and Jonathon were readying to leave. “She’s so out of our reach right now, and after everything … I couldn’t stand to lose her.”
I squeezed my mom’s hand. “We won’t lose her. I can almost guarantee it.”
Jonathon would hear the truth in my voice, a truth I was sure of. As soon as this battle was over, Mischa would have the strength again to deal with this. She was a Lebron after all.
Jonathon handed me the key and then they left the building. It was quiet in here with everyone gone, and the place looked absolutely massive. I wasted no time sprinting across the room and unlocking the door.
I wanted to see Mischa in case something went wrong today. We were going into a fight for our lives and if we didn’t manage to best the king, I’d either be dead or locked up as some baby-making machine.
Now was my last chance to say goodbye.
Chapter 16
A manic face shot up as I stepped into the room and locked the door behind me. My eyes widened at the sight of her dilated pupils. Damn, girl. She was off her rocker right now. I turned and double-checked the door. I did not want to let the dragon marked crack-head loose. Larky’s energy was like a bad drug trip.
Mischa scrambled up from her position on the couch, and I wondered if she’d even left that spot since yesterday. Being locked up was no good for her, not as a person or a shifter. We required freedom, fresh air, forests. She probably needed to shift. Her wolf would be making her miserable if it had been too long. There was no problem shifting while pregnant; our bodies adjusted for the young inside, and no harm generally befell the fetus.
She crossed to me, her walk shaky, her clothes definitely still yesterday’s. I wrapped my arms around her, wrinkling my nose at the slightly stale smell.
“Misch … tell me you’re showering at least.”
She laughed against me. “Yeah, every second day. Seems like a lot of effort otherwise. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyes were less dull as she pulled back. Just being close was cathartic for us. I noticed an untouched tray of food beside her couch, which was starting to resemble a bird’s nest with all her blankets and crap on it. I didn’t have much time, but getting her to eat was number one on my list of priorities. She’d always been a strange supe, eating sparingly. But now she had another body to nourish, and she was going to eat all of that deliciousness or so help me I was going to kick her in her pregnant butt.
I led her back to her nest, and as soon as she was settled I picked up the toast and handed it to her. “Eat this, Mischa, or I will kick your ass.” I hadn’t been kidding about that.
Her eyes widened. Like to the point of falling out of her head. “But … but I’m pregnant,” she angry-whispered at me.
I grinned. “Yes, you are, but you’re also a shifter and I can kick you fair in the ass and it will not hurt your child. Also, if you’re going to use the pregnant card to escape shit, then use it to remember you need to feed two hungry supes now.” My voice was as low as hers, but still plenty loud enough to get my point across.
Her wide eyes started to narrow, but she didn’t say anything as we held the stare-off. Finally, she reached out and snatched the toast from me.
“I’ll try my best to eat, Jess. It’s just food is still making me sick. Really sick. I’m pretty much living on dry crackers, water, and jerky.”
I patted her on the head. “All I ask is that you try, and jerky … for reals? That’s nasty stuff. Pregnancy cravings are whacked.”
She took a delicate bite of the plain toast and grimaced. “You have no idea. It’s especially difficult keeping this sort of weirdness from our parents.”
I wondered if I had this morning sickness and weird cravings thing to look forward to. Mischa raised the slice to take another bite when her faced crumpled and she dropped the toast to cradle her head in both hands.
“He’s here, Jess!” she said, shouting and moaning at the same time. “Go! Go now and finish the bastard.”
She started to shake, little tremors at first but then her entire body was rocking, almost like she was having multiple mini-seizures. I was on the balls of my feet, unsure what the hell to do. I knew I should leave. I had shit to do and kings to kill and stuff, but leaving my twin when she was clearly suffering felt like the wrong move.