He cast Eliza a murderous look. Eliza’s mouth snapped shut.
“You have to trust me! If you do a cesarean, Evangeline will be poisoned! If you cut the cord, she will hemorrhage to death! Both of these will kill her and the child in an instant!”
“How do you know this, Dorien?” The shock plastered all over Eliza’s expression was alarming. The color drained from her pretty face. Pain brewed and filled her eyes. It was enough to make a man drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness.
Dorien read her thoughts. These events were all too familiar. But there had been no one to warn her then. She could never forget the two healthy, young mothers she had lost in childbirth. Mia and Allison’s deaths still haunted her. How could they have died from harmless procedures considered standard medical practice? Mia had hemorrhaged from a cut umbilical cord. Allison died during an emergency cesarean section. Allison’s pathology report reported the findings of an unknown toxin in her bloodstream. She and her newborn daughter had been fatally poisoned. Mia’s infant son had coded before Eliza was finally able to save him. Eliza remembered the day social services took the swaddled infant away. These incidents happened long ago. Eliza had been in her early residency.
“Tell me why these procedures would make her die?” Eliza demanded.
Dorien ignored her. But he still contemplated her memories. How had Eliza witnessed these scenarios before? Could there be other half-breeds? If so, who was their immortal father? He felt Eliza’s ache for the women she had lost. “If you promise to trust me with Evangeline’s labor and delivery without question, I will tell you everything you want to know regarding the deaths you witnessed so long ago. I will explain why I must do these unconventional methods with Evangeline.”
Eliza sucked in a breath. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
“I will tell you about that, too.”
Evangeline moaned in pain. Her body jerked. Dorien felt the return of stormy waves. With a single push, Helena’s placenta was delivered.
Dorien let out a sigh of relief. He handed Eliza the surgical scissors. “Now you can cut the cord, Eliza!”
No, Dorien! You cut the cord. After all, you’re the new Daddy.”
Dorien severed the cord. Nothing could diminish his grin. He was a father! Evangeline had delivered one of the twins. One more delivery and she would be safe. He glanced at his brothers. All of them were thinking the same thing. They prepared themselves for the next delivery.
Eliza collected Helena from Evangeline’s arms. She noted the baby’s vitals. “Seven pounds, six ounces, and twenty and a half inches long!” Eliza clucked her tongue and snickered at the infant’s cold temperature.
Dorien sensed Eliza’s worry. “It’s all right, Eliza. Helena is perfectly healthy.” But Eliza began to protest. Dorien quieted her with his uplifted eyebrow.
Eliza’s hands rose in resignation. “All right, Dorien! I’ll trust you…even though it goes against everything I’ve been trained to do.”
Dorien softened. He knew this was difficult for Eliza. But he shook his head and chuckled when she placed Helena into the safety of a warm incubator anyways.
Mortals!
Evangeline belted out a new, sudden scream of agony. It was already time for the next delivery. Dorien watching his wife pant and moan. He peered into the darkest recesses of her mind. His wife could feel every agonizing inch. The second twin stretched and descended into the birth canal.
Evangeline cried out. The pain of her contractions possessed her entire body. She convulsed and writhed. Screams echoed throughout the room. Her body was stretching past its limits. Her face turned crimson with every strain and push. Everyone watched in wonder as a tiny head of black hair began to crown. Evangeline panted as the baby forced its way through her body.
Evangeline begged him. “Dorien, please!”
He knew what she was asked him to do. The snap of latex bonded another pair of gloves on his hands. Celeas squeezed a huge blob of lubricating gel into Dorien’s open palm. His brothers knew their positions. They held Evangeline’s legs and body.”
Evangeline’s head thrashed back and forth in misery. “Not again, please not again!”
Dorien pressed his hand deep into Evangeline’s body. She screamed from the pit of her gut. With a warm gush the slippery infant was quickly delivered. Evangeline caught her breath and rested her head back against her pillow.
“We have a boy!” Eliza announced. Dorien rubbed the baby to encourage his cries. But the baby was still. The color of his skin was a dark shade of blue.
“What’s wrong, Dorien? Is he all right?” Evangeline’s mind was begging him to tell her yes.
Fear and silence filled the room. Dorien placed their son on Evangeline’s chest.
“Lukas Anaxander.” she whispered as she cradled her silent baby. She pressed her lips into the raven curls that adorned his tiny head. Dorien wrapped his arms around his wife.
“Come on, baby, come on, baby!” Eliza encouraged as she poked and rubbed the infant.
But his little body wouldn’t stir. Dorien no longer cared about his deal with Demona! He only wanted his son to live! Somehow he knew Lukas Anaxander would never draw his first breath.
Eliza lowered her stethoscope and wept bitterly. “I am so sorry Evan…Dorien…but we’ve lost him.”
Evangeline cried out from the depths of her soul. Dorien choked and sobbed. In a room full of immortals, none of them could save their beloved Lukas. Dorien fought to remember what Demona had told him about immortal babies.
How could this have happened?
An immortal infant dying in childbirth had to be impossible! Dorien’s thoughts were jolted back to reality. The echoes of a shrill, wicked laugh drifted from across the room.
Chapter Sixteen
Their heads turned in unison towards the sound of the laughter. A breathtaking beauty with bright, peacock blue eyes stood in the bedroom doorway.
Dorien almost choked. “Demona!”
Demona purred like a kitten. “Happy to see me, darling?”
“Who is this crazy woman? What is she doing here?” Taryn demanded.
Demona curled her lip in disgust. “Don’t mind me, mortal. I’ve come to collect my prize!”
Evangeline sobbed. She was inconsolable. He tried to comfort his wife. But his own grief coursed through him faster than a devastating plague. Riddled with unspeakable pain, Dorien felt like he was dying on the inside.
“What does she want, Dorien? Please make her leave!” Evangeline pleaded. Her face was scarlet. The tender skin of her cheeks was burned from her trail of tears. “He’s gone, Dorien, our beautiful baby boy is gone!” Evangeline buried her face into their baby’s raven curls and inhaled his sweet baby scent.
Dorien held her tight and rocked her gently. He brushed the hair from her face. He kissed her dry, parched lips.
Demona’s blue eyes shone bright. “I’ll leave all right! But not without Dorieus. I have won the wager! He now belongs to me!”
Everyone’s heads jerked in unison.
“What is she saying, Dorien? What wager is she talking about?” Evangeline demanded.
Dorien winced. It hurt when Evangeline pulled away from him.
Demona smiled in victory. “I’ll make this story easy for you, mortal! For thousands of years I have wanted Dorieus. He would never come to me. Let’s just say I favored him enough to keep him alive all of these years.” The glow of her stare narrowed into thin slits. Her pale hand whooshed in the air towards the men. “I can’t say for the life of me why I kept his worthless friends alive!”
Every brother glared anger and hatred. Dorien felt their restrained urges to tackle her.
“I was angry with Dorieus! I suffered enough of his rejections. The final straw fell when he refused to ask for my blessing for his trip to Africa. I looked at his indiscretion as a slight oversight, but his arrogance and defiance continued. When he came back for his blessing to take Minoa, I lied when I told him he would be
victorious in returning the city back to Sparta. I promised he would win the battle. Instead, Minoa proved to be fatal to Dorieus and his foolish men. Tsk. Tsk, Tsk!” she clicked her tongue.
“I envisioned your fall, Dorieus. I sent my minions to rescue you and your warriors. Please, don’t line up to thank me! Phebus administered the Ambrosia to you all, but it was I who mixed it with a spell. I gave you all full immortality. In my wisdom I cursed you to live in tombs of frozen stone. I thought you made such a beautiful statue, Dorieus. Didn’t you think so?”
Dorien flinched. The tic in his cheek jerked against his tongue.
Demona pouted. “I thought time would help you change your mind about us. I gave you plenty to think about it. It would seem that a few thousand years wasn’t long enough, darling.”
Philip’s chest heaved in anger. Demona’s attention flew to him. “What are you pouting about, Croton? Miffed you haven’t won any Olympic races in a while? Perhaps it would please you to know that it was I who saved your precious Tiana from a married life with you!”
Philip fell back stunned. His brothers caught him before he hit the floor in agony. Dorien searched his brother’s heart. He felt the deepest wounds of his soul.
“Now, Philip! Be a man about it! Telys was so easy to talk to. I had the fool convinced in minutes that your only motive was to steal his throne and his daughter from him. It was obvious the man put way to much stock in his worthless progeny.”
Philip choked back a sob. Dorien took control of the conversation. “Save your words, witch! I believe the matter at hand is between us.”
Demona ignored him. Her wrath fell on Evangeline.
“And then you had to come along, you little Jezebel! Leave it to a mortal to screw everything up. Did you honestly think you could take Dorieus from me so easy? I sent someone to take care of you long before any of this mess had to happened. Don’t think I didn’t see you coming! It’s a shame your parents had to bear the brunt of what was really intended for you!”
Evangeline, Taryn, and Eliza sucked in a horrified breath in unison. Every brother stiffened rod straight. Their bright immortal eyes burned lethal with deadly fire.
“Don’t you worry, my dearest! They died bravely Evangeline! I could read their pathetic little minds thinking they had spared your death. And to think your selfish existence didn’t have a clue that your safety and protection was whole reason your parents forced you away to Princeton. I made the mistake of leaving the job to Phebus, which would clearly explain why you’re still alive! But you boys really did me a favor by killing Phebus. I never did thank you proper.”
Celeas ran to strike Demona. Demona lifted her petite, sculpted hand. Celeas fell to the floor and thrashed in pain from her magic.
“Save your energy, Spartans! For today, I win!”
Evangeline’s face paled. Rage boiled inside her. Angry tears burned down her face. She had lost so much and felt so numb. Not even this woman could scare her. “You killed my parents? It’s been you the whole time…the rabid dog, attempting to use Philip against me…everything?”
“If I had done the job, you wouldn’t be breathing right now. I try hard not to get my hands dirty, you understand, don’t you? I think you’ve met my minion Phebus. I must say, he should have roughed you up a little better in Italy! Those bruises suited you.”
Evangeline lunged at Demona. But Dorien caught her in an instant. Lukas’ placenta still had not yet detached. He would not allow anything happen to his wife as long as he was still here to protect her. Evangeline searched his face.
“What did you wager with her? Be honest and tell me the truth.”
Dorien had never seen so much pain embedded in such beauty. The fire in her copper eyes was now dull and extinguished. All of this was because of him. How he loathed himself for hurting her. Perhaps the truth would give her solace in her future years without him. At least she would know he tried to protect her despite his decision not to tell her. He clenched his fists. His existence rocked in agony.
“Demona was one of the oracles at Delphi. She was chosen in our seventh year. It was at this time I left for training as a warrior of Sparta. Our households were close. Demona never hid her desire for me. But I never wanted her.”
Demona winced. She growled from the back of her throat.
“Until today, I never knew the whole story of my so called deliverance. All I knew is I somehow survived the wounds I received in battle and was trapped in the frozen form of a statue. The immortal ability to read the minds of others was all I had to pass the centuries of time. I had no idea I was not alone in this curse.
“Demona’s ability to read the future allowed her to see that you would release me from her spell. She knew we would fall in love and marry…that you would carry my children.” Dorien swallowed hard and tried not to choke. It hurt to gaze upon his dead son nestled in Evangeline’s arms. “For this, she tried to wipe you away. She tried to avoid us from ever meeting. Months ago, I went on a trip for ten days, do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember.” Evangeline whispered.
“Phebus had declared who was responsible for the threats to your life. It was Demona. She had summoned me and threatened to hurt you if I refused. It was there that I saw her desire to destroy you. Her unquenched infatuation with me was still obvious. Demona cares nothing for anyone. She swore if I didn’t come to her, she would never stop hunting you. She offered a safe way out of this situation when she offered me a wager. But I fell for her tricks.”
“I don’t understand, Dorien.”
“Demona told me you would conceive. I had no idea you were already pregnant. She foresaw the pregnancy and the birth of our children. Knowing a child was in our future, I wanted us to have a baby. But I was wrong to assume my immortality couldn’t make you conceive. Demona said a child would come, but not for years in the future. I never expected it to be now.
“The wager was simple. If you bore me a live son, she would call off all attempts on your life and leave us in peace. She would give me a vial of Ambrosia so that I could either choose to return to mortality or I could offer it to you to join me and our children in immortality. Demona would lose her immortality and become mortal again.”
Fear drifted thick in Evangeline voice. “And if you were to lose?”
“If you failed to produce me a live son, I agreed to become like Phebus. I would become her minion and her slave for eternity.”
“No!” Evangeline screamed in misery. “No! No! No!”
Dorien choked. “I traded my life for the assurance of yours, Evangeline. I figured the worst case scenario would be that we would have a few years before we brought babes into the world…if that could even happen. How could I have known I wouldn’t have time to leverage myself with Demona later or that I had already planted my seeds inside of you? If I would have walked away from her wager, I would have never forgiven myself if something happened to you.” he cradled her face. “Don’t you see there was no choice? I took the best option. And I don’t regret it. Even having our daughter today…there is no regret it because I love you and our precious baby girl.”
“No! You can’t leave me! Please don’t leave us!” Evangeline wailed.
Dorien felt the blinding static of her grief multiply a thousand times.
“You are immortal! She can’t do this…our daughter needs you! I need you! I’m begging you, Dorien. How will I bury our Lukas without you?”
Dorien choked on a sob. “This is irrevocable, Evangeline. I can’t change it.”
“But she offered you a wager knowing we would lose Lukas! This means she cheated! Doesn’t that account for something?”
He felt her grasp at logic and reason. Her intelligence never ceased to amaze him. “It doesn’t matter, Evan, I was free to accept the wager. The magic holds us accountable for any deals we make with our immortality.” Dorien turned to Demona. “It matters little if the person offering the deal is a treacherous, lying witch.”
Demona took a bow.
Her menacing grin revealed her perfect white teeth. “Never bet against an Oracle, Dorieus.”
Eliza ran and picked up Helena. Dorien read her mind. She sought to protect the babe from Demona.
Demona hissed like a snake. “I have no use for the child, mortal!”
Any time now, his abilities would become subject to Demona’s will.
“So this is it! I will lose my freedom, my family, and my abilities in the same day.”
How could he become enslaved to Demona for eternity?
The pain was slicing and unbearable. He would never forget the shrill desperation of Evangeline’s cries. Dorien turned to Demona. “Tell me how my immortal son could die!”
Demona chuckled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Dorieus. An immortal fetus has full genetic immortal traits, but they have human traits, too. Their souls do not become fully immortal until they take in their first breath. I was ahead of the game because I knew your son would never take his first breath. I foresaw the birth of your twins and knew your daughter would survive.
Dorien felt the creeping swarm of hatred come upon him.
He loathed her.
“It matters little how you feel about me Dorieus. You are finally mine. There is nothing you or your brothers can do about it.” Demona gloated with the swish of her violet robe. “Say goodbye Dorieus, this delightful family meeting is officially over.”
Dorien kissed his wife in slow, delicate passion. “I’m so sorry, Evangeline.”
“Please don’t leave.” she begged. “I love you, Dorien.”
He caressed her beautiful face. It killed him, literally ripped the immortal soul from his chest to know he would never look upon her beautiful face again. “I will always love you and Helena. My feelings for you both will never change. There won’t be a day that goes by that I won’t think of you. I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.” he sobbed. “Please take care of our little girl, Evan. Always tell her how much her daddy loves her.”
Spartan Heart, Part Two Page 19