“Babies!”
I jump. Freeze. The upset water sloshes around me.
Grayson’s face appears beside mine, his hands planted at the edge of the water, not touching it, leaning out over the edge, his mouth a compressed line, his eyes narrowed. “Why did you say ‘babies?’”
He wasn’t there when I told the others that Indira was pregnant. “Osian stabbed her in the stomach.”
“But gargoyle females only experience pregnancy once. She won’t have any more children.”
I’m briefly surprised. So hewaslistening.
His face disappears from beside mine. I crane to see as Grayson strides over to Osian, grabs him, and slams a fist into his face, knocking him hard against the cavern wall.
Crack. Blood streams from Osian’s nose as he drops to his knees, eyes wide, his hand darting to his face to check the damage.
Priscilla shrieks, “What the hell, Grayson?”
Grayson picks Osian up by his shirt-front as if the heavy elf weighs nothing. “There are some lines you don’t cross. When we reach the surface, you’d better watch your back. If you pull anything like that again, I will kill you.”
He drops Osian with a disgusted growl. The older elf glares murder back at him, but Grayson doesn’t seem concerned. His trump card is always his ability to kill at will.
Osian jumps to his feet, bearing down on Grayson. “You little—”
Elwyn slams an arm in front of Osian, stopping him in his tracks, giving him a strong warning glance; a strong shake of his head. “Let it go.”
In my arms, Indira gasps. Flails. Gasps again. “Erit!”
I lock my arms around her before she can jump out of the water. Then I press my cheek to hers, whispering, “Shh, Indira. It’s okay. You’re with me.”
“Marbella?” She cranes to see who is holding her but in doing so, she can now see the Commanders too. Uncontrollable wildness enters her face. “I will kill them. I will tear them apart…”
I keep my voice low. “And I will join you, but first… can you…” I take a deep breath, barely able to ask the question. “Can you sense your babies?”
She freezes. Shudders. “I… don’t know…”
“Forget everything else. Focus, Indira. Before we fight back, I need to know.Youneed to know.”
She exhales. The tension in her body is so high, I’m worried she might not be able to relax enough to sense them. She’s scared too, trembling in my arms, afraid of what she’ll find out.
She gasps, inhales. “They’re alive.”
“Oh…” I drop my face to her shoulder and let the tears flow freely as she quietly sobs in my arms. Grayson returns to guard us again. His expression darkens as he sees our tears, fists clenching.
I don’t know why, but I whisper up to him, “They’re alive.”
His darkness clears. His smile is always real. He gives me a single nod and that is all before the mask drops back over his features.
My own smile fades.Remember who he is. Remember what you have to do.
Indira’s hair floats freely around us as she shifts in my arms. I murmur into her ear, “You have to keep yourself and the babies out of harm’s way now. They will use you to control me. I know you want to fight them, but I need you out of danger. Can you do that?”
She exhales, chomps down on her lip, and squeezes closed her angry eyes. She doesn’t like it. I wouldn’t either. But she needs to protect her children now. “As you wish, Supreme Incorruptible.”
“Stay inside the water where nothing can hurt you. Even if they strike you, you will heal. They won’t dare set foot inside the pond. Sorcery and deep magic can’t combine.”
She answers me by swimming further out, far enough that they can’t grab her. I climb the slippery steps carefully, water sloshing away from my armor, dripping down my arms and legs. Last time, Baelen carried me out safely and made me warm. This time, I harness my Prime heartstone, intending to use its power to warm my skin and dry my clothing.
I step right into Grayson. One of his arms closes around my waist, the other runs freely from the top of my head down my shoulders and back, leaving my hair and torso dry.
