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I didn’t knohat the flowerslike that had ever happened when I’d meditated in the Thorn Land Over the next few days, I just kept thinking about what Rurik had said, that no other doic forit back to er with them, but I’d never expected any sort of unconscious physical manifestation What else was I capable of? What could I make the land do?

I didn’t mention the matter to anyone, not even Kiyo He’d seen the red flowers but brushed therow upset about the thought of ly accepted what I already possessed but still feared it would turn h I’d felt physically better in the Otherworld, I greeak again after a day or so back in Tucson I didn’t h to pick up on it

"Are they calling to you again?" she asked over breakfast one day She was devouring Pop-Tarts, another love we apparently shared I was too worried to have an appetite and simply watched "You look like crap"

"I don’t know," I said, drulass of water "There’s no precedent for this - at least not anydoms"

"I bet Dorian would know"

I bet he would too, but I shookno matter how much he wants to be," I countered "And I’ht it For a while, she’d kept tellingup with Dorian, but Kiyo had been growing on her I still wasn’t sure if she approved, but at least I didn’t have to listen to teen advice about o back soon I mean, think about it You’re bound to two lands in the Otherworld Aren’t the lands and the monarch one? Part of you’s there It makes sense you’d have to be there twice as h it had been onthere permanently"

She sed the last of some crust "You may not have a choice"

Her flippant tone irritated me "There’s always a choice I rule them They don’t rule me" I stood up abruptly and briefly beca ht You will not callin this world for a while I’ll co about it I’ot a job"

"Yeah," said Jas"

Lara did have a job forwith Tim - in my house - she still kept meticulous records and took all my calls She looked disappointed that I only accepted one fro list of jobs, a s that would probably take about five , but I knew that she worried if I didn’tEnrique’s co able to trust anyone, I gave her his card with the suggestion she call about part-ti athered up all my weapons "No, but I want you to have a backup plan in case you get laid off" Her eyes widened in alarm at the joke Or, I suddenly wondered, was it a joke?

I brought Jasmine withher alone Besides, she was finally getting her fill of the hu to the Otherworld was partly selfish

Later, after I’d finished the job, I kind of regretted bringing a witness

"Wow," she said, as we drove hoot your ass kicked"

"I did not"

"Did too"

So This hat it was like having a sister

"I banished it, didn’t I? You saw it go to the Underworld"

"Yeah," she ad time I felt like I could have done it, and I’ve never banished anything before"

I grittedthat I still had her chains The troubling thing was, I had kind of sucked I’d been in no real danger - not with a ghost that minor - but it had beaten ame, a little slower, a little weaker I’d walked aith some bruises and now noticed as we drove that host must have hit me there, but there was no pain The stitches I’d nearly forgotten about them, now that they’d finally been able to heal My skin had probably started to grow over the threads I needed them out

No one was at my house, much to my disappointment I’d hoped Kiyo had stopped by and could re to be opti a shift at the veterinary hospital and wasn’t with Maiwenn Thus far, I’d heard no official word from her about hed in, though Soifts and groveling Others had let me know - in an amiable way - about otherarmies It turned out everyone did fear the Iron Crown

I called et an appointment this week as backup, in case Kiyo stayed absent To my pleasant surprise, they’d had a cancellation that afternoon and could reood news for otten comfortable on the couch

"Oh, coot home Can’t you please leave nant while you’re gone"

"You know," I said, "Lara and Ti" She jumped up

A half hour later, we arrived at my doctor’s office

I left Jash with her iPod and azines for the five minutes it would take to remove my stitches Maybe she’d read some contraception pamphlets to pass the time

"They did this in the ER?" the doctor asked when I was admitted to an examination roo Dr Moore for a couple years now She was a pleasant, mid-fortyish woman who had eventually learned not to ask too ht I was a "contractor" who practiced martial arts on the side

"Not exactly," I said "I tore the ones the ER did, so my boyfriend had to redo them"

She took hold of tweezers and a tiny pair of scissors and leaned over "Well, his work’s neat, and it didn’t get infected If I’d seen you when this happened, I would have confined you to your bed I would have known better than to assume you wouldn’t promptly rip these out"

"Yeah, I really pulled one over on the other doctor"

She snorted a s where they tugged the skin, but honestly, it was nothing coo," she said, stepping back "You’ll have a scar"

I put my shirt back on and faced her "Battle trophy"

She rolled her eyes, leaning against the ith crossed arms "You shouldn’t joke about that"

"Sorry" I picked up my purse, but her expression said eren’t done

"EugenieI don’t ask many questions, not any more than I need to treat you, but I’m worried about how often you come in with these kinds of injuries"

If only she kne many I didn’t come in for "I - "

"No, no," she interrupted "I don’t need to know all the details of your life I try not to judge - but you ht need to There are jobs out there that are physical in nature That’s life But whatever you’re doingmaybe you should reevaluate it To be blunt, you look terrible today"

"Oh, that" Crap I could hardly explain that it was the residual aftereffects of a ht for dodon "I’ Just kind of tired, you know"

She arched her eyebrows

Double crap

"Then let’s do so up "Check your electrolytes, thyroid "

I fumbled for an excuse I’d never been coentry blood I was pretty sure hu, but I didn’t want to take any chances "I don’t have ti for me in the lobby"

"I’m sure she’ll be okay," said Dr Moore "This’ll take five minutes"

"Fine" I sat back on the table, defeated "But can you send someone to make sure she’s still out there? She’s the sullen one"

Dr Moore’s nurse returned to send me to the bathroom and then drew blood when I ca me they would send the tests out to a lab, when Dr Moore herself stuck her head back in

"Can we talk for a moment?" she asked

The nurse discreetly left, and once ere alone, I braced for another lecture about et back to my sister," I told her "You don’t knohat she’s capable of"

"Eugenie" Dr Moore’s voice was kind but firm "Most of those tests we have to wait on, but there are a fee do right here with urine"

"And?"

"And, you’re pregnant"

I thought about this for a htened her

"No I’ain

"Your test came back positive Noe can’t tell how far just from a urine test, but based on - "

"Your test is wrong!" I sprang up froain "I can’t be pregnant!"

To her credit, she took"The test is very accurate, and it would explain why you aren’t feeling well"

"I can’t be pregnant," I repeated adamantly There was a mistake here A terrible, terrible mistake, and she needed to understand that Until she did, I refused even to process what she was clai "I take my birth control pills Every day Sa to lie: I do other stupid shit all the time But not with pills I take them perfectly I did with the antibiotics too I’m careless with stitches but not prescriptions"

That calm expression shifted to surprise "Antibiotics? When were you taking antibiotics?"

I pointed to aveat me like that? I told you: I took theate birth control pills," she said "Didn’t you know that?"