Dragon wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly. After the day he had just had, he might have been hallucinating.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

“I am with child,” she repeated, her voice softer.

He had endured a roller coaster of emotions since meeting her at the Academy, but at the news she so nonchalantly conveyed, he felt his heart finally break. A dagger in his chest would surely hurt less. Dying would hurt less. Nothing could compare to the pain she had just inflicted him.

“Don’t lie. We both know it isn’t possible for you to conceive,” Dragon finally said when he was able to utter the words.

Jade flinched. Her hand caressed her stomach again, and he saw now what he hadn’t noticed before. Hidden under the loose tunic she wore, her once-flat stomach was now softly rounded. Her pregnancy didn’t show fully yet, but the rest of her body had a softness that hadn’t been there when they first met. He had noticed the subtle change when he held her in his arms earlier. How was it possible? And since it had clearly happened, who was the father of her child? Doubts coiled in his mind like poisonous snakes.

“It’s yours,” she said as if reading his thoughts.

Dragon’s heart betrayed him, thumping loud again, resuscitated by her statement. “Swear it’s the truth.” Her mere sight wounded him. “I wouldn’t hurt you.” He pressed his hand against his chest. “Even if it were someone else’s child. I could never hurt you.”

“The child is yours—”

“How?”

“The nanites in my body made it possible,” she said, her hand caressing her soft belly.

Dragon found himself at her side before he even knew what he was doing. Despite his hurt, he couldn’t help but desire her touch and to touch her in return.

“It’s true.” Her black eyes that had filled his dreams night after night stared into his. “I’m carrying your child.” She looked down at his hand as it reached for her stomach.

He wasn’t in control of his body any longer and didn’t even try to retract his hand. When Jade slightly nodded her assent, he pressed his fingers against her soft bump. It was small under his large hand. “Jade,” he whispered, choking on her name. All of a sudden, he was on his knees in front of her.

“At first, I didn’t believe I was pregnant myself.” Her hand tentatively landed on his. “Assassins can’t have children. Or so I thought. Everybody thought… But our bodies are genetically altered to the point that we are no longer human—”

While listening to her, Dragon looked at their hands, resting atop her stomach.

“A medicus explained to me that I could only conceive with a shifter,” she finished, her breath hot on his lips.

“A child,” he said in wonder.

Dragon had just found her, and now this. His heart threatened to explode from the intense emotions overwhelming his senses. “You are here, with me. I’ll make you remember me again. I’ll make you remember us.” The words came out of his mouth all at once. Many thoughts fought for attention in his mind, and he needed to vocalize them.

“We’re going to be a family.” Shaking, he leaned his forehead against hers.

Jade tensed. “I—” she started saying but didn’t finish her sentence.

Dragon hated the emotional distance between them. “I need you so much, it’s driving me insane.” If only things were easy, and he could act on his desire. If only he could forget Jade had made a decision that affected both of them. “You had an erasion.” The idea that she had gotten rid of his memory pained him greatly and it kept coming back, like a festering wound he couldn’t leave alone. To him, that was the ultimate betrayal.

Surprise, joy, anger, shock, elation, fury, and then again happiness filled Dragon’s heart and mind, chasing each other as he tried to make sense of his sentiments.

We are going to have a child. The thought played in a loop alongside her choosing to forget him.

Jade stepped back, away from him. “If you can’t accept what I did, I have no reason to remain here. The Academy is after me—”

“I won’t let them kill you. I’ll consign myself to them to spare your life, if there’s no other option.”

“Thank you, but there’s no need.”

“Things have obviously changed now since we’re going to have a child, but I agreed when Master Eon told me that was the price to pay to keep you alive,” he said. “I wasn’t going to make it easy for them, and I still needed proof the Academy would comply—”

She paled. “Why?”

“Why what exactly? I’ve said several things—”

“Why would you die for me?” She visibly trembled.

“Because you are my soulmate, and I just can’t live without you.”

Jade’s breath quickened, and she took another step back. “I don’t even know you.”

“I pledged my love to you on Solaria.” He slowly walked to her. “I renew my pledge of love now on Celestia.” Sensing she was about to bolt, he stopped before he got too close. “I was ready to die for you, and that hasn’t changed. But there’s a life growing inside you, and that does change everything. Let me be a part of it.” He stepped closer. “Please, I’ve had more surprises today than I can bear but having you here with me is my dream come true, and my brain can’t process anything else.” His hand reached out. “Please.”

Jade’s arm timidly left her side. “I—” Her eyes rolled back as she collapsed in front of him.