“Okay.” Honor kept hold of her hand. “Explain this a little to me. You asked if the baby would be a shifter or a witch, but shouldn’t he or she be both?”
“Kind of,” Nessa said, stretching out her legs and crossing her ankles in those incredible boots. “With immortal species, we exhibit one true nature. Like with Sam. He’s part vampire and part demon, but in his case, he’s much more of a demon. Not that it matters, but each nature has different skills and gifts, and I’m so anxious to know this little one. So excited. It’s actually difficult for immortals to become pregnant, and it can take centuries. I’m thrilled.”
Honor kept her hand, her heart warming for her new friend. “Okay. I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll sure give it a shot.” She leaned her head back on the tree and closed her eyes, centering herself with a couple of deep breaths. Then, feeling slightly like a dork but still having fun, she reached out with her senses to Nessa’s abdomen.
A fluttering sensation tickled her senses. She gasped. “Oh, this is awesome.” Why hadn’t she ever thought to try this before?
“What?” Nessa asked, her hand flipping around to hold Honor’s.
“Just the little one in there. Okay. Let me concentrate.” She kept zeroing in, making sure she stayed just outside of the little bubble she perceived and didn’t cause any disturbance. “All right. I’m getting an energy…let me think.” She let the energy flow along with hers and tried to think back over the last few days. “Just like…you but a little more energetic. Maybe softer?”
Nessa sighed happily. “A witch? A little baby girl?”
“I think so.” Honor kept her eyes shut and moved her focus around; then she stiffened. “Oh. Um, okay.”
“What?” Nessa’s voice rose.
Honor settled. “Another energy. This one all bear. Just like him. Full on, erratic, powerful. The girl is powerful, too, but this is more…basic. Both pure. Oh, it’s a boy.”
Nessa chuckled. “Figures. Twins are rare, but witches do have them every once in a while.”
Something, a sense of something else, pulled Honor deeper in. She breathed out, her brain fuzzing.
Nessa tightened her hold on Honor’s hand. “You went still. What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Honor tilted her head and focused on the swirling essences as they combined and then separated and then moved together again. Her eyelids flipped open to see Nessa staring at her, worry in her sapphire-colored eyes. “Um, how about triplets?”
Nessa’s jaw dropped. “What? No. That’s so rare.”
“Huh. Well, you’ve got three very distinct essences in there, Nessa.” Honor chewed on her lip. “I didn’t recognize the third. He’s kind of like Bear but different. Sharper and way more intense? He runs hotter, too?”
Nessa released her. “Come on.” Then she grinned. “I can’t believe it. Triplets. A bear shifter, a witch, and a dragon shifter?” She laughed full on. “Life is crazy, right?”
“A dragon shifter?”
Nessa smiled. “Bear has dragon blood but is definitely a bear shifter. That’s why he has a dragon tattooed on his back. Oh, he is so going to freak.”
Truth.
Chapter Seventeen
Sam lounged against the wall and answered texts at the interior entrance to a department store inside the mall. Garrett had been waiting impatiently with him until Sam had sent him over to the hotdog place to grab some food, and Bear was studying a series of tennis shoes through a shop window with a bag full of new fire extinguishers at his feet.
Juliet emerged from behind a display of sweaters just inside the store. “We’re almost done. Sorry about the wait. We found the cutest sweaters for Honor—you’re going to love them.”
“Great,” Sam said, digging out his wallet and tossing a card to her. “Use this, would you? It’s not Honor’s fault she’s in the middle of nowhere and needs clothing.” He would’ve given the card to Honor, but there was no doubt she would’ve refused. Heat spread through his arms, and he calmed himself, fighting the fire.
Juliet caught the Amex black card and whistled. “Sweet.” Then she turned and hustled through the throngs of winter sweaters.
His phone rang, and upon seeing it was his sister, he answered. “Hi. What’s going on?”
“I’ve so totally had it,” Clarissa exploded. “I’m sixteen, Sam. That’s practically an adult. Dad is all over me about Bobby, and he’s not so bad.”
Sam’s foot felt as if it was on fire, so he sent healing cells to his toes. “That doesn’t sound like Daire. He’s usually pretty reasonable. What happened?” He could almost see her rolling her pretty green eyes.
“Like Dad never got drunk and drove a car into a tree. Geez. Come on. We’re kids. Bobby is really sorry for it.”
Sam straightened. “Were you in the car?”
Silence.
Ah, damn it. “Sweetheart, I’ve got a lot going on right now.”
She sighed. “I know, but you’re always the voice of reason, and I need your help. They’ve totally grounded me. It’s not like we were having sex or anything.”
Sam winced and tried not to heave. “I wasn’t saying that I wouldn’t help you, just that my time is limited and I have to cut right to it.”
“Oh. Okay. What does that mean?” she asked, sounding so young that he wanted to hug her.
“It means that if you’re still dating Bobby when I get home, I’m going to rip off his head and use it as a projectile to kill all of the bees’ nests Mom missed,” he said reasonably.
Her gasp was a cute mixture of shock and anger. “Sam!”
“Rissa, the guy was drunk and drove a car into a tree…With. You. In. It.” Sam looked up to check Garrett’s progress with the food. “If you ask me, he’s lucky to still be breathing. How did Mom keep Daire from killing him?” Or for that matter, their mother from killing him. Their mom was probably twice as dangerous as anybody he’d ever met.
“Dad is out of town right now, but he’s still bossing everyone around by phone,” Clarissa admitted. “Mom thinks I’ll come to the right conclusion on my own, whatever that means.”
Sam shook his head. “Do you care about Bobby?”
“Yes!”
“Then tell him to leave town. It might be brave to date a girl who has a witch enforcer for a dad and a demoness for a mom, not to mention three hybrid older brothers who’ve been in war before, but to put that girl in danger? That shows a serious lack of mental capability. Get. Rid. Of. Him.” Sam’s other foot started to burn. “Or I will. Gotta go, sweets. Love you.” He hung up.