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“Chloe’s right.” Nadine’s voice cracked. “There’s still a bit of the Reaper’s Shadow curse left inside of me. If I carry the babies to term?—”
“Don’t say it,” I interrupted. I began pacing around the room frantically. “I found all those women connected to Reaper’s Apprentices. We found the graves of the Reaper’s Shadows. You broke their curses. You ended up in the hospital by breaking this curse.”
“I broke some of the magic, but that doesn’t make the curse obsolete,” Nadine replied. “Those other women are dead. I pulled the curse from their bodies. It’s over for them. But I’m still living, which means if the curse is still active, it will always find me. I can delay it—I can transform the magic inside of me into something else over and over again, but as long as someone’s body is still out there holding on to this curse, it’s never going to end for me. We missed a Reaper’s Shadow. If I’m going to make it through this, we have to find her grave and break the curse on her bones, so that this magic can’t affect me ever again. It’s not going to end until I end it for every Reaper’s Shadow who ever lived.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “That brings up another issue. This curse was originally cast by a child of the Reaper’s Apprentice. If the stories are true, Samael killed his mother because he was born with a darkness his father passed down.”
“I don’t believe that,” Nadine argued. “Your magic isn’t dark—there’s no darkness for you to pass down. People aren’t born with darkness inside of them. Darkness is something we create, and we can also create our own light to outshine it. We don’t know what happened to Samael growing up, or why he killed his mother and cast this curse. But I know damn well that’s not going to be our kid.”
“The curse still poses a great risk,” Verla insisted. She kept her voice calm, but the look in her eyes told me she was terrified for Nadine’s safety. “We don’t know the timeline in which a Reaper’s Shadow child might kill their mother. This could happen during childbirth.”
My insides felt like they were on fire. This couldn’t be happening. “Talia, use the Seer Wand to look into our future. What’s going to happen? How do we stop it?”
Talia hesitated. “I’m not a prophet. I can’t foresee your destiny.”
“Give us something.” I begged.
“I can try…” she said warily. “Visions aren’t for sure, though. Even with the Seer Wand, I can only get a possible future and see the path you’ve already chosen. You can still change it.”
“Then let’s see what our future holds, so that we can make the right decision,” I insisted.
Talia looked to Nadine for permission. Everyone just stood there. Nobody was doing anything. It was driving me fucking mad.
Finally, Nadine nodded. “Let’s see where we currently stand.”
I sat beside Nadine and wrapped her in my arms. Talia withdrew the Seer Wand and knelt at Nadine’s side. She took Nadine’s hand in hers, and the end of the Oaken Wand began to glow.
Her eyes darted back and forth behind her lids. “I can sense a powerful curse. The details are fuzzy.”
“So we do still have to break this curse. We never finished the job,” Nadine said calmly.
I didn’t know how she remained so calm. I was freaking out.
“What about the birth?” I demanded. “Is Nadine going to be all right?”
“Are the babies going to be okay?” Nadine added.
Talia furrowed her brow, like her visions were difficult to decipher. She remained steady, though, so the visions couldn’t be too strong. We needed a clear answer. I feared we couldn’t go forward with this if we weren’t certain of the outcome.
“I see Nadine holding a baby,” Talia started, but she paused, as if still deciphering the visions. “Lucas is holding the other.”
A wave of relief washed over me, but almost immediately, my stomach clenched. “Is everyone okay?”
If Talia saw Nadine holding our babies, then that meant she would survive the birth… but we didn’t know how long she’d have after.
Talia grimaced, like there were visions that weren’t easy to swallow. “I can’t be sure what’s happening, because it’s more of a feeling than anything. There are a lot of variables, and you can still change your path. What I do know is that whatever you do, you’re not going to be able to avoid at least one horrible fate.”
I felt as if a black hole had opened up in my stomach. It was obvious what Talia meant. If the babies were born, Nadine would die. The only way to prevent that was an equally horrible tragedy. It wasn’t a decision anyone should ever be asked to make.
“You may need to consider termination,” Verla practically choked out. It was clearly difficult for her to even suggest it, but someone had to. “It’s a horrible fate for your children, but it may be the only way to save Nadine’s life.”
Less than an hour ago, I thought our lives were just beginning. Termination had never even crossed my mind. Now I was almost certain it was our only choice.
“That’s the last thing I want,” Nadine said bitterly, like she couldn’t believe Verla would suggest it.
“Maybe I’m misinterpreting the vision,” Talia said quickly. “You both looked very happy holding your sons.”
The room shared a collective gasp. Tears beaded in the corners of my eyes, and Nadine reached out for me.
