He’s dressed in black jeans and a dark T-shirt, his arms disguised by spandex sleeves. He wears black leather gloves, the way we all do when we’re out in public, and his face is completely covered by a stone gray skull mask. It’s one of his older models, not the one he’s wearing for this weekend’s show.
“About time you showed up.” I glower at him from the couch.
I’ve once again ditched my shirt, my navy skin on display. The tour bus is the one place I can be free.The one place I can be myself.I spend as much time as possible uncovered, since I have to be concealed head to toe every second I’m off the bus.
“I was busy,” he mutters simply.
“With?”
“Research.”
The word tugs a cord in my chest, but I try to ignore the sensation. He’s been doingresearchever since he found out Niki was pregnant, scouring the Earth between shows, for any information that might help them prepare for what’s to come.
For any information about a successful half-demon birth.
So far, he hasn’t had any luck, and the hypotheticals are mounting. We don’t know if it’s even possible, if she’ll survive to full term. If she’ll survive at all. The demon fetus has already started draining her energy, and it’s been difficult for Sebastian to keep his supply up enough for the both of them.
“Enough beating around the bush, Kaseilon, I’m tired.” Sebastian sighs. “You wanted to talk, here I am.”
My jaw hardens as I stare at him. He made me wait an hour for an audience with him, but now he wants me to hurry and get to the point.
I should make him wait. I should draw this conversation out until the sun sets, out of spite, but I can tell by the way he drops onto the couch next to me and hangs his head that he’s as exhausted as he claims.
“Have you fed today?” I ask, noting the way his shoulders sag.
He shakes his head. “No. Probably should.”
“Probably.” The silence drags between us before my concerns finally bubble to the surface, and I can’t keep them locked up any longer. “Another human, Acherith? Really?”
A deep sigh escapes him, and he peels off his mask,flinging it onto the couch beside him. His black and red skin looks paler than normal, and his shaggy black hair is damp with sweat. He looks like hell—well, more than normal.
“I know.”
I expect him to launch into some kind of explanation, but he doesn’t.
“The last thing we need is someone else poking around,” I go on. “Especiallyone we can't control. What if she finds out? What if she lets the truth slip?”
Everything we know—our career, our tour, our time on Earth—could unravel with the slightest misstep.
“Iknow,” he repeats, which has annoyance prickling over my skin.
“How long is she staying?”
Maybe, if it’s only for a few days, things will be fine. We’ve kept up our charade for this long in front of millions of people. How hard would it be to keep the secret with someone scrutinizing our every move for a little bit?
He doesn’t look in my direction when he responds, “Until the baby is born.”
My insides twist into a painful knot. “You can’t be fucking serious?”
“Serious as sin.” Sebastian runs a hand through his hair.
In a blink, I’m on my feet, pacing the main part of the bus. If I lose my shit and beat him senseless, Emrys isn’t here to intervene. He went out earlier to get us dinner and hasn’t come back yet.
“You've had some stupid ideas over the years, Acherith, but this… this is idiotic.”
He doesn’t deny it.
He doesn’t say anything at all.
