Twist of Fate (Veredian Chronicles Book 4)

by Regine Abel

  Aleina had, therefore, put Admiral Lee into semi-retirement to become instead Aleina Delphin, Veredian Ambassador on Xelix Prime. She continued to lead their military but had delegated the brunt of the responsibilities on the field to Kamala and Ashara. Anyway, her huge belly would have kept her from impersonating the lithe, snarky male cyborg everyone believed him to be.

  Like Amalia, Aleina’s pregnancy hadn’t shown until the fifth month when her stomach appeared to expand overnight, then exponentially every other day after that. Valena had just given birth to her daughter Elisha, a perfect replica of her mother except for her father’s silver eyes and the crihnin on her forehead, and we had just finished moving into our new home.

  We still had plenty of work to do, especially digging a huge pool for Lenora, who must have been a fish in her past life. While I loved the privacy of being in my own house, I missed Jhola’s amazing food and the convenience of a two-minute walk from my bedroom to my work. But I couldn’t complain, considering Aleina had it worse with almost an hour flight to the Capital District. As Ambassador, she’d been assigned an office in the Council Hall. While I’d never say it out loud, it reassured me to have Lhor fly them both to the Hall in the morning. Having a trusted friend and family member near her in the last stages of her pregnancy made me feel better.

  Nevertheless, in the last month of her pregnancy, I put my foot down, insisting she either stayed at home or worked from the Praghans’ estate. There was always a doctor handy there, either Minh when he wasn’t working at his clinic, Whil Murkhin, the First Division’s chief medical officer, or the couple of Veredian healers that had come for training on Xelixian diseases.

  Minh and Whil had been working together on both the Taint and the Veredians’ reproductive issues. Ten days ago, they had both confirmed that Veredian infertility was now a thing of the past. Between regular ryspak consumption, three injections of the Korlethean serum derived from Eryon, and a dozen injections of diluted Bliss, all first generation Veredians were now able to conceive both male and female offspring, with any compatible species. The same applied to second generation Veredian, but they only needed ryspak and Bliss.

  Needless to say, the Veredians had shed copious amounts of joyful tears. Xelixian males, however, were concerned that the Sisters would seek their mates elsewhere to avoid the baggage of the Taint, with Terrans and Dantorians as great potential candidates. Terrans were particularly appealing in that the children would look purely Veredian, unlike our hybrids that were all showing Xelixian traits to varying degrees. While Veredians had expressed no issue regarding this, some Xelixians had begun complaining these mixed babies would permanently change our DNA. Previously, offspring resulting from their matings with Terrans or Aveans had come out essentially looking Xelixian, with only slight variations in eye and hair color. The dominance of Veredian genetics was making a lot of people uncomfortable. We would have to monitor that situation closely.

  As for the Taint, we hadn’t made any progress. We couldn’t find vryer root anywhere to confirm the theory that it could stimulate DMT production levels in our pineal gland, allowing our mate’s oxytocin to cure our Taint.

  Mercy still hadn’t returned to Xelix Prime. She had safely left Guldar after a much longer stay than expected and headed straight to the Eastern Quadrant, the Goddess only knew why. We didn’t understand her apparent secrecy, or at least the cryptic nature of her much-too-rare communications. We only knew that Gruuk’s legacy hadn’t included the clients list which she suspected her brother had somehow divested. Yet, before he took his life, Valena had found nothing in Varrek’s memories that indicated he had deleted or removed them. We could only hope Mercy would return soon and shed some light on her strange behavior.

  Eryon continued to work with the Praghan and Dervhen children. His mentoring had done wonders for little Vahl who rarely ever displayed aggressive behavior anymore. But then, no major event had triggered it, either, so only time would tell how much control he truly had. With two dozen Veredians now expecting, many of whom were second generation, we had reason to believe some of them would be Titans as well.

  I was poring over some reports with Khel when my com went off with an emergency call. In my panic, I almost dropped it. Rhena, our housekeeper, informed me that Aleina had gone into labor. I nearly broke my neck racing down the stairs from Khel’s office. He followed close on my heels and ordered me to let him fly my shuttle, so I didn’t kill myself on the way there.

  Stomach twisting with anxiety, I fidgeted, unable to stay still. Khel laughed at my panicked state. I shouldn’t be so worried; Maheva was there with my mate. She’d been staying at the house this past week with the baby due anytime.

  As soon as we landed, I burst into the house and climbed the stairs three by three to the sound of my mate shouting in pain. I reached the landing to find Rhena trying to reassure Lenora and Zhara, who appeared distraught by Aleina’s screams. For a second, I wondered what Khel’s daughter was doing here, then remembered that outside of schooldays, the girls often visited each other. It was Zhara’s turn to come to our house.

  “Papa!” Lenora yelled when she saw me.

  She ran toward me and threw herself into my arms, crying freely. Dying to go to my mate, I hugged my daughter and kissed the top of her head before gently pushing her away.

  “Mama isn’t going to die, right, Papa? The baby isn’t…?”

  Her voice trailed off and she raised a trembling hand to her horn.

  Oh Goddess!

  Of course, she would be afraid! Her mother had died giving birth to her, torn to shreds by Lenora’s horns. Forcing myself to temper the need to be with my mate, I cupped my daughter’s face with both hands while Zhara ran to her own father.

  “No, little one, your Mama isn’t going to die. Great-mother Maheva is making sure of it. Giving birth always hurts, so it’s normal for your Mama to be screaming.”

  My mind raced to find an appropriate analogy to reassure her.

  “Remember when you stepped on a sea urchin and some of the spikes remained in your foot?”

  She nodded, sniffling.

  “It hurt a lot taking them out so you screamed. But that wasn’t going to kill you, right?”

  She nodded again, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

  “Well, it’s the same for Mama. Taking the baby out of her tummy hurts a lot but it’s not dangerous for her.”

  I couldn’t believe I had just compared my unborn child to a sea urchin’s needle, but that was the first thing that came to mind. Aleina would have my hide if she heard.

  “I need to go help your Mama,” I said, as another loud scream reached me through the closed door. “You stay here with Uncle Khel and your cousin Zhara, okay? Everything will be fine, I promise.”

  “Yes, Papa,” she said, sniffling again.

  My eyes met Khel’s whose eyes told me he would never let me live down that comparison. I groaned inwardly and bolted for the door while Khel extended a hand toward my daughter.

  I entered the room to find my mate half-sitting in bed, pushing. Racing to her side, I supported her back, and she grabbed my hand in a crushing hold.

  “He’s crowning,” Maheva said. “I’m going to need you to push again.”

  Aleina, who had collapsed against me, trying to catch her breath, leaned forward again and pushed with a warrior’s scream. I watched, mesmerized, as the small head of my son appeared, followed soon after by the rest of his body. My vision blurred with tears I didn’t even try to repress.

  My son… Goddess, I have a son!

  I helped my mate lay back down while Maheva cleared our son’s breathing passages. Seconds later, a powerful, lusty cry erupted from the little body. Aleina burst into laughter while her own eyes filled with tears. Our gazes met, and I let mine express all the love I felt for her.

  “Come perform your duty, Papa Ghan,” Maheva said.

  Looking over my shoulder, I saw her extending a laser scalpel toward me, a glowing smile
on her face. With one last kiss to my mate, I released her hand and reached for the scalpel with shaky fingers. Maheva indicated where to cut the umbilical cord. I complied then stared mesmerized as she cleaned my son. She made quick work of it, wrapped him in a thick blanket, then placed him in my arms. Heart pounding, I carried him over to his mother, terrified that I might drop him.

  Lips quivering, Aleina raised her hands to receive our son. His cries died down, and he seemed to settle down. He was beautiful, the spitting image of my father. The boy’s Xelixian heritage completely dominated. From his mother, he had inherited the golden eyes speckled with green but with my enlarged irises and Veredian markings, although the pattern didn’t match hers.

  “My little Scholar,” Aleina whispered.

  She kissed the crihnin on his forehead before lifting her face toward me. I leaned forward and kissed her lips.

  “I love you, Sameha.”

  “I love you, too, my mate.”

  A discreet knock on the door reminded us of Khel and the children waiting outside with our housekeeper, Rhena.

  I nodded at Maheva who went to open for them. Lenora’s head poked in first, a worried look on her face while she sought her mother.

  “Come in, Leni,” Aleina said in a soft but hoarse voice from screaming. “Come meet your little brother.”

  Relief, joy, and the remnants of her fear played on her face as she rushed toward us. Khel walked in behind her holding Zhara back by the hand to give us a bit of family time. I gave him a slight nod of gratitude, and he responded in kind.

  “He’s beautiful!” Lenora whispered. “And so small!”

  She carefully ran her fingers over the thin, black curls covering her little brother’s head. Looking over her shoulder, she waved at her cousin to approach.

  “Zha! Come see!”

  Zhara looked up at her father, who nodded his assent and released her hand. She ran up next to our daughter and peered at the little boy.

  “Ooooh! He’s pretty like Papa, and he’s a gray Veredian like me!” Zhara beamed at us.

  She still struggled with being so different from other Veredian children. The arrival of my son could only help her in accepting her uniqueness.

  After letting everyone fuss a little longer over the boy, Maheva indicated for everyone to let Aleina rest. On his way out, Khel stopped and faced me.

  “Family, my brother. Love and family is everything,” Khel said.

  He gave my shoulder a squeeze then walked out with his daughter.

  Yes, love and family. Praise the Goddess, I have both.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading!

  If you enjoyed my work, please rate it, and keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming novels.

  THE VEREDIAN CHRONICLES SERIES

  Escaping Fate

  Losing Amalia

  Blind Fate

  Raising Amalia

  Twist of Fate

  DARK TALES

  Bluebeard’s Curse

  Anton’s Grace

  THE SHADOW REALMS

  Dark Swan

  VALOS OF SONHADRA

  Unfrozen

  I’d love to hear from you. Come say hello:

  Regine Abel Website

  Facebook Page

  Twitter

  Bookbub Author Page

  Newsletter Sign-up