“If you think otherwise, you may as well have killed me the day we met, because I’ve already lived in one cage. I refuse to trade it for another.”
Abaddon drops to bring his face closer to mine in that way that used to feel intimate but now feels threatening. “So you mean to leave me? You never intended to honor our contract? You plan to leave with my kit?”
“I’m saying the exact opposite!” I throw my hands up in complete exasperation. “I won’t leave unless you make it impossible for me to stay!”
He rears back with a roar that makes my ears ring. “Stop speaking in riddles!” His fist connects with the stone wall hard enough to send dust raining down.
Thing immediately positions himself between us again, but I stand my ground.
“There’s a child between us now,” I say, my voice deadly calm. “And I don’t care what deal I made or who I made it with—if you ever put your hands on me in anger again, I’ll have Thing remove them, and then I’ll disappear from your life forever.”
The shame that crosses his face is satisfying, but it doesn’t fix what he broke between us.
I turn away because looking at him hurts too much. Am I being a fool staying here? Every self-defense class I’ve ever taken says that when someone puts their hands on you, you leave. But it’s not that simple when you’re pregnant with their potentially supernatural child and stranded in what might be another dimension entirely.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...
But there hasn’t been a twice yet. And despite everything, some part of me still believes he can be better.
God, I’m probably the biggest idiot who ever lived.
The exhaustion hits me like a truck, which is weird because I haven’t felt tired since Abaddon healed me. Is this the pregnancy? When do symptoms start? And what the hell am I supposed to expect carrying a half-monster baby?
Where’sWhat to Expect When You’re Expecting the Antichrist?
“See?” Remus pipes up with that shark grin. “She doesn’t like you, but maybe she’ll like me.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “You’re literally a sociopath.”
“I don’t know what that means,” he says cheerfully, “but I’m very good at what I do, and I always get what I want.”
“And what exactly do you do?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.
Remus’s grin turns absolutely feral. “Why, I make War, my dear. Don’t tell me brother dearest didn’t mention it.” He spreads his arms wide in a theatrical gesture. “You didn’t stumble into just any monster’s lair. We’re famous! I’m War, that’s Death,” he points at Thing, “our brother Famine died when we killed our father, and the one whose kit you’re carrying is?—”
“Don’t!” Abaddon roars.
“Who?” My gaze bounces between them like a ping-pong ball. “Who is he?”
Remus’s grin somehow gets even more terrifying. “Why, he’s Pestilence, of course. We’re the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Well, Three Horsemen now, but you get the idea.”
My brain short-circuits. “Pestilence,” I whisper, my hands flying to my stomach.
The Four Horsemen. I’m pregnant withPestilence’sbaby?
“Try not to kill each other while I’m gone,” I say faintly, then walk out of the room on legs that feel like jelly.
I need a bath. And possibly an exorcism. But definitely a bath first.
FORTY-ONE
ABADDON
I watchHannah walk away from me, and every instinct screams to follow her. To corner her. To make her submit until she promises never to leave.
The old me would have done exactly that. Would have tied her to our bed and kept her there until she begged for my forgiveness, until she admitted she needed me as much as I need her.
But the shame burning in my chest stops me cold.
