Chapter 5 – Girl, you're pregnant

Chapter 5 – Girl, you're pregnant 

Selene's POV

The slam of the door echoed like a warning shot. It shook the walls, snapped necks toward the source, and silenced every voice in the corridor.

Lucian stepped out from room 320 like a storm in slow motion. Tall. Broad. Unbothered. A glass of amber liquid sat casually in his hand, but nothing about him seemed relaxed. His cold eyes swept through the crowd, making people look away without even realizing they had.

"What’s going on out here?" he asked smoothly. "Some of us are trying to get some rest."

"It’s this little traitor!" Rhiannon snapped, her voice venomous. "She cheated on her boyfriend!"

Lucian’s eyes flicked to me. For a moment, there was nothing there. Like he didn’t even recognize me. "Is that so?" he murmured, tone unreadable. "And what exactly makes you think that?"

"What?" Rhiannon blinked, clearly thrown off by his question.

"You barge into a hotel," Lucian said, now standing tall, all traces of casualness gone. His presence made everyone around him seem smaller. "Yelling accusations. Yet I don’t see any proof that this girl," his gaze drifted to me again, "did anything wrong. Unless, of course, you caught her in the act?"

The crowd started to murmur.

"Just look at her!" Corwin barked, pointing. "Her hair’s a mess, her eyes are all puffy. She’s clearly been... with someone!"

Lucian chuckled once...low, dark, dismissive. "Last night, the entire city was drinking in celebration. You're surprised she looks like someone who had a rough night? So does everyone else here."

The momentum shifted.

I could feel it in the air...the crowd was turning. Rhiannon and Corwin were starting to squirm.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about," Rhiannon hissed, her voice a little weaker now. "Who even are you?"

Lucian smiled...a smile that wasn’t warm in the slightest. "Just a tired guest who was woken by loud accusations and dramatic finger-pointing. So naturally, I’d like to see this mystery solved before I go back to bed."

He stepped closer. Corwin...who was not small by any measure...tensed as Lucian approached. But next to him, Corwin looked like a housecat trying to intimidate a lion.

"This is none of your business," Corwin growled, his tone laced with power.

"It is now," Lucian replied evenly, and the force of his aura made several people flinch. Corwin's eyes dropped without meaning to.

Then Lucian turned to Rhiannon.

"You’re her sister," he said. "Shouldn't you be defending her? Or at least giving her the benefit of the doubt? Instead, you're front and center trying to bury her. Why is that?"

He turned his head toward me. "Hand me your keycard."

I passed it to him with shaky fingers.

He held it up for all to see. "Room 381. Hasn’t even made it there yet."

All heads turned toward the actual room...381...where a half-dressed, heavyset man stood frozen in the doorway.

Lucian tilted his head. "So… what exactly is he doing in her room?"

Murmurs. Frowns. Rhiannon stiffened.

Then the man cracked.

"It was her!" he said, pointing directly at Rhiannon. "She set this whole thing up. I paid her. She promised she’d bring the girl here. I waited all night and got nothing!"

"Rhiannon," Lucian said, tone soft and sharp. "That true?"

"What are you even saying?" Corwin snarled, charging toward the old man to shut him up. He shoved the door open to room 381. "She slept here. I know it!"

But there was nothing. No trace of me. No sign I had ever been there.

Lucian gave the crowd a glance. "Well. That’s interesting."

Someone muttered, "Set-up..." and the crowd began to shift again.

Lucian gave them one last nudge. "I’d suggest you leave before things turn unpleasant."

Corwin hesitated. But Rhiannon, flushed and furious, yanked his arm, and together they slinked away under the weight of disapproving stares.

I turned to look at Lucian to say thank you at least but my eyes didn't even meet his before the door slammed in my face. 

Weeks passed and I was back at the perfume shop, surrounded by the only thing that ever made sense...scents, oils, memory bottled into glass. But Lucian’s voice still echoed in my mind.

He’d saved me. A stranger. Just… stepped in and took control of the whole mess. And it haunted me...not the shame or humiliation, but the way he stood there like nothing could touch him. The way he said I was pretty. The way he didn’t flinch.

I had no idea what we’d done that night. The haze of it was like fog. But I remembered how it made me feel. Like I’d been touched by something dangerous and irresistible.

"Get it together and get over it," I whispered to myself. "You don’t even know the guy."

Elias peeked in from the door, coat in hand. "Alright, girls. I’m heading out. Don’t burn the place down while I’m gone."

"Wouldn’t dream of it," Nessa laughed. "We’ve got it covered."

"You good, Selene?" Elias asked, pausing beside me.

I nodded. "Just tired."

He gave me a smile and disappeared through the door.

"You know," Nessa said, nudging me once we were alone, "if Elias wasn’t gay…"

"He is," I muttered.

"Exactly," she sighed dramatically. "Otherwise I’d have already fucked him. I mean, the chemistry is there, just not the biology. Anyway are you sure you’re alright? You’ve been off lately."

“Fine,” I said quickly. Too quickly.

She tilted her head. “You sure? You’re looking pale.”

“I just haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Mm-hmm,” she said, eyeing me. “Well, if you barf one more time, I’m dragging you to the clinic myself.”

I laughed weakly. But the truth was... I’d been nauseous for days. Everything smelled too strong. My skin felt different. I was bloated and exhausted. I’d told myself it was just nerves.

But deep down, I knew better.

Still, I tried to power through. Focus on work. Ignore the gnawing anxiety in my chest. That lasted exactly ten minutes...until the fifth trip to the bathroom ended with me dry-heaving over the sink.

When I emerged, Nessa was waiting. Arms crossed. Eyes narrowed.

“Alright. Spill it.”

“There is nothing to spill,” I said, avoiding her gaze.

She stepped forward, gently pressed her fingers to my temples, then my stomach.

“Girl, you’re pregnant.”

I choked. “Excuse me?!”

“You’ve got the glow, the nausea, the mood swings,” she said, ticking them off like a checklist. “You’ve been fucking Corwin, haven’t you?”

“No!” I blurted. “No, it wasn’t him. I mean… I haven’t… I…”

She stared. Then her mouth slowly dropped open.

“Oh my goddess,” she whispered. “You’re serious?”

I said nothing. Just turned away.

I backed off and tried to ignore her, returning to my workbench. But the panic was already taking root.

It couldn’t be Corwin. I hadn’t even… No. There was only one possibility.

Lucian.

That night.

And now, it seemed, that one night had changed everything.

“I need to go,” I muttered, snatching my bag.

“Selene...”

“Tell Elias I’ll make up the hours.”

I didn’t stop walking. Not when I passed through the door. Not even when I nearly ran into Rhiannon on the sidewalk. I just kept moving.

I bought a test at the nearest pharmacy, sprinted home, and locked myself in the bathroom.

In the bathroom, I stared at the test in my hands like it was cursed.

One line appeared. Then another.

My breath hitched.

I dropped the stick.

My knees nearly gave out.

"This can’t be happening…" I whispered. "No. No, no…"

But there it was.

Clear as day.

I was pregnant.