“We thought that might not be biologically possible. Are you quite sure?” I ask.
“I’m not a human expert, but our data pad scan confirmed it,” he says confidently.
“Can you do me a favor, Hi’rey? Keep this information to yourself until the palace has time to process the best way to share this information, won’t you?” I ask.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” He nods. “Congratulations. May the goddess bless you with a healthy heir.”
“Thank you,” I told him, still in shock.
Opal?Pregnant.Me?A father.
The Deenz are done for. I place my hand on Opal’s stomach as I take my seat next to her.
“You are the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen, you know that?”
“I better be.” She arches an eyebrow as she settles into the seat and closes her eyes.
CHAPTER15
?NO STRINGS ATTACHED?
?GRA’ETH
Jessy,the spotted human with a red mane, is a peculiar creature. As we sit in my cruiser, she pokes at the upholstered panels and wedges her finger into any spot it’ll fit.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
She pulls her hands back into her lap and clasps them together quickly, like a scolded child. “Oh sorry, sometimes I just get the urge to see how things work.” She sighs. “You know, to see the man behind the curtain and all the jazz.”
I frown. “What curtain?”
“Ah yes, I must make a mental note to be quite literal with you, Gray Seth. Human pop culture obviously isn’t your strong suit,” she rambles softly under her breath.
I run my eyes up her torso. She’s shaped much differently than the only other human I’ve known—my queen, Opal.
Opal is all soft roundness while Jessy is much leaner. I hate to say it, but also a bit unwieldy with her long limbs. She’sinterestingvisually, I won’t deny that.
Her personality is the strange part. I feel like she is appraising me with every glance.
“Do you have a swim bladder, Seth?” She cocks her head as she runs her eyes down my bare chest—my shirt and jacket lost in the shuffle.
“Excuse me?” I raise my eyebrows. What kind of question is that? “Do you?”
“No need to get testy there, Gray Seth.” She raises a palm to pacify me. “I don’t have a swim bladder, seeing as humans are terrestrial animals. Not trying to be rude, just curious is all.”
She pushes her fingers into her mouth and bites the cuticle of her index finger. I can smell the blood blooming from her self-inflicted wound.
“Stop it,” I say, pulling her hands roughly from her mouth.
“Wow, okay Dad,” she says as she rolls her eyes.
“It’s just…” I search for the correct words, but am not sure I find them. “You shouldn’t hurt yourself like that.”
“It’s not a big deal,” she says, clenching her mouth tightly.
“I can smell the blood.”
“Really?” Her eyes light up as she looks at the speck of blood welling at the corner of her cuticle. “Such a small amount?”
