Will:

Will took a calming breath and knocked on Sasha's door. When she didn't answer, he peered inside. Sasha pulled him into the room, raking a brush through her hair.

"Why are you here, Will?" she hissed.

"Is it mine...the baby?"

She covered her face for a second. "I don't know, alright! I was with Theo a week before you and I got together. They might be yours. They might be Theo's. I just don't know!"

Will froze. "They...? Twins?"

Sasha nodded tearily.

He pulled her into his arms. "Oh, Sash."

Will and Sasha stepped away from each other as the door swung open. Lücan marched through it like he owned the world, shaking his head. "How is it that I spend my free time untangling the messes that you kids make? It is like unscrambling one of those convoluted soap operas on television, which is why I don't watch them. I find them tedious. This here," he said, pointing between Sasha and Will, "Is extremely tedious. And Will, how could you betray your bond with Ashala like this?"

Will stood tall. "I didn't mean—"

"What are you going to do?" Sasha backed towards the window, as if she might fan her wings and make a quick exit at any moment.

"Something I'm going to regret. But Will and Ash must unite."

"Don't take them away!" Sasha said, holding her stomach. Will rushed over to her, holding her waist. He was tempted to touch her belly, just to see if he could sense two tiny lifeforms inside, but Lücan was watching with an uneasy gaze.

"How could you think I would do such a thing?" Lücan said. "I know very well how precious they are. Sepheri only have one chance to bear children. Normally that can only occur at the end of our lives. My guess? This anomaly took place because you are all closer to mortality during the transition, and I doubt that Sepheri and Starkeepers have tried to fall pregnant during this time. What this means for the other young Sepheri, I can't imagine."

"Does it matter?" Sasha said. "Will and I love each other, even if the twins aren't his. And I don't see why Ash and Alründ can't be together and form their own bond. The Fates couldn't possibly be so cruel to separate us from our true loves?"

Lücan laughed coldly. "Don't you see? This is a game to them. We are a game and they are casting the moves. It doesn't matter who you love! Once one Sepheri falls pregnant it starts a chain of events. It marks the beginning of a new generation of Sepheri and a new starkeeper and reaper, which means that within the next two years Theodore, William, Keenan, Alründ, and finally Ash will have children." Lücan leaned forward and yelled, "You are all millions of years too young to have babies! What were you thinking?!"

"Oh, fate," Will cursed. Ash couldn't have a baby now. She was too innocent. And he'd always imagined that he would be the father of her child—one day. As much as Will adored Sasha, he felt like he'd just lost Ash forever.

Sasha peered across at him. "You're thinking about her? Now?!"

"Are you going to be the father of Sasha's children and my daughter's?" Lücan strode up to Will. "Ash deserves better."

"She does."

"If the two of you remain partially unbound Keenan will always be stronger than Ash. She gave you part of her spirit, her gifts. It is the reason you can fly, Will, the reason you are telepathic. If you recall, there was a time when you were like your cousins—a skilled but giftless Sepheri. If you were prepared to take Ash's gifts then, gifts you use every day, then you must understand there is a price. If she had never made a bond in the first place, she would have been Keenan's equal. Her gifts and her spirit would have been whole. Keenan will destroy worlds at a frantic pace without her bonded half. She needs you."

"But what about Sasha?" Will said angrily. "What about my..." he whispered the word, "children?"

"If they are yours, you will have to forget them and your relationship with Sasha."

"You can't! It's wrong." It didn't matter that he'd just learned of the twins' existence. If they were his, it felt right that they should exist. He could have a family again—something he'd never expected to have for almost an eternity. He hadn't imagined to feel so connected to anyone after losing his parents but now there were two beings that might be his, that needed him like he needed them.

"What about me?" Sasha asked Lücan. "You can't erase my children. They're inside me, growing every day."

"You had an encounter with Theodore. Let us stick with that story. Although, I will never forgive myself for deceiving him if the children are not his. But at least they will be with family."

Sasha spread her wings and tugged Will towards the window, but Lücan flew forward, blocking the way out. Sasha held her head and squirmed. Will entered her mind, seeing every memory Lücan was adjusting— memories of himself and Sasha. The story of Theo being the father was planted in her mind. Will struck Lücan in the back, but the Head Sepheri was in Will's head a second later, burying his nights with Sasha, each one floating away until he felt eerily calm. Lücan was gone from the room a moment later.

Will wasn't sure why he was standing in Sasha's bedroom. He simply said the first thing that came into his head, "So... You and Theo are going to be parents..."

"Can you believe it? One tiny fling with Theo and my life is about to change forever." Her mouth tightened as she smoothed the silk over her stomach. "I was always told that Sepheri couldn't get pregnant until the last century of their lives. Theo thought so, too. He could have a hundred babies out there right now."

"That's actually a bit scary, because it's true."

"I know. Right?" She laughed, but it faded quickly.

Something about Sasha and Theo felt wrong. "Do you love him?"

Sasha closed the distance between them, her hand slapping his cheek stung much like his heart. "How dare you ask me that!"

"What did I deserve that for?"

"Because.... Just because." She dragged Will out of her room, stood in the corridor and glared at him. She re-entered her room and slammed the door in his face, jolting him backwards.

"Sash! Talk to me."

"I hate you, Will Javü. Now, go away!"

Will wanted to kick the door down just so she would speak to him, even if she yelled and screamed. Anything was better than silence. After ten minutes of standing there, Will dropped to the ground and laid his head against her door. Sasha would have to come out eventually. Unless she'd flown out the window...