“Youaskedhim?” Emma rubbed her face. “Gods,Ethan. Can’t you mind your own business?”
“Excuse me for being concerned,” I shot back.
Emma fumed. “By the way, I’m on birth control. So if I just sohappento get pregnant, it’s by some immaculate conception, not because I’ve been sleeping around.”
“I didn’t say you were sleeping around,” I grumbled. “I was panicking. It was nothing against you.”
She gave a moan. “Well... youwerebeing kind of cute.”
“I’m glad you think my worry is adorable.”
She smirked. “It was entertaining, to say the least. What’s in the bag?”
I began placing things on the desk. “I brought you pads, tampons, a heating pad, some pain reliever, chocolate, and a few snacks, in case you needed anything.”
Emma’s eyes widened as she observed the horde, and Tygrys purred in approval. “Ethan, that’s so sweet. But weren’t you embarrassed to buy that stuff? Other guys would be.”
“I’m not like other guys. Why would I be embarrassed? I’m taking care of my mate.”
Emma got up. She took two pills, grabbed some chocolate and the heating pad before she plugged it in and laid on the bed. She set the heating pad on her lower stomach, and started in on the chocolate.
Tygrys fluttered upward and landed on the corner of the four-poster bed. I went to sit down in the office chair, but Emma shook her head and patted the bed beside her. Our status as exes popped into my mind.
“This is hardly appropriate,” I complained, but I laid down next to her anyway, because I wanted to. Isowanted to, and nothing could stop me from doing it.
“I don’t know what we are anymore,” Emma said tiredly. “Not like it matters.”
I couldn’t agree more. Things were complicated between us. They always had been.
“How could you think I would sleep with Finlay without telling you? That’s bullshit.” She took a bite of the chocolate, and handed it to me. I bit off a piece, chewed and swallowed.
“I thought we were done,” I said honestly. “We’re not together.”
“We are done. But we aren’t.” Emma sighed. “We’re still connected. I wouldn’t have sex with someone else until… if…whenI break our bond.”
“And are you going to?”
“I have to. There’s no other choice.”
I felt sick. “Then what are you waiting for?”
Emma didn’t answer, and I knew why she lingered. Hope.
Emma balled up the chocolate wrapper and threw it. It landed in her trash bin. “Score,” I said, and she smiled.
I turned on my side to face her, and she did the same. “These pregnancy rumors are proof that people are starting to notice my illness. I can’t hide it forever. I need to come out with the truth.”
“You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. Fuck everyone else.”
“It’s not like I’m ashamed of it.” Emma breathed a sigh. “But the Arcanea world can be so cruel. The fae are ruthless. If people found out I was sick, they’d use it against me.”
“Then turn it into a weapon,” I said. “Use your disease against others instead of using it against yourself. There’s no need to hide anymore.”
“There shouldn’t be a reason to hide in the first place,” she growled as Tygrys flew above us. He scattered pixie dust everywhere by the beating of his wings. “I’m not ashamed of who or what I am.”
The pixie dust fell like glitter, coating Emma’s eyelashes and hair with gold. “The fae world can be cruel. It doesn’t like people who are different. But change doesn’t happen unless people like us start demanding it,” I said.
I brushed her leg lightly with my prosthetic. Emma softened. “I don’t care much if I’m not accepted. But I at least want to acceptmyself.”
