“I don’t know. We were teleporting to help her when I realized I don’t have medicine or bandages or . . . I have no idea what I’m going to need, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to go there empty-handed.”
“Give me one minute to gather what we need,” Edaline said, taking off for the shed where they kept the supplies for all the animals.
“Meet us at the gate,” Sophie called after her, deciding they should save Fitz’s energy. Plus, she’d teleported off Havenfield’s cliffs many times.
They ran toward the high metal fence that blocked the steep drop to the rocky shore.
“Please tell me you’re not going to make us jump,” Tarina begged as Sophie licked the DNA sensor on the lock.
“You don’t have to come with us,” Sophie reminded her.
“Protecting you is my responsibility,” Tarina argued. “Now more than ever.”
“Yeah, where are Sandor and Bo?” Grady asked as Sophie pulled the gates open. “And Flori? And Grizel?”
“Back at Everglen,” Fitz told him.
“They weren’t with us when Silveny’s transmission came through,” Sophie added. “And I couldn’t waste time trying to find them. Will you hail Alden and tell him what’s going on so they don’t panic?”
Grady pulled an Imparter from his pocket and quickly passed along what little information he had as Edaline joined them, carrying an overstuffed satchel.
“Ready?” Sophie asked, holding out her hands.
Grady grabbed one first. “I’m going with you. You could be teleporting into an attack.”
That was another thing that Sophie had been trying very hard not to think about. But she found herself checking her pockets, feeling for the throwing stars she’d tucked away before she’d left that morning. “Okay, we go on three.”
Fitz took her other hand as Edaline reached for Grady. And Tarina grumbled more Trollish curses as she grabbed ahold of Edaline.
“Hang on tight,” Sophie warned, counting off quickly before dragging them over the edge and causing a wide range of shrieks.
They fell and fell and fell, until Sophie had enough energy to crack the sky again and launch them back into the void.
Please don’t let us be too late, she thought, sending the plea into the darkness before she concentrated on the images that Silveny had given her. Fitz tightened his grip on her hand and she clung to him like a lifeline as the void split, dropping them onto a stretch of grass-covered dunes.
“SILVENY—WHERE ARE YOU?” Sophie screamed, squinting through the bright sunlight and finding only empty shoreline.
For several horrible seconds the only sound was the salty wind. But then . . .
Frantic whinnying, somewhere in the distance.
Tarina drew her weapon and charged toward the cries with Grady hot on her heels. Edaline was a few steps behind, but Sophie kept tripping over the long grass and the shifting sand. And Fitz was struggling with his limp.
“Here,” he said, scooping her into his arms and levitating them over the dunes.
It probably should’ve felt strange letting him hold her like that after what had almost happened between them, but all Sophie could think about were the whinnies growing louder and louder. And when they crested the tallest hill, they got their first glimpse of a small, private cove where Greyfell was stamping his hooves and flapping his wings.
Silveny lay collapsed on her side, her wings spread limply behind her.
“NO!” Sophie yelled, leaping out of Fitz’s arms as she channeled every drop of energy she had left and ran flat out.
“I don’t . . . see . . . any blood,” Edaline said through panting breaths, keeping pace right behind her.
Sophie didn’t either.
But Silveny also wasn’t getting up. And her mane looked tangled. And her usually shimmering fur had somehow dulled.
HELP! PAIN! HURRY! Silveny begged.
What’s happening? Sophie transmitted as she closed the last distance between them.
PAIN! PAIN! PAIN!
Sophie took a quick glance at Silveny’s body, trying to find a wound or a twisted limb. But other than her swollen belly, everything looked normal.
Which left only the bigger worry—the fear Sophie had been trying so hard not to acknowledge.
Is it the baby?
Silveny lifted her head, letting out a weak snuffle as her gold-flecked brown eyes focused on Sophie—and the fear and heartache in that stare shredded Sophie’s insides.
Edaline dropped to her knees, running her hands over Silveny’s belly, which really was huge now that Sophie was closer to it. And when Silveny’s muscles contracted, Edaline’s eyes met Sophie’s. “Silveny’s in labor.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
LABOR IS GOOD NEWS, RIGHT?” Fitz asked, glancing between Sophie and Edaline. “That’s what’s supposed to happen?”
“Not yet,” Sophie said, counting off the weeks in her head.
She didn’t know the exact number, but she knew they were still way off from what Silveny had estimated for her due date.
Unless Silveny had been wrong—which was possible.
It wasn’t like Silveny had ever had a baby before, or had any alicorn friends to tell her what to expect. And the elves had never cared for a pregnant alicorn either, so the whole thing could’ve been a miscalculation.
But Silveny’s eyes locked with Sophie’s again, and the panic that flooded Sophie’s head was so real and sharp it felt like daggers.
Baby early. Baby early, Silveny transmitted.
Sophie swallowed hard. “She says it’s too soon. I don’t know how she knows, but she seems pretty sure.”
Greyfell unleashed a terrified whinny.
“Then we’re going to need Vika’s help,” Edaline told her. “And we’re not going to be able to take Silveny to her.”
Sophie jumped to her feet. “I’ll bring Vika here.”
Grady pulled out his pathfinder, spinning the crystal. “I don’t think I have Sterling Gables on this.”
“That’s fine—I’ve been there before. I can teleport.”
“Want me to levitate us again?” Fitz offered, reaching for Sophie’s hand.
Sophie nodded, holding on tight as Tarina heaved a dramatic sigh and took Sophie’s other hand.
“Just what I was hoping for—more teleporting,” Tarina grumbled.
“You could stay here,” Sophie reminded her.
Tarina shook her head. “I go where you go.”
Sophie glanced at her parents. “Will you be okay without us?”
“We’ll do our best,” Edaline promised as Silveny let out another strained snuffle and her muscles contracted again. “But hurry.”
• • •
Trampling hooves and startled cries echoed around them as Sophie, Fitz, and Tarina dropped out of the void in front of a crystal-and-silver mansion, surrounded by pastures filled with unicorns.
“What’s the meaning of this?” a sharp voice demanded, and Tarina leaped into a battle stance, shielding Sophie behind her as a dark-haired elf stalked toward them holding a shovel out like a weapon.
“It’s fine—it’s just Timkin,” Sophie told Tarina, peeking around her shoulder. “Where’s Vika?”
“Why do you want to know?” he demanded, his eyes fixed on Tarina.
“We need her help,” Fitz told him. “Silveny’s in labor.”
“What?” a startled voice gasped from the direction of the house. And Sophie spun around to find a tall, gangly girl staring at her from the doorway.
Stina.
Sophie’s former nemesis—who she still didn’t necessarily like.
But none of that mattered.
“Silveny’s in labor,” Sophie repeated. “We need your mom—now.”
Stina nodded, her mass of dark curls shaking as she shouted into her house, “MOM—THE ALICORN’S IN LABOR!” then motioned for Sophie to follow her as she jogged toward a barnlike structure tucked among two of the larger pastures.
“Ho
w far apart are the contractions?” Stina asked when Sophie caught up to her.
“I don’t know,” Sophie admitted. “I don’t think Edaline timed them.”
“So Silveny’s at Havenfield?”
“No, I brought Grady and Edaline to her. She’s at some beach that she and Greyfell have been hiding out at.”
“Ugh, so we’re going to need everything,” Stina grumbled, picking up her pace and ducking into the barn. “And just so I’m clear,” she said, leaning closer to whisper, “that’s a troll, right?”
“She’s one of my new bodyguards,” Sophie agreed.
Stina blew out a breath, tossing several curls off her forehead. “Okay. I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore. Come on.” She headed for a series of cabinets lining the far wall and started handing out supplies for everyone to carry: metal basins and casks of water and stacks of towels and blankets, satchels of medicine, plus several tongslike contraptions—and Sophie really didn’t want to think about how they’d be used.
“Don’t forget gloves,” Vika called from behind them, and Sophie turned to find Stina’s mom pulling her dark wavy hair into a ponytail. “How far apart are the contractions?” she asked, not bothering with a greeting.
“She doesn’t know,” Stina answered for Sophie. “The alicorn’s in the middle of a beach. Grady and Edaline are with her. And unless I’m remembering wrong, the baby’s coming early.”
“Yes, this is very early,” Vika agreed.
Both mother and daughter shared a look that was much too grim for Sophie’s liking before Vika shot Tarina a wary glance and moved to inspect the supplies. She added a few other balms and poultices to what Stina had already gathered and rested her hands on her narrow hips, surveying what was left in the cabinets. “Well, I guess this’ll have to do.”
“How do we get to the beach?” Stina asked.
“You’re coming too?” Sophie asked.
“My daughter’s been assisting with births all of her life,” Vika agreed, which sounded like kind of a gross way to grow up, if Sophie was honest, but she wasn’t about to turn down help—even if that help came from Stina Heks.
Sophie turned to Fitz. “Are you going to be able to levitate with all of us and all of these supplies?”
“Why would he need to?” Vika wondered.
“Because it’s the only way I can teleport us where we need to go,” Sophie told her. “Unless you have a cliff we can jump off.”
Vika paled. “No. No cliffs.”
Fitz ran a hand down his face. “I’ll make it work.”
He didn’t sound very confident, though. And Sophie wasn’t sure if her enhancing would help boost a skill. “I’ll help lift some of it,” she told him. “My levitating’s not that shaky.”
“We do make a pretty good team,” Fitz said, and Sophie had to give him a tiny smile.
“I can handle it,” Timkin said behind them. “Levitation was one of my strengths at Exillium.”
Sophie glanced at Fitz, wishing they were trusting people she actually liked. But they’d lost enough time.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
• • •
Under different circumstances, Sophie might’ve enjoyed how much the Hekses flailed and screamed when she made them plummet into the void—or the way they landed in a heap among the grassy dunes.
But she was too focused on the agonized whinnies slicing through the ocean air—which were so much louder than they’d been before Sophie and Fitz left. And she couldn’t stop thinking about the look that Vika and Stina had shared when they’d been talking about how early it was for Silveny to be in labor.
There hadn’t just been worry in their eyes.
There’d been dread.
It was the kind of look that people gave each other when they already knew what was going to happen and didn’t want to break the bad news yet.
“We’re over here!” Edaline called. “Hurry!”
They ran as fast as they could.
But it didn’t feel fast enough when they reached the cove and saw how much Silveny’s condition had escalated. She was thrashing and kicking now, flapping her wings and rocking her head as Edaline fought to hold her down and Grady struggled to calm Greyfell, who was bucking and screeching.
Sophie’s eyes blurred and her knees gave in, but Fitz was there to catch her, pulling her against him and whispering, “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t.
And the fact that her heart didn’t give even the slightest flutter said a lot about how numb she was feeling. So did the fact that she didn’t blush when Stina called out, “Snuggle later, Fitzphie! Right now I need you to help me set up the birthing area.”
But it did snap Sophie out of her daze long enough for her to see that Vika was now helping Edaline pin Silveny, and Timkin and Tarina were helping drag Greyfell back while Stina scrambled to spread the blankets over the sand.
Stina shouted for Sophie and Fitz to fill the basins with water from the casks and mix in different poultices. And when that was done, their job was to soak towels in the thick liquids and wring them out, so they’d be damp and cool without being too drippy. Sophie’s right hand held up better than she would’ve expected. But still, about halfway through, her healing fingers started to ache. And Fitz must’ve noticed because he had them switch to an assembly line system, so all she had to do was dunk and pass.
She would’ve hugged him for it, but they couldn’t lose those precious seconds.
By the time they’d finished, the adults had managed to haul Silveny into place, and Stina draped some of the towels over her pregnant belly. Vika soaked another towel in some sort of thick, clear syrup and wrapped it around Silveny’s face, finally getting her to still. She even managed to wrap another around Greyfell, and Grady and Timkin eased Greyfell to the ground as he seemed to fall asleep.
“Was that a sedative?” Sophie asked.
“More of a calming agent,” Vika told her. “Paired with sensory deprivation. Silveny’s also responding to the poultice on her abdomen, which is dulling the pain of her contractions.” She reached up to wipe sweat off her forehead before turning to Edaline. “Have you timed them?”
Edaline nodded. “They seem to be about five minutes apart.”
“Well . . . I suppose that’s the first bit of good news,” Vika said, pulling on elbow-length gloves. “Gives us a little more time to figure this out.”
“Maybe not,” Edaline said, glancing at Grady with a dread-filled look that was much too similar to the one Stina and Vika had shared back at Sterling Gables.
“What does that mean?” Sophie demanded.
“I don’t know yet,” Edaline told her. “I haven’t been able to do a full exam.”
“But,” Sophie prompted her to finish.
Edaline wrung her hands, “But . . . I might know why Silveny’s in labor this early. And why she’s refused to come in for exams—but I want Vika to confirm it before we put it out there.”
“You’re referring to how distended Silveny is,” Vika noted.
“I am,” Edaline agreed. “And . . . I’m very much hoping you’ll prove me wrong.”
“So am I,” Vika told her.
Sophie’s legs started to wobble—but Fitz was right there to keep her steady as she asked, “Will someone please tell me what you’re talking about?”
“Give me five minutes,” Vika said, slipping on a pair of glasses similar to the spectacles Elwin always wore and dropping to her knees at Silveny’s side.
Vika slid her hands under the towels and rubbed gently over Silveny’s baby bulge, feeling every inch before Stina handed her a corded contraption. Vika pressed one end to Silveny’s abdomen and the other to her ear, listening in several different places. The final part of the exam involved Silveny’s tail region and was much more personal—and Sophie was pretty sure she was going to need to bleach her eyeballs after watching.
But nothing was as awful as the grim looks that Vika, Stina, and Edaline a
ll shared as Vika pulled off her gloves.
“What is it?” Sophie whispered, and Fitz wrapped his arms tighter around her.
Vika sighed, tilting her head back to stare at the sky. “Unfortunately, it’s what I feared the moment you told me Silveny was in early labor. Her body is trying to expel the babies because it can no longer support them.”
The words were so awful, it took Sophie a second to realize, “Babies—plural?”
Edaline nodded. “Twins.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
TWINS,” SOPHIE REPEATED, STARING AT Silveny’s huge baby bulge and wondering how long the stubborn alicorn had been keeping that secret from her.
Then again, maybe she’d also been giving Sophie hints.
Silveny always told her, BABY OKAY! BABY OKAY! And since Silveny usually repeated everything in threes, that had probably been deliberate.
But . . . why not just come out and say it?
And why refuse exams when she had double the lives at stake?
Sophie voiced the questions out loud as Vika ran her hands slowly across Silveny’s abdomen again.
“Instincts are powerful things,” she said quietly. “Silveny likely knew carrying both babies to term was a foolish decision.”
“If this is about that stupid, judgy attitude elves have toward multiple births—” Sophie started, but Vika held up her hand.
“It isn’t. It’s a simple fact of nature. Equines rarely survive multiple births.”
“Rarely,” Sophie noted. “So sometimes it works out?”
“There are always exceptions,” Vika agreed. “But I don’t think you realize how slim the odds are. In all the generations that my family’s spent breeding unicorns, we’ve only had two multiple births survive—and in one of those cases the mother didn’t make it. And before you go claiming that alicorns are a different species and might fare better, remember why we’re here. The babies are coming—and it’s far too early for them to be viable on their own. Silveny’s body is telling us that it simply cannot handle this.”
Fitz tightened his hold on Sophie again, but she didn’t want to be comforted anymore. She needed to think—move—plan.
Find a solution.
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