Defender's Blood The Birth and The Battle (Urban Fantasy)

by A. K. Michaels

Tatiana found David and said that he could do the exam. David was wary though. “Are you sure? Zach won’t like it.”

  Tatiana understood his fear, he was a human and Zach could kill him in one second flat. She was a strong Fairy and Zach scared her, so she sympathised with David. Tatiana had an idea. “He has agreed David, but if you would feel better I could phone Vlad and get him here?”

  David nodded and looked relieved. Tatiana took her phone from the pocket in her dress. Vlad answered on the first ring. She explained the situation and he said he would be right over. He was at the clinic in less than ten minutes.

  Vlad approached Zach and stood at his back with his hand on his shoulder. David entered and Zach snarled and growled all in one go. Vlad spoke in an authoritative tone. “Easy, my friend. He’s only trying to help – he won’t hurt her.”

  David lifted the cover from the end of the bed and asked Tatiana to hold it, to make sure Alex was covered and she could have dignity even if she wasn’t aware of what was going on.

  Firstly David removed the panties that Alex was wearing and this nearly put Zach into a searing rage. The look he gave David chilled him to his bones. He put on his surgical gloves and squirted some jelly onto his fingers. Zach snarled louder! Vlad’s hand on his shoulder tightened.

  David very quickly and gently positioned Alex’s legs in the normal position for this procedure – bringing her knees up and putting her feet together, then letting the knees fall apart. The anger rolling off Zach was clear for anyone in the room to see. David inserted his fingers and started his exam.

  Zach made to stand up and Vlad pushed down on his shoulder while talking. “Zach, you need to let him do this. Please sit down.” Vlad’s tone was one of concern but also calm. Zach sat down.

  David continued his exam and was quite shocked. Christ, this pregnancy had progressed quickly. She was now at six months at least. He removed his fingers and repositioned Alex’s legs as Tatiana lay the cover over her.

  “Zach, I have no idea what’s going on … but Alex is now nearly six months along.”

  Zach just nodded his head, he could see it himself, he could ‘feel’ the babies as they strove to grow.

  He loved them, however, did they not realise what they were putting their mother through?

  David left and everyone took up their positions again. Tatiana walked over to her chair and resumed her vigil. Irina sat back down – having stood up to see what was going on with the exam. Vlad gave Zach a rather uncomfortable hug and then kissed Irina. She smiled at him and told him to go back to work.

  *****

  Other people started to drop into the clinic, having heard about Alex. It was a steady stream, a lot of people they knew, an awful lot more they didn’t. Tatiana ran interference and thanked everyone for their good wishes. Thadius came and stayed for a while, advising that the town was on high alert. The change in Alex’s condition meant that the attack could come at any time.

  Scott appeared and sat outside the room. He didn’t leave, Bri brought him food and would sit with him for a time before he shooed her away to go and rest.

  The plans were getting put in place to move the non-fighters from the town and the call had gone out for anyone that was coming to come now. There were coaches that had been leased and were already there, ready to move people when the decision was made.

  The tension was running high, not just in the room that Alex was located – it was everywhere. The Wolves took it upon themselves to stay Wolf and roam the boundaries, searching, watching, looking for any signs that something was coming their way.

  Zach knew all this, but he filed it away. His only concern was for Alex.

  The next day, thirty-six hours since she had collapsed, Alex started to stir. There was a rush of activity ... Zach talking quietly, asking his mate to come to him. Tatiana brushing her hair with her hands and sending calming thoughts to her girl. Irina pacing back and forth, the Wolf in her desperate to get out. David constantly monitoring everything, her heart, her pulse, her breathing.

  Vlad stood in the corner. Irina had phoned him and he was there in less than five minutes – he had been on his way to a meeting and had been close to the clinic.

  Scott stood sentinel at the door. The look on his face would scare just about anything away, his body was ramrod straight and he fought to keep his Wolf leashed. It wanted out – he fought better and was stronger in Wolf form. The front doors burst open and Duncan stomped in, he had just landed and came to the clinic immediately.

  Alex was now nearly eight months pregnant. Her belly seemed huge on her slight frame. Zach couldn’t see how she could carry the burden. Her eyes flickered, opening once and closing again. Zach sent powerful thoughts to her – ‘Come to me little one, I need you.’

  It was the longing in his plea that pulled Alex from her deep slumber.

  She smiled and her eyes opened sleepily. The first thing she saw was Zach leaning over her and the look of relief on his face made her wonder what was wrong.

  “God, Zach, I feel like I’ve slept for a week, I’m so dozy.” Her voice was raspy, her throat dry. They had been dribbling small amounts of water into her mouth to try and combat the dryness, but most just dribbled out the side of her mouth.

  The relief that washed through Zach was immense. His mate had come back to him. “Meine Kleine – thank the gods, I thought I was going to lose you.” He spoke down to her with such feeling in his voice that she was worried.

  She had a confused look on her face as she came to recognise she wasn’t in her bed at home. Where was she? Zach answered her thought. “You’re in the clinic, Alex, you collapsed ...” Before he could go on, her eyes went wide.

  “The babies – Zach – are our babies okay?” Fear laced her words and Zach stroked her face gently with his palm.

  “Yes they seem fine, though the little ones want to be born. Alexina, you’ve been out for thirty-six hours ... and you’re now hitting the eight months along mark!”

  No – that couldn’t be? Her thoughts were running through her head, still jumbled from not being fully awake. She moved a hand down towards her belly and felt the large mound. She tried to raise her head but failed. Zach helped her, she looked at the huge belly in front of her.

  “Jeez … not a lot I can say, is there? Except I was right!” She laid her head back down.

  Tatiana rested her hand on top of Alex’s on her belly and asked, “What were you right about, honey?”

  “I knew something was going to happen. I don’t know how, and I made Zach finish everything in the nursery, it’s all done and ready for them,” she said quietly.

  Zach laughed. “Alexina, you go to great lengths to prove your point!”

  “I’m starving … is there anything to eat?”

  Irina ran over. “What do you want, Alex? I’ll go get it.”

  The next thing out of her mouth had Zach smiling. “What I want is to go home. I want you to take me home, Zach.”

  David was muttering “Impossible – you should stay here.”

  Zach bent down and picked his mate up, bed cover and all. David rushed to disconnect the drip from her arm, then Zach carried her out of the room. David was still muttering behind him but Zach ignored him. He was taking his mate home.

  Scott got up and followed them out the door, Duncan in his wake. “Whit in the name oh Jesus is goin on?” Duncan asked.

  “I’m taking Alex home, Duncan.” And with that, Zach put her in the car and drove away.

  As soon as she was in her own bed, she relaxed. Zach could feel it. He was right to bring her home.

  Scott, Duncan, Irina, Vlad and Tatiana arrived shortly afterwards. Irina asked what she wanted to eat and she and Vlad went off to get a large order from the diner. Tatiana sat in the corner of the bedroom, keeping watch over her girl. Scott and Duncan were in the living room. Scott was still on high alert and Duncan was relaxing with a very large whisky in his hand. Scott filled him in on every
thing that had been happening and Duncan did his usual ‘harrumphs’ here and there.

  Zach was hovering over Alex, not wanting to leave her alone ever again. She smiled up at him and said the most unexpected thing. “Zach, I need to go to the loo and I need to brush my teeth. My mouth feels like Ghandi’s flip-flop!”

  Once more her little sayings didn’t mean a hell of a lot to him but he guessed that her mouth wasn’t feeling too clean. He helped her to the en suite – she wouldn’t let him carry her. She was now waddling like a duck, the large bump impeding her walking. She had a pee and brushed her teeth, then used some wipes and cleaned her face.

  “I need a shower, Zach, I feel filthy,” she implored, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

  “Not now darling, later if you’re feeling better. Now you’re going back to bed.” As he walked back into the main bedroom, his senses were on alert – he had that feeling that something was there again. He noted Tatiana had raised her head and was looking around. She must sense it too.

  He laid Alexina back down and asked Tatiana to come and help him in the kitchen. She followed and when they got to the living room, Scott stood up and walked to the bedroom door. He was taking his job of protecting Alexina very seriously indeed and this soothed Zach.

  Zach turned to Tatiana as soon as they were in the kitchen. “You felt that, didn’t you?”

  Tatiana raised her eyebrow. “What, Zach?”

  Zach frowned. “Tatiana, ever since Alex has gotten pregnant I have felt something watching her. I can sense it but can’t see it and don’t have any idea what or who it is. You obviously felt it in the room – I saw you, Tatiana. Do you know what it is?”

  She raised her eyes to his. “Yes Zach, I felt it, not just now but in the clinic too. You were too caught up in your fear and despair, but I knew.”

  Zach was shocked, how could he not have noticed in the clinic? He was slipping and needed to up his game. “Tatiana, you know what it is, don’t you? You need to tell me what is watching my mate, Tatiana – you have to.” His voice was low and commanding.

  “Yes Zach, I do know. You must keep calm, no shouting or anything. Alex doesn’t need that just now. Okay?” she asked. He nodded his head curtly so she carried on. “It’s Michael. The Angel is what I am sensing. He is not making himself visible but it is definitely him. For what reason, I don’t know. But Zach, if an Angel is keeping watch over our girl … I don’t think that can be a bad thing.”

  Zach hissed. The Angel had no respect for Vampires, he knew because every time he spoke to Zach and used the term, it was in a highly derogative way. Zach didn’t have much respect for him either, Angel or not. He wasn’t overjoyed at this but it could have been so much worse ... a Demon, for instance. One strong enough to break through the wards that were all around the town and in his house. He had feared that was what it was, so an Angel wasn’t such a bad thing, given the circumstances. He didn’t like it, didn’t know why the Angel was doing it, but with everything else that was going on, he could live with it.

  The doorbell rang and Scott answered, it was one of the Wolves that Duncan had brought with him. He was carrying a bag which he passed to Scott and left again, no words spoken. Scott passed the bag to Zach who looked inside. There was a large Tupperware dish with what looked suspiciously like scones and there were two other things that said ‘Mother’s Pride’ and ‘white sliced bread’. This must be the plain bread Alex had asked for.

  He took the bag through to show her, and when she saw the bread she was very pleased. “Great – put one in the freezer and I’ll have some toast now while I’m waiting for Irina to come with the food. Three slices, with butter and if there’s marmalade I’ll have that on too.” Her voice was excited.

  Zach smiled and bowed low in front of her. “Your wish is my command!” She laughed at his carrying on and was very happy to be home, even if she was still tired and big as a house.

  She ran her hands over her belly. It astounded her that these babies were so desperate to get out and had the power to get what they wanted. She was slightly apprehensive about just how powerful they were. As big as she was now, she didn’t think it would be too long till she found out.

  Tatiana was watching Alex and could see the happiness in her face … then she looked worried. “What’s bothering you, Alex?”

  Alex had forgotten Tatiana had come back into the room and once again taken the chair in the corner. “Oh nothing really, Tatiana. I’m just wondering how powerful these little ones are going to be. It’s a bit scary.”

  Tatiana had to agree. These children were certainly not going to be ‘normal’, not by any stretch of the imagination. She only hoped that what she knew was coming was not going to be as bad as she was thinking. She couldn’t lose Alex, she loved her dearly and she dreaded to think how Zach would react. If Alex died, Zach would die soon after but the carnage he could wreak in that short time would be vast.

  Irina and Vlad were back not long after Alex had scoffed the slices of toast and she insisted that she would eat in the kitchen. She wrapped Zach’s robe around her. She had her own of course, but wanted to be totally enveloped in his scent. Duncan joined them for a short while before going off to find out where he would be staying and check on his Wolves.

  Duncan left the house as Thadius entered. “It’s nice to see you awake, Alex. Everyone was so worried for you,” Thadius told her. She smiled but didn’t stop eating.

  Thadius continued, “Bri is going to come round soon, she wants to have a look at you and see if you’re about the same size as when she had her vision.” Zach nodded and Alex just kept on eating.

  Irina was watching her intently, boy was she packing it away. Vlad turned to Thadius. “I’ll stay until Bri comes. Our actions will depend on what she says but we may be looking at moving the people to the safe zone today. I don’t want to take any chances that they get caught up in this … whatever ‘this’ turns out to be.”

  Thadius agreed, “That’s fine Vlad, I’ve got to get back to the office. Everything is going haywire, people are arriving right, left and bloody centre, and we’ve got to organise them. Call me once Bri has been and let me know the outcome.” Vlad nodded once and Thadius gave Tatiana a kiss on her cheek before leaving.

  Alex was just finishing the food Irina had got her and turned round to Zach. “One scone with butter and jam please,” she asked with a smile. He did his little bow again and went to get it for her.

  *****

  Bri arrived just as she was about to eat it. Scott hugged his mate and asked if she was okay. She was quite visibly pregnant, though not as far as Alex was now.

  Bri asked Alex if she could stand up, Zach helping her as she was still a little wobbly. Bri nodded. “Yes … I think the time is near, very near to what I saw in the vision.”

  Bri’s eyes filled with tears. She knew what was coming and she was scared. Scared for so many people that she loved and cared about, all while she would be in some safe place not able to help. She was proud of her mate, Scott, and the fact that Zach had asked him to watch over Alex. The honour was a great one and Scott in fact saw it that way, but Bri still worried about him

  Alex – heavily pregnant and still being here in Unity when all hell was going to break loose. Rhianna, her sister – a very strong Witch she knew, but everyone was vulnerable, she could get hurt. Tatiana, Zach, Irina, Vlad – the list went on and on. People she cared about and she wouldn’t be there to help. When she heard that Irina was staying she tried to use it to get Scott to allow her to stay, but he was having none of it. He told her if he had to pick her up and carry her to the safe zone, that’s what he would do.

  Irina was going to stay with Alex along with Scott, simply because she refused point blank to leave her best friend. Vlad had argued with her on this point and the argument had been loud and aggressive, his Vampire against her Wolf. The thing that won though was something that every male alive knew of – women’s stubbornness. She just wouldn’t
budge on it.

  *****

  Vlad stepped forward. “Thanks Bri. I need to get things in motion, you should go home and pack what you’re taking with you. The coaches leave tonight. I’ll arrange them for after meal time tonight so everyone can have a meal with their loved ones or friends. Scott, you go with Bri now, spend the rest of the day together. No – don’t argue with me, I’ll stay here with Alex. I’ll make the calls now. Zach, we need to discuss where Alex is going to be. I have more or less decided but I want to show you. She needs to be moved either tonight or at the latest tomorrow morning.”

  Vlad saw Alex opening her mouth to protest. “Alexina, this is not up for discussion. The decision is mine as Head of Security and the decision has been made.” His tone was not one Alex had heard before, his using her full name was not something he did either and she knew not to even try and argue, especially as Zach was nodding his head.

  “Tomorrow – I refuse to go anywhere but to my own bed with my mate tonight!” Alex stuck her chin out in a very petulant look which Zach smiled at. Vlad’s mouth lifted at the corner as he tried to keep his smile in check.

  Vlad turned to his mate before continuing. “Irina, you can stay with me at home only until any hostiles are spotted, then you go straight to Alex’s safe place and stay there till this thing is over. Do you understand?”

  Irina nodded her head. She knew that the fact that she could stay with Alex was a bonus. She had enraged Vlad when she said she was staying. He had even threatened to knock her out and make sure she was out of the way – she didn’t think he had been joking, either.

  Vlad nodded at her and spoke to the other couple in the room, “Good, now Bri, Scott – off you two go. Bri, I’ll see you soon, try not to worry.” Bri now had tears clearly running down her cheeks but she nodded and ran to Alex, hugging her tightly before turning and leaving with her Wolf.

  Vlad sighed. “Right, I’ve got calls galore to make. I’m going to sit in the room with the piano. I’ll still be near if there’s any trouble but can make the calls in peace. Irina, come sit with me.” Irina moved towards her Vampire and he softly stroked her face before leading her from the kitchen.