Horror unlike any she’d ever felt riddled her spirit, causing her to shudder.

No.

Procreation only mattered when the fetus was viable.

No.

To carry a child to term that would not be full-blooded Seraphim provided no practical use.

No!

Why go through the pain of pregnancy for an unfit being?

NO!

“Caro!” Sethios’s shout bled into her thoughts, forcing her to focus on his face. Anxiety mingled with fury in his features, his green eyes storming with unfettered emotion.

“Calm. Down.” The demand slapped her across the face, forcing her body into submission as she relaxed against him. Only then did she feel the warm moisture running down her cheeks.

Tears.

She’d been crying?

Impossible.

Seraphim didn’t feel enough to cry.

What is wrong with me?

There’s a foreign life growing inside of me.

Her future child. An anathema. Someone who will be hunted to the edges of the earth for extermination.

She touched her abdomen.

My blood.

My progeny.

My duty to protect.

“That’s an impressive gift,” Gabriel said, voice flat. “Is that how you convinced my mother to fornicate with you?”

Sethios snorted. “Hardly. I may use it as a benefit in the bedroom, but I do not fuck unwilling women. And trust me, your mother was very willing.”

The growl that pierced the air caused her heart to falter. Gabriel’s icy green eyes were narrowed, the only indication that the sound had emanated from him.

“Refrain from speaking of my mother in such a way, or there will be consequences. She deserves respect and reverence, not crude language from a foulmouthed monstrosity.”

“Gabriel,” she breathed, shocked at the lethal undercurrent in his words.

His gaze met hers unapologetically. “You’re surprised that I would defend you? I would not exist without you, Mother. I am inclined to feel at least somewhat protective about that.”

Just as I feel innately protective of the life growing inside me.

She blinked.

Did this defensive need qualify as an emotion? Or an animalistic instinct?

“Two Seraphim who exude emotion. Does that weaken or strengthen your position?” Sethios asked, his tone casual despite the intensity vibrating through the air. He clearly did not perceive Caro’s son as a threat, which she deemed a mistake. Gabriel might be younger, but he possessed power unlike many other of her kind.

Her son blinked at Sethios, his expression morphing into stoicism. “When you’re done using my mother as a shield, we can have that conversation.”

“Posturing. I approve.” Sethios dropped his gaze to Caro. “Your color is returning. Do you want to try standing, or would you like to continue being my shield?”

She frowned. “You can’t fight Gabriel.”

“No?” He arched a brow. “Then how am I to react when he attacks me?”

She laid her head against his shoulder again and focused on her son. “You can’t fight Sethios.”

Gabriel shrugged. “That remains to be seen, but I promise not to kill him.”

Her stomach cramped, causing her to wince. Of course her body chose today to succumb to weakness, during the moment she most needed to be strong.