Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(61)
Bear turned and handed her the lantern. “Don’t trip.”
She kept her head high, accepted the lantern, and swept through the doorway. The door clanged shut behind her, and she stood in a long hallway with several metal doors set into the rock.
The nearest door opened, and both Flynn and Desmond walked out.
Desmond smiled. “I like your demon. He threatened to kill me at least twenty different ways in less than five minutes. Too bad I’ll have to chop off his head.”
Flynn nodded toward her, gave Bear a look, and then turned for the exit door.
Simone reared up into Desmond’s face, allowing fire to cascade down her arm. “You kill him, and I’m going to kill you.”
Desmond’s smile widened. “Yet another death threat. This really isn’t my day, is it?” He nodded at Bear. “Beauregard. When you’re finished here, we need to talk.”
Bear didn’t respond. He waited until Desmond had disappeared behind the heavy door before turning back to Simone, his usual humor gone. “You have the night with Nicholai.” Then he lifted his nose and scanned the hallway, his head moving before his gaze landed back on her. He sniffed the air several times. His eyes widened. “You’re with child.”
Simone gasped and stepped back. It was way too early for anybody to be able to sense a baby. “Barely. How in the hell?”
Bear lowered his chin, his gaze dropping to her abdomen. “I’m a bear shifter. Our senses are better than any others out there. You smell like baby powder and pure honey. Pregnancy smell.”
Simone placed a hand against her stomach. “We can’t let Desmond or Flynn know about the babe. They’ll try to kill me.”
“I know.” Bear shook his head, and he straightened, looking intently over her shoulder. “This changes the plan for tomorrow. You have to tell Nick about the babe, and we need to figure out a different way to get out of here.”
Simone frowned and stepped toward her brother. “Why?”
“Because you can’t fight,” Bear snapped.
Simone stiffened. In the century she’d known her brother, she had never once heard him snap. “Why the hell can’t I fight?” She slammed both hands on her hips.
His mouth opened and then closed. Red spiraled across his rugged cheekbones. “Because you’re knocked up,” he hissed.
“So what?” Anger rippled through her, yet she kept her voice low.
Bear shook his head vigorously. “Listen up, sister, and listen good. You go take the next several hours with that demon, say what you have to say, do what you have to do, and then tell him the truth about the baby. Then you get your sweet ass out of the way while we fight to get out of here. If anybody dies, which is likely, it ain’t gonna be you or that babe.”
She glared and moved right up into his face. “You listen up. I’m pregnant, not an invalid. My fire-throwing ability is better than any other witch’s, and you’re going to need my assistance in getting out of here. Besides, after you shifted into a dragon, you lost strength. What’s the plan?”
“Oh, hell no. As of now, there is no plan.” Bear grabbed her shoulders and set her away from him. “Tell Nick the truth, or I will.”
Simone shoved him back a foot, somewhat surprised when he let her. “This is my baby, and I’ll tell Nicholai when I’m ready. You keep your furry snout out of it.”
Bear growled. “You’re crazier than I’ll ever be.” He turned on his bare feet and stomped down the corridor, slamming the heavy metal door shut behind himself.
Oh, she would not let her brother sacrifice himself for her. Already, after apparently shifting once into a dragon, he was losing muscle mass. A lot of it.
Simone took several deep breaths and then pushed open the door to the cell. She walked inside and stopped short. A fully appointed bed with velvet bedclothes took up the left part of the cell, and a doorway showed a complete bathroom. Whoa. The dragons had a seriously fancy dungeon. But the wall opposite her was definitely the focus of the room.
Nicholai stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that revealed the depths of the ocean. Fish sparkled, and green stuff floated around. “I think it was originally designed to mentally torture people with being under the sea . . . to show them how impossible rescue and freedom really is,” he said.
Simone nodded, watching a yellow and blue fish swim by. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yes, it is.” Nick’s gaze caressed her face. “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Heat climbed into her face, and she fought the urge to pat her abdomen again. Knowing about the babe would certainly distract Nick, and she needed him focused. Plus, he required her fighting abilities, and if he put her on the bench, he might be killed. Even so, not telling him grated on her.
“What’s going through that head of yours?” he murmured, black eyes thoughtful.
“Just wondering what the plan is,” she returned quietly. At the very least, she needed to know the plan before telling him the truth. That way he couldn’t alter it without her knowing. “Bear mentioned you had a plan.”
“We’re still working on it, and much of it depends on Bear. I should know by tomorrow morning.” Nick angled to the side and glanced out at the fathomless sea.
“So, what is it?”