Adriel didn’t look at all comforted by my confusion. “The human doctor who delivered Benji’s baby. He’s staying here until we know what to do with him. Remember?”
“Oh.”
I didn’t want to see a doctor. Too many sour memories of white coats and hospitals turned me off of them for good. I just wanted to curl up on the bathroom floor and rot until this horrible sensation passed. But if I was being forced to see one, I was at least grateful that he was inside the mansion, and therefore close to home.
Adriel ran into Theo in the hall. “Where is Maxwell?”
Theo’s eyes widened when he saw me. “Oh my god, Caleb, are you okay?”
“Theo!” Adriel snapped.
“He’s down the hall. Here, I’ll show you,” Theo said quickly. “Geez, what happened?”
“Don’t bother him with your questions,” Adriel growled. “He fell ill at work.”
The panic from before flared up. “Don’t tell Benji. Please.”
“Huh?” Theo said. “Why not?”
“He has enough on his plate, with Lark and recovering,” I said breathlessly. “I don’t want him to worry about me.”
Theo didn’t look pleased about keeping secrets but he nodded. Finally he stopped at a door on the main hall and knocked rapidly. “Max?”
A tired-looking man with glasses appeared, scowling. “Itoldyou, it’s Maxwell! Dr. Maxwell!”
But Maxwell’s face changed when he saw me. “Oh my! Come in, come.”
It was one of the many rooms in the mansion I’d never seen before, so the unfamiliarity made me uncomfortable. I squeezed Adriel’s hand as he laid me down on an examining table.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I begged.
Adriel’s eyes flashed protectively. “No. Never.”
Theo stood by the door, his brows furrowed in sympathy. “Maxy, you need me, or…?”
Maxwell shook his head and shooed Theo away with a flick of his wrist. I had the feeling that under any other circumstance he would have scolded Theo for calling him that, but now wasn’t the time.
Maxwell examined me intently. “How long has this been going on?” he asked. “Frequently?”
“Just tonight,” I replied. My voice was hoarse from being sick.
“It hasn’t happened before?”
“No.”
He nodded to himself. “Caleb, is it? I need to ask you a few personal questions. Mr. Vampire, if you could give us some privacy, please?”
Adriel glanced from Maxwell to me, unsure of what to do. His protective instincts must have been flaring up. He didn’t want to leave my side - especially when I’d asked him not to.
“It’s okay. Whatever you want to ask, you can say in front of both of us,” I told Maxwell.
He considered my words. “I see. Then I’ll assume the two of you are in a relationship?”
“Yes,” we said at the same time.
“Okay.” Maxwell sighed. “Caleb, have you been sexually active, involving penetration?”
My stomach flipped over itself. I said quickly, “Yes, but we used protection.”
“Was it during a heat cycle?”
“Yes,” I said. “But we used a condom.”
An uncomfortable prickle pulled at my skin. I didn’t like the way Maxwell wouldn’t get to the point.
Whatever he was thinking, he was wrong. He had to be wrong.
I can’t be…
“Caleb,” Maxwell said softly. “I think you might be pregnant.”
