Laurell Hamilton - Never After

He stopped then, and tipped my chin up to gaze at me. “Siobhan, I don’t care what the Pod says. Either way. I’d leave them before I’d give you up. I thought you knew that. You’re my soul mate, my love.”

Sniffling—whether it was the way he said it, or the hormones, I wasn’t sure—I nodded and wiped my nose on a paper towel. “I know… I know you said that but when push comes to shove…”

“When push comes to shove, I shove back. I’m thrilled you’re pregnant. I wanted this, too, but I want you most of all. And nothing would make me leave if you were truly infertile. Not the Pod, not my parents, not the Ocean Mother herself.”

And then he dropped to one knee and pulled out a velvet box from his pocket. “I was waiting to show you this—to see if we’d have to run away from the Pod first. But now there’s nothing they can do to stop me. Siobhan Morgan, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and mate?”

As he opened the box, an emerald-cut aquamarine inset in platinum shimmered under the sun. Seafoam trapped in a crystal. I gasped as he slid it onto my finger. “Please, please say yes.”

“You know the answer to that already, Mitchell Childs. You know the answer.” And then, with no one else on the beach, he laid me down on the blanket and made love to me by the ocean’s side.

“Siobhan? Siobhan? Are you ready?”

I glanced up to find Camille standing at my door, hesitantly peeking in. I was dressed, but had been lost in the memory of that day. Mitch, my life and soul, who would have left his family and home for me. Mitch, who would have given up being a parent because he loved me so much. And now he was lying in a hospital bed, in danger because of a cruel and vicious man from my past.

“I’m ready,” I said, gathering my purse and keys. I checked to make sure the stove was off and slid on a warm jacket. “Let’s go find Terrance. I don’t want the sun to set again while he’s still alive.”

Camille gave me the thumbs up. “You’ve got it, babe. You’ve got it.”

We drove to the hospital in two cars. I went with Camille and Smoky in Camille’s Lexus, while Delilah and Iris went together in Delilah’s Jeep. I was wearing a pair of maternity jeans and a loose top, so at least I could move if I had to. I wasn’t at the waddling stage yet, but I was starting to show and my regular clothes were all a little too snug for comfort now.

As the buildings passed by in a blur, I sucked in a deep breath. Amazing what sorrow twenty-four hours could bring. Amazing what panic a phone call could presage. The thought of trying to hide in today’s world was terrifying. In 1907, I blended into the crowd and vanished. That luxury didn’t exist today. I had to stay close to the coastlines, which cut out a lot of hiding places.

The day was overcast as usual, but the sun was trying to break through and I regarded it with suspicion. Right now I wanted the cloud cover and the fog, anything to make me feel less exposed.

“So what, we just watch Mitch?” I finally asked.

“No, we slip a webcam in his room and the rest of us watch from another part of the hospital while you stay with him, making for two tempting targets in one place. Either we can set it up or Chase can, your choice.” Camille swerved to avoid the remnants of a tire on the road and smoothly shifted lanes to take the next exit, which would lead us to the hospital.

“Not Chase. He’d try to take Terrance into custody. And I don’t want Terrance in custody.” I glanced at the back of her head, and she looked at me through the rearview mirror. “We do this ourselves, if you’re still willing.”

Camille nodded. Another ten minutes and we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

She turned around in her seat. “Listen, Delilah is going to install the webcam, but she’ll be coming in dressed as a nurse. Terrance would probably recognize me, and there’s no way anybody could overlook Smoky, so we’re going to sneak in a different way.”

She didn’t say just how they were planning on doing so, and I had the feeling it was on a need to know basis.

I nodded. “What about me?”

“You go in, in plain sight. You head to Mitch’s room and you sit with him. If anybody else is in there—from the Pod or his parents—somehow, you encourage them to leave. Delilah will be in shortly but don’t act like you know her.”

Camille let out a long sigh. “Terrance will probably strike during the night, and probably soon, since he knows we’re onto him. We need the hospital to agree to let you stay with Mitch. Being his fiancée, that shouldn’t be too hard for you to arrange. Tell them that last night, you were too distraught over his injuries and your doctor made you stay home, but that you can’t stand being away from him tonight.”

I slipped out of the car and grabbed my purse. As I swung the door shut, I whispered a quick, “Thank you. For everything.”

They waved me off and I headed toward the hospital.

I didn’t have much trouble convincing the nurses and Mitch’s Otherworld doctor that I needed to stay with him. In fact, his doctor thought it would be a good idea.

“The surgery on his arm went just fine, but at this point, we still don’t know how much use he’ll recover. The bone was shattered and his arm is full of pins. To be honest, I haven’t the faintest idea of how that will affect him when he shifts into selkie form. For now, he needs your comfort and support.”

The elfin doctor flipped through Mitch’s chart as he walked us into the room, his footsteps making no noise on the sparkling linoleum. “He’s still very groggy from the pain medication and surgery, but he’ll know you’re here. He seemed disturbed last night, as if he was afraid of something.”

I frowned, glancing around. We were on the third floor, but that didn’t preclude Terrance using some supernatural way to climb up the outside wall. Most likely, though, Mitch was just afraid that Terry would hurt me. If he’d picked up on the fact that I was the Finfolk’s target, and he knew he couldn’t do anything about it, he would be terrified and feeling helpless. And a helpless man made for an angry man.

I hurried over to Mitch’s side. His arm and both legs were in casts—the kind where they could be removed to change the dressings and examine the injuries. Mitch blinked, looking up at me through glazed eyes. He was drugged, all right. I took his hand and leaned over to kiss his forehead.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “Everything’s going to be all right. The D’Artigo sisters are helping us. Don’t worry, okay?” I kept my voice low, but forgot the doctor was from Otherworld.

“Is something wrong, Ms. Morgan? You having problems with someone?” Dr. Elanya set down the clipboard and turned to me.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because someone injured him. Mitch didn’t beat himself up. And if you know who did it, then you’d better speak to Detective Johnson so they can catch the lowlife before he hurts someone else.”

Even though he was wearing Earthside clothing and had the letters D and R planted before his name, he was still an elf. And elves always seemed bent on playing by the rules. I smiled weakly and eased my way into a chair.

“We think it may be an old boyfriend of mine, out for a little revenge. I’ve already talked to the authorities.” I shrugged.

Dr. Elanya looked at me and I knew he didn’t believe me, but there was no graceful way to call me a liar and get away with it.

“All right, then,” he said after a moment. “I’ll have the nurse bring you a blanket. You can use the bed next to him. I doubt we’ll have enough emergencies to need it. Besides, in your condition, you should get as much rest as you can.” And with that, he snapped the chart shut and left the room.