I had messed up so bad. The way he looked at me…I sat on the toilet for a while after relieving myself. Two days I had made them suffer. Two days. As I headed downstairs, I overheard Ran saying, "I know, but she has to understand and this is the only way.""She's hungry and tired," Oni said softly. "She needs to rest. We both need to."I hurried my steps, hurt by Ran's words, but still just as ashamed at what I had put them through. If this was Alexis' way of punishing me then I had to take it like a woman.Alexis turned to me, his eyes seeming only now take in my dirty, gritty clothes and the torn condition of my dress. He blinked, and the severity of his expression began to fade."Do you need to feed?" Ran asked Oni."Yes," she said while still enclosed in his protective arms."I need to feed her," Ran said and guided Oni upstairs."Go home, Kim," Alexis said, his voice no longer cold, but there was no feeling in it. His passionless demand stung. "I've drawn you a hot bath

I don't know how long I slept, but I was awakened by another nightmare, this one much worse than the first one:I was back on the road leading to the Mother's house. Oni again had shape and form, and I was relieved to see her. The road in this nightmare represented everything that scared me. It was the shadows under my bed when I was a child, the clowns with their painted-on smiles and corpse-like skin. The road was Halloween witches and strangers that snatched little kids. Oni was fearless, leading us to safety, and I fought to keep up with her.I wasn't pregnant, and it didn't occur to me that I should have been. We ran, and Oni checked behind her often to make sure I was still there. Her face then filled with fear because it wasn't me she was looking at from over her shoulder.Werewolves were chasing us.Their gnashing teeth were long and sharp, saliva foamed from their mouths, and they were much faster than our human forms. Fifty or more were behind me, and they were the Omicro

He picked me up, and my arms wound tightly around his neck.Then he placed me on the couch!"Oh," he said. "I stink. I haven't bathed in days." He pulled off his top, losing his headscarf in the process. Then he squirmed out of his pants, and when I saw his beautiful thick cock full and ready, I reached out and gripped it firmly by its base. "Love me…" I whispered.I kissed him, and his lips possessed mine as his tongue gently probed and lapped. I swept off my gown, and he laced his hands on each side of my belly and stared at me reverently, taking in every inch of my body."Forgive me," he begged between kisses. I placed my hands against his cheeks and halted him so that I could look into his eyes. "If you'll do the same."He nodded and then kissed me, lifting me so that my legs went around his waist. He was so strong and hard, his muscles like tightropes beneath his skin. I arched so that I could make room for our baby, and Alexis covered me carefully with his body.His hea

I turned to Oni. Tell him about the Mother building a world in the Underground for herself and her spirit friends.Oni turned to Alexis, who sat on the cocktail table facing us. She told the story like a village storyteller, giving it life as each series of events occurred.Alexis nodded. "I have seen these things. They are part of my memories of the Mother."I looked at Oni. But these aren't memories that other Neratomay have? Like Ran, like I didn't have?Oni repeated the question."Then you know why you are Golden?" Alexis smiled because he wasn't struck down by the painful Wraith of exposing Neratomay secrets.Because we are the Mother's Chosen, I said to Oni. Again, she repeated it, and Alexis nodded and smiled broadly."Very good, my love," Alexis said. "When you understand your abilities, then you have power to fight! The Elders want you among us, and you already know and have already experienced more than others, and yet they won't share even the smallest knowledge that

Oni gently took the baby and reminded Alexis to cut the cord. He grabbed the sanitized scissors and completed the task, tying string around both ends while Oni cleaned away his birth fluids.Alexis leaned down and kissed me. He looked into my eyes with eyes full of tears. I had never seen him with tears in his eyes. "You have given me a gift more precious than anything in this universe, a gift even more valuable than my immortal life."My heart melted, and I reached up and stroked his face. Oni had wrapped the baby in a blanket and presented him to me. He had stopped crying and was looking up at the world around him."You are here," Alexis said, staring down at his son. "Did I not tell you how big this world is, my son? And you have yet to see it in its entirety. I will show you the corners of the earth." Our son's eyes locked onto Alexis while I held him in my arms loving them both as completely as I had ever loved anything.They cleaned me up and placed me comfortably in bed with