Fate Stained - Part Two
Chapter 12 - The Secret

My first thought was ‘what the fuck did Hades do to my sister?’. Had he diseased her body but cloaked it so basic medical equipment couldn’t pick it up?

I stared down at Quinn. Moira had given her some mild pain relief and her face had lost some of the tension that it had been holding before. No, Hades wouldn’t have diseased or poisoned her. He didn’t want her sick or dead, he’d wanted her in his possession - this was something else entirely.

And why was Atropos really here? She said that Quinn had called to her but was unconscious by the time she’d got here…I called bullshit. Something was going on with the Goddess. She knew something, something that she wasn’t telling us for whatever reason. I studied her face when Moira used the ultrasound on Quinn’s stomach to check for internal bleeding. She didn’t look surprised that the machine seemed to be jammed, and if I wasn’t mistaken…was that a hint of a smile?

“She seemed fine in Hell” Kyanite spoke up, “although she was bitten by a Hell Hound at one point, could there be poison or bacteria from that?”

I shook my head slowly and rubbed my jaw.

“No. She would have had a fever if there had been bacteria, she would have been very sick and would have gone down hill very quickly. It’s something else”

My eyes darted over to Atropos as I said the last two words and she looked down at her feet.

She definitely knows.

“Atropos. What did Quinn say when she called for you?” I asked.

The Goddess looked back up to me but no eye contact was made.

“She didn’t say anything. She summoned me and I appeared and found her lying on the ground—”

“Holding her stomach?”

“Yes”

“But unconscious”

“…yes”

Jayce propped himself up on the bed next to Quinn and stroked her hair softly. I noted there was still blood in her hair and on the side of her head. The gash had obviously healed now though.

Why had Atropos been more concerned about Quinn holding her belly than a possible serious head injury?

Unless…

“Moira, do you mind if I try something?”

The wolf doctor took a step back from the bed and gestured to my sleeping sister.

“No, by all means”

“Jayce, some room please”

The Alpha hesitated for a moment as he looked at me then back to Quinn, but eventually he nodded and slid off the bed, stepping back so I could stand at Quinn’s side. I placed one hand over the other and let them hover a few inches above my sister’s head, moving them in small clockwise circles. Her aura was strong, there was no doubting that. She was exhausted, there was no doubting that either. If I hadn’t known better I would say her subconscious had temporarily put her body into sleep mode, allowing her a chance to heal and recoup.

Continuing the movements with my hands I gradually lowered them down Quinn’s body. I felt the blood pulsing through her veins and the steady beat of her heart; maybe Moira’s modern day medical equipment was jammed from whatever cloaked Quinn, but the abilities I possessed as a Warlock appeared to be picking up everything I needed them to. As my hands lowered further I noted the way Atropos’s translucent body appeared to tense, like she was holding her breath…waiting for something - actions, I felt, to be quite bizarre coming from an all powerful Goddess.

But as I reached Quinn’s stomach it was as though whatever had been blocking Moira’s equipment, attempted to do the same to my powers.

“Anything?” Jayce asked as I hovered over her belly for a moment longer before returning my hands to her face.

“Her heart is fine. No internal bleeding, and she doesn’t appear to be possessed, poisoned or plagued with anything mystical” I answered.

I looked over to Atropos and this time her eyes met with mine.

“I can’t explain why Moira’s equipment wouldn’t work on Quinn, but I assure you she is ok. Her body is exhausted, she has been through a lot and needs time to heal. It’s not just her body that needs time, it’s her mind too”

Jayce came to stand beside me and reached his hand out to Quinn but I stopped him before he could make contact. The Alpha’s looked to my hand that held his forearm and then to my face, his dark eyes narrowed.

“Do you mind?” He asked, his tone stern.

“I would ask that you would all please give me some time alone with Quinn. I know something that will help her but I need to concentrate and it will work better without a room full of spectators”

“What is it?” Moira asked.

The wolf doctor rubbed Jayce’s back, helping settle the rage that seemed to be bubbling on the surface. I knew the guy meant no ill feelings towards me, he was just worked up and tense with everything that was happening with Quinn, that and the fact that Kyanite was currently standing in their bedroom.

“I will transfer some of my energy over to Quinn, think of it like a blood transfusion but instead of blood…it’s power. It will help her heal faster but I need full concentration, no distractions”

“You heard the man!” Mason hollered, clapping his hands together, “everyone out”

I stepped to the side briefly as Jayce leant over the bed and placed a kiss on Quinn’s lips. I noticed as Kyan hesitated by the door but realised pretty quickly that Jayce wasn’t walking away from his mate until he’d well and truly left the room.

My eyes raised and I turned to Atropos when nobody was looking and mouthed ‘you stay here’. The Goddess flinched and appeared to go even more translucent than before.

Once the last person had left the room and the door closed behind, I faced Atropos and clicked my fingers in the air.

“What was that?” She asked.

“Just making sure no eavesdropping ears hear the conversation that is about to take place” I answered, “because you’re going to tell me everything you know”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Atropos hissed, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively.

“So you didn’t know Quinn was pregnant?”

The Goddess’s eyes widened and she stared at Quinn, then back up to me.

“You heard it too? The heartbeat! Oh, thank the Heavens you picked it up. I thought maybe because the doctor’s equipment couldn’t hear or see it that you wouldn’t be able to either—”

“I couldn’t” I cut her off.

“What? Then how—?”

“A hunch, but you just confirmed it”

The Goddess faded again and I thought maybe that was her version of going pale.

“How long have you known?” I asked.

Atropos sighed and sat down on the end of the bed.

“Since the cabin in Hell. I can hear the heartbeat loud and clear, but it seems that obviously nobody else can”

“Who is the father?”

“That I don’t know”

I narrowed my eyes, sensing more bullshit. Atropos was one of The Fates. No life entered this world or any other without the say so of Atropos’s sister, Clotho. And I was to believe that Atropos knew Quinn was pregnant and hadn’t asked her sister who the daddy was?

“I am telling the truth! My sisters are just as perplexed as me. Clotho didn’t add a thread to the Tapestry of Life for this baby, Quinn’s own thread is fraying…creating the life all by itself. Even Zeus was stunned…this baby is—”

“A miracle” I breathed.

“Well, yes”

Everything that I’d ever known about fate, destiny…was now in question. If The Fates couldn’t even control something like the beginning of a new life, then how was I meant to look back at everything that had happened in my life and think that it had happened for a reason?

I knew a thousand years ago Atropos had fucked up, accidentally cut the wrong thread and therefore changed the way the world progressed…but this…this baby was no accident.

I looked down to my sister with a level of love and a fierce need to protect that I’d never felt so intensely until now. Maybe this was why I’d been sent back into Quinn’s life, to protect this baby that hadn’t even entered it yet.

“Does she know?” I asked.

“No, I don’t believe so. Zeus made me swear I wouldn’t say anything to her or anyone else, she was to replace out on her own”

I thought about what Atropos was saying. Maybe this baby was concealing itself for a reason, protecting itself until it was strong enough to face to dangers of the world. There had to be a reason why Quinn couldn’t sense she was with child and why neither Jayce or Kyanite had picked up the baby’s smell or heartbeat.

“Do you think either mate is a threat to the baby?” I asked.

Atropos blinked, perhaps a theory she hadn’t considered.

“I’m— I’m not sure. I wouldn’t think so, but that shouldn’t be a problem before too long anywa—” the Goddess clamped her mouth shut like she’d said too much.

“What shouldn’t be a problem?” I asked.

Atropos shook her head and looked down at her hands.

“Atropos. Let’s be smart about this, two heads is better than one. I’m not going to tell Quinn she is pregnant, I won’t tell anyone unless I believe Quinn’s or the baby’s life is in danger if I don’t. You know that Quinn is all I have, I have no one else’s needs to consider, if you know something else…I’m the person to tell”

The Goddess sighed again. When she looked up at me there was a hint of sadness to her eyes but also a sense of relief that she was about to offload something that was weighing heavy on her shoulders.

“Zeus has tethered me to Quinn, for now. That’s how I knew she was in trouble, I felt it. The reason Zeus has done this is because he believes, as the baby gets stronger, that I will be able to sense who the father is. Once I know who the father is, I am to immediately report back to Zeus and he will revoke the bond of the other mate”

Holy. Shit.

“Can he do that?”

“He can do whatever he wants, he’s Zeus”

“But why would he do that?”

“Quinn was never meant to have three mates. It’s a long story but the Gods got greedy and everyone wanted a little bit of Quinn for themselves. Her fated bear mate bond has already been revoked, which changes nothing as she never met the guy. But, as for Jayce and Kyanite…this baby really threw a spanner in the works. Zeus was going to revoke the panther’s bond, as it hasn’t been completed yet, but we can’t risk him being the father”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. For starters, three mates! There had been a bear after all, at least that was something Quinn didn’t need to worry about anymore. And secondly, she wasn’t meant to have multiple mates, it was another fuck up by the gods, another thing they had done to make Quinn’s life more painful than it should be.

“Well. That’s a lot of information to process” I said finally, staring down at Quinn. I looked back to the Goddess that almost appeared to be staring at Quinn with a level of love and admiration I hadn’t seen before, “This stays between us. If Quinn hears that one of her mate bonds is going to be revoked…it will destroy her. We have to be sensitive about this. Agreed?”

Atropos nodded, smiling back at me.

“Agreed”

I nodded, happy we were both in agreement.

“Ok. Now, let’s see if I can give sister here some much needed power juice to help keep her and my niece or nephew strong”