Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
Kenzie’s mouth drops open. “How did you?—“
“You’re experiencing stronger emotions,” I point out as my heart pounds in that strange, unfamiliar way. According to my quintet, that means I’m either anxious or excited. “You said you were going through something big and unexpected, and your quintet is far more protective than normal. Also, your boobs are bigger.”
“Hell yeah, they are,” she laughs before beaming at me. “And yeah. I’m pregnant!”
“Holy shit—congratulations!” Baelfire grins at Dirk and the rest of Kenzie’s quintet. They’re all over the moon as Vivienne bounces with excitement, Dirk preens with pride, and Luka looks at Kenzie like she’s the center of his existence.
What’s delayed you, my blood blossom?
Silas checks through the bond.
Kenzie is pregnant, I explain.
No wonder she almost bit my head off, Everett grumbles.
Godsdamned pregnant legacy hormones.
I smile at the lioness shifter. “You’ll be a badass mother,” I inform her.
Kenzie bursts into tears and throws her arms around me, careful not to touch my skin.
“Fuck, I really hope so,” she half-laughs, half-cries before launching into a slew of words so fast I barely catch them all. “I’ve always wanted a quintet and babies and the whole nine yards but now that I have a little crotch goblin baking in my oven, I’m so excited but it’s also so fucking terrifying
—like what if this baby takes after me? I don’t remember a lot, but I know from stories and my old journals that I was such a rebellious little punk when I was a kid, and I put my parents through so much stress, and if this cute little goblin does the same things to us once it pops out of my oven?—“
Oh, my gods. I’m running out of breath just listening to her.
When I awkwardly reach up to pat her head as a sign of comfort, Kenzie’s flurry of frantic panic slows.
“Whoa.
Okay, total meltdown averted. Whatever you just did, it helps. I’m going to make you hold my baby all the time when it’s crying because you’ll soothe it, and I have no idea how to soothe a baby. Or change a diaper. Or deal with other baby things. Oh my gods, I’m going to have to read so many parenting books, and I hate reading. Maybe I’ll just skip the books, and then my crotch goblin will grow up all undisciplined and feral and?—“
Felix gently pries Kenzie away from me, since he knows I’m pretty much the worst possible person to comfort anyone, ever, for any reason. The caster wraps his arm around Kenzie and kisses her cheek, smiling at her. I haven’t seen him smile much, or maybe ever, but it’s just a reminder of how much he’s changed in the mortal realm.
“Our crotch goblin, as you put it, will be perfect. Especially if they take after you.”
That only makes the lioness shifter cry harder. Her quintet gathers around as they try to comfort their pregnant keeper.
It’s absolute hell to have you out of sight, Snowdrop, Everett says to only me through the bond.
Tell Kenzie to take a ticket and stand in line and then get your ass next to me so I can breathe again.
So needy, I tease.
You have no fucking idea.
Deciding I’ll talk to Kenzie later, I give the Baird quintet some space and move quietly away. Crypt quickly re-materializes beside me, grinning.
“Have I mentioned how entertaining it is to watch you around anyone in tears, darling?”
“Their faces are leaking. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” I point out, shuddering.
He laughs at me before extending something in his hands. They’re gloves, I realize. A pair of my favorite gloves that I thought I lost while on the run. And even though the chances are low of anyone being stupid enough to lay a finger on me, wearing gloves just makes me feel secure.
It’s a psychological comfort that I didn’t realize I was missing so much until this instant.
I look at him, accepting the thoughtful gesture.
As if I wasn’t already obsessed enough with you, I tease only him through the bond.
His humor fades as he gives me the most intense look.
Forgive me now?
No. I don’t.
If anything, each time I remember that his time here is limited, it gets more painful.
I slip on my gloves as we finally move toward the double doors.
“I’m so fucking excited for them,” Baelfire says, falling into step beside us. “That baby’s going to be so damn spoiled—especially because it’ll have the most badass aunt in the entire world.”
“I don’t think Kenzie has siblings.”
“You, Boo,” he grins. “I’m talking about you.”
“Oh.”
There’s a thought.
I wasn’t there when Kenzie was bonded with her quintet and her curse was broken, but if I manage to bring down Amadeus and right the world, there’s no way in hell I’m missing this. Pretty much all I know about babies is how they’re made, the fact that they’re bizarrely fragile, and that they cry a lot.
But still. I’m a quick learner. Baelfire is right—as long as I don’t drop the baby, maybe Kenzie will let me be part of her kid’s life.
As we step through the double doors, I realize just how crowded this long, spacious room has gotten with the Reformists who have gathered. They’re all chattering and talking loudly with each other. Everett stands at the end of the room beside Silas as they both talk quietly with Brigid Decimus and a couple of other Reformists.
There are also quite a few ghosts in the mix. I watch the blue-haired young woman ghost pretend to kiss one of the unwitting female legacies.
I’m surprised by how many people I recognize here.
Monica, the asscaster empath, is here with a couple of her quintet members. So is Professor Crowley, one of my former professors who apparently survived Everbound University’s chaotic fall into ruin. On the other side of the room, Amelia Lykoudis chats with Harlow Carter and a few serious-looking ex-mercenaries whom I’m positive I’ve seen before.
There are even more Reformists I don’t know. It’s such a crowded, chaotic space, but at least that means not everyone is staring at me yet. As Baelfire, Crypt, and I pass by a small group of Reformists dressed in their combat gear, one of them spots us and hurries over. He looks around my age, with dark skin, faded hair, and an easy, bright white smile.
“Finally! Maven Oakley. Godsdamn, you are so much more stunning than people kept telling me you were. Much better in person than in all those pictures I keep seeing of you everywhere on the news. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but I hope that’s not the only pleasure we’ll share together,” he grins, reaching for my hand as if to shake it.
Crypt snatches his hand and twists it hard until something breaks, making the stranger yelp in pain. The Nightmare Prince keeps his voice misleadingly calm. “From one incubus to another, I will skin you alive and feed your rotting entrails to the wisps if you ever try to touch my muse again.”
When Crypt releases the stranger, he’s quick to shake off the pain in his healing hand and looks at me somewhat awkwardly. “Shit. Muse? Okay, clearly, your quintet is not nearly as platonic as a friend told me it was. Really sorry about that. I’m Collins.”
“The orgy guy,” I recall.
He sighs like he gets this all the time. “I mean. I’m now a highly decorated captain leading troops against the worst of the wraith attacks in South America, but…sure. Yeah. I also threw some orgies, back in the day. Good times, right, Bael?” he grins at my shifter like they’re old pals.
Baelfire makes a face of disgust, wrapping his arm possessively around me. “Don’t fucking remind me.”
“By the heavens,” a familiar voice mutters nearby. When I glance over, it’s Ross—one of the Garnet Wizard’s acolytes from the Sanctuary. The one with the third eye, which is still magically concealed as he gawks at me. He bows, but it seems more out of fear than respect. “I heard so much about your return, but…good goods on high, you really are back.”
“Disappointed?” I smirk.
He practically trips over himself trying to assure me that he’s thrilled to have me back, but he’s interrupted when someone clears their throat loudly behind me.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.