Free The Darkest Gate by S M Reine

weapons, but he had no control over her—much less her decisions—and she arrived armed in the same way she might have while facing a pack of werewolves.
    After ten minutes of waiting, and several attempts at pulling a knife on the office staff, he whispered, “The pregnant women aren’t going to attack you.”
    She glared at him. Her cheeks were red.
    A nurse came into the waiting room. “Elise Kavanagh,” she called.
    Elise hesitated by the chair. “Come with me,” she whispered to James. Her arms were locked at her sides.
    “I don’t think they’ll let me. I’m not—”
    She shifted on her feet, staring at the potted plant furiously as though she could set fire to it with her gaze. “Please.” James could tell it pained her to ask. The tendons in her neck were rigid.
    She was scared. Elise was scared .
    Up until that moment, he had never seen her as anything but cold and detached—or, occasionally, furious and blood-thirsty. Yet being subjected to a physical examination petrified her. He couldn’t see how his presence would help. She made it clear she didn’t trust him. On most days, he thought she didn’t even like him.
    “Elise,” the nurse called again.
    Her cheeks burned red.
    “Okay,” he replied. What else could he say?
    They walked into the back together.
    The nurse, whose nametag said “Laura,” took Elise’s height, weight, and blood pressure, asked her to leave a urine sample in the bathroom, then led them into an exam room with a window overlooking the city.
    Laura pulled sheets out of a drawer and began setting tools on a wheeled tray. Elise stood by the bed and glared at the room like she was awaiting execution.
    “And you are?” the nurse prompted James.
    Even though the doctors in the practice were witches, he wasn’t sure what the rest of the staff knew, so he didn’t try to explain the unusual relationship between a kopis and witch. “I’m her boyfriend.”
    Whatever Laura thought of a teenage girl dating an obviously older man, she kept it to herself. “I’m going to ask you some personal questions, Elise. Would you like your boyfriend to leave the room?”
    She shook her head.
    Laura asked about her health and her family’s history. She asked about alcohol and drugs, too. When she asked if Elise was sexually active, she shook her head again, and the nurse gave her a skeptical look. She made a note on the clipboard.
    “You’ll need to strip down, but keep your socks on. It’s chilly in here. This one is a vest,” she told Elise, setting one folded sheet on the counter, “and this one is a blanket to cover your hips. Dr. Kingsley will be right in.”
    She shut the door behind her. Elise picked up the vest. It was made of flimsy blue paper.
    James studied the city through the window while she changed. He waited to face her again until the paper on the bed crinkled and Elise said, “Okay.” She had pulled extra sheets out of the drawer to protect herself and left her gloves on. She looked frail and childlike on the raised bed, and stared mistrustfully at the waiting stirrups.
    “I can leave,” he said.
    She shook her head again.
    They waited together without speaking. James shifted her clothes to the counter, careful to leave her knives concealed, and took the chair by the bed.
    When the door opened again, a short man with a bushy beard entered with Elise’s chart. He ignored James. “So you’re the female kopis,” said Dr. Kingsley. “Excellent! I’d say that I’ve wanted to examine one of your type, but that would sound odd, wouldn’t it? The good news is that your pregnancy test came back negative. Can’t imagine a pregnant demon hunter, eh?”
    Elise looked horrified.
    “Let’s see what we can find. Lay back and slide to the end of the bed.”
    He positioned the stirrups and rolled his stool to sit between them. She moved stiffly, settling back against the bed with jerky motions. She was shaking.
    “James,” she said.
    Elise held out a hand. It took