EmoryI try to stay calm during the check-up with Dr. Martin. He hasn’t said a word as we started with the ultrasound. He is intently looking over the monitor to see the baby. We’ve had an ultrasound before, and everything had been normal. Our pack healer’s concern is what’s driving my anxiety for m
He pulls me into a hug, and I let him comfort me. Even with my cheek pressed against his shoulder, the seed of dread within me continues to grow. I have a baby coming a lot earlier than expected. No one can give me answers about why.There’s nothing I can do–and I am terrified.***KaneEver since t
“You never wanted this power, so that makes you perfect to wield it. You want to serve your people rather than to fuel your own desires. You’re noble.” She smiles, pleased. I continue, “You choose to see the good in people, and you trust easily. I love those things about you, but it has caused you p
KaneI’m having lunch with my mother at the gazebo. She insists that we spend more time together. Now that I’m about to become a father, she wants to make sure I’m ready for the responsibility as if I have not been taking care of an entire kingdom for over a century. I don’t tell her this and just s
“What better statement is there to make than giving my son a shifter name because he is part of that world? He’ll be of both worlds, the first half-shifter to become king of Crimson Peak.”She grimaces. “I see your point, darling. But must we name him Connor?”“What’s wrong with Connor?”“It doesn’t
There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask my mother, but I’ve been too scared in the past to voice it out loud. Things are different now, and I want to know.“Why did you stay with Bernard for all those years?” I ask. “He was unfaithful and cruel. He only cared about himself and his own ambitions
LolaI knock on the door of Willow’s room before entering. She is never in the library anymore, so I have to come visit her. She used to have a bedroom by the library until Rainer decided these rooms would be better. Her new rooms are larger and more comfortable so I guess that’s why Willow never go
I wrinkle my nose. “Ugly?”“When they come out, babies are kind of squished,” she tells me. “Being born is hard work.”That makes sense to me. I know where babies come from. Emory explained it to me last year when the stork story was becoming less and less believable. I’ve never even seen a stork at
MichaelI’m not sure what I expected getting married to feel like. In my mind, it had always been a business arrangement with little fanfare and no emotions attached. Now, that’s not the case. I’m a husband. I have a wife who I love, who wasn’t chosen for me based on whatever political alliance was
MichaelI can count on one hand how many times I’ve been in this cathedral over the course of my short life. The dark stone walls echo even the smallest whisper, and the ancient stained glass sends shadows instead of snowy sunlight into the cavernous space. I wouldn’t consider vampires a very relig
FayeIt’s snowing on my wedding day. Snowing hard, actually, as I watch cars pulling around the castle where valets are waiting to greet the guests. The wedding will take place in an hour. An hour. I can’t believe it. My stomach pitches as two maids pull curlers from my hair and dab blush on my che
EmeldaQueen Emory smiles at the spread of vampire-friendly food laid out on a tea-table. Blood pastries and cakes galore sit on pretty little trays adorned with flowers, flutes of blood made to sparkle resting beside them. “Are you not hungry?” she asks as I inspect the spread over the sound of Al
MichaelI don’t really want to be here, but my mother and my fiancee practically forced me out of the castle and locked the door behind me. The dingy, crowded tavern some thirty miles away from the castle seems to sway against the crowd of shifters and vampires alike, everyone drinking copious amou
FayeIt’s snowing again. White fluff falls from the dark sky, highlighted by the exterior sconces placed along the walls of the castle. I smile as it blankets the ground, sticking to every surface it touches. I never really thought about the logistics of my future wedding. A marriage? Sure. My even
MichaelI stare at my soon-to-be bride, who looks up at me like a little golden owl, her blue eyes wide and shocked as she takes in my level of disheveledness. But I’m looking at her bloody finger, the bowl of liquid on the table, and the two guilty-looking ex-witches standing on either side of Fay
“He told me he thought you might have been pregnant the night we were going to give you that final potion,” she whispers, meeting my eyes. “I told him it couldn’t be. It was far too early to tell and the herbs I’d been giving you to try to heal you would have been harmful for the baby.”We stare at
FayeMorning comes like sand falling through an hourglass. All night, time moved so slowly. Each second passed in agony as I waited and paced, hoping for any shred of news from Michael. I’ve spent the most time in the living room sitting in awkward discomfort between Cole and Emelda, who refuse to