Jack

Fuck me!

Snarling, I barely stopped myself from destroying the bedroom door by ripping it from the hinges in my anger.

My thoughts swarmed and climbed over one another, each seeking supremacy. Once I was in the master bedroom and the door was closed behind me, I jerked my phone out of my pocket. Pulling up a number through speed-dial, I heard the line be picked up after half of a ring.

"This is the HWGR, Division #7 Captain Hallman speaking. So, how may I help you, Duke Frost?" A man's polite voice inquired steadily.

A dark grin spread over my lips as I replied in a commanding tone. "Nisha Caldwell has been attending the Everfall University of Indiana until just recently. I require you to thoroughly research all of her relationships with men while she has been enrolled there. I want every last detail and I expect a report in the next twelve hours."

"Yes, I understand," I could practically hear the bow the man on the line was giving. "I will immediately contact a team and have them investigate. Do you have any specific requests involving anything else?"

Fighting down an exciting spark of dark anticipation, I licked my lips. "Yes. When you discover a man who has had any sexual relationships with Miss Caldwell, ensure they are shipped to the town of Vale in Indiana. When you contact me about the results of your investigation, I will instruct you on a location to deliver any and all offenders."

"Of course, Your Grace. We will ensure your orders are carried out without fail. In fact, I can personally guarantee that we will only require six hours."

Smirking, I couldn't help but laugh at the man. "If that is so, I will be sure to donate a nice gift to your division."

"How generous of you," the man purred.

"You are dismissed," I rolled my eyes wearily. Hanging up, I glanced at the time on the phone. 11:18 a.m. I should get the report around dinner time. Perfect.

Pressing my fingers against the bridge of my nose as pain spiked through my head, I sighed.

"I handled that horribly."

Waves of disgust and distrust from Nisha rocked through me, along with outrage and fear.

"Too bad I can't just 'Return by Death' and try again."

But how else was I supposed to act?

I didn't even care that Nisha was pregnant.

The thing that ate at me was pure and simple jealousy.

My possessiveness had roared to life when I realized someone else had already experienced all of Nisha's firsts.

Well, except for her first kiss, but she didn't remember that at the moment.

Slumping my shoulders, I threw my suitcase against the wall and launched myself forward onto the king-sized bed. Based on the design and quality of the furniture, Grace had spent quite a lot of the money I sent her to ensure that my room was correctly arranged for me.

The bed gently bounced me back up into the air with the force of my landing and then remained still. Shifting so that I was sitting upright against the head of the bed, I searched around for the TV remote and turned the device on. Once the power light flashed and the TV started booting up, I put in the number (8360419725) sequence to activate the special channels only available to those in the know.

The TV screen flashed twice before a bright blue menu screen appeared in the center of the black screen. A decent number of channels (728) were available, but I used the sorting option via the remote's directional and enter buttons to narrow down the channels to 'News'. Finding options that included local and national channels, I decided to click on the most popular and accurate national news channel, AHWN.

On the TV screen was a news station set up how you would expect to see any other very large news broadcast. The man sitting in the center of a black desk with the letters 'AHWN' in red, white, and blue across the front was a bit different though.

He was (in the nicest way of putting it) a hulking giant.

Nearly seven feet tall, his muscular frame struggled to not rip apart his black suit, but even so, he still managed to look sharp and slick. His mismatched gold and blue eyes gave off an aura of a very professional individual and his curly pastel green hair added a touch of softness to his blade-like persona.

The camera zoomed in on the man, who slowly smiled in greeting while his name appeared in a banner at the bottom of the screen. "Hello, America. Thank you for joining us today, nearly noon now. I'm Andrew Valcan of American Human World News, reporting on a piece of information we just received a few minutes ago. It appears that the Duke of Winter has come to visit the Human World."

Grimacing, I clicked my tongue. "Ugh, they work fast. I just passed through a Gate two hours ago!"

"While no information has been found as to how long his stay will last, we do know he is currently residing in Indiana based on the weather patterns. For residents living in Indiana, we recommend that you dress for colder weather. Based on past experience, if His Lordship's stay extends past three days, we shall see obvious changes in climate. If a week or more, we at AHWN would like to remind residents living in neighboring states that the Duke's influence will swiftly begin to affect you as well."

Leaning my head against the pillows, I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, but I have some important business here. You'll just have to deal with it."

Seeing the news reminded me that I had to be careful.

If I didn't keep myself in check, I might bring a snowstorm through Indiana. Groaning in annoyance at how delicate the Human World was, I rubbed at the ache pounding in my forehead. "It's not my fault humans are so brittle. Besides, it's the start of summer here."

Scowling at the thought of Summer, I glanced around the room. Rising up from the bed, I kicked off the cheap sandals and then allowed my room to freeze up a bit, easily beating the A/C's capabilities in the blink of an eye.

Once I was satisfied with the amount of cold surrounding me, I lowered myself back onto the bed. I was careful to wait until the frost and ice surrounding my bare feet had subsided completely before setting them on top of the blanket. No need to destroy perfectly good sheets if I didn't have to.

Andrew on the screen continued to report a few things, including some news about the Human Great Houses, but I didn't care for the politics of this world. After all, once I got Nisha to see reality, we would be returning to my world to live our lives and start our family.

As for the fetus, if she really didn't wish for an abortion, I would not force her.

Besides, I was pretty sure with her size that she must be past the point of a safe abortion by human standards. If I kept demanding for her to kill the child, she would surely continue to hate me.

I couldn't handle that.

Clenching my teeth, I released a breath in a long exhale. Depending on the report, I will take action. If the father is uninvolved, then I shall take the child as my own. It could be human, but so is Nisha. First, though, I must find out the child's bloodline.

Considering that Grace had kept this all secret and had not requested help from the contacts I ensured were available round-the-clock for any concerns she might have, I felt it was safe to assume the fetus was a human as well.

Either that or it did not have enough magic to prove a problematic pregnancy.

My head began to pound even harder as I hissed through my teeth. "Gaia, is this some sick game you're playing?" I demanded aloud to the Goddess of this dual-world. "Only you would be this vile and vicious."