“You just pointed out that I’m a GhostWalker. Do you always need backup? And it’s my kitchen. I know every tiny inch of this house.”
He’d hit her in her pride. “Fine, babe.” He waved her toward the door. “I’ll call Rubin in and you be back here in fifteen.” He made a show of looking at his watch. Trap, Amaryllis is heading to the kitchen and then to look around and make certain everything’s tucked in tight. Can you shadow her? Not let her see you?
No problem. If not me, Cayenne will.
Malichai tried not to wince. Amaryllis had been right. Trap wasn’t worried in the least about Cayenne’s pregnancy. As far as he was concerned, it was a natural part of the cycle of life. Women had been giving birth since the dawn of time. He was one of those men who thought she should give birth, cut the cord herself, put the baby in a sling and hoe an entire field. Malichai couldn’t afford the time to tell him differently, not right then. And Cayenne was a warrior through and through. Also, she could make herself incredibly small and crawl across a ceiling without being seen.
Going to call Rubin in tonight. I have a bad feeling about my leg.
Instantly Trap’s attention was captured and Malichai knew there was no way Trap would be shadowing Amaryllis.
Bad feeling? About your leg? I’ll come right up.
I want Amaryllis safe.
Trap stopped answering immediately, as was his way. Malichai cursed under his breath. He shouldn’t have said anything at all. Rubin was a very strong psychic. He could bridge a telepathic gap even for those with little or no telepathic ability. Still, it was Ezekiel Malichai reached for. His older brother had always been the one they turned to when things weren’t good. He needed Ezekiel there. He needed his brother just to be in the room with him.
Zeke, need you to ask Rubin to slip in and take a look at my leg.
Silence stretched for so long, at first Malichai didn’t think they’d connected. Then his brother’s voice slipped into his mind and with it, worry. You mean right now, tonight? Are you all right?
Just want his opinion, nothing big. Have any of you examined Cayenne? Do you know when she’s supposed to give birth? Deliberately, he changed the subject.
Cayenne had slowly managed to invade their hearts. She was a fierce warrior and she went her own way. She knew little about life outside the cage she’d been raised in, but she was learning, mostly about Trap’s world, his wants and needs. But she loved Nonny, Pepper and the five little girls who were Wyatt and Pepper’s.
Do you honestly think Cayenne is going to let us examine her that way? She’d probably throw a web around us and hang us upside down for a while from a tree. Trap’s been her doc.
Malichai groaned and repositioned his leg. It shouldn’t be hurting the way it was. It alarmed him how much it hurt. If the bone was broken and not set, he could see having that ripping, persistent pain, but it wasn’t broken. Something was happening that was bigger than anyone understood.
Both Rubin and Amaryllis had just spent hours working on it after Mills had kicked the shit out of it. They’d done a very meticulous psychic healing, closing every fracture, knitting them back together. His leg had been kicked, so sure, it was going to hurt. Mills was a big man. He might have delivered a kick strong enough to break the bone, but Malichai doubted it. Something was happening internally and whatever it was, that nagging alarm in his gut told him the consequences to him were going to be very bad.
Trap slipped inside. He looked around. “Your woman wasn’t in the kitchen.”
“She wanted to look around the place. I sometimes get these weird feelings, like I’m hearing whispers of conspiracy. I like to take a last walk through the halls just to see if I can get a better handle on whether or not I’m going crazy.”
“What’s the general consensus?” Trap crossed the room and flipped back the blanket covering Malichai’s leg.
“So far, coming down on the side of crazy.” Malichai rubbed the bridge of his nose. “When is Cayenne actually due, Trap? Give me a date. Or at least how far along she is in her pregnancy. She doesn’t seem to show, so it’s impossible to tell. It makes no sense that she doesn’t show when she’s so small.”
Trap waved that assessment away dismissively. “She’s got armor, silken armor, like a thin layer between her skin and the rest of her. Once she was stabbed and the tip of the knife nearly broke off. It didn’t go in. That shield isn’t going to allow her womb to push out. The baby has to be displacing her organs.”
Malichai closed his eyes over the casual way Trap spoke. It was clear, to keep from panicking over Cayenne’s pregnancy, Trap had distanced himself. It was a classic Trap maneuver. He allowed his brain to take over.
“You have to have an idea when she’s due. Did she get regular checkups? Did she take prenatals? Wyatt must be out of his mind.”
“Wyatt talks to her often and has her take the vitamins. He didn’t want her coming on the trip, of course, but I’m not risking another Cayenne silence. I sent her away to safety when we were working on the hemorrhagic virus, and I’m not sure she’s forgiven me yet. I needed to come to make certain you lived through this crap, so that meant she was coming too. I promised her, and I don’t break my promises to her. I can’t ever do that, Malichai. Not to her. Breaking trust with Cayenne would end us.”
Again, Trap spoke without looking at him, casually, as if they were discussing the weather, but Malichai was totally shocked. The man had to come to ensure Malichai was all right. That choked him up. Trap didn’t express emotion often. Malichai thought Trap tolerated him but wasn’t very fond of him. This said something altogether different.
“Thanks, Trap. I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I want my woman safe as well. It makes me feel better knowing you’re here. I still want to know when Cayenne could go into labor.”
Trap shrugged. “She’s under a month out, but she’s showing signs. At first I thought she might be carrying more than one, but she can’t be because they would be totally squished in there. I couldn’t get her to let me take a look. She’s very resistant to any kind of exam. Too close to all the experiments they did on her. Cayenne’s capable of taking off if she feels too threatened. You all have to leave her be. Don’t ask her too many questions.”
“You’re a doctor. Multiple births? Seriously, Trap? There could be complications.”
“There won’t be,” Trap snapped. “There’s no way there’s two in there. You see her. She’s too small.”
“You’re not thinking straight. How could you possibly know there won’t be complications if it’s a multiple birth when little is known about the pregnancy or the woman giving birth? Damn, Trap. Why did you think at first there was a possibility?”
Trap always considered odds. He wasn’t someone to casually say or think multiple births. If he’d considered it, it was because the possibility was real. Malichai wanted to shake him.
“There can’t be complications, Malichai.” Trap ground the declaration out between his teeth. “I can’t live without her. Do you understand? No Cayenne, no Trap. She can’t leave and she can’t die. So that means everything will go smoothly. She’s fucking terrified. She’s terrified of exams and too close to running off. You know her. We’ll never find her if she goes. She thinks she can give birth by herself. I’m walking on eggshells with her. This all just has to go the way it’s supposed to go.”