Three months ago, I was hunting these people. Now I can't imagine being anywhere else. This isn't the life I planned. It's better. Messier, more complicated, ethically questionable in adozen different ways. But it's mine. Ours. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
EPILOGUE – NOVA
Three months have passed since Roman's death, and I should be feeling nothing but relief. The nightmares have started to fade. The constant looking over my shoulder has eased. I wake up with Silas and Teddy every morning feeling safer than I ever thought possible.
So why am I currently standing in our tiny trailer bathroom, staring at a plastic stick like it's a loaded gun?
Two pink lines. Clear as fucking day.
My hands shake as I read the instructions for the third time, hoping I somehow misunderstood. Nope. Still says positive. Still says I'm carrying a baby.
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
I've been late for almost two weeks now, but I kept telling myself it was stress. We've been constantly on the move, hunting Prophets across three states. Plus the adrenaline crash from finally getting justice for what Roman did to me—that has to mess with a woman's cycle, right?
Except deep down, I knew. The exhaustion that sleep couldn't fix. The way my stomach turned at the smell of Cole's morning Irish coffee. The tenderness in my breasts that had nothing to do with Silas's rough hands or Teddy's eager mouth.
I've been forgetting my pill. Not often, but enough. Hard to maintain a routine when we're fucking like rabbits and living out of a carnival trailer. And God, we do fuck a lot. Morning, noon, night—sometimes all three at once, sometimes just two of us while the third watches and waits their turn.
The test clatters into the sink as my knees give out. I sink onto the closed toilet seat, burying my face in my hands.
What the hell am I supposed to do with this? How do I tell them? Will they want to know whose it is? Can we even figure that out? And more importantly—will this destroy everything we've built together?
The three of us work because we're equal. We're all in this together, sharing everything. But a baby changes that equation. Someone's going to be the biological father, and someone's going to be left out. What if they want me to choose?
My chest tightens with panic. I can't lose them. Not now. Not when I finally found home.
I grab the test and shove it deep into the bathroom trash, burying it under tissues and an empty shampoo bottle. Maybe if I hide it long enough, I can figure out what to say. How to break the news that I might have just fucked up the best thing that ever happened to me.
When I finally emerge from the bathroom, Silas and Teddy are outside our trailer, going over maps spread across our small fold-out table. The afternoon sun catches the lighter strands in Silas's hair while Teddy points to the page, his hazel eyes focused and serious.
They look up when I approach, and I try to paste on a normal expression. Just Nova. Same as always. Not Nova-who's-carrying-someone's-baby.
“There she is,” Silas says, that crooked smile lighting up his face. “We were starting to wonder if you'd drowned in there.”
“Funny.” I slide onto the bench beside them, but I can't quite meet their eyes.
Teddy studies my face with that cop instinct of his. “You okay? You've been quiet today.”
“I'm fine.”
“Bullshit.” Silas leans closer, those blue eyes seeing right through me like they always do. “You're pale, and you've got that look you get when you're about to bolt. What's wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong.” But my voice comes out too high, too tight.
“Nova.” Teddy reaches across the table to touch my hand. “Don't lie to us.”
The gentle concern in his voice makes my chest tight. Tears spring to my eyes before I can stop them, and suddenly I'm sobbing like a broken faucet.
“Hey, hey.” Silas pulls me against his chest, his hands stroking through my hair. “Baby, what is it? Whatever it is, we'll figure it out.”
“You can't figure this out.” I choke on the words. “This is going to ruin everything.”
“Nothing could ruin this,” Teddy says softly, moving around the table to sit on my other side. “Just tell us.”
I pull back from Silas's chest, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. They're both watching me with such love and concern that it makes my heart crack.
“I'm pregnant.”
