Ember

"I'm p-pregnant?" I stammered.

"You're pregnant?" Arius asked.

Kane backed away to glare at the runaway fae- who regarded Kane with a similar hostility. Except it was a whole lot more feral on Arius' part. In fact, it wasn't just his expression that appeared more feral, there was something additionally wild about the man himself. Arius' absence the past week had led me to assume he'd been by the beach getting a tan and sipping a cocktail, the mess he'd left behind for us long since forgotten- but he looked far worse than the night he'd left me to deal with an angry Kane. Sure, his clothes were still impeccably white and his demeanor cool as ever, yet there was a visible loss to him, a more human quality he hadn't possessed before. It could be the visible exhaustion, or the fact that he'd lost weight. His cheekbones hadn't been that prominent before, his tan face not that lined with fatigue.

A haggard appearance due to guilt?

"If he lacks the brains to see how much of an honor it is to have your child, he doesn't deserve you," Arius said. "I shall take care of you."

Kane growled. "Back off."

Arius arched a brow. "Now you get territorial? You were quite lost earlier when Ember was being affectionate."

"I wasn't lost, I was confused," Kane snarled. "She's a shy person but it was apparent she was forcing herself to do things she wouldn't normally do."

The smile that touched Arius' lips was mocking. "She has to force herself to be affectionate with you?"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," I interrupted when the scent of murder became heavier than the fragrance of the nearby roses. "I'm not pregnant."

"You're not?" Kane asked.

"I'm not," I confirmed.

"She could just be saying that so she won't have to be tethered to you so soon," Arius observed.

I fought the urge to pick up a garden statue and throw it at him. "Stirring up trouble for me once wasn't enough but you pick it up again the moment you show up?"

"I'm merely pointing out that you can do better than him," Arius replied briskly. "As for the reason behind my absence, I've been gathering allies to help us defeat Light."

"You mean minions who will help you acquire the Autumn Lord's throne?" Kane inquired.

"You have a nasty way of putting things. No wonder Ember finds it painful to be nice to you."

I'm not proud of what happened next. I mean, I thought I was getting better at reading people but it's been a while since I've witnessed a werewolf erupt in a rage.

And that's precisely what Kane did.

Dirt kicked up, spraying where his heels pushed against the soil. Like an enraged bull goaded by a red flag, Kane slammed into Arius with a roar. They rolled in the grass, fists flying and sharp teeth bared, growling like wild animals. Curses decorated the air, almost as violent as the blows they exchanged.

"I've had enough of your crap," Kane said, grabbing Arius by his white collar and flinging him into a nearby statue. The statue collapsed on impact, its ugly head breaking in half. Unaffected by the blow, Arius got up right away, picked up one of the statue halves and threw it at Kane. While Kane was busy evading the chunk of stone, Arius closed in, unsheathing a sword I hadn't seen earlier. Releasing another colorful curse, he swung the blade upwards with a swift flash of steel.

But not swift enough that Kane wouldn't be able to move out of the way.

Yet he didn't.

The weapon sliced through the front of Kane's shirt, drawing blood in an initially alarming spurt that thankfully stopped after a moment. Werewolf healing had his wound bleeding at a less frightening pace, but werewolf healing wouldn't stop Arius from attacking again- and the hate in his eyes implied that was definitely his next course of action.

"You don't deserve Ember," Arius growled.

"Ember never asked you to cut people up on her behalf," I pointed out, carefully edging towards them.

A tattooed hand at my elbow stopped my advance right away. "Let them have it out," Jett said quietly.

I folded my arms with a sigh, resigned to witnessing more of this pointless violence.

"Save the drama, we both know that this isn't about Ember," Kane said, nodding at Arius' raised sword. "That sword belonged to Aster."

Well. I hadn't registered it until he pointed it out, but Kane was right: the sword Arius had used to cut him was the same weapon Aster used to carry around on her person. I wondered when and how he'd gotten it.

Kane wiped at the splatter of blood underneath his chin as casually as if he were wiping sweat. "Your so-called jealousy over Ember is just an excuse. The real reason you hate me is for dragging Aster into my problems and getting her killed. You haven't and will never forgive me for it."

"Would you be so forgiving if our roles were reversed?" Arius asked.

"No," Kane replied simply. "Did you plan things so Light could manipulate Ember into agreeing to a meeting with me?"

Arius gazed impassively at Aster's sword although his voice was terse. "I would never endanger a friend of my sister's to get back at a man I despise."

"I know an apology is inadequate for your loss, but I'll say it anyway. I'm sorry about Aster," Kane said.

Arius said nothing for a full minute, his gaze still glued to the sword.

I wondered if he would attack again. If Kane would let him continue to tear into him. I wasn't going to stand by if he tried, I decided. Honestly, if we were handing out blame for Aster's death then I was also due for a portion of my own since she had sacrificed herself for my sake. Kane shouldn't be held solely responsible.

But just as I was preparing to intervene, Arius sheathed Aster's sword, muttering, "Do not let Ember die."

"I'll die before I let that happen," Kane replied.

They both turned to me.

"Are you having a girl or a boy?" Arius asked.

"You're pregnant, Ember?" Jett asked, shifting away to get a better look at me.

"Ember's pregnant?" Ian shouted from the kitchen door.

Above Ian, from the window of Thomas' bedroom, a shrill Thomas echoed an excited version of the same question.

I covered my face with both hands and groaned.

***

After explaining to everyone I was definitely NOT pregnant and scolding Kane for starting the rumor (he should have known it wasn't possible since we'd already spoken about prevention measures), we finally got down to business. Arius brought us up to speed with his recent activities, how he'd been calling in favors, cajoling and threatening the fae who were discontent with Light. His goal? To lure them over to his side. And he'd been successful so far, the fae preferred a no-name soldier- who notably would be easier to assassinate at a later date- against a mad outsider who was seemingly impossible to kill.

Dark intentions aside, Arius' new buddies proved themselves useful by giving us the location of the gate the Autumn Lord was going to use to come to the human world. All we had to do was plant the mermaid onto his path for their 'fateful' meeting.

"Once you've killed him, I will be taking the horned crown," Arius said.

"How about we throw it into the ocean instead?" Ian suggested.

Arius nodded. "Throw it into the ocean, when that fish man Kane threatened puts it on his seaweed head he'll have the entire Autumn Court's army knocking on your door by tomorrow."

Ian shrugged. "Keep the stupid crown then, but when you get assassinated I'll be telling your ghost I told you so."

"No one is dying," Kane said, gaze hard with conviction.

Although the iron will he'd pushed behind the words were comforting, there was a tingle of uncertainty. The skeptical elephant in the room that wondered if we weren't truly out of our depth.

No one is dying. I held the thought close to my heart, whispering it like a prayer.

No one is dying. Please.

***

"Don't listen to anything Kane says, someone is totally going to get killed," Ian said once we'd gone into my room. He upended the contents of his knapsack onto my bed. "I've brought some stuff so that person won't be you."

I examined the items he had laid out. "A pair of sneakers that can only fit your big feet, a pack of half eaten gummy bears and ugly sunglasses. How is this stuff supposed to keep a person alive?"

He picked each of them up one by one. "The sneakers will adjust their size and allow you to fly away to anywhere on the planet faster than superman, eat one of these tasty gummies and a life-sized bear will give you time to escape by trying to maul any target you point at- make sure you don't point at yourself, I did that once and it was not fun almost getting mauled by a bear- and last but not least, wearing the sunglasses makes you invisible. These items are treasures. Applause."

I pursed my lips while he clapped loudly. "These items are all for fleeing."

"Hence the name I'm giving them: the awesome escape items."

"I won't be escaping and leaving the pack behind if the plan goes sideways."

"Honorable people die early, haven't you heard of that saying before?"

I shook my head. "I won't run."

He sighed, but didn't seem surprised, only disappointed. "I figured you'd say that."

I smiled, gave his knee a pat. "We'll be fine."

"If the plan works, I need you to do something for me."

"I'm not visiting the troll again," I said quickly.

He rolled his eyes. "Will you ever get over that incident? You'd think you actually wanted to marry the dude from the way you keep bringing him up."

"I'll do anything aside from visiting the troll."

"Forget that. Listen, I heard the troll has a distant cousin who is an ogre and-"

I threw myself back onto the pillows, covering my ears. "I'm not going!"

He removed my hands from my ears, blonde hair flopping over his eyes as he leaned over me. "Hear me out first- he lives in a cave so there's no chance of him throwing cars at you-"

"He lives in a cave where there are big rocks he can certainly throw at me instead of cars. No thanks."

"I'm not doing this to get Kane to notice you so I won't purposefully jeopardize the plan."

I crawled under the blankets. "You want to get me killed by an ogre if Light doesn't do the job. That's why you're so keen on making sure I can escape."

He wrapped his warm, muscular arms around me and laughed. "You're right about everything but the getting you killed part, I need you alive so we can have fun doing stupid things together."

"Stupid, dangerous things," I added, hugging him back.

"Does that mean you'll go?"

I snorted but I was smiling. "Who else will make sure the ogre doesn't club you on that stubborn head of yours?"

He squeezed me tight, rubbing his cheek against mine. "Why do you think you're coming along? He'll be too busy chasing after you to try clubbing my gorgeous head."

He leapt away before I could smack him on his 'gorgeous' head, cackling like the lunatic I knew and loved.