Sergius: #4 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) (12 page)
Read Sergius: #4 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) Online
Authors: Stevens,Madison
Tags: #paranormal romance
Chapter Seventeen
Jade lay resting in her bed. It had been several days since the night in the woods, and although she was still slightly weak from the whole affair, she felt much better than she did. Her strength was slowly coming back, but unfortunately morning sickness had decided to show its ugly face.
The monster hadn’t returned, in the real world or the dream world, and she wondered if it ever would. They now knew how to beat it, after all.
The door opened, and she sank down into the covers, closing her eyes.
“Jesus Christ, that’s a lot of food.”
Jade sighed loudly and threw the covers off her head. Though she wasn’t feeling great, she was glad to hear her friend Taylor’s voice.
“We thought you might be sleeping,” Jenna said sweetly from behind Taylor and raised a brow.
Jade made a face and crossed her arms over her chest.
“No, I’m just trying to hide from my daily force-feeding,” she huffed.
Taylor laughed hysterically at her, and it only made her more annoyed.
“That with this shit is?”
Jade looked around the room and the piles of plates around the room. Sergius had kept trying to bring her food. It was sweet, but good intentions didn’t always lead to good results.
The man just wouldn’t stop trying to feed her, and worst of all, he couldn’t cook one tiny bit.
She had ended up trapped among a mixture of smells and none good. She half-wondered if the morning sickness was just Sergius cooking sickness.
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Jenna said. “He’s just trying to get you well again.”
Jade sighed loudly. She was right, of course. He was just trying to get her well. Too bad they were too far from town for delivery.
Taylor came over and popped down on the side of the bed. She laid a hand on Jade’s stomach.
“So how’s little sea monkey doing?” Taylor asked.
Jade laughed at that name Taylor had given their unborn child. She knew it pissed off Sergius with all this talk of Atlanteans, but it was a fitting name.
“Rachel says all my labs are good,” Jade said. “They also think they may have a lead on a doctor for us. Rachel and Rem have been having a bunch of talks about this.”
Jenna nodded and rubbed her own little bump. “I told them both there’s no way in hell I’m having this baby without a doctor around.”
Jade had found that Jenna could be very sweet, but she wasn’t a woman Rem wanted to cross. If he knew what was good for him, he would find a damned doctor.
It made sense anyway. Their community needed one. They might be smaller than Luna Lodge, but they still needed dedicated medical personnel, especially since they couldn’t seem to keep out of trouble.
Jade let out a wide yawn. It had been a long day, and she wasn’t really used to having company yet.
Taylor patted her on the hand and then stood. “We just wanted to check and see how you are doing.” She smiled. “When you’re feeling well enough, I’d love if you came out to visit us on the ranch.”
Jade nodded. She liked the idea of visiting her friend and having people who cared for her in her life. For so long, she had run away from that sort of life, but it now seemed she would be surrounded by nothing but love and people willing to protect her.
It was different, unsurprisingly, but most of all, it was wonderful.
Jenna nodded. “If you need anything, just call.”
Jade smiled at her friends and watched as they slipped out of the room. She heard the click of the front door as it closed.
She wasn’t surprised when Sergius came in a few minutes later. He smiled at her from the door and came over to lay down on the bed next to her. She watched as he rolled over and pushed up her shirt to place a kiss on the bare skin there. He lay his head against her, and she smiled as she watched him.
Jade ran her fingers along his stubbled head. She enjoyed the soothing feel of the prickly hair there. Her fingers brushed along his tattoo, and she felt the warm hum it gave her.
They had talked very little about the voice she had heard that night, the one telling her about the tattoo. Nearly all but Rem were convinced that it had been just her reacting on instinct, but she knew what she heard, and she knew it was more than just her mind.
Something or someone had helped her that night. What it was, she wasn’t really certain, but it had helped her, and she would be eternally grateful. For a while she wondered if it was Anassa, but even in her dream contact before, the woman had used her own voice and appearance.
For now, it would remain just have to remain a mystery.
She’d also wondered if she was done with visions, but a minor one had sapped her strength the previous day. Rem was interested, still concerned about her winter vision, but with no sign of the creature, they all thought she had time to learn to better control her gift.
Dea had been vocal about how such an ability shouldn’t be feared and how it might help their community. Given the powerful enemies of the hybrids, a lot of people accepted they could use all the help they could get, and anyone who still didn’t like her wasn’t about to mention it with Sergius looming around.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly. “It’s not over, not completely.”
Sergius looked up to where she was and shrugged.
They laced their fingers together, and he kissed their tips.
“We live,” he said. “We just live each day, and we love each day. We leave nothing to chance.” He placed his hand on her stomach. “And we protect our child.”
She was surprised by his answer. He had been so doting when it came to getting out of bed or doing anything the last few days that she didn’t expect him to be so laidback about this.
They literally had a monster run off into the woods and no idea if it was ever coming back to finish the job it started. On top of that, they’d had to depend on Anassa to cure her and still couldn’t be sure of her connection to the monster. Everything seemed so up in the air.
“But what about—” she started
Sergius sat up and place a finger against her lips.
“Our people will protect you. I will protect you,” he said firmly. “We’ve both spent too much of our lives being afraid and unhappy. I want to spend as many days as I can with you, living in the moment and loving the life that we have been given.”
Jade placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him in for a soft kiss. When she pulled back, she could see the love that shined in his eyes.
Sergius brought his head back to her stomach and smiled as he traced lines on the skin there. Jade traced along the tattoo on his neck and smiled at the hum. It was just another way they were connected.
Jade stopped her fingers on his head and grinned down at him. “This protecting me include protecting me from your cooking?”
Sergius frowned up at her. “The scrambled eggs turned out pretty well this morning.”
Jade laughed. “I guess if you like shells in your eggs.”
Sergius huffed loudly at her comment.
She patted him on the back. “I think you should to stick to what you’re best at.”
Sergius raised a brow. “And what would that be?”
“Pleasing me.” Jade gave a wide grin and winked at him. “I also think it would be best if you demonstrate that right now.”
Sergius grinned back at her. “Now that I think I can do.”
A Note from Madison
Thank you for reading
Sergius
. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.
Please keep an eye out for the next book in the series,
Marcus.
You can join my mailing list at
http://eepurl.com/OX9r5
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Author Bio
Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat, it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero temperatures and ice has won out in the end.
When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.
Her webpage is
http://madisonstevensauthor.com/
She can be contacted at [email protected]
