34. String of Fate

The weeks that came after, Naia hid away in bed, watching black and white movies with Theon while Ronin juggled business calls and inventory meetings.

Theon sat in a chair positioned beside the bed. He remained quiet most days. Though, to Naia's surprise, he entered the room one afternoon offering her a carton of chocolate ice cream—a form of therapy Naia had overheard Akane informing him of before leaving for school that morning. Naia refused to accept it, but the god was more stubborn than she, unwilling to move out of the TV view until she took it.

"You cannot go on this way, Lady Naia," Theon mumbled as the credits for the movie rolled on the screen.

Naia rested against the headboard, draining the breath from her lungs. The cold carton of unopened ice cream numbed her hand as she held it in her lap. "I know," she replied.

She was missing all the small, blissful moments. Ignoring the tremors and tugs of her child in her womb, the nights snuggled in bed with Ronin, whatever laughter she overheard from the kitchen during dinner. Life did not pause for her to digest unsettling news, unfortunately. She needed to pick herself up and move on.

She did what she did best and tucked the issue in the furthest corner of her mind. Then, she climbed out of bed and carried herself into the bathroom to shower.

When her mind strayed into the darkness, she reminded herself of her promise to savor the present moment.

A month had gone by and Ronin laid across her chest, ear pressed to her sternum, and she wasn't the least bit ashamed he overheard the satisfied anthem of her heartbeat. A melody that often played after him being inside of her.

The dim light of the TV streamed across his profile. His mussed strands rested against the bare skin of her chest as he inhaled long and slow to catch his breath. A rosy tint to his cheeks. While endurance was one of his many wonderful qualities, he was still a mortal.

His chest was snug against the side of her swollen belly, the thrumming of his own heartbeat echoing in her ribcage.

A primitive pride budded in her to feel it. Ronin, a man with a deadly power and artful precision, losing control of himself because of her. It filled her with a smugness she could easily admit to, but it was also knowing how nobody would ever listen to his heartbeat so intimately.

He nudged his nose against the flat plane of her sternum, his lips stroking the skin of her breast as his heavy-lidded eyes flickered up to meet hers.

She brushed his bangs from his face and tucked the strand behind his ear. "What are you thinking about?" she asked as he continued to watch her intently.

At the sound of her voice, a small kick shuddered through her stomach.

Ronin's lips twitched, a subtle indication he had noticed it.

Naia grinned, although it was nothing new. In moments after a long silence, when she or Ronin spoke, Ash usually tumbled around or threw a kick in reaction to their voices.

"I was thinking about where I was a year ago," he said.

"Which was?"

"Cooking alone in my apartment."

She gave him a gentle look of understanding. A year ago, she wasted away in her bedchamber, alone.

Her fingers trailed down his cheek. "How does it feel to think you will have a noisy infant soon?"

A spark of happiness touched his features as he smiled. "And a goddess who can't seem to keep her fingers out from underneath knives? I cannot wait."

She huffed out a laugh, rolling her eyes. "I am not as natural with a blade as my brother."

Ronin snorted, drawing a path up the side of her torso to her breasts. He never found her Malik comments as amusing as she did.

Naia breathed in deeply. Ronin's head rode the motion of her chest rising and falling. "I miss Violet," she murmured.

"Me too." He grinned a little. "She's probably sipping pina coladas and making friends with introverted souls in the Land of the Dead."

The image brought a sad smile to her face.

She distracted herself from the ache awakening in her chest by combing her fingers through Ronin's strands. "What made you decide to form the Blood Heretics?"

He continued to trace along her ribcage. "The first people I met in the city were Avi, Theon, Damian, Noah, Vi, and…" he let out a sigh, "Jules. She was Damian's sister. We were all friends. One of Finnian's ghouls killed her."

Knots formed in Naia's stomach, and her fingers ceased their movement in his hair. "Oh."

Ronin's fingertips traveled over her ribcage and to the side of her breast. "The ghouls were taking over, and after Jules died, we had enough. So, we started the Blood Heretics. It split apart the city. Witches either sided with Finnian or us."

She was proud of Ronin for taking charge, and disappointed in Finnian's ruthless tendencies. It was an awkward place to sit in, loving both Ronin and Finnian. Pressure furled in her to resent Finnian for everything he'd put Ronin through, but the part of her who knew Finnian, prior to his title as a High God, couldn't abandon him. He would always be the little boy throwing himself in front of her, begging Mira to punish him instead of her; chasing their father down the corridor before he vanished.

Naia swallowed away her rising emotions towards the subject. "I am sorry Finny did that to Jules."

As discomforting as it was to hear, she savored learning more of Ronin's past outside of the things he had not yet shown her through a spell.

Ronin stared at her, his gaze tracking all the shifts of her expression.

"Babe." He propped himself up on his elbow, the muscle in his bicep flexing. Naia used all her willpower not to admire parts of his exposed body the position gave her access to. "I'll always hate Finnian, but I don't ever expect you to choose between us. Or our child, for that matter."

The idea of Ash meeting Finnian made her heart flutter. To see two of the people she loved most, aside from Ronin, interacting with each other was like a dream.

His words eased the pressure behind her sternum. "I appreciate that." She twined a piece of Ronin's hair around her finger, fixating on its black, shiny contrast against her olive complexion.

"Do you think we can save him?" she asked in a timid voice.

As much as she tried to savor the present moment, all her worries sat in the back of her mind, churning in her subconscious restlessly. The waiting, the planning, the hoping. It was slowly gnawing at her from the inside out.

Ronin reached up and took her hand running laps in his hair.

"I can't promise you it will all work out." He interlaced their fingers and brought her knuckles down to his lips. "But I can promise you I will do everything in my power to fight for us."

Naia studied the devotion glimmering in his eyes, and her greed flared, wanting this with him every day, forever. She knew she should be grateful for the time she had; that what she'd gotten should be enough. But it wasn't even close.

How will you respond?

Naia squeezed his fingers tighter.

I'll make a way.

Naia abandonedmortal luxuries in the last month of her pregnancy.

As Ronin slept, she paced back and forth in the room like a waddling duck. Not as dignified and graceful as Mira had been during her pregnancies.

Walking around the room created the illusion she could run away from the anxiety festering within her.With her due date two weeks away, her peace of mind had vanished.

She ran smooth, soothing circles around her expansive belly and stood in front of the window, peering at the full moon's silvery glow over the silhouette of rolling waves of the sea.

"I will not let him take you," she murmured.

Ash gave a kick towards the low region of her abdomen, as if he'd heard her.

A smile touched her lips. "That's right, Ashy darling."

These one-sided conversations with her child momentarily grounded her.

She let out a long exhale and moved near the bed, sweeping her gaze over Ronin's sleeping face.

She stared down at him with one word surfacing in her mind. Infinite. Regardless of what lay ahead, her soul had complete faith that they would always find their way back to each other.There was peace and reassurance in it.

The feeling was harrowing, squeezing the last bits of air from her lungs.

What if Cassian killed Ronin? What happened then? Would Cassian allow Ronin to be reincarnated again, now that Cassian had what he wanted? Naia doubted so.

Ronin promisedto do everything in his power to ensure they were victorious in the end, but what about her? What would she do to ensure the same?

Enough. You cannot afford to be useless anymore.Being useless will no longer keep you safe.

As the epiphany struck, Naia's breath hitched in her throat.

When had she decided it was safer to be useless?

Nobody expects anything great from you if you are worthless.

But Ronin...

She brushed a piece of hair off his forehead.He expected nothing from her and accepted who she was, with or without a divine power.

The revelation was a grand awakening.

I cannot afford to be useless any longer.

A steady, surging breath of power pulsed in her veins.

Her world and those within it were no longer everlasting.

I will not let him die,Naia vowed as she watched Ronin sleep.

They would break their fate of finding and losing each other, once and for all.

Naia leaned down and kissed Ronin's forehead. We are infinite. I refuse to let you go.

It was as if the High Goddess of Fate heard her vow and smirked. Let us see what you can do then, Lady Naia.

A thunderbolt of pain descended through Naia's stomach, and she screamed.