His stormy blue eyes met mine long enough for me to see that his thunderous rage had subsided. Shamefaced, he nodded tightly and then, with one last longing glance toward Skylar, he turned tail and stalked out of the bar. Thankfully, his guards followed suit. A few of my kin shifted in order to trail behind to ensure they’d not start any more trouble. It was at that point the burning pain in my side let itself be known. My shirt was stuck to the bloody wound so I stripped it off to get a better look at the damage. The gash was just above my hip bone on the right side. I had no chest pain or shortness of breath, which meant my lungs were probably fine, but the cut was deep and still bleeding.
“He cut you?” Skylar said with a gasp. “I’ll kill him.” My feisty fae made a motion to chase after the prince, but I grabbed him round the waist and pulled him back.
“I need you here with me, boy. Let the prince go on now, and you tend to your Daddy. That’s an order.”
He blew out his breath in a whoosh of ire. Wet eyes glanced up at me and he nodded contritely. “I’m sorry, Hiero. All I ever do is cause trouble.”
“Good thing I like trouble,” I said, rubbing his cheek. “Now how about you get me some hot water and clean cloth, and we’ll see what can be done about this cut?”
“Yes, you sit.” He steered me toward one of the few chairs still standing, and I collapsed onto it. Glancing around, I took stock in my surroundings. Broken chairs and broken bottles. One of the wooden barrels had been split open, and there was a swamp of ale all over the floor. Several of my cousins and friends were battered and bruised, but none seemed injured too badly. Members of my clan came over to congratulate me on kicking the prince’s ass, and I thanked them for the back up.
“Don’t act so surprised, Hiero,” my second cousin Daylen said to me. “That’s what family is for.”
Chapter twenty-one
Skylar
“What if it’s hisbaby?” I said to Monica, on the verge of a panic attack. My hands shook and I could hardly catch my breath as I filled a bowl with hot water to clean Hiero’s wound.
“Whose baby?” she said.
“Cedrych’sbaby,” I hissed. Monica’s eyes went wide and this time, she wasn’t smiling. “He’ll never let me go, Mon, if only to torment me. And what if Queen Gwyneth lays a claim?”
To have my own flesh and blood ripped out of arms and raised by the palace staff under that heartless woman’s command. Goddess only knows how she’d punish my child to get back at me.
“Goddess forbid it, Skylar, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I need to go back to Emrallt Valley,” I said in hushed tones so no one would overhear us. “I need to have a paternity spell cast to determine the baby’s sire.”
“We’ll go together. We can collect some of your belongings from your apartment as well.”
“What if Hiero doesn’t want me anymore?” I said as a sense of despondency rose within me like a moon tide. Damn these hormones.
“Why wouldn’t he want you?” Monica asked.
“I’ve already complicated his life so much. It would be a relief for him to have me gone, even if he doesn’t think so now.”
“I wouldn’t start making his decisions for him. Let’s take this one step at a time.” She placed one hand on my arm. “First, you’re going to go out there and tend to your man. Then, you’re going to tell him that you need to wrap up some things back home. That will give you some time to figure out where to go from there. And Skylar?” She waited until I was giving her my full attention. “No one can force you to continue this pregnancy if you don’t want to. It’s your body and no one else’s. There’s no shame in taking care of yourself.”
I nodded, trying to take comfort in her words. A renewed sense of agency dawned as I took a deep breath and schooled my expression before returning to the bar where Hiero was waiting. A few more of the Wolfsbane Clan had set to righting tables and chairs, but there were still broken bottles and ale everywhere. If the bar couldn’t open that night, it meant a day of lost profits, all thanks to me and my messy ex.
“Let’s clean you up,” I said to Hiero as I gently swabbed the area surrounding his cut. The gash was deep and still seeping blood.
“It’s not that bad,” he said, even while wincing.
“It’s going to need stitches.” I called Frito over. “We need a doctor.”
Frito glanced at Hiero’s bloody side and said, “Enid should be able to patch that up.”
“Isn’t there a proper doctor in this town?” I asked, pissy, because I didn’t want to chance an infection, not to mention Enid shouldn’t have to play nursemaid to the entire clan.
“There is,” Hiero said slowly. “It’s our great aunt Mabel, but she’s not very gentle and her bedside manner isn’t the best either.”
“She likes to fuss,” Frito added.
“A little fuss would be worth not getting sepsis,” I said to them both. “Can you fetch her?” I asked Frito.
“I’m on it,” he said and ducked out before Hiero could argue.
