Dragon Bound (Elder Races #1)(100)

“And you believed him.” Aryal barked a short laugh. “Good one, genius girl.”

Had he lied? That hurt. She turned a look of dismay onto the harpy and felt like a fool. Her eyes burned. She gritted, “Take your hands off me.”

Aryal released her so quickly she almost stumbled, standing too close between her and the street, crowding her. The harpy wore a leather jacket that gaped open as she put her hands on her hips. Pia caught a glimpse of the sentinel’s shoulder holster.

“You know, I could get over that cheerleader ponytail of yours,” Aryal said, giving her a smile that could cut glass. “It would take me a while, but I could. I could get over the gryphons losing their goddamn minds for whatever reason and fawning all over you. What I can’t get over is this: you broke the law. You endangered the life of the Wyr lord, and by doing that, you endangered all of us, and you haven’t been punished for it. So I’ve got to admit, that one pisses me off.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Pia snapped, even as her gut clenched. She rubbed at her burning eyes. She had felt trapped at the time, but could she have done anything differently to avoid what had happened? She felt off balance and stupid and completely at sea.

“What have I got no idea about—that you may or may not be Dragos’s mate?” said Aryal. “Well, cupcake, that’s the intractable problem and why I can’t just kill you.”

Pia’s hands fisted. She said between her teeth, “No, you can’t, can you?” She shot her fist out with such speed she got past the harpy’s guard. She slammed it into Aryal’s shoulder so hard that the sentinel staggered back. “You don’t have to like or approve of me. You don’t have to agree with Dragos’s decisions. You have to do what you’re told. Did he tell you to bring me back to the Tower?”

Aryal glared at her and remained silent.

“No, I thought not. So you have to back the f**k off. You don’t get to question or intimidate me and demand answers like I’m some kind of grunt under your command because I’m not and I never will be.” She strode forward until she was toe to toe with the sentinel, her body combat tense. “And Graydon’s the one who gets to call me cupcake—you don’t. You haven’t earned it. Now I’m going to do what I came here to do. You’re going to do your job or Dragos is going to want to know why you didn’t.”

Surprise flared in Aryal’s stormy gaze, followed by a thoughtful expression.

Pia didn’t wait to see any more. She turned away and pushed through the front doors of the clinic.

Half a dozen people sat around the waiting room. A few were watching All My Children on a TV set high on a wall. She went to the receptionist window. A nurse she recognized gave her a perfunctory smile. “Afternoon. What can I do for you?”

“My name is Pia Giovanni. I need to see a doctor or a nurse practitioner,” Pia said, keeping her voice quiet so other people couldn’t hear. Her face and neck muscles ached with tension. She twisted her hands together. “Dr. Medina knows me. I’m sorry. I don’t have an appointment. I—” Her eyes glittered. “I’m afraid it might be an emergency.”

“Oh, honey,” said the nurse with quick compassion. She handed Pia a Kleenex and motioned her through the doors and into an alcove with a sink, a chair and a weighing scale. “All right, what’s going on? Are you sure you should be here and not in the ER?”

“I don’t know. There’s been so much happening.” She swallowed. “I’m a half-breed Wyr so I have an IUD. You know, the one with copper, not the one with hormones, because of not being quite human. And I’m in this new relationship with a full Wyr, and I managed to change last night—”

“Congratulations!” offered the nurse with a wide smile. RACHEL, her name tag said.

“Thanks.” She tried to smile as she remembered how happy she had been. “But all of a sudden I’ve gotten sick the last couple days. It was really bad this morning, and I’m pretty sure that somehow I got pregnant. I can feel it now that I’ve changed. And the IUD’s still in place.” She focused on the nurse, her expression intense. “I’m in shock. I can’t think straight, but I do already know one thing. I do not want to lose this baby.”

The nurse put her hand on Pia’s abdomen, her gaze going inward. Pia stood still. She felt the tingle of magic as the nurse scanned her. “Oh wow, you’re right, you are pregnant,” said the nurse, her eyes lighting up. “What a sweet little strong spark.”

“Did changing last night hurt it?” she asked.

“No! Oh no, shifting is the most natural thing in the world. Your nausea does sound a little different, though. And with the IUD, you did the right thing by coming in. We’ll get you in to see a nurse practitioner or doctor. Just go ahead and take a seat right there, and I’ll pull your records. In fact, I’m going to see if I can catch . . .”

Muttering to herself, the nurse rushed off. Pia slumped in the chair and put her head in her hands. Thank God Dragos had stopped roaring in her head, because otherwise she thought she might spin into the air and fly into pieces. She thought his silence was ominous, but she didn’t care as long as she could hear herself think for just a little damn while.

She felt shaky and on the edge of nausea again. She put her hand on her abdomen. Stay in there, peanut.