Shadow Heir

No doubt. Dorian would level a city to keep his children safe. Still, the fact that Kiyo could have been sitting on a lie like this was mind-boggling.

“Then why are you telling me now?” I had asked. “Why tell me any of these things?”

Kiyo had shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do, especially after you helped me on the Yew Land trip. Besides, some of the pressure’s off now that the prophecy’s immediate threat is gone.”

“Not according to your pal Maiwenn.”

“No. And probably not in the eyes of others. Even people who don’t care about the prophecy are still scared of you, Eugenie. Those kids are leverage against you.”

Kiyo had left shortly after that, disappearing into the throngs of oblivious shoppers. I’d let him go, both because I could do little to him in public and because I was really too stunned to react anyway. When I’d finally recovered enough of myself, I’d immediately sought out a book on pregnancy and learned he’d been telling the truth, that having sex a week before you were fertile could still result in pregnancy. I learned more about eggs and sperm than I’d ever wanted to know, but with my track record, maybe a little education wasn’t so bad.

And so, here I was, about to see my children at long last. We were pushing nearly three months since my last visit, and some part of me half expected them to be all grown up and on their way to college. I hadn’t told anyone the news about their paternity. I was keeping that close to my heart, unsure what to do with it. It could have a lot of consequences.

I rented a car and drove out to the country to see Candace and Charles. The little house looked the same, aside from its landscape no longer being dried and burned out. I’d given them a heads-up about my arrival, and they were practically waiting at the door when I arrived. Candace whooped with joy and barreled into me with a huge hug. Even normally reticent Charles embraced me. Evan was with them too, equally welcoming.

Isaac and Ivy were everything I could have hoped for and more. They were bigger but certainly a long way from college. They looked like the kinds of roly-poly babies you see on TV. No more tubes, no more oxygen masks. Just chubby cheeks and curious eyes that were constantly learning something new about the world. Those eyes made me do a double take. They’d been the dark blue of most newborns back in the NICU. Now, they were still bluish, but I could see hints of green coming in—green like Dorian’s. I almost started crying then and there.

“Look how much they’ve grown,” said Candace proudly, putting Isaac in my arms. There were no attempts at gender equality in this household. Isaac was in pajamas decorated with rocket ships. Ivy was in a frilly dress. “The doctors said the early birth might put them behind in developmental milestones, compared to other babies their age. But look—they can practically hold their heads up.”

I’d never thought of holding one’s head up as a milestone, but as Isaac’s little neck muscles fought to accomplish the feat, I saw that it truly was an amazing thing.

“They’re not really behind in anything,” she continued. “The doctors are kind of amazed at how well they’ve turned out.”

Was that the result of gentry blood? Once they passed out of the dangers of early infancy, gentry were remarkably hardy. It was hard to know for sure what was at work here, but I didn’t care. The twins were healthy and happy, which was all that mattered.

They hardly left my arms for the rest of the day. I even stepped up to change diapers because I didn’t want to be apart from them. Everything about them was perfect. Every coo, every toe, every breath. Small talk abounded, but always, the discussion wound back to the twins. No one asked where I’d been. It was obvious the Reeds worshipped everything about Isaac and Ivy, and they never tired of telling me even the smallest details about the twins’ lives. I never tired of hearing about them.

Candace finally convinced me to put them in their cribs later that night. Both had fallen asleep, and she cited some book she’d read about the early stages of infant sleep training. I didn’t follow it all but figured she knew what she was talking about. The twins had matching cribs in a bedroom that had been converted to a full-fledged nursery. There were lambs and rabbits on the walls and pastel colors everywhere.

I stayed there after she left and watched the twins sleep. Every tiny movement enchanted me. I was so caught up that I didn’t hear Evan enter the nursery until he was standing right behind me.

“I’m about to take off for the night,” he said quietly. “I wanted to say good-bye. Will you be around tomorrow?”

“Should be.”

“I’ll come back then.” His kind blue eyes drifted over to Ivy’s sleeping form. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

“Amazing doesn’t even cover it,” I said truthfully.

“What will you do now?” he asked. It was his usual easygoing tone, but there was a trace of worry under it. “Still thinking you might stay here? Or will you take them with you?”