Chapter 9: Two Blue Lines

ELLIE

As I walked around the first floor searching for the entrance to the kitchen, I spotted Cohen ahead of me.

I saw the instant he realized I was near. He was deep in conversation with Lance when his whole body went rigid. Ever so slowly his head turned until he locked eyes with me.

I gave him my best grin, but his eyes narrowed on me. Guess he still hated me then.

Cohen grabbed Lance’s arm and yanked the unsuspecting male into another room before he slammed the door behind them.

Well then.

I shrugged and kept on with my search. I wasn’t going to stress over why he wanted me to have his baby when he clearly avoided any situation where he might have to say something to me.

He never even showed up to the insemination. That seemed like something he should have been there for, but I guess not.

I was still searching when I spotted Kate up ahead stepping into a room and looking over her shoulder like she was on alert.

Uh oh.

I quickened my pace and slammed open the door she’d just disappeared behind.

It was a bedroom with bunk beds inside and frilly pink decorations that looked like a twelve-year-old picked them out.

Kate was shoving something under one of the pillows.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Kate jumped and whirled around with wide eyes as she tucked something behind her back. “Nothing.”

I sighed and put my hands on my hips. “Don’t give me that. I know you too well. Don’t make trouble for us here, Kate.”

She glared at me. “I’m not making trouble. You’re just no fun. You never were fun.”

“There’s a difference between being fun and enjoying being the butt of your jokes.”

Kate shook her head and held out a pair of panties with sh*t smeared in the seat of them.

“KATE!” I gaped at the panties, then at her.

Kate cackled. “It’s just a melted candy bar.”

I shook my head. “Still. It’s too much!”

Kate huffed. “Tina got snippy with me when I told her Cohen healed me for the baby. She wasn’t very nice and said I was just getting a free ride.”

I paused. “That’s really mean.”

Kate nodded. “It is! Now do you see why I’m doing this?”

“Not really. You could have just told her off. She won’t even know you did this and it’s really childish.”

“Oh, she’ll know. Who else would?”

I sighed. “Whatever Kate, but no more. No more pranks.”

Kate waved me away. “Yeah, yeah.”

I left the room with a bad feeling in my gut. I didn’t think I’d gotten through to Kate at all. I’d never known how to handle her, and I definitely didn’t know how to now as I watched her live like she always should have. It was such a relief. I was thankful she felt up to pranking people again, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

Finally, I found a metal door, shoved through it, and found myself in the kitchen. After a brief tour from the chef and permission to use the space for a couple of hours, I got to work.

As I threw together ingredients, the stress fell away from my shoulders. Baking always made me feel better. I worked out a decent amount, but my love of food and sweet baked goods kept me curvy. I didn’t mind. Food wasn’t a sacrifice I was willing to make.

As I stirred together the wet ingredients, I dumped in a bag of blood too.

I’d make a batch of brownies for me and the other humans around the clan too, but I wanted to try and make something for the vampires. Maybe I could get Cohen to talk to me with the power of brownies.

I had to add extra dry ingredients to combat all the wet ones but when I finally got the right consistency; I poured it all in a pan and put it in the oven.

I quickly mixed up another batch of brownies for the humans—using different utensils and bowls, of course—before shoving that in an oven too and cleaning up.

By the time I pulled the blood brownies out of the oven, I was close to puking. They smelled awful, but also alluring at the same time. There was something about them that called to me and that made me want to puke all over again.

The chef and two of the helpers wandered over as I set the pan on the counter.

“What are those?” the chef asked.

“I tried to make blood brownies. You’ll have to let me know how they taste because I’m sure as hell not eating one.”

They laughed and I moved to pull out the regular brownies.

By the time I got the blood brownies cut up, the crowd of vampires had grown, and they were all waiting for a bite.

I passed them out and held my breath as I watched them take their first sample.

Moans filled the air, and my breath came out in a whoosh.

“You like them?” I asked.

“These are incredible. You’ll have to give me your recipe,” the chef said before shoving another bite in his mouth.

I grinned. “Will do. Will you do me a favor and have someone deliver one each to Lance and Cohen?

They agreed, and I made me my own plate of brownies before leaving the kitchen feeling better than I had in days. I’d have to come up with more blood recipes for the vampires.

I looked down at the brownies on my plate and frowned as I walked back towards my room.

They were the human ones and a part of me was disappointed that I hadn’t tried the blood brownies. That was messed up and gross.

My stomach dropped. Did that mean what I thought it meant?

My pace quickened, and by the time I slammed my bedroom door behind me, I was out of breath. I set the plate on my dresser and hurried to the bathroom. I found the bag from Dr. Val and yanked free a test.

Without delay I peed on the stick.

And then I waited.

I don’t think I breathed for the whole three minutes.

When the time was up, I slowly stepped up to the counter and stared down at the strip.

Two blue lines.

I was pregnant.