“Tell me what happened to you.” Concern was still evident in his voice, but his words bore the unmistakable air of a command. This demon had had enough of waiting.
“Er…” She’d hoped to have a little more time to digest everything before deciding on how and what to tell him, but when she looked up into his eyes, she knew he wasn’t going to accept anything but the immediate and full truth.
“Don’t freak out, all right?”
Both his eyebrows arched. “You do realize that is anything but a calming statement, right?”
“Sorry, it’s just, ah… So you know how that barrier keeps demons out?”
“Yes?”
Selma bit the inside of her cheek. They hardly knew each other. Despite the incredible intensity of their time together, they had only been around one another for a handful of days. Yet when his arms were around her, it felt like they’d known each other for a lifetime.
“Seriously, I need you to promise me you won’t freak out, because I can’t deal with that right now. I think I’m pretty terrified, and I don’t need you to?—”
“Tell. Me. Now!”
Kain accentuated his growl by grabbing her arms and shaking her—gently, but it stopped her rambling.
“Right, sorry. So the barrier… it, uh, keeps demons out. All demons.”
His expression didn’t change to a look of understanding.
“Also baby demons,” she clarified. “So that’s why I got knocked out.”
For the longest time, he just stared at her. Selma stared back at his frozen face, not entirely sure if he’d grasped what she was trying to say.
“I’m pregnant.”
Actually saying it out loud did nothing to soothe her nerves, nor did his continued blank stare.
“…so I can’t stay at the Sanctuary. And I… I really need you to speak now, because I don’t know what to do and you’re freaking me out.”
When air wheezed out of his lungs, she realized he’d stopped breathing while she spoke.
“Selma…”
Her name on his lips sounded pained, and when he carefully released his grip on her arms, she felt the loss of contact way too keenly. Fear of rejection pierced her heart, making her wrap her arms around herself and the child she was apparently carrying to stem the ache.
“I know this isn’t what you want, but I need your help, okay? Please don’t leave.”
Shock finally cracked his frozen mask. “Leave? You think I’d—” He interrupted himself with a foul curse and stroked a hand through his hair in an obvious attempt at soothing the agitation that seemed to flow out through the broken facade. “You’re carrying my… my child?”
She nodded, more than a little confused at his reaction. “Bealith told me so, and it makes sense given what happened with the barrier.”
Kain went quiet again, his body stilling.
“Kain?” Gently she placed a hand on his chest, searching his eyes for a clue of what was going on. Her panic mixed with her confusion, resulting in an unpleasant roll in her gut.
That was when she saw the single tear drawing a path down his cheek.
“Why are you crying?” She could hardly press the words out as complete terror closed around her lungs. He was so strong, so stoic… and a freaking demon! Tears were not something she’d even thought him capable of.
He gasped in the night air, and when his nostrils flared, his eyes went dark, the moisture leaving them. The scent of her fear had finally cut through.
“I can’t let you leave.” It was a hoarse murmur. “If I touch you right now, I will never let go again. I can’t. Not now, not when he’s been born. Never.”
Oh. The motionless state of his body suddenly made sense—he was doing his very best to rein in instincts that were undoubtedly clamoring to grab her and lock her up somewhere.
