by Nely Cab
“How deep are we going?” I asked David in almost a scream.
“Enough to where we considered it safe.”
After a few minutes, the lift stopped with an ear-aching screech of metal against metal. Unlike the first time I’d been underground, light flooded the tunnel. This tunnel, however, was a lot wider than the one Frederick had led us through four months earlier, about the span of a house. The faces of more than two-dozen armed warriors—faces of men and women I’d never seen before—greeted me. A male stepped forward and opened the elevator’s door. David took my hand, and I exited the small box that’d carried us down. My foot touched the ground, and, in unison, the warriors—my warriors—dropped to one knee and raised a fist over their heads.
“Say ‘at ease’,” David spoke into my ear. “Say it loudly.”
“At ease!” I said, and the soldiers rose to their feet.
“Welcome, Madam Isis, Master Dahveed of Chios,” the warrior deity who’d opened the door said. “I’m Sendor. I’ll be transporting you to your quarters.”
“Thank y—” I felt another contraction deep in my belly, and I squeezed David’s hand. The pain intensified, making my breath hitch. This was by far the strongest one yet. So strong in fact, it made me lose my balance. David caught my arms and righted me. As the pain was receding, another aching wave began. “Son of a bi… Aahh!” I shook from the pain.
“Isis,” David said. “Do you need to lie down?”
I nodded. “That one really hurt.”
“Do you have a vehicle ready?” David asked.
“Yes, sir.” Sendor turned toward the group of warriors and screamed, “Bring the carrus!”
The warriors stepped aside, making way for a vehicle that looked like a long golf cart. It came to a stop a few feet away from us. The back of the carrus was lined with white padding. David carried me up and lay me on the bed. He sat next to me. Sendor ordered the driver out of the cart, and he took the wheel.
The rocky path didn’t help the contractions, which became more frequent and harsher still. How was that possible? I’d been fine a few minutes ago. Wasn’t labor supposed to take hours? Then it dawned on me that it could be hours of this excruciating pain. I closed my eyes and breathed deep breaths as David cradled my head.
“Oh my…” I grunted. “Tell him—to drive—faster. It’s…” I let out a short scream and felt the urge to push.
“Is the baby coming now?” David asked. I nodded. “Already?” Reluctantly, he raised my gown by the hem. I saw his eyes widen. “Stop!” David banged on the back window of the vehicle. “Sendor, stop!”
The carrus came to a standstill. Two seconds later, Sendor was at the bed of the vehicle. “What’s wrong?”
Over my huffs and puffs, I heard David inform him, “The baby’s coming.”
“We’re five minutes from the birthing quarters. We can make it,” said Sendor.
“No,” David said, sweat beads forming on his brow. “We shouldn’t move her. Can you go and bring the doctors back here on foot?”
“But I’m not supposed to leave her side, Sir,” Sendor said.
“Go,” I said.
“But, madam—” Sendor started.
“I don’t care! I’m ordering you—to go,” I growled.
“Y-yes, madam,” Sendor said and raced away.
I felt another wave of pain coming, and I clenched my teeth. The pressure in my pelvic area worsened. I gasped. David knelt between my legs and lifted the hospital gown. He wiped his forehead and swallowed.
“You’re crowing,” he said. “Isis, we’re going to have to do this ourselves.” He reached for my hand. “Okay, lovely?”
Panic and pain drenched me in sweat. What did David know about delivering babies?
“Have you—ever—done this—before?” I asked, taking shuddering breaths.
“Have you?”
Not the answer I wanted to hear. I felt my insides pulling apart, urging me to release the new life it’d incubated for nine months. But I didn’t know if I’d be able to endure the labor of childbirth. So I did something I hadn’t done in a long time—I prayed.
***
Clutched between David’s hands was a miniature human being. His eyes spoke of undying admiration as he studied her petite, fragile body. The sound of her wails made me laugh and cry at the same time. Our daughter was the most perfect baby I’d ever seen. Even through a veil of tears, her innocent beauty shined through. David cuddled her in his arms, her newborn cries ongoing.
“I think she wants her mother,” David said, setting the baby on my chest. Her cries died down in a matter of seconds. “I was right.”
“She’s so beautiful,” I said.
“Just like her mother.” David kissed my forehead. “Thank you. She’s the best gift I’ve ever received.”
“Speaking of gifts, happy birthday,” I said to him. “Now, you have a reason to celebrate it.”
“So sweet.” Sendor was back and standing by the side of the carrus. “Afraid I’ll have to ruin this picture-perfect moment, however.” His eyes glowed like orange-hot embers. “She’s ours now.”
CHAPTER 32
By instinct, I cradled my newborn daughter tighter against my chest. David jumped off the carrus.
“If you’re wise, you’ll stand down, boy,” Sendor sneered.
It was so fast that I didn’t see how it happened, but a second later, Sendor collided with the ground. David’s forearm was wedged into his throat. All of a sudden, Sendor’s head split in two. Galilea materialized out of thin air, next to David. Sendor’s head hadn’t erupted open on its own. It was Galilea who’d split it in half with the dagger she was holding. A cloud of black flying insects exploded out of Sendor’s cranium, zooming in my direction. A sphere of pests encased the baby and me, shutting out the light and replacing it with a dim, orange glow. My skin crawled as I felt the vibration of their buzz near my ears. I drew into myself, hovering over my newborn to protect her.
The insects’ hums fell into sync. With a noise that sounded like static, I heard the words, “Join us.” There was a pause. “Or your people die.”
At that moment, I realized Sendor had been referring to me when he’d said ‘she’s ours now’.
“Why should I?” I asked. “You have nothing I’m interested in.”
“Do this, and you’ll be our queen. You’ll help us rise from the infernal depths we were banished to.”
“You want a queen of demons? That’s what this is about?”
“Yessss,” the insects hissed. “In turn, we’ll eradicate those who have sent us to end yours and the child’s lives.”
I heard David scream my name from the other side of the vermin wall.
“If you decline,” the static voice said, “the child takes your place.”
Like a kick to the stomach, the words knocked the air out of my lungs. At the same time, a hole opened in the sphere. I saw fire burning the bugs, and I caught a glimpse of David, holding a torch.
“Isis!” David called out me.
“David!” I reached out to him.
The bugs let out a squeal and seemed to multiply, closing the gap the fire had made.
“We need an answer!” the insects’ angry buzz intensified.
I cradled my daughter as close to me as I could without hurting her. “No! I won’t be your demon queen, and neither will my daughter. If you want her, you’ll have to kill me first.”
“As—you—wish.”
The swarm of bugs let out a hair-raising shriek. I felt a sting of electricity entering the back of my neck. It traveled like fire through my arms. Fighting against the current to keep my daughter safe in my arms, I quivered. I was too spent from the labor of the birth to fight back. My arms began to give, and the baby fell on my lap. Bugs gathered on the baby’s arms and face, her frightened wails breaking my heart. As hard as I tried to reach her, the electric current in my body rendered me immobile. I was at their mercy.
“Stop! Stop!” I scream
ed. “I’ll do it. I’ll go.”
“Good girl,” the bugs buzzed. “The brotherhood Turpis will be back for you tonight.”
“But I need time to recover from the birth,” I said. “I need to regain my strength for whatever it is you want me to do.”
“A setback. How much time is required for your kind to heal?”
“Three months,” I said without hesitating.
“You. Lie!”
“Forty days. Standard postpartum is forty days.”
“We don’t like lies!”
“It’s the truth. I swear,” I said urgently. “You can ask anyone.”
There was a brief pause. “Your words are verified. You should know we don’t like waiting,” the bugs hissed. “However, our queen ant must be strong and healthy to reproduce. There is no recovery time once you join us.”
From what I remembered, a queen ant was responsible for laying hundreds of thousands of eggs. Once the eggs hatched, the new ants became the populace of the colony—the worker ants. It made me sick to my stomach to think they wanted to use me to breed their demon offspring. Did that mean I would have to—to mate a demon? What did I just commit to?
“I may need more t-time,” I stuttered. “First-time mothers are slow in heal—”
“Forty days is all you’ll get! Not because we’re generous, but because we need time to break ties with those we no longer wish to deal with, and to sacrifice an incompetent queen. Be at the north edge of the forest after midnight of the fortieth night. Cross us, and you already know the fate of the child.” A pause. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing!” the insects shrieked. “We’ll take the newborn as collateral to make ourselves clearer if we must.”
“No! I do understand.” I glanced down at my wailing daughter. “After midnight on the fortieth day. I’ll be there.”
All at once, the curtain of vermin collapsed into gray, dirt-like particles. Upon landing on the ground, the dust took the shape of a demon’s torso, a whipping serpentine tail in place of legs. David flung his dagger at the creature, but it was a millisecond too late. Before the knife made contact with the demonic figure, it slithered into the shadows. A trail of burned earth and the stench of rotten eggs were all that was left in its wake.
The baby’s cries echoed in the tunnel, and then faded into the background, as time seemed to slow down. I felt a spike of adrenaline. My jaw locked. Explosions of white light bloomed behind my eyes. An atomic bomb of emotions burst inside me—the foremost was primal and feral rage. The type of rage that made people break car windows with a baseball bat, or bite off someone’s ear, or in some cases…
“Kill them,” I mumbled.
“Isis…” David’s voice was distant.
“They won’t touch her again,” I growled.
“Isis… Isis, can you hear me?” David’s voice sounded urgent. But I was too lost in the trance to answer him.
“Kill them,” I repeated. “They won’t touch her again.” I shook my head. “I won’t let them touch her.”
“She’s lost it,” I heard Galilea say. “Do something. Snap her out of it.”
Suddenly, my body shook so violently that my head flew back and forth. I blinked, and David’s face came into focus. His hands gripped my shoulders like iron cuffs. Galilea was standing next to him, holding my daughter. I hadn’t felt the baby taken from me.
“Are you hurt? Did they touch you?” David asked, taking my face between his hands. It took a moment before I nodded. “What happened?”
“I’m fine. They want me to…” I let out a loud, insincere laugh. “They’re coming back in forty days. But they’re going to regret it.”
David and Galilea gave me bewildered looks.
“You’re sure you feel okay?” David asked me.
“Never better.” I glanced at my daughter in Galilea’s arms. “Let me have her.”
“Um…” Galilea gave me her back. “Maybe you shouldn’t. I think it’s better if Dr. Gunn sees you first.”
“Galilea,” I said, and she turned to view me. “Don’t make me come and get her.”
Galilea shot David a glance. He nodded his consent. Galilea frowned at him, but stepped forward and set the baby in my arms. “Be careful with her.”
“She’s my daughter. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I was talking to David,” she said. I raised my brow at her. “Oh, you’re wondering why? Because your face makes my skin crawl.”
I glanced at David for clarification.
“It’s nothing. You’re just in shock,” he said to me. But the look on his face told me otherwise.
“Why are you lying?” Galilea asked David. “Tell her!” The baby startled with Galilea’s scream, rekindling the wails, which had ceased seconds before. “Give her to me.” Galilea held out her arms. “You shouldn’t be holding her anyway.”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Step away.” David held his hand out to Galilea. “You’ll just make it worse.”
“Make what worse?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“You don’t feel different?” David asked. I shook my head. “The top half of your face, it’s…” I reached up and touched my brow. The tip of my fingers met leathery, scaled skin. I ran my hand over my forehead and down my nose. The last of the scales faded right above my nostrils.
“Take me to Dr. Gunn,” I said. “I don’t want anyone else to see me like this.”
CHAPTER 33
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The girl that looked back at me was no longer a girl. She was a young woman. A wife. A mother. A monster.
“Now breathe,” Nyx said. “Tell this part of you to become dormant until it is called upon.”
Although I’d been hesitant to do so, I decided my family had to know. I knew that if I were going to war against demons, I’d need, not only the doctors’ help, but also my family’s support. It’d been six days since I’d given birth. Five days since I’d decided to dominate the beast inside me.
“Forget it.” I put the hand mirror down. “It’s not as easy to make it go away as it is to bring it forth.”
“Honey, don’t give up,” Claire said, standing in the doorway to Nyx’s room.
I gasped and covered my face. “Mom, what are you doing here? I told you I don’t want you to see me like this.”
Claire forced my hands down. “You’re my daughter, and I think you’re beautiful.”
“Don’t patronize me,” I told her. “I know what I look like.”
“And if you don’t stop talking to me in that tone, you’re going to see what I can look like, young lady.”
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s just… I’m frustrated.”
“It’s okay.” She rubbed my arms. “I know you’re stressed. I know I am.” She thought for a moment. “Hey, do you know what I do when I’m upset? I think of you and of all the wonderful things in my life, like my friends.” She glanced at Nyx, and then back at me. “And I think of your dad, too.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“Hector.”
“Oh,” I said. “I thought… Never mind.”
“What wonderful things do you have in your life, Isis?” Nyx asked.
“All of you. Most recently, the baby.”
“Does it make you feel happy and warm inside to think of all of us?” Nyx asked.
“Yes. And very thankful,” I said. “I’d be lost without all of you right now. I mean, look at me.”
Claire picked up the mirror from the bed and held it up so I could see my reflection. The monster was gone. My face was human, no black scaly skin covering it.
“That was easy enough,” I said. “Don’t know if I can manage it again, though.”
“With practice, it’ll be as natural as breathing,” Nyx said. “And Claire, dear, good job.”
“Didn’t I tell you I’d figure out how to help her? Oh, but you doubted the human mother, didn’t you?” Claire teased. “You’
re welcome, by the way. Now, where’s my granddaughter?”
“Right here,” Galilea’s voice said from somewhere in the room. “She’s asleep.”
“Galilea?” Claire looked all around the room. “Where is she?”
“Galilea’s invisible block is active,” I reminded Claire. “I asked her to keep the baby hidden.”
“From her own grandmother?” Claire frowned.
“You’re an exception,” I said.
Galilea materialized with the baby in her arms. My mom’s face lit up like it was the first time she’d ever seen her. Although she’d been here every day since the baby was born, every time she saw her, her face gleamed with joy and adoration for the delicate, miniature body now snuggled in her arms.
“She’s precious,” Claire said. “Couldn’t you just eat her up?”
“Hey, don’t give Isis any ideas,” Galilea told her with a serious face.
“That’s not funny,” I said.
“It’s a little funny.” Claire nudged me. “You keep practicing your… errr… thing. I’m taking Faith downstairs.”
“Faith?” I raised my brow at my mother.
“Well, you can’t keep calling her ‘the baby’. Until you figure it out, her name is Faith.”
“Do you need me to stay while you do another run-through?” Nyx asked. I shook my head. “You’ll call me if you need anything,” she stated rather than asked. “Come, Claire. I’ll get the afternoon tea brewing.”
Nyx and Claire walked out of the room, cooing at the baby, which I found odd since she was still fast asleep. Galilea stayed behind and sat on the bed.
“You know what’s weird?” Galilea squinted.
“What?”
“Out of all the names in the world, Claire picked ‘Faith’.”
“Why is that weird?” I said, looking at myself in the hand mirror.
“Because, you know how you talk in your sleep?”