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sure,” I admitted. “Can I call back in a few days to set that up?”
    “Of course,” she replied. “Everything is looking fine, and you’re in perfect health otherwise, so an extra day or two isn’t going to make much of a difference.”
    I thanked her, and then she left me to get dressed and go back out to meet Sydney. After giving her a little nod, I went to the medical assistant at the front desk and told her I’d probably be scheduling an ultrasound, but I wasn’t sure when. It seemed she was used to that sort of delay, because she just smiled and handed me a business card, and told me to contact them when I was ready.
    “Are you going to call Connor now?” Sydney asked after we left the building and were headed back to Jerome.
    For a minute I only watched the road passing by, the pale golden grasses blowing in the brisk breeze. “I will. But there’s something else I have to do first.”
    She raised an eyebrow, but when she saw I wasn’t going to volunteer any more information, she just shook her head and leaned forward to turn up the music. I guessed she could tell I wasn’t much in the mood to talk.
    Unfortunately, I knew I had a lot of talking ahead of me. It just wouldn’t be with her.
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    E xpressions quizzical , the three clan elders — Margot Emory, Bryce McAllister, and Allegra Moss — sat at my dining room table, waiting for me to explain why I’d summoned them to the house. Of course, as prima , I had the prerogative to do so…I just hadn’t exercised it before now.
    I’d realized as I left the Planned Parenthood facility that it was my responsibility to tell the elders what was going on. Anything that affected me affected the clan as well, and hiding my condition from them wouldn’t do anyone any good, even if making such a confession to that trio was high on my list of extremely embarrassing situations I would rather have avoided.
    “I’ve just…discovered something,” I began, wishing I didn’t sound quite so shaky and nervous. Then again, I probably had every right to be. Wishy-washy word choice, too, although I wasn’t sure what the best way to approach this might be. Blurting out “I’m pregnant” didn’t seem all that appealing, either. They were all adults, most of them with at least twenty years on me, although with Margot that number was probably closer to fifteen. I doubted they thought Connor and I had been spending our nights together in Flagstaff telling ghost stories and braiding each other’s hair.
    “What is it?” Bryce asked. There was a note of worry in his voice already, and I thought that didn’t seem to be a very good sign. He was a strong warlock, gifted in magical defense, but he also had a quick temper. His reaction was the one I feared the most.
    Margot and Allegra remained silent, watching me. Margot’s expression was opaque, face bland and perfect as that of a mannequin, while Allegra’s features seemed to show a somewhat lively curiosity. That didn’t surprise me too much, as Allegra tended to be one of those people who was inquisitive about everything . Goddess knows her own children had never been able to get away with anything without her ferreting out the facts eventually.
    I pulled in a breath, let it out, and said, “I’ve just found out that I’m pregnant.”
    Silence. Deep, hideous silence. Margot’s face went even more still, if that were possible, and Bryce settled heavily against the back of his chair, as if someone had just struck him. Allegra tilted her head to one side and watched me, her mouth pursing slightly.
    She was the one to break the silence. “And you need help getting rid of it?”
    In a horrible way, it made sense that she’d been the one to ask the question. Her skill was with herbs and potions, and I’d heard rumors that she’d helped out a McAllister girl or two who’d found herself in my situation. Safer and quicker than the civilian equivalent of the procedure, but of course that wasn’t why I’d