‘Thicker columns of smoke and people running the other way,’ Althea put in, regardless of who did or did not want to hear it. ‘Don’t threaten me, I can hear it all in your head.’ Madeleine waved one hand dismissively in Knight’s general direction, knowing her own familiar to be nearby. If it was guilt the snake was looking for, she was looking in the wrong place. “I’d tell you to stop behaving like my mother, but mine would approve so it doesn’t exactly apply,” she threw back at Althea. It was not what she had done that bothered Madeleine, it was the shock of waking up partly underneath someone who was very much dead and then realising that the flames heating everything around her were not her own. That last detail was jarring in and of itself. It didn’t really help that her element’s nature was at odds with that initial wave of numbed disbelief. Now she was at odds with whether or not to go and get that jug of water even though Zaviar hadn’t answered her question. He still clearly needed it. “Only in pride, maybe. I’m fire-proof but my clothes are not. My shorts became a fair bit shorter and there were interesting holes in my top,” she plucked at the appropriate areas in her dress. Odd patches in the sides. “My shoes were intact.” And, of course, her necklace, which she was playing with out of habit.
This. Naturally, she had meant the baby, but she hadn’t thought far ahead enough to make that clearer, instead just voicing her thoughts. The thoughts that had labelled the baby as a ‘this’ without any maternal gestures to further indicate what she was talking about. It was simply something that she had needed to tell Zaviar, so… Well, even Madeleine would admit that it may as well have been blurted. It left her feeling almost embarrassed when Zaviar was the one to put his hand on her stomach. I’m going to be a terrible mother. I don’t even think to do that when a demon is pointing right at it. Nevertheless, she gave a rather pleased smile when he added ‘fae’ to the demonic-blooded. It might not necessarily be true – she didn’t know how these things worked, really – but all in all the idea made her feel far better. “Ixnay on the holy iron, then.” As the rest of his comment registered, Madeleine tucked her hair behind one ear. He hadn’t seen the news. While she had alternated between calling him, calling London and watching news repeats, he had been unconscious. “It wasn’t just Ann Arbor,” she started with a frown. This was something she wasn’t sure how she felt about, other than mildly irritated. But that was normal. “New York, New Orleans, London – other places I can’t remember. It’s an international gauntlet that’s been thrown down. Literally, when one looks at the bridge. Could they not have waited until we were elsewhere? Bloody inconvenience.” It really wasn’t that much to ask, now was it? It wouldn’t have taken them all that long to be out of the danger zone anyway – at least that was what she was going to keep telling herself. Then the bridge could blow up quite freely and swallow anybody on it, etcetera, etcetera. Never mind that, though. Zaviar needed to rest properly, or at least lay down. Trying to stand, Madeleine winced, her ankles protesting the angle of her heels. They were kicked off without a second thought, which didn’t feel much better but at least she could get up off the sofa, and she offered a hand up with a vaguely wry smile. “Come on then. I shan’t carry you.”
‘No. Because she’s fire-proof, so she’d have to do it the normal way… It would be messy.’ Althea had given that far, far too much thought. She was also putting a lot of thought into the offspring being demonic. Zaviar was demonic. Did that mean it would be more like him or like the woman Madeleine was remembering? The elemental turned her head to look at Knight. Had that part been skipped over? Oh. “Yes. Persephone. She was… interesting. Also a terrible influence – I blew up a car.” ‘You would do that anyway, don’t blame the demon.’ Madeleine was ignoring that. “She just knew, though.” It rather made sense.