Do Or Die [Nuworld 4] (8 page)

chest. Large tears raced down her cheeks and she breathed unevenly.

“You’re right,” she sobbed. “Neither one of you hurt me. It was…I mean…” She

wouldn’t say it felt good. She couldn’t say how wonderful it felt to wake up tucked in

and secure in between the two of them. “It was just so wrong.”

“Oh, Ana.” Andru moved around the counter quickly. Just as quickly Gilroy

backed away from her to make room for her brother. She looked up to see Gilroy back

out of the way and realized his loyalty to Andru would always surpass any feelings he

had for her. If he’d known it was her, would he have stopped Andru? She wasn’t sure.

“It was evil—and evil is wrong.” Andru’s hand went behind her neck and he

grasped her hair and palmed the nape of her neck as he gazed down at her. “The age of

searching has provided you with knowledge of the rest of Nuworld. The she-witches are

criminals that dabble in evil and mischievous spells. You’ve had firsthand experience of

what that kind of ‘magic’ can do. It will be something you’ll never forget but now we’ll

put it behind us.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I can’t take the pain or

humiliation of what I did to you away, my dear sister, but I am sorry it’s upset you so

much,” he whispered as he rested his forehead against the top of her head.

“Beel, you and I are going to get the gliders and clear as much snow as we can

before it gets dark. Gilroy, take a look at her shoulder.” He paused and gripped Ana’s

chin, turning her head from side to side staring at her. “You really don’t look good

Ana…and what is that smell?”

He turned to look at the small pot simmering on the back of the stove and then shot

his head back to her quickly when he felt her body stiffen.

“It’s a terminating potion.” Beel leaned against the counter where Andru had been

and wrinkled his nose. “I recognized the smell the second I came in here. I’d guess

someone got our dear sister pregnant.” His tone was light but no one appreciated his

humor.

“You’re pregnant?” Gilroy looked stunned. “Who’s the papa?”

“Well, it’s one of two men,” she shot back at him.

Andru dropped his hand and stepped back, almost falling into the counter. He

stared at her in complete horror.

“You got the anti-conception medication before you left Gothman. You can’t be

pregnant.” Gilroy and Ana both looked at him as his face went white.

“Always checking up on me, aren’t you, dear brother.” Ana knew these men, her

men, had plenty of time over the past couple of cycles to come to terms with having

taken her. They possibly could have battled it out for all she knew. But they hadn’t had

time to prepare for this bit of news and Andru’s face showed it. He looked close to

panic and complete bewilderment. “Well, one of you got me pregnant.”

“Have you been to a doctor?” Beel rested his chin in his hands and for the first time

looked more composed than Andru.

“No. I can’t risk news getting out that the daughter of Lord Darius and Lady Tara

stopped off in some Norther town to discover she was pregnant. Especially traveling

alone—or worse yet, with she-witches.”

Gilroy and Andru focused on her and she could read their thoughts easily this time.

“I haven’t flowed since I left home and I haven’t been with anyone else.”

Andru stared at her a minute longer before turning intentionally and walking over

to his coat. “You did the right thing about not going to anyone about this. That was a

good call.” He shrugged into his heavy fur coat and scowled at the concoction

simmering on the stove. “Come on, Beel, we’ve got work to do. Gilroy, she’s your

claim.”

“She could be carrying your child,” Beel spoke up and stared blankly at the glare

Andru gave him.

Andru turned quickly, causing his long coat to fly around him. “No.” He looked at

all three of them. “No. If she’s pregnant, she’s carrying Gilroy’s child. None of us will

discuss any other options ever again. Is that clear?”

None of them said a word. Andru looked harshly at each one of them in turn and

then turned and opened the door, flooding the trailer with cold air.

Chapter Five

Ana sat on the stool in the kitchen of her trailer and stared at Gilroy after Andru

and Beel went outside. Her mind raced as she repeated everything that was just said in

the past few minutes. Andru would deny any of it ever happened. He would wipe it

from all of their minds if he could. And he’d just washed his hands of her.

Gilroy watched her with sensual blue eyes, his black hair tossed around his head

and down to his shoulders. He hadn’t shaved in a while, which made his gaze darker,

more dangerous. When he smiled, she felt the warmth race through her body, but she

detected a touch of sadness as well.

“I’ve really missed you.” He spoke gently as he began to remove her leather jacket

so he could look at her shoulder. She could tell he wanted to wipe the humiliation away

from her. She looked up at him and he kissed her, softly and passionately. “You don’t

know how worried I was when this snow began to fall relentlessly and we couldn’t find

you.”

He unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt and exposed a greenish-blue welt with a

deep red gash zigzagging through the middle of it. She winced when he cupped her

upper arm to take a closer look.

“I bet that hurts.” He reached down and lifted her into his arms. “What you need is

a hot bath and we’ll clean that up so it doesn’t get infected.”

She allowed him to undress her and then start the water in the narrow tub before

lifting her like a child and placing her into the water. He shuffled clumsily around the

small room before finding everything he needed and then kneeling alongside her. She

leaned her head back and relaxed in the hot water but her mind slowly filled with

questions.

“Gilroy, why would Andru say I was your claim?” she asked with her eyes closed.

He rinsed the small cloth he’d used to lather her body and then allowed the water

to trickle down her breasts. He smiled as the suds ran down her ample curves and her

nipples hardened. He blew air on them and goose bumps appeared on her skin.

“I claimed you before we left Gothman,” he said indifferently.

“What? But I heard Papa say…”

“I changed his mind.” He grinned impishly at her when she opened her eyes.

“You’re mine, Ana. I told you I wouldn’t have any bastards and I meant it. As soon as

we get you cleaned up here we’ll contact your parents and tell them you’re pregnant.”

The powerful look of ownership in his eyes caused her heart to pound.

“I’m preparing the potion, Gilroy, and I’m going to take it. What if Andru got me

pregnant?”

“Ana…” His eyes narrowed.

“No.” She almost splashed water out of the tub when she raised her hand to silence

him. “He’s mad right now and he spoke out of shock. He can’t just deny this ever

happened. The two of you took me. No matter what the reason, we all have to face up

to that. What if my baby looks like Andru?”

Gilroy smiled and reached for a towel. “Then he’ll look just like you.”

“How could you live with that? You’ll always wonder if the child you call yours is

really yours or not. I didn’t want to get pregnant and have you wonder if you’re the

papa.”

“We can’t change what happened and you and I can talk about it all you want until

you have peace with it.” He pulled her gently out of the water and the steamy

bathroom made her dizzy. Cradling her in his arms once again, he carried her into the

back bedroom and set her on the bed. “I wanted you pregnant anyway and I say the

baby is mine. I’ve done it before and I took you first.”

Gilroy pulled the covers back and tucked her legs under them before helping her

slide down onto the pillows. He nibbled her neck before looking into her eyes and

running his fingers through her hair.

“Sleep, my lady, and let me take care of you,” he whispered as his fingers worked

magic on her scalp and forehead.

“I need to talk to Andru about why I was with the she-witches,” she mumbled, as

her eyes grew heavy.

“We know they were stealing weapons. You took quite a risk when you camped

outside that Runner site.”

“Yes, their military defenses definitely need work.” She forced her heavy eyelids up

to look at him. “But, Lara, the she-witch I was with, said she’s really a Runner and she

knew a lot about us…I mean, Runners. She’s planning something and I was really close

to finding out what it was but then they called halts on everything when they

discovered you were in the area.” She yawned and snuggled further under the covers.

“I just need to talk to Andru so he can figure out what to do.”

“Take a nap first. You won’t be able to talk to him for a while anyway. There’s a ton

of snow to clear if we’re going to get out of here.” He reached into his shirt and pulled

out his comm, setting it on the small table next to her bed. “I’m going to go outside and

help. Call me if you need anything but I don’t want you out of bed.”

She responded by closing her eyes and smiling, which satisfied him. He rose and

turned off the lamp before leaving her to sleep.

“How’s she doing?” Andru asked as he watched Gilroy dump the smelly

terminating potion into the snow off to the side of the trailer.

“Sleeping. She said something about some of the she-witches plotting something

and that she needed to tell you about it so you could figure out what to do.”

“That worries me.” Andru picked up his shovel and resumed driving into the deep

mounds of snow. “She comes to me to make her decisions but then gets mad when she

thinks I’m controlling her.”

Gilroy stood and stared at his companion since childhood. He considered Andru

more of a brother than the brothers he had. Ana wasn’t the first woman they’d shared.

When Andru spotted her in the crowd at the fools’ festival they both agreed it was the

perfect opportunity to resolve a very old promise—a deal the two of them made over a

winter ago. Andru had given Gilroy what he wanted and this was Gilroy’s opportunity

to give Andru what he wanted. Andru always made Ana’s decisions. It hadn’t been too

difficult for Gilroy to control her as well.

“Ana thinks she’s going to rule the Runner clans someday,” Gilroy said