Lies in Blood (61 page)

I slowly drew my shirt up to my ribs, noticing a slight chill in the air as it touched my bare skin.

“
Now don’t go sucking yer gut in, girl.” She slapped my bottom softly. “It won’t help your dress fit any better on the day.”

I let my stomach out to its natural position, and both Magda and I drew a quick breath. I hadn’t seen my belly when I was standing up like this, uncovered by baggy shirts, and it seemed to disappear if I laid flat or sat down, like it almost tucked itself in. So, seeing the almost bowl-like bulge coming from just between my hipbones was a little of a shock—for both of us.

“
There it is,” she said kindly. “You mustn’t try to hide it so much, Amara.”

“I just . . . I only just found out I was pregnant. I thought I was just fat.”

“
Well, you’re not. You’re perfect.”

“
You think so?” I asked, running both hands down my belly.

“
I prefer a time when women stayed hidden until they birthed,” David said.

Magda and I turned quickly to where he stood in the now open doorway.

“
What are you doing in ‘ere?” Magda said, waving him off like a fly. “No men allowed.”

“
I’m the king. I can go where I please.”

“
Well, make yer business known and be off with ya, lad; I’ve a fittin’ to finish and a dress to make in just three days,” she tittered, and lifted my top again, tossing the measuring tape around my waist.

I tensed, wishing I could pull my shirt down or suck my gut in again. “Did you need something, David?”

When he didn’t answer, I dared to look at him through the reflection, but his eyes were on my belly, his lip lifted in disgust. “Pregnancy really is quite offensive. I fail to see the beauty in a heinous protrusion sticking out from one’s abdomen.”

“
Your Majesty!” Magda gasped. “You’ll break the poor girl’s heart.”

“
Oh, I wouldn’t worry, seamstress. Ara doesn’t have a heart to break. Look at her—” He angled his head toward me. “Nothing I say ever matters to her.”

Magda looked up at me, shaking her head.

“
Okay, so I’m fat and disgusting.” I tried to sound pragmatic, but I just sounded kind of angry. “What else did you come here to say?”

“
I need a swatch.”

“
For Mr Granger?” Magda asked, jotting numbers down on her page.

“
Yes,” David said.

“
Well, I’ve not talked fabrics, yet, so Mr Granger will need to meet with me later to coordinate the outfits.”

“
Very well.” David laid both hands behind his back and turned on his heel, leaving the door open after he left.

“
Never mind him, lovey.” Magda lowered my top for me. “Men are like pet dogs; once you get pregnant, they ‘ave to play up a little to make sure they’re not left out.”

I laughed, wiping a small, cool tear from my cheek.

“
Let’s have none of that. This is happy times.” She patted my hip, bending to measure my leg again. “Now, we’ve got these measurements all sorted. Time to talk fabric.”

I smiled, just wishing this was over so I could go down to the Training Hall and toy around with my powers for a while. That chat with Jason would have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, all I wanted to do was bust up a few boulders—and maybe any unsuspecting vampires that happened to pass.

Chapter Thirteen

For a vampire, he wasn’t really all that alert. I half expected that, as soon as I pushed the creaky secret door open and then closed it, he’d jump up and put a blade to my throat, dropping it in shock when he realized who was in his room at this hour. But he just laid there, sleeping peacefully, breathing deeply like all his worries had been blown away in the wind. And I knew it was my recent confession of love that had eased his soul so much. A big part of me wished then, in seeing him this way, that I could forget David and just love Jason. It hurt him every time I tried to hold on to David, I knew that, but David had my heart first. I guess I just needed to be sure all hope for us was gone before I could give my heart away again. Jase understood that. He was good like that.

I wandered over and climbed up on his bed, a huge smile sweeping my lips for how cute and kind of sweet he looked when he was sleeping. “Jase,” I whispered, poking him softly in the arm. “Jase.”

He groaned and rolled over a little, snapping awake when his eyes met mine. “Ara.”

“
Mornin’, sunshine.”

The sheet slipped down his bare chest a bit as he pushed up on his elbow. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“
Yep.” I sat back on my knees. “I had an idea.”

He rubbed his head, glancing off at his bedside clock. “An idea at five in the morning?”

“
Yes, and it’s brilliant.” I slapped the covers. “Get up. Get dressed.”

“
Wait.” He grabbed my arm before I could climb off the bed. “Why?”

“
The answer’s been right in front of me the whole time.”

“
It has?”

“
Yes. If you face a battle with swords but hold only a stick, sneak away in the middle of the night and even the odds.”

“
Is that something Arthur said to you?”

“Yeah, ages ago, but I got to thinking. We’ve been trying to find a way to save David—trying to stop him from using that dagger. Well—” I leaned forward ever so slightly, grinning like a little kid. “If there is no dagger, he can’t use it.”

“
Ara.” He rubbed his face again, his eyes heavy, half closed. “If we can’t kill Drake, he comes in here in a few months and steals our baby—” He presented my stomach.

“Our
baby?” I raised a brow at him, folding my arms slowly.

“Yes.” He sat up more, reaching across to sweep his hand along my waist, cupping the other one right over my belly. “
Our
baby. I might not’ve put her in there, Ara, but I love you, and I love anything inside you, and since I see no one else around here making a claim to her, I’m officially putting mine forward.”

“
Jase.” I placed my hand over his. “Don’t do this to yourself. My greater plan here is—”

“
To give David no way out in the hopes he’ll one day forgive you and come back to you?”

“
Mm-hm.”

He laughed and sat back, dropping his forearm over his brow. “Fine. I’ll help you. But I don’t think your plan’ll work.”

“
Which part?”

“
I don’t think he’ll ever love you again, Ara, even if he has to stick around forever,” he said softly. “Are you prepared for that?”

I nodded.

“And what about Drake? He
will
come for the baby.”

“I’m. . .” I hesitated. I knew I could trust Jason, but even
he
would go to great lengths to protect me, which could include hindering my plan.

“
You arranged a meeting with Drake,” he said with a nod.

“
Damn it! Stop reading my mind.” I slapped his arm.

“
Stop being so transparent.” He playfully slapped mine back.

A wave of silence rolled over the bed then. I sat back on the pillows beside Jase and stared forward.

“
I won’t stop you, Ara, if this is what you want.”

“
You won’t?”

“No.” He scooped my hand up in his. “I know Drake won’t hurt you while you’re carrying the child he’s waited centuries for. But if you plan to talk with him, at least do it on manor grounds—where we can protect you if he tries to kidnap you, or something.”

“
Already the plan.”

“
Good.”

I squeezed his hand. “Hey . . . thanks, Jase.”

“
For what?”

“
For letting me do this.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I’m not
letting
you do this, Ara. I don’t control you.”

“
But you do give your blessing.”

He exhaled, patting my hand. “I think we should’ve negotiated with Drake from the start.”

“
And, see?” I presented Jase in all his shirtless glory. “This is why I want you on my council.”

He smiled. “When the world spins on its axis and Mike and Falcon see I’m not the enemy, then we can talk about that. But, right now, we need to discuss what you’ll do if you don’t like Drake’s terms of agreement.”

“
Already got that figured out,” I said chirpily.

“
Okay.” He folded his fingers together in his lap, leaning slightly sideways. “Then reveal to me your diabolical plot.”

“If he refuses to negotiate within what I consider reasonable terms, my expert team of military operations specialists will find a way to lure him into a trap and imprison him for eternity. Then, once you and I have researched my powers a bit more, we’ll come up with a way to kill him—without taking someone else’s life in the process.”

“Hm.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Guess you
have
thought of everything. But—”

“
But?”

He sat taller, lifting the blanket so he could shuffle closer. “I want you to take Nhym with you when you meet Drake. It might not kill him, but if you use your light through the blade, it’ll stun him long enough for you to escape.”

I nodded, trying to remember where I put that sword.

“
It’s under your bed,” Jase said.

“
Oh. That’s right. Thanks.”

“
Any time.” He nodded. “Now, when do you want to steal the Dagger of Yahanna?”

I grinned. “Right now.”

We snuck back up the secret passage to my room and stood by the door, peeking out to where Quaid sat—guarding me while I apparently slept.

“
What’s he doing?” I whispered.

“
Playing on his phone.”

“
What’s the plan?”

He shut the door a little. “I can put him to sleep, but if anyone happens by, they’ll raise an alarm.”

“
Okay. We’ll just have to be quick.”

“All right, but . . . do you even know where the dagger is now?”

“
Yeah. David had it before he went to Elysium, but he gave it back as a show of his love for me.” I kind of laughed at how long ago all that felt now. “But that was the fake, anyway. Arthur never gave him the real dagger.”

Jase frowned. “There’s a fake?”

I nodded.

“
Well, how will we know which one’s which?”

“
Easy.” I smirked. “We take them both.”

“
Well, where’s the real dagger?”

“That’s . . . the hard part.”

“
I see.” He shut the door completely, glaring down at me, unamused. “You want me to put my uncle, whom I love and respect, into a deep sleep, then you want me to sneak into his mind and find the daggers?”

I nodded, half shrugging as though it was no big deal.

“Right.” He nodded and opened the door again. “The things I’ll do for a
girl
.”

I laughed, but it was bit too loud.

“
Shh.” Jase shut the door again. “He’s standing up.”

“
Crap. Do something.”

His smile moved slowly across his lips. “Done.”

“What’d you do?” I pushed past him and looked out into the hall: everyone was sleeping—Quaid
and
the five otherwise usually invisible guards lining the halls. But lying on the floor like that, half of them snoring, all of them sprawled out, they were very noticeable indeed. I turned back and grinned at Jase. “You are so cool.”