“No.”
“Yes,” I plead as he takes the thick, dusty tome back to the shelf and slides it between two books before picking out another one. “If you try it on me, I won’t sue if things go bad.”
He skims the books with his fingers and stops at one with a dark brown binding. He tugs the book out, raises his head and looks at me. “No.”
I throw up my arms in frustration. “Hands? Will you please speak to him? He’s being completely unreasonable.”
“I’m not being unreasonable! I’m being safe.”
“Well your safety could cost lives.”
He opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again, and while looking at me he says, “Hands?” Then he drags his gaze away and studies the creature. “I understand that. But what about—oh, I see. So you’ve already come up with a plan in the two minutes that we’ve been talking about this.”
I bite my bottom lip in excitement, because it’s obvious (hopefully) where this is going.
“Uh-huh,” Devlin replies while Hands signs frantically. “You think so? Is that right?” He slips the book back onto the shelf and sighs heavily, dropping his fingers to his hips and tapping them absently.
He’s so sexy when he does that.
No, I’m not even going to try to filter that out with an,I hate him. I can’t stand him. Get him away from me. He’s the devil.
I’m past all that. I’ve seen who he really is—the smart, caring boy that I knew so long ago. Yes, there’s been the kissing, but it’s more than that. There’s also been us spending time together and me seeing how he cares for his grandmother, and it’s inspiring how much Devlin wants this womb to work, toreallywork.
Plus, just being in the lab fills me with complete and absolute joy. It also doesn’t hurt that whenever I get a hankering to make a potion, he’s right here, encouraging me.
“Okay,” he says quietly.
My heart explodes with happiness. “Okay?”
“Okay. But”—he points a finger at me—“if anything starts to go wrong, I’m pulling the plug, and I expect not to hear any whining from you.”
I raise my hands in surrender. “You won’t. I swear that I will fully comply with everything you say.”
He smirks and rubs his chin, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “Everything?”
I grab a rag off the table and toss it at him. He catches it against his heart. “Stop it,” I say with an eye roll the size of Kansas. “You know what I meant.”
“I do.” He drops the rag in my hands as he walks past me. “Let’s get started.”
“Hands,I want you to keep an eye on Blair. If she shows any signs of stress, you tell me immediately. I’ll be monitoring the vitals of the womb, making sure it’s stable.”
Devlin walks around the medical table that I’m lying on and looks down at me. “You’re sure about this?”
I bat at his arm playfully, like we’re friends or something. “You act like something’s going to go wrong.” He winces. Why is he wincing? “You’ll be here and so will Hands. Everything’s going to be fine, okay?”
He touches my shoulder gently. “Anything feels off, you say something immediately, okay?”
“Okay.” Everything’s going to be fine. Why is he making such a big deal about this? “I’m ready. Now stop being so worried and let’s do it.”
“You’re sure?”
I kick my feet against the table. “Yes! How many times do I have to say it?”
“All right.” He gives my shoulder one last squeeze before striding off and letting his hand follow him, taking his warmth and comfort with him. “Hands! Get ready.”
Devlin waves his arms over the womb and out from it reaches one long tentacle. With magic he guides the elongating limb to my head, where the soft point of it touches my temple.
A jolt rushes through my body as I merge with the magical machine. I can feel it, sense the fluid sloshing through it, experience its warmth.
