I stared at him blandly. “I wasn’t going to yell at you, but now I’m rethinking that.”
“It’s too much of a risk, Trin. Even if there was no chance of you being pregnant.”
There was a whooshing motion in my stomach. “And like I said before, everything we do is a risk. Using myself as bait is the quickest way to get to Gabriel.”
“And stupidest—”
“Do you want me to yell at you? Because I’m getting pretty close to that happening.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “But too many things could go wrong with that.”
“And too many things could go wrong with Danika’s idea, starting with it not working at all.”
His brows lowered. “You sounded like you were on board with her idea when she talked about it.”
“I’m not against it. I just don’t think that’s the fastest way to get to Gabriel. How many demons will we have to kill to find the one who will carry the message back?” I folded my arms across my chest. “And while I do think Gabriel is arrogant enough to rise to the challenge, I don’t know if any demon we leave alive will actually risk Gabriel killing them to deliver the message. They’ll probably run for the hills.”
“That might happen, but Gabriel has to come for you before the Transfiguration. If we end up killing every demon or they end up running, he will get desperate enough to come for you himself,” Zayne reasoned.
“And you’re not worried that will be cutting it real close to the Transfiguration? All he needs is my blood, Zayne. He manages to get me near that portal and draws my blood? Then what?” I lifted a shoulder. “We need to take him out before the Transfiguration.”
“I agree with the latter, but I can’t get behind letting you get captured.” Uncrossing his ankles, he pushed off the back of the couch. “And it doesn’t have anything to do with you possibly being pregnant.”
“It really doesn’t?” I lifted my chin as he stopped in front of me. “Are you sure you’d be this against it if there was no chance of me being pregnant?”
“Yes.” There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation there. “The mere idea of you being in Gabriel’s hands or anywhere near Bael makes me want to destroy something—something very large.” Slowly, so that I saw him, he lifted his hand and fixed my cockeyed glasses. “And if you think it’s because I believe you can’t handle yourself, you’re wrong. I know you can, but—”
“You do realize that anything that comes before the word but is basically nullified, right?”
“But,” he repeated, lowering his hand to the nape of my neck, “Gabriel knows that, too. He knows you can fight. He’ll be prepared for that.”
“Will he be prepared for it being a trap? Doubtful.”
“Would you be okay with me being used as bait?” he asked instead. “If it were me who was being tagged with a tracer that can fail and being taken only God knows where?”
I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t get the word yes out of my mouth.
Zayne’s eyes searched mine. “You wouldn’t be. Not because you think I can’t defend myself, but for the same reasons as me. You couldn’t bear the idea of me being in the hands of a being that could kill me, because you love me, and because of that, you would want to try every other avenue first before you put my life in jeopardy.”
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head. “You’re right, and that annoys me greatly.”
“I know it does.” A grin appeared.
“Smiling doesn’t help.” I moved in closer, resting my cheek against his chest. The placement caused my glasses to go askew once more, but I didn’t care. “Okay. We’ll try the other avenues first, but if they don’t work, then we have to do it this way.”
“Even though I don’t like it, I can agree with that.” He folded his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so damn brave.”
I smiled at that. “The feeling is mutual.”
His arms tightened around me. “What do you think about what Dez had to say about Gideon not being able to find anything on Trueborns reproducing?” he asked after a few moments.
“I don’t know what I think or what to think,” I admitted, closing my eyes. “What about you?”
“The same.” He dragged a hand up my back. “I think we need to get one of those tests.”
“Yeah, I think we do, too.” I pulled back, smiling a little when he fixed my glasses yet again. “But there’s something else we need to do first. We have to go see the Crone.”
* * *
Zayne used my phone to call Stacey—who he’d grown close to after his father’s death and the fallout with Layla. When I thought about how jealous I’d been when I’d discovered them in the ice cream shop, I sort of wanted to punch myself in the actual face. I tried to give him a little space because I was sure it would be an emotional call, but he tugged me down to where he sat on the couch, holding me close. The whole time he spoke with her, he smoothed his hand through my hair and down my back. Every so often, he would stop and drop a kiss on my temple or my forehead, and I... I soaked up the affection like a happy little sponge. He seemed to need to be as close to me as I needed the same from him, and I imagined the trauma of the last several days drove the desire. Stacey wanted to see Zayne, and I couldn’t blame her for that. I could tell just from what he was saying that she was shocked, but Zayne felt it was too risky. He was right. Gabriel might not know Zayne was back yet, but he would, and I wouldn’t put it past the archangel to go after anyone close to either of us.
After the call, we’d decided it was best if we went ahead and removed one of his feathers while in the apartment. That prevented Zayne from having to do the show-and-tell with his wings with the Crone and any other witch present. It wasn’t that we didn’t trust her...
Okay, we didn’t trust her.
It wasn’t anything personal. We just didn’t trust any witch.
Of course, when he tugged his shirt off and his wings unfurled, I got a little distracted staring at them. Dragging my gaze from one graceful arch, I got down to business. “So how do we do this?”
“You can just grab one,” he offered.
“Wait. What? You want me to do what?” My brows flew up. “Just yank one out?”
He shrugged. “Or I can do it.”
“Yeah, you should do it.” I wrinkled my nose. “Because nope, I can’t.”