The whisper came again, closer this time, warm breath against my ear even though no one stood behind me.
I just didn’t know to whom.
“Coming, darling,” I heard myself say. And I meant it.
I tore off the mask. My pupils were blown wide, and in the irises—just for a flicker—I saw the shape of a spiral, turning slowly. Masquerade Hypnosis -Before I knew it- I-m Preg...
Both?
“Don’t panic,” I told my reflection. The woman in the mirror smiled back a beat too late. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, dreamy, utterly at peace. That wasn’t me. I don’t smile.
I had no memory of any book.
The last thing I remember before the door opened was the whisper’s final gift: a single memory surfacing from the trance. Myself, kneeling on a floor of rose petals and pocket watches, lifting a silver chalice to my lips, and whispering, “I consent. I consent. I consent.”
Except now, three hours—or was it three days?—later, I stood in a suite I didn’t recognize, wearing jewelry I’d never seen, and my stomach felt… different. Not sick. Not full. Occupied in a way that had no business existing.
Or when.
A knock at the door. Three slow, rhythmic taps. Then a voice, low and amused, with an accent I couldn’t place. “Love? The midwife is here. She says the heartbeat is strong. Both of them.”
I pressed a palm to my lower belly. The silk was taut there. When had that happened? I was lean. Athletic. I’d done a full ab workout the morning of the party. But now there was a firm, round swell beneath my hand, as undeniable as a moon rising.