“I was thinking of being part in and part out of the Shadow Realm, and keeping her there to be on the safe side. It will be more energy used on my part, but that way, she will be out of view.”
Seri shook his head. “No…she will need to be fed, and her diaper changes, and…just more than what you could do half in and out. Not to mention, won’t people hear her?”
“I mean, I can do that in the Shadow Realm, and we won’t have to stay in the real world the whole time. Most of the time, we could pull back. Not to mention, I can split in certain ways to prevent sound from reaching both sides. It’s really just a lot of planning and logistics.”
“Severo, I would say you keep that darling baby in this world,” Ender drawled. “It’s not good to keep a baby, and a non-Dweller, in the Shadow Realm for so long. They already spent a long time there the other day. And it will be long again. There are no direct flights, and all the current flights have long layovers. She is too young, and there is too much unknown.
“My deepest pardon, Seri, but Severo informed me without your permission on why you were in the Shadow Realm when you arrived here. Who knows what could happen. Flights get delayed. If there is a point where you all need to flee into the Shadow Realm, it wouldn’t be safe for y'all after spending all that time there already.”
“But she is a Dweller,” Severo said slowly, his gaze focused on catching Seri’s reaction.
The Nymph’s eyes widened as he gasped. “She’s…she’s not…she’s not like…P-Preston. She hasn’t shown any signs!”
“Seri…you have to?—”
“She looks like me, only like me. There is nothing I have to do or know,” the man said sharply.
He winced. “I know it’s hard. And I know it’s not something you probably even want to consider, but the fact is, she is every bit a Shadow Dweller as she is a Water Nymph. Our kinds…powers don’t start showing until at least a year to a year and a half of age. But before that time…you need to be ready to accept her.”
Seri stared, eyes still wide, pale as hell. The man had even started to tremble slightly. “I…” The Nymph gulped. “What would be safest?”
Ender cleared his throat. “Well, since we don’t know right now…” The Gorgon sent him a pointed look that pretty much told him to shut up. “Like I said, y'all already spent a considerable amount of time in the Shadow Realm. She is young, too young to risk doing it again so close together.”
Severo sighed. “Disguise it is.”
The man nodded. “Right then, let’s get you some pictures for the Passbooks, and get your new identities up and going. Then you two can figure out how you are going to change up the little one’s appearance.”
Seri North stared blankly out the window. As his gaze roamed over the trees and perfectly cut grass, his stomach twisted. He had the brief thought of jumping out. Even if he died, at least he’d have tasted freedom again. He shook his head, banishing the thoughts. It was too late to take those measures now.
He rubbed his hand over his extended stomach. Five months pregnant was much too late…not that he hadn’t tried. Besides…he would taste freedom again. He would. Seri had to believe that. He was working towards it now, with each action that he took.
He wrapped his hands around the seemingly solid metal bracelet on his wrist, grimacing at the feel of the smooth metal under his fingers.
While the walls here were his prison, the bracelet was a constant reminder that he was there, never letting him, for even a moment, zone out and forget. Because unlike the walls, the bracelet—no, his shackle—blocked him off from the powers that fueled his entire being.
Water Nymphs needed, big surprise, water to survive. Normally, his body actively absorbed water from the air through his skin. His pores sucking it in, it was a constant automatic bodily function—unless their powers were for some reason blocked.
He wasn’t sure how Preston had gotten the material to make the bracelet… No, he knew how…money. Preston Chanway had likely bribed a CEB agent. He already knew the man had police officers in his pockets, and he was sure it was the same with the CEB.
Seri took a deep breath. His constant state of being for years now was dry… He felt like he was drying out more and more with each breath he took.
Seri flinched at the sound of the door opening behind him, but he didn’t turn around to see who it was.
“Mr. Chanway requests your presence for lunch. Don’t dawdle,” a deep, firm voice said.
He didn’t recognize the voice, but that wasn’t unusual. The man was one of Preston’s personal guards…people he switched out often. Or rather, ones he had to replace often, once he murdered them after too many perceived missteps.
Seri turned, intending to attempt to get there quickly…when his bladder decided that was not going to happen. “Shit,” he cursed.
Well, it wasn’t like it was possible to make it down six flights of stairs quickly while pregnant anyway. At least, it hadn’t been as of late.
Cursing again, he rushed to the bathroom. It pissed him off to no end that he had recently started to waddle when he walked. How was he already this big at five months? He still had five months left!
He did his business as quickly as possible, and took his waddling ass right out of the room, barely glancing at the black, white, and gray interior. It pretty much described the rest of the house. It honestly felt like he was in one of those black and white movies from over five hundred years ago.
On reaching the stairway, he began the long trek down.
When he finally reached the first floor, Seri stood there for a moment, grasping at his sides at the same time he gasped for air. He was weak…so weak. He wasn’t sure if it was just the pregnancy, or if it was a side effect of him being cut off from his powers. He never managed to take in all the nutrients he needed, and the simple fact that he was cut off from them weakened him some anyway. It was likely a combination of it all.
