Chapter 203

• Knox
• I take a moment and grab the ultrasound belt from the machine beside the bed, still in the same spot from when I checked her to confirm. I could hook her up twenty-four seven if she’d let me. I just love seeing the mini dancer growing inside her. I never knew I’d like the idea of having children. Human children have always made me nervous. They’re far more delicate than anything in the world, and I’ve always been afraid that something could happen. Because technically, they are our future blood sources, but not our child. There’s no way he or she will ever feed a vampire out of obligation. It’s what I hope to create. Everyone here does it because we work together. We don’t threaten them. We don’t withhold anything if they need to take a break. It’s just one of those things. Life. And our kid will get a far better one than any of us have ever had. They won’t have to experience the fear elicited from the uprising or the divisions. They will not have to grow up thinking that they are less than another. I will ensure it.
• The soft heartbeats of Hayley and the fetus hum through the air, sending my own heart out of control with love. I blow up the image of the projection, getting a better view.