Further up, I saw stacks of newborn diapers, formula, bottles, baby clothes, and blankets. He was planning on keeping my baby. No evidence on what he had planned to do with me. My resolve to go underground deepened. I whipped into action. I couldn't stay in this room; I needed to be at the captain’s deck to steer the boat and monitor the equipment. Everything I needed would have to come with me. I started packing supplies in the small basinet I found in the corner of the room. I spent the next two hours ferrying books, towels, medicines, and baby supplies to the captain’s deck. The time spent was made significantly longer; I had to stop every six to seven minutes now to ride out the contractions. Once I had everything up, I raided the kitchen area and filled a bucket with ice, grabbed plenty of water bottles, and filled other buckets with fresh water.
Sweating profusely, I made a bed in the corner of the captain’s deck using a thin twin mattress, blankets, and pillows. I lay down and sucked on ice cubes, recovering from my many treks up and down the stairs, pausing only when the contractions came. Four minutes apart, lasting up to 45 seconds each. I had done some reading of my own; this was the point you were supposed to go to the hospital.
I laughed out loud at the thought. I considered stopping the boat to endure the rest of the crazy journey without having to worry about running into an iceberg. But what if something went wrong? What if I needed a hospital? I decided the closer I was to civilization, the better off I would be.
After another contraction, I uncoiled from the fetal position, slowly lifting myself to my feet, and hobbled over to the steering wheel. Nothing but the ice cold, frothy blue sea in front of me and the clear, crisp sky above me. "I am in labor. I am alone in the middle of the Southern Ocean." I looked back at my makeshift hospital room. I took a deep breath in. The oxygen flowed throughout my body, calming me and replenishing my muscles.
"I am about to meet my beautiful baby girl."
I smiled. I had never felt so in control.
Excerpt from ‘Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series’:
Micah pulled himself up the last few feet of rope. The pulling had stopped, but the rope hadn’t been let go of altogether. What was Alex doing up there? Micah crested the top of the deep cavern. A hand appeared; it was strong, firm, and familiar. It yanked back, pulling the rest of Micah’s tired body over. Micah pushed himself to a standing position, and looked up, right into Shawn’s bright blue eyes.
Micah did a double take, stepping back and nearly falling back into the hole. Alex was still at the rope, confused into inaction. The very man they had just been battling, had tried to kill, was standing before them, helping them, and looking just as worse for the wear.
Micah reached for his gun, it was no longer there. Alex had apparently done the same, giving Micah a sympathetic ‘been there, done that’ nod.
“Where’s Kaitlyn?” Her absence was suddenly very noticeable among the maelstrom of male ego.
“Gone.” Shawn replied. His hand was at his side, blood seeping through his wound after exerting himself to help Micah.
“What did you do to her?” Micah, fatigue momentarily forgotten, lunged for Shawn. He didn’t give him a chance to answer. They were both on the ground wrestling about as effectively as four years olds, with five year old strength.
Alex, finally deciding to do something, broke up his brothers easily. “Micah – he didn’t do anything to her. She was with me, and then just disappeared while I was pulling you up. She left on her own!”
Alex took an inadvertent kick to the jaw, “Damn it, stop!” He yanked first Micah, then Shawn to their feet. They both bent over, with their hands on their knees, breathing hard.
Alex didn’t have it nearly so rough in the battle. Most of the time, he was just squeezing a trigger. Fat lot of good that did him now; the enemy was still standing right before him, playing WWF with Micah.
Shawn straightened first, “Can’t you feel her? She’s headed east; fast. Probably took my boat.”
Micah closed his eyes and concentrated, “Yes, actually I can.” He narrowed his eyes at Shawn, “I’ve never been able to do that before.
“Shawn lifted up his shirt to inspect his wound, “It’s this place. Same as a Galapagos and a few others I’ve found. Gives us stronger powers – some abilities we wouldn’t have at all elsewhere. But it makes her weaker.”
“She’s eight months pregnant, I need to get her back.” Micah said.
“It could be my kid,” Shawn responded.
“Regardless, it will be me raising it.” Micah turned, readying himself to chase after Kaitlyn.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Shawn said. “In the meantime, I want to find her as much as you. If not for slightly different reasons.”
Micah looked like he was about to attack again, “You will not be recruiting her for your joke of an organization, traitor!”
Alex stepped in between them, not anxious to be pulling around their body weight, again. “Just wait a minute, Micah. He has something we don’t.”
“What?” Micah restrained himself, barely.
Shawn reached behind him and pulled his athame out of his back pocket. “This.” The sharp edge caught the sun, sending flashes of light across Micah’s face.
Micah reached for it, Shawn pulled it back, but it was Alex that stopped them both. “Don’t touch it, Micah. We don’t know what it might do to us.”
Alex was right. Shawn sheathed the knife quickly. “There are about 150 powerful essences in here that spent significant time with Kaitlyn. Maybe they know where she went. Maybe they helped her plan it.”
Micah matched Shawn’s cocky tone, “I doubt she planned this. We had a life together. She wouldn’t have run away unless something spooked her. Like you.”
“Whatever the case may be, truce until we find her?” Shawn stuck out his hand toward Micah.
Micah looked at Alex, but got no help there. This decision was Micah’s and Micah’s alone. He had more riding on it than anyone.
“Truce.” Micah shook Shawn’s hand.
'Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series' will be available October 2012!
About the Author
I am the author of 'The Akasha Series' and 'The Kindred Curse Anthology'. The next sequel, 'Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series' will be published in October 2012.
The Kindred Curse Anthology is a vampire short story collection available on Amazon.
A little about me – I was born and raised in Colorado but have since lived in California, Texas, Utah, North Carolina, and Virginia. I consider myself lucky to have seen most of the states, but that leaves most of the world yet to be seen!
I served a 5½ year enlistment in the Marine Corp, have a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and master’s degree in Linguistics. I live in a suburb of Washington, DC with my husband of 13 years and three children.
If you liked 'Air', please consider leaving a review on Goodreads or Amazon. I love to hear from my readers! Feel free to contact me via e-mail, on my blog, through my Facebook fan page, or on Twitter.
Happy Reading!
Air Page 24