Voracious (The Edge of Darkness, #2)

by Leigh Rivers

remember how excited me and Kade were when we found out we were having a girl. We’d impatiently waited until the sixteen-week mark and paid for our own ultrasound instead of waiting the extra four weeks. It stayed a secret until I figured out a plan to escape Chris without risking Kade’s life. I used the excuse of not wanting Luciella to know yet. I took it easy with dancing and told my friends I’d torn my rotator cuff, so I couldn’t do rigorous exercises; that I couldn’t drink on nights out because I was on certain meds, and they bought into the lie. So many lies. I had the faintest swelling at the bottom of my abdomen that I blamed on bloating when around Lu and Ty, but despite how small I was, the midwife said everything was perfect. We started planning even more. Where we’d move to, the house we’d build, how many children. Listing names. Kade was mortified with half the names I suggested. I am not fucking calling my daughter Vixen. And then: Georgina? Really? She’s not ninety. My favourite was: You’re trying to fucking annoy me now, Freckles. That’s a dog’s name. Disaster struck barely a week later, and it was the beginning of the end.