Page 96 of Marked By the Devil

“Are you feeling okay?” Elena glanced behind me, frowning.

I looked behind myself to see what had her so curious and looking like that.

“Um. Why do you ask?” I smiled in thanks as she handed my forgotten phone over to me.

“Well…” She walked over to the counter and picked up the coffee mug. “You’re usually hardcore guzzling coffee when you are first up. At least that’s what I’ve noticed when we’re working together.”

“Oh.” Damn her and how observant she was. The quiet ones were always the perceptive ones, not missing anything. I opened and closed my mouth, unsure what to say. “Um.”

Carina pointed at me, her eyes popping open wide. “You didn’t want wine last night.”

I gaped at her.

Dammit!

She wasn’t a quiet person, and she wasn’t missing anything either.

“Wren, are you…” Mila cleared her throat. “Are you…”

I slumped to prop my butt on the stool at the island. Groaning loudly, I dropped my elbows on the marble surface and plopped my face in my hands.

“Oh, my God!” Elena gasped.

“Are you pregnant?” Carina asked.

“Okay, let’s not overwhelm her, maybe,” Mila said.

I lifted my face and winced at them. “I’m scared I might be,” I admitted in a whisper.

“Scared? Why?” Elena beamed as she hugged me.

“Yeah, like there’s nothing scary about having your body totally taken over by someone else and changed and dealing with the hormones and the thought of childbirth and⁠—”

Mila set her hand on Carina’s arm and raised her brows.

“Nope.” Carina laughed once and smiled at me. “Nothing scary about it at all.” She joined in to hug me from the opposite side that Elena was on.

“Are you, though?” Mila asked.

I shrugged, patting both Elena’s and Carina’s forearms. “I don’t know. I’m late. And I’ve been feeling off.”

“Are you always on time?” Elena asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Always.”

“And I’ll assume you’re not using protection?” Carina guessed.

I shook my head. “My shot is due to expire soon and I didn't get one before I was transferring here. I knew I’d need one soon, but I was going to get a new doctor here and then get it.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Carina reached into her tote-bag-sized purse. She handed out a pregnancy test kit.

I blinked and studied her. “You always carry a pregnancy test around with you?”

“No. But since I’m only relying on breastfeeding for birth control and I know I can’t wait to get some again, Maksim and I will probably be playing with fate to have another baby as soon as possible.” She grinned. “I just wanted to have it on hand and grabbed one when we stopped at the store since we were there.” She thrust the kit to me. “Looks like you’re playing with fate too.”

“Fate?” I cringed. “That’s how this would be? I was fated to get knocked up and…” I shook my head, still trying to wrap my mind around it. Me, a mother. Viktor… a father?

“And you’d tell Viktor and see how thrilled he would be,” Elena guessed, finishing that sentence for me.