Dark Swan Comic 1-4

  “It’s just an option,” I pointed out. “A safety net. And speaking of which … Did you talk to Enrique?”

  Lara nodded. “I did. I’m going to do a little administrative work for him on the side.”

  “Good.” One less thing to feel guilty about. “You’ll be okay then.”

  “This isn’t about me! I don’t understand. Why can’t you just take a couple of jobs? I’ve got reams of requests! There are easy ones, like that ghost the other day.”

  I tried to hide my dismay at that. “I haven’t been feeling well, that’s all. And this is kind of a physical line of work.”

  Lara’s blue eyes scrutinized me for several seconds. “Then maybe you’re the one who needs to be looking for another job.”

  “No!” I exclaimed. “This is what I do. It’s the only thing I do.”

  “But if you’re sick—”

  “I’m fine. I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow and then …” I faltered. And then what? “And then I’ll be fine. Back to work. My appointment’s at noon, so hell, you could schedule something later that afternoon. Find me a troll or a banshee.”

  She sighed. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “I’m not upset.” But it was a lie. My volume had increased without my realizing it, and I felt flushed.

  Lara rose, shutting the laptop and picking up her plate. “Just get yourself better. We can figure this out then. Do you need a ride or anything tomorrow?”

  “I’m not that sick,” I told her. And, of course, I could always have my unlicensed teenage sister drive me. “We’ll be back in business again soon, you’ll see.”

  Lara gave me a tight smile, trying to hide concern but failing. She wandered off to Tim’s bedroom, and Jasmine sat up on the couch, where she’d overheard everything. “That’s a good idea, you know,” she said. “Sell this place. Just move to the Otherworld with the kids.”

  I started to rebuke her but paused. It was an option. I’d have plenty of daycare there—a whole castle of babysitters. My daughters would be raised like royalty. They were royalty. But raising them there meant they’d probably lose whatever humanity was in them. They would be gentry for all intents and purposes. Was that what I wanted? It was already happening to me.

  “They may be boys,” I reminded Jasmine. “Then it’s back to work.”

  Kiyo called that night, wanting to know if I’d heard anything. I told him it was too soon for the results but that I’d let him know when the doctor called. It was a small lie. As I’d slipped to Lara, I was actually going back to the office for the results. Twins had popped me into a high-risk category, apparently, and along with delivering the results in person, they’d wanted to do another ultrasound. I didn’t want Kiyo around for that, obviously, but I wouldn’t have minded him coming over that night. I wanted the contact, the love. Most importantly, I wanted to feel like he wasn’t repulsed by me in my current state.

  When noon came the next day, I went like someone going to her own funeral. My mind was blank, unable to focus on anything, and Jasmine probably would have been a safer driver. She’d come along; there’d been no discussion. Neither of us spoke on the drive over, and I could see she was wound just as tightly with tension. Whatever happened, it was going to be big.

  “Soon,” I murmured as we walked in. “Soon this’ll be over, one way or another.”

  Or not so soon.

  The office was running behind, and it was like the continuation of some cosmic joke. I’d been counting down the seconds until this moment, and now the wait was indefinite while Dr. Sartori caught up with his schedule. Admittedly, I’d never felt angry at doctors who fell behind. I figured it just meant they were giving needed time and care to their patients. Maybe he was tied up because some other woman had discovered she was having a world-conquering monster.

  “Eugenie?” The sound of my name made me flinch. A nurse smiled serenely at me. “We’re ready for you.”

  It was a repeat of before, changing into a gown and getting on the examination table. This is it, this is it. Dr. Sartori was back, but a different tech worked today. Her name was Ruth, and she had a kindly, almost grandmotherly air that felt reassuring. Like she could maybe fix all this.

  Dr. Sartori had a file of papers he began flipping through as Ruth lubed up my stomach. Again, I stared, still having a hard time believing there were two living beings in there.

  “Well,” he said. “I have good news.”

  Jasmine made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh. A bitter one, that is. Like me, she knew there was little that was going to be good here. In fact, things soon got worse.

  A knock sounded at the door, and the nurse I’d seen earlier stuck her head in. “I’m sorry to interrupt you,” she said. Her eyes fell on me. “There’s a man here who says he’s your boyfriend and that he was running late for the exam.”

  My mouth went dry. “Kiyo?” I managed.

  “That’s him. I’ll go get him.”

  She’d taken my ID of Kiyo as confirmation and acceptance. I opened my mouth to protest, but she was gone. I started to tell one of the others to go stop her, but by that point, Ruth’s paddle had made contact. The screen again showed shadowy forms, and the sound of those rapid heartbeats filled the room.

  “There they are,” said Dr. Sartori. “We can wait for your boyfriend before getting to the results.”

  “No, we—”

  The nurse returned with Kiyo, who was all charm and smiles as he introduced himself. “Sorry I’m late. I had the time wrong. Lara corrected me.” That last part was to me, and despite the pleasant expression on his face, I saw a hard look in his eyes. He didn’t like the deception. I had kept this from him, lying about when I’d get the results.

  How had he found me? Lara had known the time but not the place. For a moment, I thought Jasmine might be playing a game, but her face showed shock and wariness at his arrival. She was as surprised as me. The referral, I realized. He’d read it before and knew which doctor I was seeing.

  “Well, then,” continued Dr. Sartori. “Now that we’re all here, we can go over everything. You can rest easy about your family history. No trace of anything abnormal in either one. Both of the fetuses’ genetic tests came back fine.”

  It was a sign of Kiyo’s self-control that he said nothing because I could have sworn the word both? was on his lips. His only reaction was another sharp look at me, his expression growing darker as he realized what I’d been hiding. The doctor and tech were watching the monitor, so they didn’t see what Jasmine and I did.

  “And you know … you know the gender?” I asked.

  Dr. Sartori nodded. “You can’t actually see it on the ultrasound now, but the one Ruth’s got a close-up of now … that’s a girl.” I exhaled in relief, and yet … somehow, I knew what his next words would be as Ruth shifted to the other amorphous blob. “And this one’s a boy.”

  Silence so cold and so heavy fell that I couldn’t believe neither of the office’s staff noticed the lack of joy this news was receiving.

  “A girl,” said Kiyo. “And a boy.”

  Dr. Sartori nodded, flipping through a few more pages. “Based on what you’ve told us and what we can see, we’re putting your due date around the end of October. Although, with twins, you’re at a higher risk for early delivery, so we’ll be seeing you more often than in a normal pregnancy. And while this test gives us a lot of info, it doesn’t tell everything, so you’ll have others soon. You haven’t had any pain since the CVS, have you? Any reactions?”

  “No,” I said flatly. My eyes were on those images, my world dominated by those heartbeats.

  “Good. You’ll still want to take it easy to avoid any miscarriage risk.”

  He went over a few more issues, told me when to come back, and then asked if we had any questions. I half-expected Kiyo to ask for an abortion then and there, but he was still biting back his words. It was going to be a for later conversation, I knew.

  Ruth cleaned me up and then retreated with t
he doctor. They gestured Kiyo along with them. “It’s crowded,” said Dr. Sartori good-naturedly. “You can meet up in the waiting room to schedule your next appointment.”

  “Yes,” said Kiyo, eyes boring into me. “We’ll talk out there.”

  I forced a pained smile, and Jasmine turned anxiously toward me the second the door shut. “He is pissed,” she said.

  “I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

  I pulled on my clothes, my limbs feeling leaden. “Oh God. I can’t believe this is happening. Why? Why did I defy the odds? It was a one in three chance. One in three!” My voice was turning hysterical, as I begged this teen girl for answers. “All girls. All boys. Either was more likely than this. Why couldn’t it have been one of those? Why couldn’t we have had an easy fix?”

  Jasmine’s face was solemn. “But you do. You said if one was a boy, you’d still have an abortion. You said you’d do it.” There was a challenge in her voice.

  I finished putting on my shoes and looked away from her. The monitor was black, the room silent, but I could still hear the heartbeats in my head. If I had an abortion to ensure the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, I’d be taking an innocent life. My daughter—that concept was still crazy to me—had no part in this. It wasn’t her fault her brother was destined for blood and destruction. Really, was it even his fault? There was hardly anything to him yet. Just a shadow. And a heartbeat. How could you dictate the future of someone not even born? How could you know what he would turn into? Was anyone’s potential really set in stone?

  And how could I be the one to kill that potential?

  How could I silence that heartbeat?

  Either of them.

  “Eugenie?” Jasmine’s voice was puzzled. “You’re going to do it, right?”

  I lifted my eyes from my feet. “I—I don’t know.”

  “You have to.”

  A new voice spoke in the room. My skin tingled, and suddenly, Deanna materialized before us. I jumped. In light of everything else that had been happening in my life, she’d kind of gone off my radar. I’d left her in Enrique’s hands and assumed that everything was settled with her when she hadn’t answered my summoning.

  “What the hell?” I demanded. “What are you doing here?” So much for her moving on.

  Deanna looked like she always did, wearing that desolate look ghosts so often had.

  “You have to,” she repeated, ignoring my questions. Her expression grew bleaker. “If you don’t get rid of your children, Kiyo will kill you.”

  Chapter 24

  “What?” exclaimed Jasmine.

  I didn’t share her concern. “Damn it. I should have banished you the first time I saw you. I don’t have time for this, not with everything else. You should be in the Underworld by now. Kiyo isn’t going to kill me.”

  “I’m serious!” said Deanna, as frantic as a ghost could get. “You’re in danger!”

  I shook my head. “Look, I’m sorry about your husband … really, I am. But not every guy is homicidal. Don’t transfer this to me.”

  “I’m not! This is real. I was going to move on after … after … well, after my husband was arrested….” There was a mournful pause. Her story had come to a close, but it hadn’t had a happy ending. “I wanted to say good-bye formally and went looking for you … but found Kiyo instead …”

  I put my hands on my hips, wishing I’d brought my wand. I did not need a delusional ghost, not with everything else right now. “And then he said he was going to kill me?”

  “No. He told that other queen he would.”

  That cut off my snark, leaving me speechless for a moment.

  “What other queen?” demanded Jasmine.

  “The blond one. The Willow Queen.”

  Jasmine and I exchanged looks. Suddenly, Deanna’s crazy statements had become slightly less crazy.

  “What exactly did you overhear?” I asked quietly.

  “He told her you were pregnant and that you’d have an abortion if it was a boy … but that he was concerned. He was worried because you hadn’t just done it already.” Deanna looked back and forth between our faces, desperate for either of us to believe her. “He said it was probably just shock and that you’d ‘do the right thing,’ but that if you didn’t … well, Maiwenn said they’d have to make you lose the baby. Or … if that didn’t work … that Kiyo would kill you.”

  “That’s insane,” I said. “Kiyo wouldn’t kill me.”

  “Kiyo doesn’t want the prophecy to come true,” said Jasmine. “It’s not that insane.”

  I turned on her. “He loves me. This whole idea … it’s ridiculous.”

  “Why would I lie?” said Deanna. “You helped me. I’m helping you by warning you before I move on to the next world. I’m telling you, I heard them. Kiyo swore he’d make sure the prophecy couldn’t be fulfilled.”

  “Kiyo. Loves. Me.”

  “Dorian loves you too,” pointed out Jasmine. “And look what he did. When you think about it, Kiyo’s the type who’d think one tragic loss of life was worth saving many. Or something stupid like that.”

  “He would.” Admitting it surprised me, and yet … as the meaning of Deanna’s words sank deeper and deeper, I remembered my first meeting with Kiyo. He’d found me on Maiwenn’s orders. They hadn’t known what kind of person I was, if I’d wanted to fulfill the prophecy or not. He’d never said so explicitly, but my impression had been that both were willing to go to extreme means to stop Storm King’s heir from being born. Our relationship had obviously changed since then, but maybe … maybe some things hadn’t….

  “But he wouldn’t go that far,” I finished.

  “Do you want to take that chance?” asked Jasmine softly. “Maybe he wouldn’t really kill you, but you heard what he said about Maiwenn’s ‘magic’ abortion.”

  What had Deanna claimed? That Kiyo and Maiwenn had planned to make me terminate the pregnancy if I wouldn’t willingly?

  “We just need to talk,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. My next words gave me away. “Somewhere I know I’m safe.”

  “Kiyo’s in the waiting room,” said Jasmine, seeing that I was finally taking this seriously. “Is this a safe place?”

  “Probably not.” I had finished getting dressed. “There must be a back door. There’s always a back door. We’ll go … we’ll go home. I’ll get my weapons, and then we’ll go to the Otherworld. He and I can talk about this reasonably in the Thorn Land. I’ll be safe there.”

  “You’ll never make it there,” said Deanna. I’d practically forgotten about her. “He can follow you. As soon as you leave here, he’ll know and come after you.”

  “How could he—”

  I lightly touched my upper arm, the spot where Kiyo’s nails had barely dug in the other night. I took a deep, shaking breath. “He marked me,” I said. He’d scratched me the first night we’d met too, leaving a long-healing wound that allowed him to track me wherever I went. This one was smaller but would work just as well.

  Jasmine was already moving toward the door, so full of tension and purpose that she seemed much older. “We’ll just go straight to the Otherworld then. You’ll be safe there. Where’s the nearest gateway?”

  I racked my brain, thinking of our location. “By Morriswood Park. Farther than I’d like.”

  “Well, we have to go soon. If we stay here any longer, the doctor’ll come ask what’s wrong,” said Jasmine. “And we can’t let Kiyo find us in the parking lot.”

  “You’ll never make it to the park in time,” wailed Deanna. I scowled, but she was right. Jasmine looked at me questioningly. For a moment, I considered calling Volusian, but he might happily kill Kiyo and claim it was in my defense. I wasn’t ready for that.

  “I know where we can go,” I said. “Come on.”

  We left the exam room, stepping out into the hallway. I turned with purpose, opposite the direction of the waiting room we’d entered from. This took us deeper into the clinic, past more examining rooms and their lab.
A couple staff members passed us, but we walked confidently enough that no one stopped us. They probably assumed we’d been directed somewhere. Meanwhile, my eyes were searching for an exit sign. There had to be a back door. Surely hypocritical health professionals had to go somewhere to smoke.

  “There.”

  I nodded toward an exit sign, praying it didn’t lead to a fire door, which would be of no use to us. Nope. It was just an ordinary door, one probably used for maintenance or shipments. Someone did notice us then and start to ask what we were doing, but by then, we were outside and behind the building.

  “Eugenie, where are we going?” asked Jasmine anxiously. Deanna had faded away, perhaps now finally leaving this world after fulfilling what she believed to be her last duty. As we walked briskly toward my car, some part of me kept wanting to think she’d lied. But why? As she’d said, she had no reason. She’d held true to me before.

  And with every passing second, I grew more and more conflicted, wondering what I should believe. Kiyo loved me. He’d gone out of his way to win me back … but he was firmly set on protecting the human world. At any cost? We’d see. Deanna was mistaken; she had to be. My worst fate was probably going to be Kiyo’s talking me to death.

  We got in the car, and I did briefly consider trying to make a break for Morriswood Park and its Otherworldly gate. After all, what was Kiyo going to do? Get in a high speed chase with us? The thing was, with that mark, he would be able to track me. He could probably feel me moving away now. If we headed anywhere near the park he’d figure it out. He’d either try to beat us there or just catch up with us on the other side. No, I had to go somewhere else. Somewhere with protection. Somewhere I could be sure I was safe until all of this madness was settled.

  Jasmine’s face grew increasingly troubled as we drove away from the doctor’s office. She kept glancing back, as though expecting to see Kiyo right on our bumper. When we turned into a suburban neighborhood, her worry shifted to confusion.

  “What is this?”

  “Home,” I replied, pulling into the driveway of a well-kept house surrounded by trees and flowers. A fence enclosed the backyard but couldn’t hide the efforts someone had made to turn a Tucson backyard into something lush and green.