Banshee Quest: Renna's Curse by Jen Katemi

Author:Jen Katemi [Katemi, Jen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-08T12:54:18+00:00

Chapter Six

Ben

I’m not sure what comes first, the flash of silver light in my living room, or the sound of a woman’s agonized screaming. I jump to my feet and take a step toward the light, almost tripping over Renna as she rolls out and lays there, writhing on the carpet.

“Jesus, fuck!”

Her screams become sobs, and her face is screwed up as she ugly-cries on my lounge room rug.

Renna and ugly-crying, paired together, does not compute in my head. Not unless someone has died...

I drop to my knees beside her. “Is this a banshee cry?”

At her frenzied head shake, I begin to explore her body, looking for injuries. “It’s all right, my love. Shh. What is it? I’m here. I will help you. Where are you hurt?”

I croon platitudes as I continue to search her body, but I cannot see anything physical that might cause the distress and the continued heart-wrenching sobbing.

Nothing visible, but... My heart skips a beat and resumes extra-fast. She is clutching her stomach.

“Sweetheart. The baby?” I can’t see any blood. I change position so I can lift her onto my lap and rock her gently. “It’s all right, my love. We will sort things out. Just calm down, now. Take some deep, slow breaths...”

Eventually, my voice seems to penetrate the fog of distress and her sobs turn to hiccups, and then quiet finally descends in the apartment.

“I’m sorry,” she says at last, her voice a faint reed of sound. “So sorry, Ben.”

“I’ve got you.” I tighten my arms around her. Tonight, she feels frail, almost breakable, not like the strong and passionate woman I held in my arms before she stormed off in a huff yesterday morning. “Now, what on earth has happened? Tell me. We are mated now, Renna. And we are going to be parents together.”

I lift her chin with one of my fingers, trying to meet her gaze and show her with a look how I feel about that news, now I’ve had time to process it. “Turns out I’m kind of stoked, to be honest. I’m going to be a dad.”

I grin at her, hoping she can read my sincerity, but her sorrow intensifies.

“Oh, gods,” she says, and shudders in my embrace.

I try again. “We’re in this together. Whatever is wrong, you can share it. Your pain is now mine, and I won’t have you suffer alone.”

Eventually, she nods and sits up. I dab at her wet cheeks with my thumb, and reach across to swipe a couple of tissues from the box on the coffee table. She blows her nose noisily.

“Sorry,” she says again, and my brows come together.

“Stop saying that and tell me what has happened.”

She releases a loud sigh. “I went back to Faerie after I left here. I decided to give you some time to think about what I’d said, and I thought I would tell the king about our baby.”

“I take it he wasn’t best pleased?”

“It’s not that. He hardly had a chance to react at all. It was the queen.

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