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grateful her body was back to normal. "Thanks, Gabriel. I don't think I
could've handled much more of that."
"Don't worry, I've taken care of it for tonight, and it will only last a few
more months."
Liquid ice spread through Ariel's veins as the words penetrated her brain.
She sat up and snapped her head around to stare at Gabriel. "What?" She tried
to form a cohesive sentence inside her mind and finally had to settle for,
"What the hell is wrong with me?"
Gabriel sat down next to her on the bed and Dara took Ariel's hand in her
own. Ariel squeezed it in thanks for the much-needed support.
"What are you tryingnot to tell me,Gabriel. " Ariel stared at the angel hard,
as a slow smile bloomed across his face.
"Congratulations, Ariel. You're pregnant."
Time slowed as a vortex of conflicting emotions rushed through her body at
lightening speed, in great rolling waves.
Pregnant?
There was no way she could be pregnant after everything that happened.
Gabriel must be joking. He often liked to tease those in his charge. Hell,
he'd teased her for centuries. She shook her head, trying to find her balance.
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Finally, logic intruded and her head cleared enough to perform some quick
calculations.
In the last two hundred years, she'd had sex exactly twice, and both of those
times were withLogan . But after nine centuries of periods, Ariel was
extremely sure of her own cycle. Feeling more confident, she stood and faced
Gabriel defiantly with her arms crossed over her chest, her chin thrust
upward. "Gabriel, the timing doesn't work out. I wasn't even close to
ovulating."
Gabriel smile positively glowed and he gestured toward the heavens. "Herwill
be done."
The back of Ariel's neck prickled, her mouth fell open and a bowling ball
lodged in her stomach. The realization of what Gabriel implied spread through
her like wildfire, the conflicting pool of emotions washed over her again,
threatening to drown her.
She was pregnant& withLogan 's baby.
Ariel's legs buckled under her and she sat down hard on the floor, afraid she
would fall if she tried to take the few extra steps to the bed. "Oh, dear
Lord, I'd been about to turn to stone to heal," she whispered under her breath
in horror. The gargoyles had learned the hard way with Kefira that turning to
stone while you were pregnant would abort the baby.
Gabriel made an upward motion with his hand and Ariel floated up to a sitting
position in mid air. "You need to take better care of yourself than that,
Lioness of God. After all, there are two of you now. And besides, youdidn't
turn to stone and all is well with the baby."
Dara turned to Gabriel. "Do you mean to say God altered her cycle so she
could become pregnant? Does this have anything to do withthe prophesy ?"
Ariel gasped. She'd forgotten all about that. Tears burned at the back of her
eyes. "Oh no& the prophesy ." She looked between Dara and Gabriel in growing
horror. "If Charity is carrying the child ofLogan 's blood, then I must be
carrying the daughter of his destiny."
Gabriel remained quiet and looked at Ariel with sympathy obvious in his eyes.
Dara pierced him with a stern glare. "Maybe it's time you told us aboutthe
prophesy , Gabriel. I think protecting Ariel and the baby are worth the risk
of everyone knowing."
Gabriel shook his head slowly. "I cannot. Prophesies are not mine to reveal
to anyone. Only Alonna or a human with free will can divulge the details.
Alonna has her own orders from the Almighty."
A shimmer appeared in the air and quickly coalesced into Alonna. "You
summoned me, Gabriel?"
"I didnot summon you," Gabriel chided. "And you very well know it. You just
wanted to have an excuse to be here."
Alonna ignored him and fluttered over to land on Ariel's shoulder. "Giant
cousin, don't fret so. I'm very happy for you." She clapped her tiny hands
together. "Just think, a baby." Her voice took oila dreamy quality.
Ariel took a breath to respond to Alonna, but Dara cut her off."Alonna. We
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think it's time we discussedthe prophesy . We can't keep Ariel safe if we
don't know what's going on."
Alonna cocked her head as if assessing her options. "Some people are not
meant to hear all pieces ofthe prophesy . Some are meant only to hear one. But
for my giant cousins, I can share another piece yet."
Dara turned to Ariel. "Let me get everyone in here and then Alonna can fill
us in as much as she can. Hopefully between what you, James and Logan know,
we'll have the whole thing."
Ariel wrapped her arms around her stomach and began to rock gently back and
forth. "NotLogan . I don't wantLogan to know," she said, not meeting Dara's
eyes. "And not James he would definitely want to tellLogan ."
Dara stood and crossed to her sister laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"But,Logan 's the father. He has every right to know."
Ariel forced herself to meet Dara's troubled gaze. "He can't. The fate of the
world rests on this, Dara. Please promise me, Logan must never know."
Dara opened her mouth to argue, but Alonna fluttered up into her line of
sight, forestalling her objection. "James can know this new piece, but not the
man-thing. As much as I like him, I have shared all I dare with him."
Alonna landed back on Ariel's shoulder. "Mayhap, we should start with your
sisters and you can best decide how to proceed from there."
Dara nodded toward Alonna."All right. We've always trusted you,Alonna, we
aren't going to stop now." And then to Ariel, she said, "But I still think you
should tellLogan about the baby."
Ariel squeezed her eyes tight against the tears and rocked back and forth
more urgently. "Please, just get Odeda and Kefira."
Within minutes, Ariel's sisters gathered around her. They all sat on the
king-sizedbed, Ariel leaned against the headboard, a pillow cradled in her lap [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]