by KB Anne
“Squeeze the blood into Lizzie’s mouth,” he says through gritted teeth.
I look at him in question.
“Do it,” he growls and drags me toward Lizzie, keeping his back to Carman. The tunnels pulse with her foul magic. He jerks and spasms every time he’s hit, but with me in his clutches the boundary of his cell moves with us to encompass the space where Lizzie lies.
I drop to my knees.
Ryan looks over at me. “Are you sure?”
“Hurry,” Clayone grunts.
Who am I to dispute the Original Werewolf’s command, especially when he’s using his body as a shield to protect me? I whisper a healing spell for Lizzie as I drip Naisha’s blood into her mouth.
The blood slithers between her lips as if alive. I watch it slide down her throat. I picture it coursing through her veins, working its way to her heart. I imagine it rushing to her arms and legs and filling them with strength.
Alaric finally snaps out of his Mommy Dearest daze and crawls over to us. He cradles me in his lap, shielding me from any stray curses, but his dad’s body fills up the tunnel.
Nothing happens for a long time. Too long. Clayone’s body continues to absorb Carman’s curses. I don’t know how he’s still standing. He’s a stubborn old wolf.
“Why isn’t it working?” Ryan whispers. “I thought it would work.”
I lean down to her ear. It’s risky for my exposed throat to be so close to her teeth, but I have to try. “Lizzie, wake up.”
At the sound of my voice, her body seizes and spasms. She bucks and kicks. Suddenly she springs to her feet, her stance wide, her fangs extending. I swallow hard and look at her eyes. Her lovely hazel eyes. She focuses on me.
“Lizzie?” I whisper. “Lizzie, is it really you?”
She blinks and glances around. She takes in me and Alaric. Then her mom’s still frame. Her chest heaves in and out in sadness.
Ryan slowly stands up. Her gaze shifts to him.
“Hey, Lizzie,” he softly says. “I’ve missed you.”
Time stands still as she watches him, her nostrils flaring in and out. He slowly opens his palms, as if inviting her in for a hug. I suck in a breath. He’s taking a risk, and I’m scared shitless about it.
She takes a step toward him.
His green eyes brighten as he lifts his hands out wider. She leaps at him and wraps her arms around him. He clutches her to his chest. His eyes fall on me. Happiness radiates from them.
Lizzie is back.
29
Final Countdown
Lizzie pulls away from Ryan and turns to me. “It wasn’t all a lie,” she whispers.
And even though there’s a crazed Maleficium witch shooting curses at us, and a dead faerie with her heart ripped out on the floor, and all sorts of other madness going on outside the tunnels, I take one hesitant step toward my best friend, and then another and another until I wrap her into the giantest of hugs.
A weight lifts from me that I’d been carrying since the night long ago when she fell through the floor at the church. Hugging Lizzie feels like coming home. Part of me wants to stay in her embrace forever. The other part knows there’s a world of trouble that will be upon us if we don’t hurry.
“Release me,” Clayone hisses, breaking us out of our bestie reunion daze.
Months of conditioning that Clayone the Original Werewolf wanted to kill me makes it hard to accept that he’s on my side and will do anything to protect me. It makes it even harder to form the words to free him, but I trust Alaric, and Clayone did return Lizzie to me, and he’s been absorbing Carman’s curses while I’ve been enjoying happy reunions, so I will grant him this one small request.
“You are released,” I whisper.
Whatever invisible barrier kept him in disappears. He lunges down the tunnel. Carman’s curses hit him head on, but nothing stops him from reaching his target. Her eyes widen two seconds too late as she realizes who his target is. He snaps her neck with such force that her head flies down the tunnel, landing at my feet. Her shocked eyes stare back at me. I kick her head out of the way and race toward Clayone’s now-collapsed frame in the cavern meeting room. Her malevolent spells have taken their toll on him.
I slide to a stop with Alaric, Lizzie, and Ryan close behind me. Maddie and Keturah keep a respectful distance, but they’re ready in case of trouble. In his hand he clutches Carman’s heart. He wasn’t taking any chances with the witch and her soul-jumping tricks.
Dozens of eyes, including Declan’s yellow ones, watch us from the other tunnel entrance. Anger and confusion swirl around them. Carman/Maria was their on-and-off-again quasi-leader. Her violent death upsets them, but before them lies the ultimate alpha and his son. The pack dances between wanting to attack me and bowing to Clayone and Alaric.
Alaric emits a low rumble, making their decision for them. Their heads bend in respect. They file in one by one, falling to their knees around us.
Alaric crouches beside Clayone.
“You will lead them back to the light,” Clayone says. His chest slowly rises and falls. “You will lead the pack to victory. You will protect your love at all costs.”
Alaric’s eyes meet mine. “Always.”
“My daughter,” he sighs, barely holding on to his life-force.
Lizzie kneels over him.
His lips curve into a smile. “I’m so glad you found me. Always remain in the light.”
Lizzie’s eyes skirt to mine. “I will.”
“Gigi,” he says.
Surprised, I glance over at Alaric. He nods in support. I bend down to the man I once thought of as a terrible beast and lean close to his lips.
“Thank you,” he sighs, his chest falling for the final time.
A light rises from his lips and flickers once in front of my face before disappearing into the ceiling.
The room falls silent in tribute as Clayone passes into the beyond, wherever that may be. He returned to the light, but I don’t know if it will be enough for him to pass on to a blissful Otherworld or if he’ll be damned to a demonic purgatory.
* * *
What a freaking day. I don’t know how much more I can take emotionally and physically before I’m pushed over the edge. My heart hurts for Alaric and Lizzie. They lost their mother and father. One found light at the end. The other chose to remain forever in the darkness. I didn’t even get a chance to use my spelled glass cylinders, but that’s okay. I’ll keep them just in case.
I cast a protective shield around us as we wander back to Granda’s cottage in order to hide us from Breas, the Witch, and the rest of their mindless minions. With Balor and Carman dead, along with the pack pledging loyalty to Alaric, their numbers are greatly diminished. The odds should be in our favor, especially with three days until the Storm Moon to develop a battle strategy.
Scott and Caer hurry over to us as we cross Granda’s boundary.
“Where have you been?” Scott asks.
“Long story short, Clayone joined our side and protected us from Carman, who died a dramatic death. Then he died a hero.”
Caer’s eyes scan the crowd behind us. “Where’s Naisha?”
“She’s dead too, at the hands of Clayone.”
Scott’s eyes fall on our best friend. “And Lizzie?”
“She’s on our side.”
He gives her a small smile, before turning back to me. “What took you so long?”
“We were only gone a few hours. You two were busy putting Ireland to sleep. You weren’t even here.”
His mind opens to me but he voices the reality for the rest of us. “You’ve been gone for two days. The Storm Moon is tonight.”
I stumble backward, holding my hand to my stomach. “I don’t understand. How can that be?”
Granda stops in front of me. “Never mind that. We must prepare.” He glances down at my hand on my stomach. “But you are in no condition to fight.”
Scott’s eyes follow Granda’s gaze and suddenly everyone is looking at my s
tomach. I’m just as surprised as everyone to see the bump that has formed in the time it’s taken for us to return from the tunnels.
“What the . . . are you kidding me?” Scott growls, lunging for Alaric and throwing him to the ground. “You said she couldn’t get pregnant. You said Brigit’s line would end with her. Based on the size of her stomach, you’ve been sleeping with my sister for months.” His sword appears at Alaric’s throat. “I should have ended you the first time.”
I fall across Alaric, pushing myself between him and Scott’s sword. “Are you insane? We’ve got a battle to prepare for and you’re worried about my honor?”
Scott frowns. “He lied to me.”
“Nan told me she couldn’t bear children,” Alaric whispers, trying to defend himself.
“And you didn’t suspect that maybe she lied?” Fuming, Scott turns his attention on me. “You lied to me too.”
Granda pulls him away. “No one lied. No one knows what Gigi is capable of.”
“But look at her,” Scott growls, pointing at my bulging stomach. “It had to be months ago that he got her pregnant.”
“Clearly this pregnancy and this child are out of the ordinary,” Granda says. “Gigi is a rule breaker. Now, if you’re through with your misdirected rage, we’ve got preparations to make.”
I reach down to help Alaric stand.
“No,” he says, rolling over to stand up on his own, “don’t strain yourself.”
I rest my hand on my abdomen, suddenly feeling fatigued. I don’t understand any of it.
He holds his hand above my stomach. “May I?”
His touch shoots a burst of warmth through me, and something in my belly moves. Freaking moves.
“Did you feel that?”
He nods, a broad smile crossing his lips.
“How did this happen?” I ask him.
His green eyes find mine. “Love.”
It’s the first thing that makes sense all day.
* * *
Anna and a few other coven members crushed herbs and cast protective spells over leather amulets for each of the coven members. I made a special one for Granda. When he tried to refuse, I reminded him what I was carrying and that we would need a relative to share the family histories with the baby.
My stomach grew larger by the minute. At the current growth rate, I might be delivering on the battlefield. I needed to make preparations just in case.
“Anna?”
The new healer rushes over to me. “Yes, Gigi.”
“Are you trained as a midwife?”
Her eyes fall to my stomach. “I am.”
I tilt my head for her to get closer. “I need you to stay close to me. I don’t know what type of condition I’m going to be in when the baby comes.”
She blinks in understanding. I beckon her closer and she brings her ear to my lips.
“Brigit’s portal,” I whisper.
She pulls away from me. Her eyes turn frightened as she realizes the reason why I’m asking her.
Please.
She nods.
Thank you. Now please prepare.
She hurries off to gather what she needs for both the birth and the care of my baby. I sigh, falling back in my chair. Even breathing is becoming difficult. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and realize that Alaric is watching me. He heard my entire conversation with Anna. Why didn’t I talk to her telepathically?
He drops to his knees beside me.
What aren’t you telling me, Gigi?
Our baby kicks at his voice in my head. I put his hand on my stomach.
I just want to be ready. I want her to be safe.
His eyes brighten. Her?
Another firecracker to wrap you around her tiny little fingers.
He smiles. I love you.
Parts of my heart shatter at the truths I’m hiding from him, but it’s for his own good. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
I love you too.
Scott rests his hand on my shoulder. “Gigi, it’s time.”
“I used to have nothing but time,” I whisper.
Tonight we will blow out the candles on your birthday cake, once we’re done fighting.
You remembered.
Seventeen years isn’t long enough.
I purse my lips as I stare into Alaric’s green eyes. I know.
30
Beginnings and Endings
I ignore the contractions as long as I can as we walk toward the meadow bordering the fairy mound, but they start coming so hard and so intense that I can’t stop my face from screwing up in pain as I grip my stomach.
“Gigi,” Alaric says, “you can’t keep going on like this. You have to stop.”
“Alaric,” I pant, “we need the fairy mound’s energy to beat them. In my current condition, I can’t call on all my power.”
He pulls in his lips, studying me, his mind deep in thought. “I’ll carry you.”
“No, I can—” A contraction seizes my body, blinding me with pain.
Without asking permission, he reaches under my legs and lifts me to his chest as if I weigh nothing.
“Alaric, I—”
He kisses my forehead. “Let me do this for you.”
Anna keeps close to us. She doesn’t think it’ll be long now. I glance up at the moon. It hasn’t approached its apex yet. There’s still time.
Alaric’s pack takes the lead. Their noses will sense our enemies’ arrival long before they ever set foot on the field.
Lizzie and Ryan walk beside us. They flirt and touch each other like new sweethearts, and they are. It makes my heart full to know that neither one of them will be alone.
Keturah and Maddie lead the faeries. They’ll take to the skies as soon as the pack gives them the word.
Caer and Scott refuse to leave me. They know I’m in a weakened state, but with the power of the three of us, we might be able to conjure up a world of trouble for Breas and the Witch. Even if they manage to open a portal for the Fomorians, we should be able to stop them.
I press my hand to Alaric’s heart. It beats strong and true, serving as a sign that everything will be okay. That he’ll be okay. And he will be. I’ll make sure of it.
The fairy mound fast approaches. My body shudders as another contraction takes hold.
“Do you need to rest?” Alaric asks.
I nod, breathing through the pain.
He sets me on a hard surface. My hands grip the stone and I look to him in question.
“Our rock,” he says quietly. “I thought it might help you.”
Another contraction hits me. Then another. And another.
“The baby’s coming,” Anna says. “Let’s get her comfortable.”
Alaric climbs onto the rock behind me and pulls me into his chest. Scott and Caer hover nearby.
“Scott, go,” I pant between contractions.
“No,” he mouths.
“Don’t . . . be . . . stub . . . awww . . . born.”
“Call the kettle,” he says, holding on to my hand.
Caer picks up my other one.
Lizzie and Ryan stand off to the side, watching. Concern is etched on both their faces.
I can’t look that bad.
They smile at my voice in their head, but actually, yes, I can look that bad.
“Push, Gigi,” Anna says as if I didn’t already want to.
And I do. Again and again. I blink through the sweat pouring off my forehead. Alaric holds me close to him. “Gigi, you got this. You’re doing great.”
But he doesn’t say what he’s really thinking. Why is there so much blood? Why isn’t the baby here yet?
I push again and again. My vision grows blurry, but I push and push.
Until finally, the loud sigh of relief ripples through my friends and family as our baby breaks free from my womb. Her cries are hidden by the howls of the pack. The enemy is near. Their howls are symbolic and haunting. A reminder of how close the end is, but at least they’re
on our side. Each pack member is wearing a nightlock-imbued crystal.
Anna.
She forces her eyes away from the blood still pouring out from me, far more than just the afterbirth, and looks at me.
Run.
She blinks in response and quickly swaddles our baby girl. Once the little one is secure in the sling, Anna takes off into the night without a parting glance, honoring my wishes without question.
I close my eyes and pray for Brigit’s protection of our little wolf. The fates were cruel to her. She deserves a safe, long life filled with love.
Alaric kisses my forehead out of love and appreciation and out of sadness that we didn’t even get to hold our little one before the battle. He doesn’t know it, but he’s also saying goodbye.
I squeeze Caer’s and Scott’s hands with my last bit of human strength. It’s time.
They help me to my feet. Alaric scurries to assist me. I don’t trust myself to look at him one last time.
The trí cumhacht’s strength builds in our clasped hands. Energy surges between our fingertips as the Storm Moon reaches its apex. Breas and the Witch approach us.
“You’re too late,” Breas snarls. He clutches the Vessel of Life in one hand and a dagger in the other.
I summon the strength for three final words. “No, you are.”
Lightning streaks down from the heavens, striking our joined hands before ricocheting off and ripping open a gap to the Otherworld.
“Nooooo,” Breas and Witch Kensey scream as they get sucked in along with the three of us.
Alaric’s green eyes with gold halos find mine as the gap yanks me through.
Always, I drop in his head, a single tear trailing down my cheek.
He lunges through with me.
Always.
THE END
Thank you soooo much for reading The Goddess Chronicles. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I loved writing them. If you did, would you mind taking a hot second to review?