Sedora pinched the bridge of her nose. "It is too early Pia, but if your doctor has advised, go for it." Saying that Sedora got up to go to her room. She had to talk to Gayle about several things.

Pia grinned. "Yes Mother!"

"I have a lot of work to do," said Sedora and walked away.

Dawn and Daryn arrived at the office an hour later. Reyna informed them that Mrs. Sedora Silver was sitting in the meeting room taking an emergency meeting of all the Vice Presidents.

Daryn quivered.

What was she up to? A bead of sweat slithered down his spine. He looked at Dawn and said, "Go to your office and don't come until I call you to the Silver House. If I don't call you, go back home, but I would like you to go to the Silver Arcade instead."

Dawn frowned. She could sense his worries, and most of all his unnatural fear. She brought her hand to his cheek and said, "Is everything alright? Why are you so afraid?" She wanted to stay with him, protect him of whatever unknown thing was in his harm's way.

"I fear for you Dawn," he replied. His face had become pale. If it had been for him, he would have picked her and gone to the mountains till Sedora left Bainsburgh or better, he would have sent her to Ensmoire, to Quetz. "In fact if you like, you can take a day off and go to Ensmoire!"

"Geez! Daryn! Get a hold of yourself. I am fine and what is it that is bothering you?" She flitted her gaze between his eyes.

"There's no time to talk about it," he said. "Just leave."

A subdued whisper of a woman, 'Waiting…' came floating in her mind. She shuddered and her blood drained from her face. Who was that? Her body shuddered at the chilliness of the word.

"Go now, Dawn," said Daryn with so much urgency that it was almost an order mixed with anguish.

She blinked her eyes at him with confusion and then decided to leave. "Okay, be careful and call me at your latest."

"I will," he said and pulled her into the elevator. He pressed the ground floor button for her while he went to the thirteenth floor.

Puzzled by the turn of events, Dawn walked up to her car. How was this possible that Sedora was taking a meeting with Vice Presidents when an hour back she was with them in the house talking to Pia? They all must have traveled the same way. Nothing fitted. When she reached the parking area, she found that the driver was waiting for her impatiently with the door open and her usual security seemed all the more alert. They surrounded her immediately and only left her side when she was sitting in the car with doors locked from all the sides.

Daryn had already sent them instructions through his mind-link.

The strangeness of the events made her feel weird. Whose voice was that? Who was the woman waiting for? She couldn't get her head around it when her phone buzzed. It was Lily Wyatt, nicknamed 'Pest'. She ignored her call.

It was evening and Daryn hadn't called her yet. She contemplated on going to the cottage in the mountains or the Silver Arcade. As Dawn was winding up for the day, Daryn called. "Mother is hosting a dinner for the clan to celebrate Pia's pregnancy news. We have to be there. So you should come back to Silver Mansion."

"I am doing good too. How are you?"

There was a long exhale at his end. She could imagine him running his hands through his hair. "Sorry baby. I was too tangled in today's work." He sounded tired and… broken.

She wanted to comfort him immediately. "I will be there as soon as possible," she replied. "Where are you?"

"I will reach home an hour later."

"Okay."

When Dawn reached home, she found the place decorated like Christmas. Sedora was going all out to celebrate Pia's pregnancy. As she walked through the gardens through the subtle aroma of lavender, her mind relaxed. She wondered why she wasn't jealous of Sedora's affection towards Pia or why she didn't feel miserable. She mused that it could be because she had zero expectations from anyone now – other than Daryn and Cole… and Gayle… and of course Neal. A smile crossed her face and she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

As soon as she reached there and opened the door, a pair of strong hands swooped her next to his naked chest and brought his lips to hers. "Need you!" he said and kissed her like this was the last one. When she was almost breathless, he left her.

"Daryn…" she smiled at him, her face flushed. Her man needed her and she wanted to know his misery, she wanted to allay his fears. He kissed her again as they walked to the bathroom. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was disheveled. "Baby, please tell me what is bothering you so much. It makes me uneasy."

He made her stand on the bathroom floor and slashed her dress open with one claw. Before she could sputter a protest, she was stripped down to her underwear. Then he stripped himself completely and clasped her in his strong arms. He placed her into a hot water bathtub with aromatic oils, with her in between his legs. Inside the warm water, his legs curled around hers and she became lusty. He pressed her against his chest as his hands cupped her breasts and kneaded them softly. He closed his eyes and rested back on the edge. "This is what pleases me the most. You make me feel home, Dawn…" he said in a dulcet voice. His started relaxing. Dawn took her hands to his throbbing shaft, which needed a release. She pumped it between her fist and he moaned. When he came, he hissed and shuddered. Later when he was spent and they were in more fresh steaming water, she sat behind him and worked on the knotted muscles of his neck with her thumbs. "I love you babes," he moaned again. The morning tension washed away.

She didn't pester him to talk about his tension but she had a terrible feeling down the gut, almost a premonition that something bad was about to happen. She suppressed the feeling.

An hour later they were down mingling with the crowd. Dawn mostly stayed alone as Daryn mixed with others. She watched Pia, Caleb and Sedora walking with ease amongst the purebloods. A longing emerged. A fleeting thought. Why couldn't she be a part of the family just as easily? She shoved the feeling aside and masked it with arrogance. If they didn't like her, then they better tolerate her.

"Pia! Oh my God! Many congratulations to you!" her friends surrounded her and gave her hugs and gifts and kisses. "You deserve it girl!" they said, while throwing deriding glances at Dawn, as if conveying that the Silver Clan was finally going to get a pureblood heir.

Her gaze went to Dr. Brenda who had come alone. They smiled when their eyes met.

She stood bored when suddenly a deep baritone voice came from behind, "Hello Dawn."

She didn't know how, but she recognized this extremely handsome, almost seven feet tall man. Stunned, she craned her neck to his face and breathed, "Hello Illeus!" She had never seen a more remarkable specimen in her life.