Destined for Eternity

by Susan Illene

  Paula moved the wand over her stomach. “Hmmm.”

  “What?” she asked, the doctor’s frown making her nervous.

  “Your little one is kicking the wand, making it difficult to get a good visual.” The doctor moved the probe to another position on the side of her stomach. “Ahh, that’s better. The baby has their head down, which is a good sign for when you go into labor.”

  “Am I still on track for late May?” Cori asked. That was just four and a half weeks away.

  Paula pursed her lips. “Most likely. The baby is going to be big, though. We won’t be able to let your pregnancy go any longer than that.”

  Cori blinked. “Big? How big?”

  “At the current growth rate, I’d say around ten pounds.”

  Melena swore. “Good grief. That’s it for me. I’m not having children with Lucas if they’re gonna be that huge.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Cori said, taking a napkin the doctor handed her to wipe off the gel on her tummy. “I thought you were supposed to be here for moral support?”

  The sensor shrugged. “I am, but that’s a seriously big baby. I’m guessing they all come out larger than average, which means I’m gonna have the same problem.”

  Paula gave Melena a disapproving look. “You also have the advantage of a body that can handle it. Stop scaring your friend.”

  “Sorry.” The sensor smiled gently at Cori. “This is just a bit scary for me to watch knowing I’ll be in here someday for the same thing—maybe.”

  “You’ll be fine,” the doctor said to Melena, then had Cori put her feet in the stirrups. “I’m going to check your cervix now.”

  She stared at the plain white ceiling, trying not to be bothered by the exam. This part always hurt a little. One thing about pregnancy was that a woman couldn’t have any shame and had to deal with a lot of discomfort. Doctors had to poke and prod everywhere, whether you liked it or not.

  “You’ve already dilated to one centimeter.” Paula pulled back and tossed her gloves in a nearby trashcan.

  “Is that good or bad?” Cori asked.

  “Neither. A lot of women are dilated at this stage, but not all.” The doctor helped Cori sit up. “It does mean your body is getting ready for the big day.”

  “But not too soon, right?”

  The doctor put her hands in her lab coat pockets. “There’s nothing to indicate the child will come early, but babies can be unpredictable under the best of circumstances.”

  “I come here when I go into labor, right?” Cori asked.

  Paula nodded. “Unless it’s morning since I am under a deep sleep then, but I have a werewolf assistant who is a fully certified midwife and aware of your case. Heidi will be on call during that time.”

  Cori had met the assistant once and thought she was nice enough. “What if labor goes fast and I can’t get here in time? My last child came in less than four hours.”

  The biggest problem with having a vampire doctor was that their race couldn’t travel during the day, or they’d get burned by the sunlight. Paula was old enough that she only slept until about noon and could be alert after that, but she had to stay indoors and away from open windows. That was why her clinic was in the basement of her house. It was strongly recommended that Cori not let Bartol flash her anywhere since there was no way to know if it could affect the baby during labor. Paula had already been very insistent about that during previous visits. In fact, there was to be no flashing in the final two weeks before her due date.

  “Heidi can come to you if it’s daytime, and if it’s night, I can come.” Paula moved to the side counter and opened a drawer, pulling out a pamphlet. “You received one of these early in your pregnancy, but here’s another copy just in case. It lists all the phone numbers to reach us, as well as tips on how to handle your labor until one of us can be with you.”

  Cori couldn’t remember where she’d put hers, so she was glad to get another copy. She took it and put it in her purse. “Thanks. So you’re sure the baby is fine and everything?

  “Yes, I am.” Paula put a reassuring hand on her arm. “Your child is very strong and has immortal blood running through their veins. Even if you deliver early, the complications would be minor if they exist at all.”

  “If you’re sure…” Cori gave her a skeptical look. “I mean, maybe we could get a second opinion.”

  She trusted Paula, but even for the vampire doctor, there was only so much she could do to prepare since she’d never delivered a baby like this before.

  “You’re fine.”

  Melena smiled reassuringly at Cori. “She’s not lying. She truly believes the baby is okay.”

  The sensor was a walking lie detector, so if anyone would know, it would be her.

  “Come back this time next week, and we’ll check the progress again,” Paula said, heading for the door.

  “Do you think I should start coming more often?” Cori asked.

  The doctor paused with her hand on the knob. “Not unless we think there’s a problem.”

  “Okay.”

  As soon as Paula left, Cori changed back into her maternity jeans and a t-shirt. They were much warmer and more comfortable than the gown. She normally had no problem with the cold, but something about doctor offices just made the chill sink into one’s bones.

  “Come on,” Melena said, guiding Cori out of the exam room and down the basement hallway. “I’m going to take you shopping.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  The sensor made a humphing sound. “You refused to let me throw you a baby shower and your mother already decorated your child’s room, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to do something as well.”

  “I’m tired. It’s almost seven o’clock in the evening, and most stores will be closing soon,” Cori argued.

  Melena nudged her up the stairs toward the main level of Paula’s home. “There’s still enough time to look at baby stuff and not think about any other problems.”

  “And what if I want to talk about my problems?” If anyone understood what it was like to be in a relationship with a difficult immortal, it was Melena. Cori was tired, but she really felt the need to vent her frustrations.

  “We’ll go to my house afterward, and you can tell me all about it over ice cream.”

  “Alright,” Cori said as they stepped out of the house and into the evening sun. “I can’t pass up ice cream.”

  “Of course not!”

  ***

  Fairbanks, Alaska wasn’t exactly a shopping Mecca, so they only had a few stores to choose from that sold baby items. It didn’t take long to run through them all. Since Cori didn’t want to know the gender beforehand, they chose neutral outfits that could go either way. She had to admit getting out did help take her mind off her other problems, and no demons showed up during their trip, thankfully.

  She waddled up the steps to Melena’s house. “I don’t remember pregnancy being this hard.”

  “You’ve got a big baby in there. Of course, it’s tough.”

  Cori stepped through the front door. “Can’t wait to see how it goes when you have babies.”

  “Ha!” Melena laughed. “That won’t be anytime soon if I can help it.”

  “I know I’ve been complaining, but it’s not that bad.”

  She followed her friend into the kitchen. They pulled several tubs of ice cream from the freezer and settled on the bar stools at the counter. A few minutes passed as they fixed their dessert before Melena replied.

  “For one, Emily has been enough for us to fill any parental desires we might have.” She paused to take a bite of ice cream. “For two, I’m immortal. It’s not like I have some kind of timetable and need to rush it.”

  Cori rubbed her stomach. “I didn’t plan on this, but I am excited to have another baby.”

  “And scared,” Melena added with an astute look. Sensors could detect emotions as well as lies.

  “It would be easier if Bartol wasn’t so….”

  “Di
stant?”

  “Exactly.” Cori nodded. “I don’t think he’s ready for this.”

  Melena poked her spoon into her ice cream. “It could be good for him. Maybe just the kick in the pants he needs to get out of his funk and join the real world.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Listen.” She put her hand on Cori’s. “This isn’t gonna be easy, and I won’t try to tell you otherwise, but you’ve got this. You’re one of the bravest, toughest women I know. If anyone can get through to Bartol and make a relationship work with him as well as have a baby, it’s you.”

  Cori appreciated the words of comfort, but it didn’t help much. “If I could just get him to go to another appointment at Paula’s, I think it would help him see how real this is.”

  Melena gave her a commiserating look. “Men are just weird about that, but I’ll promise you this—I’ll be there whenever you need me.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot,” Cori said.

  “And if you need me to kick Bartol, just let me know,” the sensor said, grinning.

  Chapter 14

  Bartol

  Of all the places in the world Bartol would rather not be, Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles reached near the top of his list. In the late afternoon, it was crowded, stifling, and the traffic was heavy. Too many people filled the sidewalks, making him want to run far and fast. The myriad of human scents crowded his nose, and the noise from their chatter made his head hurt.

  He wished he could leave and would have preferred to be with his mate, but he didn’t have a choice. Poor Cori had been more than upset when he’d given her the news he’d be going away for a while. The guilt clawed at his heart. Bartol needed to be there for her more, but he was at a loss as to how to be the man she required. He was being pulled in too many directions. Part of him wanted to hide away from everyone in the remotest place on Earth he could find, another wanted to stay at his mate’s side and be there for the baby, and the last recognized he must work for the archangel if he was to keep the deal with Jeriel. How had his life become this complicated? It had been terrible in Purgatory, but it had also been simple. There were no responsibilities other than to endure and survive.

  He narrowly sidestepped a group of tourists taking up most of the sidewalk. So many people happily made their way along with no idea the danger they faced. In the last two days, he and Raguel captured more than two dozen demon hosts. It was far worse than they’d imagined, and the problem continued to grow. It had to stop, but unfortunately, none of the ones they found were the three who had opened the portal to Hell. They needed to find that portal and eliminate the demons who’d opened it.

  Bartol’s senses picked up a target just down the street by the Hollywood Wax Museum. “Over there.”

  “I sense it as well,” his father replied.

  Using an alcove so as not to alarm the humans, they turned invisible and then flashed directly in front of the demon. It was flirting with a young woman. Even though she couldn’t see him, Bartol could still compel her. He suggested she go elsewhere while his father grabbed their target and flashed to a nearby alley. A moment later, he joined them. Bartol and his father could employ invisibility and keep-away spells, but they had to use them conservatively, which was why they didn’t go far and made use of the alley. It took a lot of power to track and kill each demon, and they were trying to avoid weakening themselves any more than necessary. The alley was mostly empty, which made it as ideal as it could get in such a crowded area. Both let off their invisibility cloaks and focused on their target.

  Raguel held the demon against a brick wall. “Tell us where The Trio is!”

  The young man they’d captured couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. He had a lean body, shaved head, and wore knee-length shorts with a blue tank top.

  “The Trio?” The demon’s eyes widened. “Sargith not see them since he got to this human city.”

  Bartol startled, and he and his father exchanged looks. Most of the time, the only answers they got were curse words and slurs from their prey. No matter what tactics they tried, demons wouldn’t tell them anything useful. They only knew about the moniker “The Trio” because one of the hosts they’d captured had slipped and called them that. This demon was giving his name and not fighting them. In fact, he was shaking in fear instead of spitting and clawing at them the way the others had done.

  “Where did you arrive?” Bartol asked.

  Sargith gulped. “On a beach.”

  Bartol whispered to his father. “Why is this one talking easier?”

  “You can’t sense it, but this demon made the mistake of possessing a man with an eighth of elf blood in him. They can’t fully capture the mind or destroy it like they can with a regular human. From what I can tell, the two have bonded.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “We can’t separate them.” Raguel’s lips formed a grim line. “They are living together in accord, so if we kill one, the other will die as well.”

  “Sargith don’t want to die,” the demon said.

  Bartol ignored it. “Then what do we do?”

  “Take us to the beach where you arrived,” the archangel addressed the demon. “And we’ll let you live.”

  Bartol’s jaw dropped. “We’re going to let him go?”

  “This is a rare opportunity.” Raguel stared hard at their prisoner. “None of us should waste it.”

  Sargith nodded hard. “Yes. Will do as you ask if you let us live.”

  “Good. Now tell us about the beach.”

  ***

  After hearing the demon describe where he’d arrived, they determined he must have come from a point south of the Santa Monica Pier. They arrived at the beach, finding it already crowded. It was the end of April with a warm sun shining down. Of course, the locals and tourists were taking advantage of the ideal weather. Bartol spotted quite a few people in the water with many more spread across the beach. A group played the drums, their beat rhythmic and loud, and another man played his guitar.

  There was a time long ago when he would have found this to be a ripe opportunity to hunt for female companions. One of his favorite places to search had been beaches across the world, but now Bartol hardly noticed the women despite their swimwear being much more revealing than before he’d gone to Purgatory.

  “Which way from here?” Raguel asked.

  Sargith studied their surroundings and pointed to the south. “That way.”

  They followed the lithe man, moving inland from the water. Eventually, they came to a bike path and he stopped. The demon frowned, looking one way and then the other.

  Bartol moved next to him. “What is it?”

  “Sargith not sure which way from here. Came two weeks ago.”

  “Look with your senses,” Raguel said to Bartol.

  He opened his mind, searching for anything that felt demonic other than the host beside him. At first, he didn’t feel anything, but his feet started moving of their own volition. He made his way toward a copse of palm trees and finally felt a tainted signature pulsing nearby. It made his stomach turn.

  “It’s up there.” He nodded in the direction where he sensed it. “Right alongside the path.”

  “Indeed,” Raguel agreed.

  Sargith bounced up and down. “That’s it. That’s it.”

  This demon wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box, but at least that worked to their advantage. He was being far more cooperative than they could have hoped. Not once had he tried to run away or mislead them.

  The archangel hurried ahead of them while Bartol kept a close eye on their prisoner just in case he changed his mind and tried to flee. He couldn’t see anything to indicate the portal’s presence, but the closer he got, the more he felt it. Malevolence oozed across the area, and humans who moved along the path coughed or gripped their stomachs. As they got closer, two people who came near the portal became possessed. Their new demonic signatures popped up on Bartol’s senses almost instantly, and their
eyes flashed red when he spotted them. Unfortunately, there was no time to deal with them at the moment, and they had to let them get away.

  “We must shut this portal down now,” Raguel said, staring in the direction where it must lay.

  Bartol frowned. “How?”

  “I have the ability to do it, but it will not be easy.”

  Bartol understood what his father’s grim tone truly meant. They were both low on their power reserves already. The archangel couldn’t admit it out loud with their prisoner present, but closing the portal could take all the energy he had left. He wouldn’t have anything remaining to assist Bartol in executing the numerous demons nearby, and he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight if they managed to locate The Trio. That could be costly. Those three had to be powerful to open a portal.

  They wouldn’t mention it in front of Sargith, but they’d need to take a break for the rest of the night to recharge. Twelve hours would give them back enough energy to be effective once more. Then they could continue their hunt.

  Bartol gestured at the portal. “Do it.”

  Raguel gave him a meaningful look, nodding at Sargith to communicate the message. Then he turned his back and moved in front of the invisible portal, placing his feet wide apart. Something about the way he positioned himself indicated he could see it and was perhaps straddling it. He spread his hands above the spot like someone warming themselves over a fire and closed his eyes, mumbling ancient words.

  “You.” Bartol took hold of Sargith’s arm. “Go now.”

  “But this is fun to watch!”

  “If you want us to keep our end of the deal and let you live, you’ll get out of here before we change our minds.” He dragged the demon in a southerly direction down the path. “Keep in mind if we find you doing anything to hurt people or cause too much trouble, I’ll execute you with no hesitation.”

  “Sargith understand,” he said sadly and stumbled as he tried to keep up.

  After they got well out of sight from Raguel, Bartol let the demon go. “I better not find you in this area again.”