Apep sighed and straightened his clothing with his free hand. “Now see what you’ve done? You made me pee myself a bit. My damned bladder can only hold a teaspoon of liquid these days, and one little sneeze or if I move too quickly…” He shrugged. “And you!” he snapped, looking hard at the nurse. “Don’t move. I have one free hand. If you cause me any trouble…” he trailed off meaningfully and she of the pixie curls cowered in the far corner of the exam room. “Now listen to me very carefully,” Apep said to the doctor, speaking slowly as the doctor suffocated. “You are going to do whatever is necessary to remove this child from my body. Is that clear? You have no other purpose on this planet until that is done. Cancel all your other patients, call your wife and tell her you won’t be home. If you don’t I will break your body one small bone at a time until you are screaming in agony. As I understand it there are two hundred and six of them. Shall I start with your pinky?” Apep grabbed for the doctor’s finger with his free hand and the doctor cried out in a garbled sound. Apep smiled his prettiest smile. “Good. We have an understanding then. Yes?” He waited for the man’s strained nod then finally let go of him. He crumpled to the floor in a heavy fall of bones and flesh, his head thumping noisily against the door. The nurse didn’t so much as budge from her corner to help him. Apep was pleased. He liked her immediately. He loved when his worshippers were appropriately awed and frightened by him.

“Where shall we do this then? Here?” Apep bent down and kindly picked the doctor up, settling him on his feet and supporting him with a single hand as he reached out to brace himself.

“Hospital,” he croaked.

“Hmm. No need for that. In fact, I think it would be best if you gathered all the supplies you need and come with me. Bring your nurse too. I like her.”

The nurse’s eyes widened and she shook her head wildly. Apep couldn’t resist tormenting her. “And, sweetness, if you even think of running or calling for help, there will be a price to pay. Whether it be by you…or by the good doctor here. Now, you wouldn’t want to be responsible for a man’s death, would you?”

The nurse began to cry.

“Pull yourself together,” Apep said in his kindest tone. He really was feeling benevolent now that he knew relief was at hand. “And remember, I’ll kill anyone you think to ask for help. Now send everyone home and let’s get back to my compound.” Apep sighed. “My own personal doctor. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

Apep sat down in a chair and watched the doctor and the nurse scramble to leave the room. He hoped beyond hope that they tried to tell someone what was happening, but they didn’t, much to his consternation. He would have liked to kill someone right about then. Maybe he would do it anyway. He was having such a craving…

But he realized that he would best control the doctor through intimidation, not through out and out terror. If he saw one of his coworkers die he might be reduced to a babbling ball of fear, and then where would that leave Apep? Back at square one.

He was not going back to square one. He refused.

It was far past time to end this.

He had an enemy to destroy and a world to conquer.

—

Kamen had rolled to the side, his back hitting the carpet as he panted for breath. He felt starved for oxygen, and yet was replete in every other way. He ringed an arm around Viève’s shoulders and drew her close, pressing her head to his chest as he dipped down and kissed her on her crown. She was struggling for breath too, her hands gripping at him. She curled up to his side and shivered a little. He immediately teleported a blanket from the bed and let it fall over them where they lay. He should have brought her to the bed. She deserved a bed. He was about to get up and carry her into the next room when she sat up with a squeal. Panic flooded her features.

“What is it?” he asked, immediately concerned.

“We…we didn’t used a condom! I’m a Wraith female! Wraith females get pregnant every time they have sex! Every time. Without fail! Unless a condom is used. And we didn’t. Use one.”

Kamen relaxed. “Is that all? You had me worried for a minute there.”

“Is that all? Is that all? I don’t want a half-breed child! I won’t put a child through what I’ve gone through! Never!”

“Relax, little dove, I would never treat you with such lack of respect and forethought. You were protected against pregnancy.”

“I…I was?” She looked perplexed. “How?”

“If you can recall…right before I came into you I spoke a Word of magic.”

Viève wracked her memory, then realized she did remember something like that.

“I think so…” she said hesitantly.

“I was rendering myself infertile. The spell will last for twenty-four hours. You cannot get pregnant by me.”

“Really?” she was both stunned and impressed. “You can do that?”

“I can. If I couldn’t I would have made certain to use a condom. I would never have done anything to harm you. I have done enough harmful things in my life. I do not wish to compound my errors.”

She sat there a moment, pushing strands of her dove gray hair behind her ear, the bareness of her upper body attracting him. He reached out and drifted his long fingers over her shoulder.

“We’re supposed to be looking for a spell.”

He frowned. She had a point. He had allowed himself to be thoroughly distracted from what was most important. He sat up and glanced at the book of French spells she had left open on his desk before he had taken leave of his senses and lost himself in her.

But he wouldn’t have changed a thing, he thought. Not a single second of it. Perhaps that made him selfish, selfish when he didn’t deserve to be selfish, but he couldn’t force himself to regret it.

He stood up and walked naked to the desk, feeling her eyes upon him the entire way. He turned the book so he could read it and there it was, the witness spell, just as she had said.

“This is it,” he said.

“It is? That’s wonderful!” She was excited. She stood up, wrapping the cover around herself as she hurried to his side. She began to read the spell aloud, but he silenced her with fingertips to her lips.

“Careful,” he said. “This spell needs no herbal components. It only needs to be spoken. Remember, anyone can cast magic, but not everyone can handle the consequences.”