You’re never going to find out, whispered her voice in his mind. Your path is set. I am no longer yours.
A flicker of grief hit him before he brushed it away. There was too much to do for him to be worrying about emotions at a time like this. Only actions mattered now.
Morgan gave her a single nod, indicating he understood, then went to perform his part of the rescue mission.
Chapter Twenty-five
Jackie’s labor pains were making it almost impossible for her to concentrate.
Ronan was on his way to deliver the baby, though he was slowed down by daylight and lethargy it created in his kind. Justice—lead-foot that she was—was behind the wheel, which meant they’d be here soon, but there was no guarantee they’d make it in time.
Based on the way Jackie’s body was trying to twist itself inside out, she was almost certain she didn’t have much time to wait.
Their baby was almost here.
Iain had moved her to the infirmary, as if the three-minute walk up the stairs was going to take too long and that the baby might just pop out unexpectedly. She, on the other hand, was certain she wasn’t going to get that lucky.
The pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It was as if her body had betrayed her, using her own muscles as torture devices.
The contractions were still far enough apart that she had time to recover between them, as well as time to anticipate their arrival as one might anticipate a root canal or being burned at the stake.
Beyond the pain, fear and worry haunted her. Sibyl’s warning rang in her mind like a gong. You must find the women before it’s too late. Without them, we all die.
Jackie was almost out of time. She hadn’t yet figured out how to locate the women and if she didn’t do so before her baby was born, she might never be able to.
She thought about that poor woman bleeding out in the snow and her heart squeezed hard in grief and guilt.
Jackie had failed her—she’d failed to focus her gift soon enough to save the woman’s life. That failure could never be undone.
She couldn’t let it happen again. She couldn’t lose another one of the lights. She needed to fight through her labor pain and figure out how to do what Sibyl had warned her she must.
The office-turned-infirmary was brightly lit, but she couldn’t see anything past the lights in her vision. She knew there was a curtain spread across the wide windows overlooking the warehouse floor, but even that large sheet of fabric was impossible to see between the light the women put off.
She could smell disinfectant and hear the voices of people below, muttering excitedly about what was about to happen. Another Theronai baby was about to enter the world.
Jackie hoped like hell she didn’t scream and scare the children. They wouldn’t understand that what she was going through was normal, natural, joyful. Instead, they’d remember the horrors they’d faced in the caves and the screams of the kids who’d been deemed unworthy to breed. The screams of children being killed and eaten, hopefully in that order. They’d remember the screams of those unlucky enough to be chosen as breeders as they faced the horrors those demons had in store.
There had been so much pain and fear in those caves. Jackie didn’t want to do anything to drag their minds back to that dark, hopeless place.
Screaming was definitely not an option.
“Don’t go there,” Iain said.
He was close, only inches away. She couldn’t see his big body, but she could feel the heat coming from him, the gravitational pull of his solid bulk.
He wouldn’t leave her. He’d never leave her. She was as certain of that as she was that she was nearly out of time to save those women.
Jackie redirected her thoughts and took a deep breath to try to clear her mind. Sweat dotted her skin. The cramps in her back and abdomen had receded but were never truly gone now.
The time between contractions was growing shorter. She was going to have to find a way to work through the pain, whatever it took.
As she had so many times before, she went to the lights and chose one at random. This one wasn’t as bright as the dead woman’s had been, but nearly so. It had a faint pink cast to it that seemed to glow with health and vitality.
That was what Jackie needed right now—a nice, healthy woman who wasn’t on the verge of death.
She concentrated on that light and flew toward it.
Travelling to the lights was easier now than it had been. She’d learned how to guide her consciousness through space, darting and zipping like a hummingbird. There was no more sense of disorientation that had plagued her earlier. She could tell by the geography she saw that she was in Texas, right along the Gulf Coast.
That, at least, was more information than she’d been able to glean from all the other visits to the lights she’d made.
The woman was in a populated area. People and cars were everywhere. The buildings here were tall glass and steel constructions that gleamed under the sun.
The woman was in a shop in the shadow of one of those buildings, working. Jackie could see her as clearly as she could if she were standing right beside her.
She had dark brown hair that was tied in a knot at the back of her head. Her face was round and sweet, with the kind of uplifted features that made her look like she was smiling, even when she wasn’t. She had beautiful peaches-and-cream skin that was flushed with health. A few strands of dark hair fell across her cheek, right next to a dusting of what looked like flour.
She wore a white T-shirt and jeans. Over that was a pink apron with tiny red and white hearts on it. Like the rest of her, it was simple and cute.
She smiled at someone who’d walked into the shop, revealing a deep dimple in both cheeks. As her expression warmed with welcome, her cuteness ramped up by a factor of ten.
There was a bright pink box in her hands that, like her apron, was covered in small hearts. On it was a store logo that Jackie couldn’t quite make out. The box was moving too fast as it went into the hands of an elderly man.
Another contraction clamped around Jackie’s middle, like a giant fist trying to squeeze her in half. A hoarse cry escaped her mouth before she could clamp her lips shut to trap it inside.
Her vision of the cute girl flickered, then disappeared, leaving Jackie looking at Iain’s concerned face between blobs of light.
“You okay?” he asked.
She had to wait for the worst of the pain to die down before she could answer. “I thought I almost had something. I saw someone. A woman. In Texas.”
“That’s good,” he said as he held her hand. “What else?”
Sweat coated her skin and made her hair cling to her forehead. She was wearing one of Iain’s giant, button-up shirts since there were no hospital gowns to be had here. She was naked beneath it except for socks, which served to keep her feet protected from the cold warehouse floor.
A heart monitor was strapped to her belly. The baby’s pulse was fast and steady, beating out a reassuring rhythm.
Iain had wanted her to lie down, but she’d chosen one of the folding chairs draped in a towel instead. She felt too vulnerable on her back, and right now, she needed to feel as strong and competent as possible.
“I saw a little shop. It smelled sweet, like a candy store.”
“You can smell where these women are?”
Jackie hadn’t thought that strange until he’d said something.
“Yeah. I guess I can.”
“Can you hear anything?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Let me check.” With that, she closed her eyes and went back to the pale pink light the woman cast across Jackie’s vision.
The little shop where the woman worked was bright and tidy. There was a glass display case at a serving counter with colorful objects behind it.
Cupcakes. The woman worked in a cupcake shop.
The air smelled of sugar and vanilla. It was cool, and there was a whir of a machine somewhere in the background.
The woman was behind the cou
nter, adding beautiful, ornate cupcakes to an empty slot behind the glass. She hummed under her breath as she worked.
A small, plastic nametag flashed under the overhead lights. Jackie caught just a glimpse of it, but that was all she needed.
Genie was this woman’s name, and, according to the shiny, silver star on the tag, she’d been working for Cuppy Cakes for three years.
Another contraction hit, this one worse than the last. It jerked her out of the little shop and back to the infirmary, where her body seized up against the grinding pain clenching her.
Iain’s hand was on her back. It made wide, slow sweeps down her spine as she curled herself around her baby and prayed for the pain to ease.
With each pass of his hand, her pain lightened, as if he were wiping it away.
She touched his thoughts through the luceria and realized that he’d begun taking into himself some of her pain so that she didn’t have to feel it all. While part of her wanted to tell him that she was strong enough to take the pain, most of her was grateful that he was sharing the burden. She didn’t know how women did this without help from their men.
She hoped she never had to find out.
When the worst of the agony faded and she was able to pull in enough breath to speak, she told Iain what she’d learned.
“That’s enough to find her,” he said. “I’ll let Joseph know right away so he can send someone to her.”
“We can’t bring her here now—not when Dabyr is under attack. We’re a wreck. She’d never want to have anything to do with us.”
He stroked her hair. “Don’t worry about that now. We’ll figure out the best way to proceed. You just worry about having the baby.”
There were so many more women for her to locate. And all of them were in as much danger as the woman who’d bled out in the snow. They would all be hunted for the magic they possessed and the blood flowing through their veins. Without people to protect them and teach them how to survive, they were in grave danger.
Jackie had to find them. But how was she going to do that before their little girl was born and could no longer help fuel Jackie’s magic?
You must find the women before it’s too late. Without them, we all die.
“I have to find more,” she said.
She couldn’t see his face, but didn’t need to. He was unhappy about the situation. She could feel his frustration and distress buffeting the walls of their connection.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” he said.
“There’s no choice. We can’t leave these women out there alone. And I can’t be responsible for losing another one of them. I have to do this.”
His thick fingers slid between hers. His voice was tense with worry. “Then do it, but I won’t let you do it on your own.”
Of course, he wouldn’t. Iain was always with her, supporting and encouraging her. He’d taken care of her through her pregnancy and kept her safe when it seemed that every demon out there wanted her blood even more now that she was pregnant.
She didn’t have much time until the next contraction hit, and she needed every second she could get.
There were at least a dozen more lights to find. Maybe more. It was hard to tell when they blinded her like this.
Jackie pulled in a deep breath and opened the conduit that connected her and Iain so deeply they shared a soul. As the connection widened, she could feel the shimmering heat of his power just waiting for her to call on it. Waves of energy pooled inside of him, seething and churning as if restless. That power wanted to be used, to be shaped by her hands into something different, something tangible and whole.
As she gathered up a thick strand of that energy, her baby responded. The pulse coming from heart monitor strapped to her sped. She thrashed inside the confines of Jackie’s hard belly as if excited.
Jackie sent her mind soaring through the air toward one of the lights. Before she could make it all the way there, the next contraction grabbed her in its fist and squeezed.
She was jerked back into her body to endure every second of the pain. Iain was drawing some of it away, but there was still plenty to go around.
They panted together through the pain, holding hands. Their minds were merged, so no words were necessary.
They both knew that their baby was nearly here. The contractions were too close together now. She didn’t have time to find another woman between them.
There was a knock on the door. Iain struggled to his feet to answer it.
Madoc’s low voice came from the hallway. “Justice called. They’re still over an hour away.”
“She doesn’t have that long,” Iain said. “Her contractions are less than a minute apart now.”
“Madoc delivered my baby,” Nika said. She must have been with her husband. Her voice was low and soft. “He read all the books and knows what to do if something goes wrong.”
Madoc had a photographic memory. If he’d read something, he could always see it in his mind as perfectly as if the book were still in front of him.
Jackie felt Iain’s protective side surge up, hard and fast. It clogged their link with aggression and testosterone.
None of the Theronai men liked others to touch their mates. Letting Madoc deliver their baby was definitely more than touching.
“Let him in,” Jackie said, panting. “We need him.”
Iain hesitated. Jackie couldn’t hear his feet shuffle for several seconds. Then, slowly, she felt him relent, felt his need to keep her and the baby safe overcome his desire to keep Madoc away from her.
Finally, Iain uttered a grudging, “Come in.”
Madoc donned a sterile gown and gloves then checked Jackie’s cervix. The whole time, Iain was barely holding himself back from bashing in the other man’s brains for daring to touch his wife in such an intimate way.
She stayed connected to him, soothing him, reassuring him.
Sometimes alpha males were so much work.
When Madoc was done with his exam, he said, “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” Iain asked.
“For Jackie to start pushing. She’s fully dilated.”
For some reason, those words sent a jolt of fear down her spine. She’d been looking forward to this day for so long, but now that it was here, she was terrified.
What if she couldn’t keep her baby safe? What if she was a horrible mother? What if she did something wrong?
And then she realized what those words meant. If it was time to push, she wasn’t going to find those women. They were all going to be left out there to fend for themselves.
She couldn’t let it happen.
“Not yet,” she said. “I need a few more minutes.”
“For what?” Madoc asked, his tone sharp and confused. “No turning back now.”
“I need to try one more time.”
“She’s trying to find the location of the other female Theronai. Once the baby is born, it will be too late.”
“This isn’t like doing your taxes,” Madoc said. “You can’t put this off.”
“Just for another few minutes.” As she uttered the words, another contraction ripped through her, so brutal she let out a high, keening wail.
Iain was at her side again, holding her, easing her pain.
When it was over, she was dripping with sweat and shaking.
“There’s no more time,” Madoc said.
Jackie ignored him and went seeking the next light.
Chapter Twenty-six
Serena hid her weakness from Morgan. Simply holding the shield around them for so long had worn her down. The shock of seeing that huge, pulsing monster filled with baby demons had rattled her. The guilt of knowing she was at least partly to blame for Link’s current condition had taken an even bigger toll.
She knew what she had to do, but she honestly wasn’t sure if she was strong enough—if the bond she and Morgan shared was adequate for her to funnel enough power from him to get them all out of here alive.
Every
second she hesitated only served to exhaust her more, so she closed her eyes, inhaled as much of the blazing energy Morgan stored as she could, and shaped it to do her bidding.
First, she sped the flow of time so that Morgan could move ten times faster than those around him.
As he began hacking the heads from sleeping demons at a pace so fast it was a blur, Serena did her part.
Her feet left the ground, giving her a giddy, buoyant sensation. She wobbled slightly before she got the hang of floating, but as soon as she was steady, she lifted herself up to where Link was suspended.
She wasn’t strong enough to hold him up when she cut his ropes, but Morgan’s power was. She wrapped it around Link in a tight embrace, then sliced through the tough rope binding him.
The second his body was free, he started to fall. She thought she’d been ready for his weight, but she hadn’t realized just how heavy he’d be.
His eyes opened slightly, and past his blood-caked lashes, she saw shock and terror.
She strengthened her hold on him and exerted more energy to slow his fall. She wasn’t quite able to stop him completely, but Morgan had started his killing spree with the demons directly below Link.
He landed on the relatively soft pile of stinking, gray flesh and rolled safely to the stone floor.
At least as safely as any ten-foot fall could have ended.
Serena dropped to his side and began to work on cutting the section of rope binding his wrists together. The second she moved his arms, he gave another one of those low moans of pain, as if he couldn’t hold it in.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Just hold on.”
Nearby, Morgan was a blur of shining steel and gleaming flesh. His work was almost done, with only a few creatures left on the far side of the room to finish off. They were groggy, slowly waking up from sleep, but Morgan would be done with them before they could reach her or Link.
Everywhere Morgan had gone, gray heads lay on the ground, rocking slightly as dark red blood leaked from the necks they used to inhabit.
The sight was hideous, but not nearly as disturbing as what they’d seen earlier.
Monsters birthing monsters, fully grown and ready for war.
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