Aries

by Kim Faulks

  “No one is coming.” Diamond’s voice echoed in the dark. “Not for a while.”

  “Stay away from me, Diamond. I mean it… I…I’m not…”

  Her fragile voice crushed me like a thousand pound weight.

  “You’re not? Not what?” He growled.

  “Not…myself.” Brittle words echoed with a darkness I’d never heard in her voice before. “I don’t…I can’t.”

  A grunt was followed with a hiss.

  “Stay away…leave us alone,” she warned.

  There was a second of silence and then a grunt and a boom. The wall rocked between us

  “Fucking bitch!” Diamond yelled.

  The silence grew longer, footsteps echoed. I dragged my hand from the wall, leaving a bloody mess in my wake, and brought it down hard. “Help us…my baby! Please, something’s wrong with my baby!”

  A tear of cloth came from X’s room. Tears slipped from my eyes. This was all my fault. All my fault. She was just a kid…just a fucking kid.

  A loud pop echoed and screams followed. Guttural, deep haunting screams that made my heart lift.

  “Fucking bitch…you fucking bitch. My eye! My fucking eye!”

  Footsteps thundered. Something heavy hit the wall hard enough to shudder the floor. The door handle rattled before the thud echoed.

  “I warned you, Diamond. Remember that…I warned you.”

  Her voice resounded right next to me. I slid my hand down to where her voice was the loudest as the wave of pain came again, cramping low down. I clamped my legs together as tight as I could.

  Don't let me have this baby…not yet. Not yet. It’s too soon. He’ll never survive.

  He’ll never survive.

  The silver eyes of my wolf son came to me, shining bright, such a beautiful smile. I never envisioned him in human form, only wolf. A wall of fire sat behind him, he was bathed with fire, surrounded by fire, and yet the flames never touched him…they caressed him.

  My hand slid from the wall. My body sagged as that image took hold. My wolf and my fire. Lightning tore, ripping through my body.

  Voices sounded somewhere far off in the distance. White light bathed me, carried me…but my wolf was where I wanted him to be. My wolf and my fire.

  Hands grabbed me, lifting me. There were too many, shoving aside my shirt. Cold air reached between my legs. My head rolled back. I stared at the white lights above.

  “Joslyn…Joslyn…”

  Dark eyes moved into view. I reached for her, my guardian angel.

  X grabbed my hand, clasping bloody fingers. “You’re going to be okay, Joslyn. You’re going to be okay.”

  Her gaze slipped lower as I was carried. There were too many people, too many things and too much pain. I clenched my jaw, tears slid free as a wave came again to break my shores. Twisting, tearing.

  “Something’s wrong with my baby,” I whispered holding onto X’s hand.

  Blood smeared her face and her chest, glistening bright under the white lights. She looked so young, so young for so much horror.

  “You’re gonna be fine.”

  The hard edge was back in her words, cutting, but not with the same edge she once had. Pain slashed, ripping all the way through my chest. A gut-wrenching sound filled the white room. A sudden rush of air silenced the cry.

  That sound had come from me. I hit a stretcher, Doctor Cal came into view. “You’re going to be okay, Joslyn. Just breathe, you’re going to be fine.”

  His head snapped up to the others in the room. “What happened, who did this?”

  The room fell quiet. His gaze hardened, hands worked furiously. “I need an ultrasound over here. Nurse…nurse, get over here. Get me that syringe. Get a drip going. I need one hundred milligrams of Terbutaline and push!”

  I closed my eyes as he yelled for drugs. No one would help me, not now.

  I’m here, Joslyn.

  I opened my eyes to see the red eyes of my Dragon. “Zadoc?”

  I’m right here. Breathe honey. Just like we did, do you remember? In and out…in and out.

  Air filled my chest and left. I focused on the movement, just as he said.

  That’s the way…that’s it.

  “The baby,” I murmured as something sharp pierced my skin.

  Don't you worry about him now. He’s going to be just fine…it’s you I’m worried about. You need to slow down your heart…you can’t leave me, not when we’ve just started.

  I tried to smile, tried to show him everything was okay. But my body was slow to respond.

  “Okay, we've got the bleeding slowed,” the doctor growled above me. “Get this one out of here,”

  X’s grip on my hand tightened.

  I dug deep and lifted my head, cutting him with a savage glare. “She stays.”

  He opened his mouth to argue, and then thought better of it. “Fine, but stay out of my way.”

  I craned my head as the sound of tearing cloth followed. Cold slipped into my veins. I glanced at the needle in my arm as my tears fell. “Don’t let…”

  I found her gaze, my Cherokee guardian, could she help me now? “Don’t let them take him from me. He’s all I have left.”

  “No one’s taking anything,” she murmured and squeezed my hand tighter. “I won’t let them. You’re gonna be fine.”

  A whopp, whopp, whopp filled the room, beating faster, blending into one another…a heartbeat. I flinched at the sound, suddenly feeling lighter than I’d ever been. His heartbeat, so fast, so powerful. I glanced down along my body to where the doctor angled a handheld device into the crease of my groin.

  “It’s okay. You’ve suffered a small tear, but we’ve got the bleeding under control. You’re going to be fine, Joslyn. Your baby’s going to be fine. The cramping should ease. Just breathe…breathe.”

  X’s hand clenched, anchoring me to this moment, and yet all I could hear was the sweet sound of that heartbeat. Slick tears carved over my nose to free fall and hit the mattress.

  “You’re a very lucky young woman. Your baby’s not quite viable at twenty-six weeks, you need to be careful and rest. It’ll give you time to prepare.”

  “Prepare?” X wrenched her head up at the sound. “Prepare for what?”

  “For the birth…for Joslyn to…” His skin paled. “She’s a human woman giving birth to a wolf shifter for Christ’s sake, what did you think was going to happen?”

  I nodded and closed my eyes. Claws, teeth…bright eyes shining. That was the reason I always saw him as a wolf and never as a human, it was because he was trying to tell me this, trying to warn me somehow. “It’s okay. I understand.”

  “Understand? Understand what? That you’re just going to let this happen? Let this…this kid tear you apart as it comes out?”

  “He won’t know. He won’t understand,” I argued, but my mouth was dry and my tongue was thick. “He won't know I can’t heal like one of his kind.”

  There was a sudden inhale. Dull words filled with shock followed. “Jesus…Jesus…what the…?”

  Steel trays clattered as the doctor stumbled. Cotton gauze soaked with blood fell, utensils hit the floor with a crash. I raised my head to the screen as it blurred. “What…what?”

  The doctor turned to the nurse. “Get the Huntress Now!”

  “What is it? Tell me…tell me what’s going on?”

  “I don’t believe it…I don’t…” He shook his head and found my gaze.

  Footsteps echoed, thundering down the corridor as the nurse ran. I released X’s hand to grip the side of the bed. My body was numb from the pain, but my senses were on fire. “Is there something wrong with my baby?”

  He flinched as I spoke and shook his head. “No…nothing like that.”

  A flurry of movement filled the room as the blonde bitch entered. “What? What was so damn important I had to be dragged away from a meeting with the Senator, for fucks sake?”

  “Look.” He pointed to the screen and angled the device low down to my belly, and then move
d it over to the opposite side.

  She stilled, her gaze fixed on that screen. She lifted her head to the doctor. “How?”

  “I don’t know yet. But she can’t stay here. She needs to leave.”

  She jerked her head, motioning him outside and into the hall.

  I clawed the air, searching. “X?”

  “I’m right here, not going anywhere.” She grasped my hand and moved, taking one step toward the monitor, but it wasn’t answers she was seeking. She snatched a scalpel from the bench and gripped it in the palm of her hand.

  “Don’t. You’ll cut yourself,” I whispered.

  She shook her head. “No I won’t. You should see me with a tomahawk.”

  Voices rose in the corridor outside the room, blending with each other until suddenly there was only silence. The doctor spoke once more and then nothing.

  “They’re coming back,” X whispered and gripped the scalpel. She lifted her head and steeled her gaze. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Yes…she is.” The Huntress snapped, moving into view. “And you're going with her. I’m finally going to be rid of you and I can’t fucking wait. You’ve been the bane of my existence. This…attack is the last damn straw. You can go to the Senator, let him deal with you.” The Huntress took one look at the scalpel in X’s hand. “You can drop that, or I can shove you back into that fucking room. The choice is yours.”

  X opened her hand. The blade toppled, falling end over end until it hit the floor with a clang. The Huntress turned her head toward the corridor. “Get these two out of my sight.”

  Khaki green filled the room. I clutched the bed as the nurse came to my side. “Here, put these on.”

  She shoved a fresh set of clothes into my hand as X was wrenched from my side. The nurse yanked the needle from my arm with a brutal tug. Blood seeped out of the wound. She slapped gauze over the flow and followed with a torn piece of tape.

  “Where are you taking us?” X yelled, slapping away the soldiers’ hands. “Get your fucking hands off me! Joslyn…Joslyn!”

  The nurse stepped away until she hit the counter. I’d receive no kindness and no more help from her. Blood smeared the inside of my thighs. My pants were in tatters. My shirt bloodstained. I slid my feet from the table.

  “Let me pass…let me fucking pass!” X growled.

  She moved to my side, grabbing the clothes from my hand and tugging the ripped pants free. “Fucking pathetic pieces of shit.”

  She eased one foot into the leg and followed with another.

  “If she gets plenty of rest and no stress she might survive. Otherwise…we’ll have to do an emergency cesarean,” Doctor Cal warned.

  I’d spent months with the man answering the same damn questions about my childhood. Months, and he couldn’t help me…not once.

  “We don’t need the doctors,” X snarled and jerked my pants higher.

  I felt the words but it was too late, somehow I sealed my son’s fate. I slid from the bed. My knees trembled as I yanked down the shirt.

  The fabric stuck cold against my skin. I raised my arms over my head, not caring about who watched me, not caring about anything other than the stillness in my belly and the sickening scent of my own blood.

  “Take them back to the cells,” the Huntress snapped. “Get them out of my sight.”

  The cells…the same cells? My head snapped up. “The same cells…are you taking me back to—”

  “To your Dragon, yes.” Her dark eyes shone. “Although you might want to leave him down there. He’s a little”—her lips curved into a smile as she lifted a finger to tap the side of her head—“different.”

  Different? I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything other than seeing Zadoc once more. I yanked the shirt down, not bothering to stop for shoes. “We need coats, we need blankets.”

  Her eyes creased in the corners as her smile grew wider. “No, you don’t.” Her gaze dropped to my belly, and then back up. “Goodbye Joslyn…I’ll be seeing you real soon.”

  13

  Zadoc

  “Why don’t you just tell me what the Huntress wants to know?”

  I dropped my head. His questions slipped through the holes in my mind. Questions I had no answers for.

  “Why did you come for the human bitch? Why her, and how did you know what’s coming?”

  A hacking cough tore through my chest. Something crunched as I jerked. Blood splattered the stony floor. The metallic taste stuck. I skimmed the inside of my arid mouth and felt the cracks and fissures.

  “Was it the Seer, Odessa? Was it, did she tell you?”

  My arid throat clenched, there could be no ease for my hunger…no salvation for my pain.

  Slithers of bone from my shattered leg moved slowly, creeping into place. I couldn’t die…couldn’t snuff this ever burning flame.

  But I wanted to. I’d end this existence in a heartbeat if I could.

  I had nothing left to live for.

  My family would survive—the humans would survive…the wolves would tear themselves apart…but somehow they’d survive.

  But there was no survival for me—not without Joslyn.

  She’s gone, Dragon. Took off from us as soon as we took her topside.

  She don’t want anything from you…to her you don’t exist.

  Don’t exist…don’t exist.

  It’s a pity, I was hoping she’d stick around for a bit. Sweet package she had there…real sweet. Got all bent out of shape when the guys visited her at night…almost lost the baby.

  I closed my eyes. My body shuddered.

  Almost lost the baby…my baby.

  She almost lost my baby.

  Shadows crowded the cells when I opened my eyes. The wolf was gone, but another one would come…they always did.

  I stared at the plate. The steak now cold. The gruel now hard. But the bitter taste of the drug remained, in my memory alone. Sleep was the only comfort, the only peace—until they either let me go, or found a way to kill this immortal soul.

  Only one gave me an ending—the other gave me existence.

  Boots scuffed outside. Voices flitted in and out. I kept my eyes closed. The beating would come. I’d welcome their fists and hate, welcome the pain… I’d take anything as long…as long as it wasn’t her beautiful face.

  That face.

  That haunting face never left me…that was the definition of torture.

  “Zadoc…Jesus. What have they done to you?”

  I turned away. Sleep was the only salvation. Sleep and pain. Darkness closed in, stealing me from the cruel sound of that voice.

  Her voice cut through the endless nothing. “You have to wake up…Zadoc…”

  I lashed out inside my mind. Go away. Can’t you leave me in peace? Can’t you leave me the fuck alone? It’s too hard, I whimpered. It’s too hard.

  But her ghost lingered. I couldn’t survive, not like this. I gave her everything, my body my soul…my desires. I gave it all—but I couldn’t exist with what was left.

  I wouldn’t survive…this atrophy of my heart. I wouldn’t be the same. Never the same. Not without her.

  “I’m here,” her ghost whispered. “I’m never leaving you.”

  Warm tears slipped down my face. Please, just leave me alone.

  “You don’t mean that,” her ghost whispered, her voice filled with pain. “This isn’t you…this isn’t…”

  Leave me alone! I lunged, crawling across the cell to her ghost. I was a broken animal backed into a corner.

  Her memory was torture…her smell. I rocked with desire, sweet and musky…she smelled clean—she smelled…

  My throat tightened. My heart thundered.

  No…get away from me. I clawed for my throat, clenching split lips as tight as I could. Get away from me…get away…

  I closed my eyes and gripped the bars. Voices echoed, words I couldn’t catch. Revulsion rode my stomach, that sickly metallic scent filled my head…blood.

  Got all bent out of s
hape when the guys visited her at night…almost lost the baby.

  The wolf’s words filled me. They hurt her. They broke her. Everything was true…everything they told me. All the rapes. All the torture. Everything.

  I gripped the bars and rocked.

  “I’m here,” she cried.

  Broken pieces of my shattered bone was nothing compared to the pieces of my heart. There was no resurrecting this dead flesh…there was no way for peace.

  My fault…all of it was my fault. I should’ve saved her…should’ve tried harder. Should've kept her safe.

  And now she was…

  “I love you,” her ghost wept. “I love you, come back to me. Come back to me.”

  I rocked and rocked, clenching my eyes tight.

  “Our son needs you…he’s yours Zadoc. He’s yours and he needs his father. I need his father.”

  Back and forth…back and forth. I slapped my hands to my ears, still her voice cut through…her ghost found the softest part of me. I rocked…back and forth…back and forth, while inside, my Dragon, the Wretched, howled in pain.

  “I saw him today. On a monitor,” her ghost murmured.

  “Joslyn…don’t get too close. He’s not right…he’s not…” a stranger’s voice cut through. “Look at him. He’s…”

  “Mine!” The ghost’s scream ripped through my head. “He’s mine! I won’t give up on him. I refuse to give up.”

  “Jesus Christ, Joslyn. What the hell are you doing?” Terror filled the stranger’s voice. I gripped the bars and opened my eyes.

  A whimper ripped from my dead chest as Joslyn’s ghost closed the distance. She’d never leave, not in peace, not alone. The scent of her blood was a rag stuffed down my throat. I couldn’t escape, couldn’t do anything but watch her take step after step toward me.

  Why can’t you leave me in peace. You’re free now…you’re free. Go, be free. My hand slipped from the bar. My fingers trembled as I reached for her ghost. Go be free…be happy…please, go and be happy.

  “Never,” her ghost whispered and moved from the shadows.

  Her belly was full and round, filled with life. I wanted to touch her, wanted to run my fingers across her body and feel that echo inside my soul—that need I’d denied for so long—my son. I wanted to touch the woman who held my son. I wanted to love her, to protect her…