Chapter 73 Seventy Three
DANIKA
I stare at him like I'm just seeing him for the first time. My body trembles as his words bounce around in my head. I...I'm pregnant? My baby...is going to kill me? He's hinting that I have to get rid—
No...
I feel sick.
"You were going to decide for me," I whisper.
Kaziel freezes. He's barely even breathing.
"Dani—"
"No." My voice cracks. “You were actually going to take this away from me."
My throat tightens, but I force the words out. "It’s my baby. And you were going to decide for me."
He moves forward, panic-stricken. "Dove, listen—"
"Don't." I step back so quickly his face falls. My heart hurts. It feels like I'm bleeding inside.
"I always wanted kids," I whisper. "Maybe not now, maybe not today, but... someday." Tears blur my vision. "Do you know how long I dreamed about having a tiny little person who depends on me? Someone I could protect the way nobody ever protected me?"
Kaziel clenches his jaws, his bloodshot eyes burning. But he stays silent.
"You didn't even give me the chance to feel that dream," I say, my voice trembling. "You just decided it for me—'Danika can't. Danika will die. Danika doesn't get a choice.'"
"That's not—"
"I do get a choice!" I shout. "It's my body. My life. My child."
Kaziel flinches as if I struck him. A part of me wants to hold him, to anchor myself in him… But the other part...the wounded part...won't let me move.
"You don't trust me," I say softly. "You don't trust me to decide for myself."
"I was trying to protect you." His voice is husky and desperate. "Dani, you don't understand. Your body—"
"I understand perfectly," I cut in. "I understand that you were willing to bear my pain but not my decision."
Another tear runs down his cheek, and it kills me. But I keep going. Because the pain inside me is louder than compassion right now.
"I know you love me," I whisper. "But sometimes love becomes...control. It becomes choosing for someone because you think they're fragile."
Kaziel's expression shatters. "Dani...you're not fragile. You're the strongest person I've ever known."
"Then why didn't you treat me like it?" I rasp.
He moves closer, his movements careful.
"Because you're everything to me," he whispers. "I can't lose you."
The words hit me. Hard. But they don't erase the fear drilling into my chest.
"What if I can't have kids in the future?" My voice cracks. "What if this was my only chance?"
Kaziel's shoulders tense, his throat bobbing. Raw pain fills his eyes.
"Dove..." he whispers. "If there was any way to save you both, I would tear the world apart to find it. But there isn't. I checked. I begged. I tried." His voice breaks. "You think this is easy for me?"
"I know it's not," I whisper. "But you weren't going to let me try to make that decision myself."
A wave of pain ripples through my abdomen, and I hiss, clutching myself.
Kaziel lunges forward, panic exploding in his eyes. "Dani—!"
"Don't," I breathe. "Just...don't touch me for a second."
He freezes mid-reach. It physically hurts him to stop. I can see it. But right now my pain is different. It's not just physical. It's the hollow ache of something being taken away. Something I barely had time to imagine.
A future I didn't know I wanted until it was already slipping through my fingers.
"I'm afraid," I whisper. "Kaz, I'm so afraid. I'm afraid this means I'll never have a family. I'm afraid I'll never get to be a mum. I'm afraid I'm losing something before I even get to love it."
He closes his eyes, his jaw flexing with grief.
"And I hate myself," I say through tears. "Because I feel guilty. For something I didn't choose."
More tears slips down my cheeks.
"I feel guilty," I choke. "I feel like my body already failed it."
Kaziel's eyes go glassy, his voice barely audible.
"Dove...no. No, don't say that. Please."
I storm away, angrily wiping at my tears. What am I doing? I have no fucking idea.
I slam the bedroom door behind me. Hard enough for the frame to shake. My hands are trembling, my chest heaving. My vision is blurred, and I can't stop the tears anymore. I don't even hear Kaziel behind me until he speaks.
"Dove," he says. "Come on, let's talk—"
"Don't," I hiss, cutting him off. "Just...don't touch me. Don't speak. I need air."
He opens the front door, and I storm past him before he can protest.
Moments later, I'm sitting in the car with Kaziel in the driver's seat and Tyler at the back.
Kaziel's hands grip the wheel tightly. "Dove..." he murmurs, but I don't respond.
I don't know how long I sit like that, blinking away tears and angrily wiping at my cheeks, as if I can erase what's happening inside me.
My fists tremble against my knees. I'm angry at him. I'm angry at myself. I'm angry at fate, at the universe, at the cruel way life folds us into impossible choices.
I wipe at my tears again, angrily, so frustrated that crying feels like I’m surrendering to everything I don't want to feel.
Kaziel finally breaks the silence.
"Dove...look at me."
I squeeze my eyes shut.
"Dove..." He sighs as he slows at a turn. "I can't fix it. But I can be with you. I can hold you through this. You don't have to carry it alone."
My hands curl into fists in my lap, rage and grief warring inside me.
"I don't want to be held," I whisper through clenched teeth. "I want to think. I want to scream. I want...to be me for a second without everyone deciding what I can or can't handle."
...
"Danika," I look up at the sound of my dad's voice. He's standing on the front porch of an unfamiliar house. I'd been puzzled when Kaziel had pulled up here.
Dad hurries to me and wraps me in a tight hug. And because I'm terribly emotional, I start sobbing.
"Dad," I croak, burying my face against his chest. He rubs my back but doesn't say a word. But I can feel the emotions pouring out of him. When he finally pulls away enough to cup my face in his hands, he wipes my cheeks with his thumbs. His eyes are red-rimmed, I notice.
"You lost some weight," he says in a gravelly voice, and I force out a smile.
"I've been diet—"
"Bullshit," he growls, his eyes darting over to Kaziel, glaring daggers at him. Seeing how resigned and exhausted my mate looks floods me with extra guilt.
"What is this place, Dad? What's going on?" I ask to distract him.
He sighs.
"Come on, let's go inside. It's about to rain," he responds. As if on cue, thunder rumbles overhead.
A few minutes later, we're all seated in the sitting room. Dad hands me a cup of steaming hot cocoa, and I accept it, grateful.
"You," Dad says, pointing at Kaziel, who merely blinks at him. "How are you so shameless?"
"Dad, please," I sigh.
"You're a pedophile, aren't you?" Dad spits, and I gasp.
"I'm not a child! Dad, stop!" I cry, feeling sick to my stomach.
He doesn't even know that his 'little girl' is pregnant.
"Why did you ask for me? To insult me? I love her, alright? She's my woman, and I don't care about what anyone has to say about that," Kaziel says, and I wince.
Dad inhales deeply like he's trying to calm himself down.
"That's not why I invited you here. Why didn't you tell me that my daughter isn't human?" He asks, and Kaziel looks away, massaging his chest with the heel of his palm. Is he in pain? I wonder.
"Telling you that meant you would find out that she's my mate, and I couldn't trust that you would keep your mouth shut," he utters, and I frown in confusion.
Wait...Dad isn't human either?
I stare at him. Matthew Randall. He's always worn nerdy glasses and clothes even now that he’s in his late forties. But he's also very fit, with muscles that budge under his shirt. He's always been very handsome too. With his thick golden brown hair and incredibly light brown eyes, it is no surprise he'd pulled a woman as beautiful as Ember. Except, she happens to be a cheat.
I watch him rub the back of his neck, a frown creasing his brows. Does he know about Ember cheating on him?
Come to think of it, it's strange she isn't even here.
"Ember and I are...getting a divorce," he utters, and my eyes bulge in their sockets.
Oh my God, he found out, didn't he?
"But it's too early to make it official," he continues.
That's true. It's only been a few months since the wedding.
Dad blows out a shaky breath.
"I found her journal and...and the things I saw..."
He looks like he's going to be sick.
"Dani, she plans to kidnap you. Her cult..." He swallows hard. "Her cult needs a sacrifice for a ritual. And that ritual will be happening seven days from now."
My heart sinks.
"I won't let her," Kaziel practically growls.
Dad sighs. “There’s more.”
Shit.