Free Eternal Sin by Laura Wright Page B

child go through anguish and pain.”
    “What does that mean?” Syn asked, walking over to the dresser.
    She grabbed a pair of jeans and a blue tank, then turned to face him. “The child won’t even know about you, Syn.”
    His brows drew together and he looked down, at her swell .
    “This balas will have someone else to call Father. Someone who knows how to love. Someone who wants a family, wants . . . us.”
    His breath caught in his lungs and his eyes returned to hers.
    “Feeling something now?” she asked softly.
    He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure what was happening inside him. It seemed that even though his emotions were no longer there to access, his physical body was throwing off some serious sensations. His mind told him there was nothing here to care about, no anger, no sadness, no love. Her words were only that. Letters, syllables strewn together, her version of facts. But his hands weren’t acting right. They were clenched into fists at his sides, and his gut was pulled in uncomfortably tight.
    What was this? What was happening to him?
    “Pets!”
    Both Synjon and Petra turned toward the door, expecting to find someone in the hall. But no one stood there.
    “Petra?” called the female voice again.
    They both went to the door, stared out into the hall.
    “Come pick up the two-way!”
    “Who the hell is that?” Syn said. But Petra was already out of the room, running down the hall and through the living area.
    When she reached the bathroom, there were a few minor crashes before Synjon heard her speak.
    “Hey,” she said, then paused a moment before explaining, “I was taking a shower.” There was another pause. Longer this time. “No, he’s fine. I’m fine. We’re getting along splendidly and he never wants to leave—” She was cut off. Synjon stood in the doorway, straining to hear. Maybe there was something he could use later. Something about the brothers or the hawk female. “What?” she said, her tone different, quiet now. “Why? Oh. Okay, fine. Yeah, I’ll come. But I don’t like it.”
    For several long seconds the only sound was the river trees gently scraping the exterior of the house. Synjon wondered if Petra was still listening on the two-way.
    When a good minute had passed, he called out to her. “Problem, love?”
    Supreme quiet met his query, then a sigh and, “The Romans are here.”
    Syn’s skin hummed with tension. “For you or for me?”
    “Not sure. But either way they’re going to be leaving this place alone and unhappy.”
    And with that, she closed the bathroom door. Completely and forcefully this time.

6
    “Y ou drank from him, didn’t you?” Dani called over her thickly feathered shoulder to Petra as they flew past a stand of teak that housed three of the Avian’s twenty-two nesting grounds.
    Avoiding her best friend’s massive wings, Petra leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the hawk’s neck. “Of course I did.”
    “Well, I hope you drained him dry. I hope he could barely breathe. I hope he was coughing and sputtering and losing consciousness—”
    “I get it, Dani,” she shouted over the wind. “You want him to suffer.”
    Dani glanced back, her hawk eyes flashing with ire. “Did he tell you how close he came to having sex with me?”
    “No, you told me, remember?” Petra returned.
    “Of course, for me,” Dani went on, “it was all part of the act. We needed to get him alone, get him as vulnerable as possible. He’s a total manwhore, and last night I made sure he chose me.”
    This wasn’t a subject Petra felt all that comfortable with. Especially a second time. And yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself from asking, “So, if Sasha and Val were late or hadn’t shown up, were you actually going to—”
    “Fuck him?” Dani called back, sounding appalled before she actually snorted. “Hell to the no.”
    “You make it sound like a fate worse than death, Dani. The guy’s incredibly hot. And the things he can