For a moment, it didn’t register. I stared in absolute shock, my mouth hanging open. Meg, on the other hand, just rolled her eyes and waved her hand flippantly.

“Duh, girl. Chief has been trying to knock you up for ages. He always gets his way.” She paused for a beat, then, likely remembering her manners, she added, “Congratulations, by the way.”

“Congratulations? Are you fucking serious?” Ammi growled, her eyes narrowing on her friend. “First off, I still have another year on my degree, and I have come too damn far and written too many essays to give up on that now. Secondly, have you seen how fucking giant Wings is? I am not shoving a twenty-pound watermelon out of my vagina!”

At that, the women painting our nails, though undoubtedly used to hearing some odd things, broke and snickered.

“I tried to be responsible, I swear, but the pig-headed idiot kept stealing my birth control pills. ‘You won’t be taking that poison, Kitten. My father will decide when it’s our time’. How fucking creepy is that? No, bitch, your daddy ain’t deciding shit, it’s your goddamn super-sperm and my egg doing a bump-and-grind!”

The salon woman had to stop painting Ammi’s nails because her shoulders were shaking with laughter.

Ammi was oblivious, continuing her rant, “And another thing; who’s the sucker who has to give birth? Is it him? No. Who’s winning in this situation?”

I frowned, “Well, it’s not really about winning-”

“At first glance he’s definitely winning,” Meg interrupted me, tapping her chin thoughtfully, “but, remember, you’re going to be a hormonal whale. You can make his life absolutely miserable and have a justifiable reason for it.”

Ammi’s eyes lit up like stars at the mage’s suggestion, murmuring, “I’m going to be the bitchiest whale in existence.”

They fist-bumped.

Definitely a healthy approach to a relationship.

The women finished, and we were left alone to put on our shoes.

After a moment, Ammi whispered, “I was so happy…but now I can’t help it. I’m almost regretting it.” She looked up, and I froze when I saw her eyes shining with tears. She sniffled, “that makes me just absolutely awful, doesn’t it?”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Judging by the silence, Meg didn’t either.

She continued in a broken voice, “He doesn’t know. Michael is alive, and my mate doesn’t know that I’m even more vulnerable now than before. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. And, I know he wanted this, but what if he hates the timing too? What if he’ll upset?” She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling, “Fuck, I’m being so whiny.”

Meg looked at her, helpless and unsure. Seeing she wouldn’t react, I stepped forward on my new pink toes and wrapped my arms around her. I didn’t say anything. Ammi didn’t want verbal encouragement or empty promises. She could figure all that out on her own. She just needed a shoulder to cry on for the moment, and I had one to spare.

She melted into me, her tears wetting the fabric of my sweater.

Lucifer would be thrilled, and deep down, she knew that. Would he be worried and even more protective? From what I’d seen, yes, but I had no doubt that she could handle him. Even if he scared the living crud out of me, she never seemed afraid.

It would all be okay. I had to believe that. So did Ammi.

After she’d thoroughly cried herself out, I released her, and she stood back up to her full height. Her fair skin was pink and puffy, leaving no doubt as to what had happened. If Lucifer saw her like this…my word, that would be a scary sight. But still, I had to ask.

“Do you want to call Luci…I mean, him? Or should we visit the food court?” I asked gently, but without putting any pity in my voice or on my face. That was the last thing a woman like Amirykal would want.

Ammi grinned around the remnants of her tears, “I want shitty lo mein like I want oxygen.”

“As my Queen declares: Food court or bust!” Meg crowed, and instantly the mood lightened, like a dark curtain being lifted.

As we were making our way to the food court, the call of nature made itself known. Biting my lip, I glanced around for the bathroom. Upon seeing it, I tapped the girls on their shoulders.

Indicating the sign, I said, “I’ll catch up to you. I have to use the restroom.”

Meg nodded, “We’ll be eating at the greasiest place in the food court.”

“Have fun!” Ammi teased on a wink.

Giggling at their antics, I made my way to the bathroom, retreating into a stall and sighing when the pressure in my bladder finally abated.

Best. Feeling. Ever.

It wasn’t until I was washing my hands in the sink that I felt something odd overtake me. I felt woozy and disoriented, not unlike how I felt when I overused my powers and exhausted myself. I stumbled, supporting myself against the wall, when I felt something cold and unyielding wrap its way around my bare ankle.

I glanced down, shocked and horrified to see a boney, gray, spindle-fingered hand grasping me firmly.

I tried to scream, but my voice was reduced to a thin, weak cry. Frantically, I called forward a surge of power, solidifying rock around the skeletal hand. It worked and I freed myself, my whole body quivering and shaking, but as soon as I stepped free, two more hands secured my calves. I opened my mouth to scream again as a chasm began to open up right in front of my shoes. I tried frantically to add rock and dirt to the gap, but it crumbled as easily as sand in front of me. I jerked against their hold, but even if I could’ve freed myself, what seemed like dozens more hands secured me and began to pull.

I was jerked toward the edge, scrabbling with my hands, my nails desperately searching for purchase on the cheap tiled floor. I found none, the strength of the emaciated hands making steady progress as they dragged me closer to the unknown and horrifying crack in the Earth.

When my body hung into the deep from the waist down, I took a risk, unsheathing a dagger with one hand to hack and slash at my faceless tormentors, but the bones did not crumble, the skin did not tear. Their progress was only made swifter as I held on with only one hand.

With most of my body in the chasm, I desperately gripped the edge, driving into it with my blade as a makeshift piton. But the rock crumbled unnaturally beneath me, and I began to finally fall, exhausted from the slow descent and the fight that had accompanied it.

The last thing I registered was the slow encroachment of the rock over my head, blocking out all light and extinguishing all hope.