Darkness closed in around her.
“Kira!” Gwen cried, but she was far, far away.
Kira floated in the darkness, the smoke curling around her like an old friend. It was warm and comforting. Something touched her feet, and she looked down, finding herself standing on a grassy knoll. Her stomach lurched—she recognized this place.
Dread filled her stomach as she looked up. A sludgy black river, made of oil and tar, bubbled in a great chasm. It frothed and surged as it flowed, bringing sparks of red and green to its depths. The sparks flew upward only to turn to ash and fall back down, swallowed by the river.
“Joshua,” Kira whispered, lifting her eyes higher. Her heart lurched. She was even further from him than she had been before. “Joshua!”
An inky black tendril lifted from the sludge. Joshua was shouting, his voice faint. He didn’t notice the demon as it slithered from the chasm.
“Look out!” she screamed, jolting forward.
Pain shot through her face, followed by a burning cold. Water seeped down her throat into her lungs. Kira screamed, lifting a hand to protect herself. Her eyes snapped open, and the light was so blinding that she nearly passed out again. Her gaze slowly focused, and she found Gwen and Chelsey leaning over her.
It took her a moment to realize they had moved her into her bedroom. Music from a cheerful children’s cartoon played somewhere in the house.
Chelsey hugged her tightly, letting out a dry, rasping sound. Gwen leaned back, closing her eyes. There was shock and desperation on both of their faces.
They weren’t working on spells and potions. That must mean it was over—
“Joshua?” Kira asked, dread filling her.
Gwen touched her shoulder. “The last we heard, they had turned the tide. The demon fled, and they chased it. Joshua’s fine.”
But Kira wasn’t mollified. “Then why do you two look like that?”
Chelsey quickly stood and went to the door, shutting it softly. They both looked so stern and worried that Kira’s heart pounded.
“After you collapsed, we carried you in here,” Gwen said. “I touched your stomach and had a vision. You’re pregnant, Kira.”
No. No, that was impossible. She and Joshua had only slept together the one time. And she… she hadn’t gone for the morning-after pill. She’d been too upset and angry. She hated that he was trying to dictate, and the timing was wrong to get pregnant anyway.
At least, she had thought it was. Apparently, she was wrong.
Her mind churned as she fought to process this information. She was pregnant with Joshua’s child. A child he’d never wanted. How was he going to react? He’d just started to realize how controlling he could be; would he decide that he had the final say in this, too? And what about the curse hewas talking about? Could she even carry the pregnancy to term? Would her witch blood reject the witch hunter in her baby?
“Are you okay?” Chelsey asked, her voice small.
Kira took a steadying breath. “I’m fine. But nobody needs to know about this.” Her chest tightened even as she spoke. She was furious with Joshua for keeping secrets, and now she was going to keep one from him.
This is different. He kept secrets because he made decisions on my behalf. I just need time to process. To decide what I want first.
Emotion welled in her chest, tight and burning. She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. She still resented the way Joshua had tried to make decisions for her, and yet he’d been proven right. First the demon, now this. Oh, if he were the type to say, ‘I told you so,’ she’d be hearing it for the rest of her life.
She focused on Chelsey and Gwen again. “Don’t tell anyone. Don’t even talk about it with each other. I don’t want anyone to know. At least not before Joshua knows.”
Gwen smoothed Kira’s hair from her face. “I kept Lianne a secret from Rafael for seven years, and in the end, that choice only hurt all of us.”
“I’m not going to keep it a secret for seven years. I am going to tell him soon,” she said, and she almost believed her own lie. She was going to tell him; she’d start showing eventually, and she needed to tell him before that happened. Unless her body rejected the pregnancy, in which case he never had to know. The thought made her lip tremble. “I don’t want him to find out from anyone but me.”
Understanding filled Gwen’s eyes. Both she and Chelsey nodded their agreement. Kira let out a sigh of relief, then pushed herself up. Despite her momentary blackout, she now felt fine. As she swung her legs off the bed, Chelsey ran forward.
“You passed out.”
“It was the smoke and over-exerting my magic,” Kira mumbled. “You can call the doctor if you’re worried, but I want to see the spell.”
Chelsey looked to Gwen for help, as though she hoped Gwen would push Kira back onto the bed and refuse to let her get up. But Gwen nodded, and Chelsey huffed.
