Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) (10 page)

“I don’t know,” said Riley, her face mirroring Ari’s confusion. “You have always been able to freeze me unless I am in animal form.” 

“Something strange is going on. Before you couldn’t shift and now my powers don’t work on you.”

Before Ari had a chance to discuss this any further however, the ultrasonographer unfroze, saying, “Ok, I am just going to press down lightly on your stomach.”

Riley held her breath as the small probe touched her skin. At the same time Ari’s eyes darted over to the monitor, trying to make sense of the strange shades of grey that were swimming in and out of focus. For a long time no one spoke, then the ultrasonographer smiled and reached for a button on the monitor. A very fast beating noise, which sounded faintly like the distant echo of a galloping horse, blasted out through the speakers.

“That’s the baby’s heart beat,” said the woman, still smiling as she moved the monitor so that Riley could see it.

 “OH, MY, GOD!” Riley and Ari said together.

Chapter 4- Baby Bump

Neither Ari nor Riley spoke when Chris came to pick them up after finishing at the medical centre. Chris tried for a while to make small talk, but when it became clear that Ari and Riley had nothing to say, the trio drove in silence back to the Pasteur Institute. Though Ari wanted desperately to talk about discovering that Riley was pregnant, she knew that it was up to Riley to announce this, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to break the news to Chris. The fact that Riley and Ari had meet with Natalie was completely lost from thought.

When the car finally pulled up at the Pasteur Institute parking lot, Riley raced from the car and moved to Omega halls.

“Hey,” said Ari, scrambling to catch up with Riley, Chris hot on her trails. “Where are you going?”

“Can I… is it ok if I get Clyde to meet me in your dorm room?” Riley asked.

“What?” said Ari, “Yea, sure. No problems.”

Ari watched as Riley quickly called Clyde, saying that she needed to talk to him. When the trio were finally at the entrance to Omega Halls, Riley moved up the stairs and walked into Ari’s room.

“What happened?” asked Chris, pulling Ari by the arm before she could follow Riley inside. “You guys are acting like she has the plague. She hasn’t caught some incurable bug from Clyde has she? Some sort of blood-sucking parasite?”

Ari smiled nervously and said, “Not exactly,” before racing after Riley.

Ari had just swung her door closed and was about to ask how Riley was, when her door burst open. Clyde stood in the doorway, took one look at Riley and swept to her side.

“What is it?” he asked, “You sounded worried on the phone. Say something? Did something happen at the doctors? Are you alright?”

Riley laughed manically at this and then rummaged through her bag. Slowly she pulled out a small black and white snap shot that the ultrasonographer had given her and handed it to him. Clyde took the image and looked down at it in confusion.

“What’s this?” he asked, squinting as he tried to make out the image.

“That’s our child,” said Riley, reaching tentatively for her stomach before adding, “our un-born child… I’m thirteen weeks pregnant.”

Clyde stared open mouthed at Riley. He was not blinking or breathing, simply looking at her in sheer shock.

“Now it’s your turn to say something,” said Riley.

“I, I thought you said, said you were a virgin,” he said, stuttering almost incoherently.

Riley’s face flushed before it hardened, and Ari wished that she could evaporate from the room.

“What the hell?” Riley said, standing abruptly. “I was a virgin.”

“Ok,” said Clyde, trying to keep his voice calm. “Then explain to me how you are pregnant. Waeres have children… you can have children with humans, other waeres, hell, whoever you want, but not vampires. Vampires don’t have babies. We’re dead Riley! So I don’t see how you can be pregnant, unless you were with someone before me. Or, unless… have you been with someone else since-”

“-how can you even say that?” snapped Riley.

“How else do you explain it? Immaculate conception?” snarled Clyde. “Vampires can NOT have children.”

“Don’t ask me to explain it,” she said, and though she still looked angry, her eyes were watering, as if she were about to cry. “I didn’t ask for this… I just know that this morning everything was fine; I was in love with a vampire and now… now I find out that I am pregnant. How about you tell me how this can be happening? Because you are the father.”

At these words Clyde’s face softened. He was looking at her stomach, his expression a mixture of hopefulness and doubt.

“So you’re saying that you haven’t been with anyone since?” Clyde asked, his voice still disbelieving.

“If you ask me that one more time I’m going to-” Riley started to say, but Clyde quickly cut her off.

“-ok, I get it. I’m sorry. It’s just, I have never heard of…” Clyde said, faltering as he tried to make sense of his thoughts, “I know of no vampire who has fathered or mothered a child. I thought it was impossible.”

“Wait a minute,” said Ari, now striding across her room, a sudden brainwave hitting her, “maybe Lea knows what’s going on. She acted very strange when we asked her to have a look at you, and, and I think she might have known more than she let on.”

Without waiting for Clyde or Riley to speak, Ari reached for her phone and sent Lea a text. She didn’t say why she wanted to see her, simply that Ari needed her to come to her room as soon as possible.

As the trio waited for Lea to arrive, Ari, Clyde and Riley shared a few very tense minutes. Clyde was staring unblinkingly at Riley’s stomach, while Riley tried valiantly to cover her belly from sight. Finally when there were a few knocks on the door, Ari rushed to her feet.

“Thanks for coming Lea,” she said, holding the door open.

“Two emergencies in one day; should I be worried or…” Lea started to say, until her eyes locked on Riley and she froze in the middle of the room. “What’s going on?”

“You tell us,” said Ari. “Riley just had an ultrasound and she’s thirteen weeks pregnant. My powers aren’t working on her and she can’t shift into animal form. I know that you know what this is all about. I saw the way you reacted this morning. You saw something didn’t you? What aren’t you telling us?”   

“Wait… what? What do you mean? Since when can’t you shift into animal form?” said Clyde, looking at Riley in concern, before glaring at Ari and adding “And… and why can’t you freeze her?”

“I don’t know,” Riley and Ari said together, before Ari added, “but I think Lea does.”

Riley, Clyde and Ari all turned to face Lea expectantly.

Lea sighed, looked down at her feet and said, “This morning, when I tried to use my magic to see if there was something seriously wrong with Riley… something strange happened. I don’t know what exactly, but-”

“-but you knew I was pregnant?” asked Riley, sounding betrayed.

“Not exactly,” Lea admitted. “I mean, I thought you might be. But I didn’t know how, how it was possible.”

“Did you have a premonition?” asked Ari. “After you touched Riley, your eyes, they went white, just like your grandmother’s did before she told me about my destiny.”

“No, not a premonition exactly,” said Lea, “but I heard someone, a female voice. She told me that… that a vampire and waere were about to produce a miracle, and then when I performed the spell to see what was wrong with you, I realised you were pregnant.”

“But, why didn’t you say anything?” snapped Riley.

“Because I’m not a doctor! I told you I couldn’t help you, which is true. You can’t heal a pregnant woman, they aren’t sick,” Lea explained. “And how was I supposed to know what I heard was true? I thought I’d just imagined it or something. I mean, who ever heard of a vampire being a parent?”    

Ari was listening very carefully, her heart hammering in her head. There was something strange about what Lea had said, that a female voice had told her that a waere and vampire were about to produce a miracle. This was not the first time that a disembodied female voice had spoken in a riddle like this. Her mind flashed back to a few months ago, after the battle against the blood hunter, when Chris had told her that a female voice had spoken to him after he had died, saying that he needed to control the shadows.

“But,” said Clyde, his eyes wide as they fell on Riley “but does this mean… are you saying that I am the father?”

Slowly Lea nodded and then she added, “After I saw you, I called my gran and told her what happened-”

“-you did what?” snapped Clyde, his previously hopeful face now entirely replaced with rage. “How could you? No one can know about this! Riley is already in enough danger from being a waere! What do you think would happen if anyone discovered that she was pregnant and that the father was a vampire?”

“My gran is a good witch,” said Lea, immediately on the defensive, “besides, I had no idea if what I saw was actually true. Hell, I was hearing voices; I thought I was going insane. But the voice told me that a vampire and waere had produced a miracle, so I think we can say for sure that you are the father. That being said, I don’t know why Riley can’t shift; maybe it would be a good idea to get in touch with another waere and find out what is normal for a pregnant-”

“-what?” hissed Clyde. “Riley is pregnant, she is a waere and she is carrying the baby of a vampire, not to mention the fact that she can’t shift into an animal any more to protect herself. There is no way she is stepping a toe out of this room.”

“But how are we supposed to find out what to expect?” asked Ari. “This isn’t exactly chartered waters.”

“We will work it out together,” said Clyde, reaching for Riley’s hand and grasping it tightly in his own.  

“So for the next couple of months I am going to be your hostage?” Riley asked, shaking her hand free.

“Riley,” said Clyde. “I was turned when I was twenty-four, well before I had ever fathered any children. If you think I am going to sit back and do nothing when the woman I love is carrying my child, then you’re wrong. I don’t know how or why you are pregnant, but father or not, you are stuck with me. We’re in this together. I’m going to keep you safe, and we’re… we’re going to have a baby.”

On these last words, Clyde’s face broke into a smile and he raced to Riley, hugging her hard as he lifted her up into his arms.

“Careful,” she said, wincing from the strength of Clyde’s embrace, “you’re crushing me and your unborn child.”

“Sorry,” said Clyde.      

Immediately Riley grasped Clyde’s shirt and pulled him closer, saying, “You don’t have to be too gentle,” and she kissed him hard on the mouth.

When Riley, Clyde and Ari told the rest of the coven the good news, the room quickly filled with a disbelieving silence. After the shock had worn off however, every manner of question had been flung at Riley. Thomas had been downright disbelieving of the story. It wasn’t until they had mentioned that Lea was the one who had told them Clyde most definitely was the father, when he seemed finally to believe it was possible. After that congratulations had been thrown around by everyone, followed by many group hugs, which considerably tested Ari’s small dorm room.

During this Ari couldn’t help but watch for Ragon’s reaction. Though the pair had never even once talked about children, Ari was sure that if given the chance, Ragon would want to be a father. She couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes, almost hopefully, had darted at her when the news had been announced. Almost as if he hoped that this miracle might be reproducible for them.

“So,” said Patrick, after kissing Riley on both cheeks, “where will you go?”

“Go?” asked Riley, looking from Patrick to Clyde with furrowed brows.

“Well,” added Patrick, “surely you aren’t going to hang around a campus full of vampires when you are pregnant.”