Bliss (23 page)

This was the part he was dreading. He probably should have told her ahead of time, but it was too late now. “That’s our baby,” he said, moving to kiss her.

“Like hell it is,” she countered, doubling over in pain as the bulge moved again.

Things were never easy when it came to Kassandra. “Really it is, Kassandra. I claimed all of you. You’re my mate
. When a Titan mates with his soulmate, he gives her his life-seed, and that’s how we reproduce.” He hated that he’d made it sound technical when it was a gift of the gods.

“Then I suggest you figure out a way to get rid of it,” she snapped, angrily swimming out of the bed as she snatched up the ripped swimming bra.

Get rid of it?
He hoped she was kidding, because there was no way by Hades he’d get rid of a child of their union. Before he could say anything, she doubled over onto the floor and threw up.

Guilt washed over him. He’d done this to her
. Like before, he’d taken her choice away. Even though the Titan he was said “let the consequences be damned,” the man he’d been knew that no woman liked to have her choices dictated by a member of the opposite sex.

T
oo bad that was not how things worked in his undersea kingdom. Using his telepathy he summoned Jamie and quickly explained what happened. A moment later his sister-in-law swam into the bedroom. With a practiced eye she took in the scene. He shifted in place, not liking her accusing glare.

“Take this
, Kassandra. It will make the nausea go away,” she said, forcing Kassandra to ingest two green crushed oblats.

Kassandra
swallowed and pasted a tired smile on her face.

“I feel as if I’ve
ran a marathon. I’m wiped,” she admitted, trying to position her tail underneath her. In a blink, Darius scooped her back into his arms. Thankfully, she didn’t fight him as he tucked her back into his bed. Before he’d even backed away, her eyelids had closed and she was sound asleep.

“You should have told her,” said Jamie, letting him know she wasn’t happy with what he’d done.

“It’s none of your concern,” he snapped, bristling with her interference.

“It will
be. You still need to find what the Council wants. She doesn’t even know who she really is, and now you’ve complicated matters even more.”

Darius crossed his arms over his chest. “This is not your concern, Jamie
,” he repeated. “I will find the artifact. Don’t worry.”

“You don’t u
nderstand…I am worried…not for you, but for her. We have no idea how this plague works. For all I know, you or she could fall prey to it at any time. And now, she’s pregnant with twins.”

Darius yearned to push his brother’s
interfering wife out his door, even though he’d been the one to summon her in the first place. Then what she’d said penetrated his brain. “Twins?”

“Twins, Darius. A
Titan and a Siren. She has no idea of what she’s in store for,” said Jamie, quietly exiting his place.

Darius sank on
to the ledge surrounding the walls of his living room. His heart thundered in his ears. Twins. He was going to be the father to twins. A boy and a girl. The idea overwhelmed him. Then the other parts of what Jamie said stilled him. The notion that he’d somehow placed Kassandra and his children at risk terrified him.

Chapter Twenty
-One

The edge of the dark brink of madness and hurt that had engulfed him was gone. Cradled in his arms was his mate, his Siren, Kassandra, the mother of his babies.

He was still angry, though. Angry as Hades.
She was a Seeker...a being that could find lost things, and boy did he have a list of things that were lost and needing to be found. The part that hurt the most was that she’d known what she was. The evidence had been written plainly all over her pretty perky face the minute his baby sister, Mercka, had stated the obvious.

A small moan from Kassandra squelched his thoughts. What a fool he was
! He had revealed his true essence to her, and she hadn’t been able to tell him that one little secret, even when she knew he was looking for a lost relic. He wanted more than anything to keep that hurt, angry feeling scratching at his insides. Because if that was gone all he’d feel was shame.

Maybe.

Part of him wished he
could
say he was ashamed of his actions, but regrettably his behavior had been beyond his control. Pure bliss had surrounded his heart and soul with the joy of finally being able to claim his mate. A mate he knew he was going to have a hard time handling, but handle her he must. No way could he allow his true feelings to show.

Two can keep secrets,
he thought. He should have trusted his first instinct – never trust a female, whether human or Siren.

Now, however
, what had been a bad situation was only getting worse. Or as his father would point out to him, he’d made his bed and now had to lie in it. Deep down, he knew he was at fault. He hadn’t been exactly honest with her, but that thought still did nothing to lessen the hurt. She had
known
he could have used her help to find the missing artifact.

Then again I didn’t ask for her help.

The realization hit Darius like cold water. He’d done his most to make sure Kassandra stayed out of his way
, when in fact he should have been thinking of her like a partner. She had plainly offered her skills and he, the stupid Titan, had ignored them.

Now the stakes were higher. Thanks to foolishness, which had
placed Kassandra’s life and the life of his unborn children, in jeopardy.

He had claimed her. Even though the
brek’ah
bound them together for eternity, only the ancient mating ritual of claiming one’s true
Sokhan
enabled the blessing of a child. It was another gift bestowed from the gods, and he had to fight with himself to not give into the urge to stroke her soft, belly.

He admitted to himself he had been alarmed to see a lump, but once he realized what it was, it had warmed his heart. Then she had screamed at him to turn her back into a human and get out of his life.

A Titan who was used to giving and not receiving commands, he was utterly speechless.

“Give her time. Explain to her what is happening. Bring her to us,”
said Seth inside his head, as he had watched Kassandra’s energy run its course.

“What about the plague?” asked Darius, hating the sickness that was rotting his undersea kingdom.

“Jamie said that it’s already too late for you two. If you are contaminated
, the symptoms will show themselves soon. You might as well bring her along to meet everyone. I’m about to get my daily dose of medicine and trust me, brother, this is not something you ever want to have to digest,” said his brother, groaning more for show than anything else.

Kissing her gently awake, Darius let Kassandra’s body slide down his. But he did not let her
go. When she was finally awake, he told her. “I want you to meet the rest of my family. I promise to explain all of this, Kassandra.”

Her beauty was surreal
, and his body thrummed with an immediate hot, hard need to thrust into her silky wetness.

“
I’m not sure I’m up to meeting more of them. Darius, please make me human again.” She rubbed her stomach.

Stifling the urge to pull her in tight to him he said, “I explained that to you all before. You are a
Siren. I can’t make you human again, but...my mother might know of something to help you get rid of...” he couldn’t bring himself to say it. The thought of killing his children settled like muddy water deep within him.

“Darius, I’m really tired. Can I meet your family another time
?” she muttered.

Scooping her up into his arms again
, he took his fill of her.
Less than a day ago she’d been a human. Then she had to endure her first rapture, which is always the most painful, and then I claimed her. What was I thinking?
Not only does she have to cope with being a Siren, which she seems to be handling pretty well, but now she’s pregnant.
Silently he vowed to keep his hands off her. To give her space. After all, it was him giving into his Titan nature that had caused all of this.

“What happened to her?” demanded his father, as Darius carried Kassandra into the crèche, which used to be the Titan school and was now used as a makeshift hospital – something his race had never needed before.

Darius took a look around. There were five scallop-shaped beds and in them were three
Sirens, one being his mother, Queen Helem of the north seas, looking just as unconscious as Kassandra. The feel of Jamie’s hand on his shoulder brought him instantly back to the moment.

“She will be okay, Darius. Seth explained what happened to her and you did the right thing,” she said, ushering him to place her down in the empty bed by his mother.

Forcing his hands off her, he sat on the edge of the bed, “Does she have the plague?”

“No, I don’t believe so. She’s simply exhausted. It’s not every day that a woman gets to rapture into a
siren and then...” Here Jamie smiled and paused.

“I know...” he muttered the words
in a low voice, not actually talking to anyone in particular.

“This has been ordained since the dust of times. You have found and claimed your
Sokhan
, and we are proud of you. Give her time, she is a strong one. She will do you proud,” said his father’s loud voice. The King joined Darius to watch as Jamie took over.

“You knew all along,” accused Darius, pinching his nose in an attempt to sort out what to do next.

“I had my suspicions, but I am not always right, as your mother would kindly point out if she could.” His father winked, causing Darius to do a double-take.
Did my father actually wink at me? Just what is going on here?
He took a long, hard look at his father – the Titan feared and awed for his power.

He took in his father’s slumped
shoulders and for the first time he noticed the age lines around his father’s eyes. When did that happen? When did my father become old? The vulnerable look on his father’s face hit him hard. His father’s love for his own
Sokhan
, Helem, his mother and Queen of the north seas, ruled his father’s heart more than he let on.

Sighing, Darius, asked, “Is that why you gave me the choice?”

“I never once doubted you would do the right thing. Not all find their
Sokhan
. Count yourself lucky, Darius,” said his father.

Why is everything a test with him
, and why don’t I feel lucky?
He turned his back to his father and eyed Kassandra’s limp form. Jamie motioned them away from the bed. They moved back a little and watched together as Jamie held a small, green oblat over Kassandra’s forehead. Gently, she swiped the small, powerful crystal over Darius’ mate. An audible groan from Kassandra caused him to grit his teeth.

“It’
s okay, Darius. Trust Jamie, as we have come too. Kassandra will be fine. Why don’t you go talk to your brother while Jamie tends to her?” said his father, pointing out Seth, who was propped up in the bed, in the far corner.

“Is he...
?”

“He seems to be getting better, as does your mother. Before Master Odeon left
, he and Jamie were working on a vaccine, and it does seem to be dulling some of the effects of this plague, but I am afraid it might only be a temporary reprieve. I must leave you and go to Helem,” said his father, gliding away towards his mother’s bed.

“Father
, about Master Odeon…” said Darius, reaching out to stop his father.

“I already know. But all is not lost. Master Odeon is a far more powerful
Titan than you or I could ever imagine. Trust him as I have come to over the long centuries,” said his father, gently patting Darius on the arm.

It was on the tip of Darius’ tongue to ask exactly how long his father had know
n Master Odeon, who was thought to be one of the oldest Titans in the north sea, but the pat on his arm confused him. Did he just do that? When did the iron-fisted Titan who lived to follow the uncompromising rules of the sea law become compassionate?

Darius shook his head to clear his thoughts. Taking a long look at Kassandra
, he forced himself to leave her. After all she was in good hands. Gliding over to Seth, he grinned.

“You picked a very pretty one,” said his brother, grinning
back with that devilish grin Darius was all too familiar with.

Instant
and irrational jealously raged through him. “Keep your eyes off her, brother dear, or you will quickly find yourself having a relapse.” He turned his head to catch Jamie giving him a penetrating look.

“Ahh, I had to see for myself. It is true. Finally
, my brother, you have found your Sokhan. As for looking at your mate, you need not worry. I only have eyes for her,” said Seth, winking at Jamie, who was gliding towards them.

Jamie sat next to
Seth, tousling Seth’s hair with her fingers. “She has a very unique gift, Darius, but she might not be able to help you in your quest.”

“Will the two of you cut it out
!” said Darius sharply, already tired of seeing his brother and his wife flirting. Then Jamie’s words sunk in. “What are you talking about? Does she have the plague? Is she going to die?” Just saying the words almost choked him. The idea of losing Kassandra ripped his heart and soul in half.

“No, I don’t believe she has the pla
gue, but she’s pregnant, you know, and carrying twins isn’t easy.”

“I still can’t believe it.”

“It’s been well over two hundred years, but I think it’s the Fate’s way of paying you back, brother,” said Seth.

Darius enjoyed the teasing side of Seth. His brother looked more like his old commanding self
, and that eased his heart. He could tell Jamie liked it too as she leaned her head on his brother’s shoulder.

“And here Jamie you thought raising one son was hard. Just you wait,” said Seth, chuckling.

Darius laughed with him. “I’m trusting on their relatives to help, or we’re in for it. I have no idea how to raise children.”

“Neither did we,” said Jamie. “And I most certainly had no
clue how to teach a wild young
freshling
who could swim faster than anyone I knew to stay close.”

“Finally you gave up
. Remember the day when he realized he’d gone too far ahead and had to use his powers to get a dolphin to take him home?”

Seth
started to respond but had to stop talking. The coughing fit came upon him suddenly. Within seconds, Jamie went into healer mode. It took a while, but once Seth settled, he gave Darius a sheepish grin.

“Sorry about that. This damn plague. I trust you
, Darius, to put a stop to it. For the sake of your children and all of us.”

“I won’t let you down,” said Darius, letting Jamie urge
him away from Seth’s bed. As he left, he couldn’t help but grin. The idea of twins, of two babies, quickly filled him up with pride.

Wiping his
face with his hands he fought like the devil to wipe the grin off his face. But somehow he just couldn’t.
Twins. I am the father of twins,
he thought, wanting to shout it out to the entire kingdom.

Then a loud groan from Seth p
ierced through his thoughts. He turned back and watched as his twin fought against the pain. Instantly he was there, lending his brother his healing powers, but he knew within moments it was doing no good. “What’s happening to him?”

Jamie motioned for him to move as she grabbed a large blue oblat. “Sometimes the medicine works and sometimes it doesn’t,” she said, forcing the crystal into Seth’s mouth.

Another groan of pain filled the room. “Mother?”

“Maya, give her the extra strength oblat and then a shot of the solution,” said Jamie, as she motioned a young
Siren forward.

“You should leave
, Darius, this is not a pretty sight,” said Jamie, darting between Helem and Seth as fast as a tiger shark.

“No, I’m staying,” he said, moving to his mother’s bed. Her once beautiful skin was green and pale
, and parts of it looked to be molting. The tired, weary, stance of his father slumped over her tore into him.