A Killing Moon
Page 26
“Oh.”
* * *
XANDER
The silence of the royal wing was staggering in its depth. Each footstep echoed on the marble tile outside of the royal bedroom. He had a team of eight men spread out and stationed on the balcony, in the rooms on either side and across the hall, as well as at the ends of the wings, with orders to allow absolutely no one through, and as much as he wanted to be out there in the field helping Vasi and Dev, looking for Finn and Cora, his duty was first and foremost to the crown.
Once an hour, he entered the bedroom, just to make a circuit inside, check the doors and windows and then out again. It was two minutes, tops, but it was an added layer of protection for their monarch, because there was something seriously hinky going on and had been for a long while and His Majesty was way too weak to fight off any intruder who may attempt to take advantage of the chaos.
The royal chambers were dark, and while he would have normally sent one of the Strigians on his team in, Vasi had entrusted the king’s safety to him and he damn well would look after him. He checked the lock on each window, each French door, adjusting the curtains to maintain the darkness.
A quick sweep of the closet left just under the bed to check and he was on his way back to peruse the halls. He’d be glad when he could get back out and get a status update from Dev, because the stress of not knowing was wearing on him.
Xander caught a strange reflection when he shined his light under the bed. It wasn’t anything he remembered seeing and given that he’d already been in there several times, it appeared to be new. Rounding the bed cautiously, his ears caught a new sounds as he neared the sleeping king. A repetitive drip, not so fast that it appeared to be flowing but some sort of leak maybe.
One pass of his flashlight over his monarch’s sleeping form had him flailing back, fingers clawing for the radio on his hip. Blood everywhere, out of his mouth, soaked his clothes and dripping from the corner of the sheet onto the floor in a dark but slowly growing puddle.
“Medic! I need a medic for the Crown! Stat! I need a medic to the Crown stat!”
* * *
CORA
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! The obstetrician was definitely not something she’d planned on confronting right then. “Sorry,” she averred as she pushed to sit up in Finn’s arm, hoping it would cover her shocked reaction. “It’s been a long night.”
She smiled kindly. “Of course. I’m going to go and get a fetal heart monitor to examine you and the baby, alright? I’ll be back in a moment.”
Cora was fairly certain the only hearts audible for miles were hers and Finn’s as they looked at each other. “What are we gonna do?” he asked the moment the door closed.
Fuck! Fucking hell. Closing her eyes she pulled in on herself. “Alright, breathe. Think.”
“I got nothin’.”
She hushed him, folding and unfolding the problem in her mind like one of those paper finger games from elementary school. “We lost the baby,” she said finally, staring into startled blue eyes.
“We what?” he sounded so breathless it could have easily been mistaken for real upset.
“We lost the baby,” she repeated, following it through in her head. “Everything that went down tonight, I lost the baby protecting you and in service to the crown, we are heartbroken and ask for privacy during this trying time.”
He blinked for several minutes. “You just came up with that?”
“Yeah?”
“Jesus you frighten me.”
She rolled her eyes even as she smiled affectionately. “This is what I do. You got a better idea?” Hearing the doctor’s voice in the hall, she tapped him on the chest. “Get ready to look bereaved.”
Dr. Sharma, with her sweet face and kind smile, returned with an ultrasound machine and directions for Cora to lie on the empty bed. “Dad, you can be with her, but she really needs the room.”
They moved around and she got into position with him standing by her head, exhaling a shuddering, nervous breath. Clutching Finn’s hand in hers as the cool gel was applied to her abdomen, she muttered, “It’s gonna be okay.”
The doctor nodded reassuringly. “Oh yes, absolutely. This is just a routine check since you and the little bean had trauma recently. No reason to think anything untoward.” She got situated at the machine and patted Cora’s free hand. “Now, deep breath and relax, Mama.”
For a long while there was silence as she ran the wand back and forth across her belly. It was hard to tell what anything was, but so far it looked like a field of absolutely nothing that moved occasional.
“I’m starting to get concerned,” she said warily, mindful of the role she had to play.
“Nah,” the doctor scoffed. “Nothing to worry abo--oh! There you go. There it is.”
And in that moment the world came to a blinding, screeching halt. “There what is?” Finn demanded urgently.
Grinning broadly, the doctor stood up and pointed on the screen. “Right there. Now, in human births, this is way too soon to detect anything, but shifter anatomy is a bit… anyway. Would you like to hear your baby’s heartbeat?”
At the same time, both Cora and Finn arrived at the exact same conclusion. “Holy. Shit.”
All eyes in the room turned when the door banged open and Dev blundered through, out of breath, eyes rimmed in red. “Therantia weeps!”
“What?” Finn’s hand tightened around hers even as he stepped away from her gurney toward the Guard.
“The king is dead,” he huffed, leaning over and bracing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. When he looked up again, he took a knee on the floor as he addressed Finn. “Long live the king.”
About Alexis D. Craig
Alexis is a romance writer with a day job. When she’s not out saving her little corner of the world, she’s behind the computer typing away, taking care of her two heathen dogs, or enjoying the company of her family and friends. She’s a craft addict with more hobbies than sense.
The author of the bestselling Behind the Blue Line series as well as numerous standalone pieces, she’s been published since 2011.
You can keep up with her and my internet wanderings by heading over to Lexie’s Lyceum on Facebook and @Dispatchvampire on Twitter.
Works by Alexis D. Craig
Imminent Danger
Undercover Seduction
US Marshals Series:
Give Me Shelter
Bulletproof Princess
Behind the Blue Line Series:
The Ex File
Dead & Disorderly
Naughty Bedtime Stories-In Three Words (Anthology)
No Such Thing
Shifted Into Love Anthologies
Love Changes Everything
Lust In The Times Of Mardi Gras
Hotel California
Coming Soon
Mistletoe and Kisses (December 2019)
The Winged Guardian Series
Book 1: A Killing Moon
Coming Soon
Book 2: A Hunter’s Moon