by V J Lee
Trevor was breathlessly waiting … waiting … waiting for the baby to cry … waiting for Rissa to breathe. Was his life as he knew it over?
* * *
The darkness consumed her. Rissa thought that when you died, there was a bright light. But there was no light; there was just inky blackness.
Fuck. She was in Hell. She knew it. She knew she had cussed too fucking much, and had fucked too many men—now all that cussing and fucking had brought her straight to the bowels of Hell.
But … why wasn’t it hot? She never really minded the heat. However, right now, she was freezing her ass off. Maybe this was her own brand of Hell, one where she would freeze all the time. She fucking hated the cold. Rissa figured there was no need to stop cussing now. Besides, she figured she would be cussing a lot more from now on, if she was in Hell.
And, oddly enough, Hell smelled like leather, rain, wet dog and Trevor. Go figure, she would have to wander around for all eternity, smelling Trevor and not be able to be with him.
Yep, she was definitely in Hell.
She heard murmuring all around her. Were those little demon things surrounding her? Why couldn’t she open her eyes?
Then she heard a baby crying. Did her baby die, too? That didn’t make sense—all babies go to Heaven. Right? Or was that dogs? No, babies were innocent, they would definitely go up.
So maybe she was in Heaven. But no, Heaven wouldn’t be dark and cold.
There were footsteps coming closer, then the crying stopped. She heard more murmurs, but couldn’t make out any words. Another part of Hell: you could hear whispering, but couldn’t tell where it was coming from. You felt surrounded, but had no idea where anyone was.
She was so cold, except for the heat in her belly; that was burning like the hottest hell fire ever. She was twisting and trying to shout for help. Footsteps came closer, then she felt a warm hand on her cheek; it was rough.
Was it Bune? Rissa tried to scream again, but she had no voice.
Suddenly, she felt warm. Her blood now ran hot, and she was so very tired. It was a good thing her eyes wouldn’t open, because she was going to pass out. She just hoped those demons would keep their claws off her.
She had no idea how long she was out, but she still couldn’t open her stupid eyes. The blackness was still everywhere. However, now it smelled like she was in a fucking florist shop, and she smelled something sweet with a hint of copper? And there was still that lingering hint of Trevor’s scent.
Rissa could hear deep voices. She had a feeling they were talking normally, but they sounded very far off in the distance—so much so, she couldn’t make out any words.
She wasn’t as cold. She tried to move her hand, but it felt as if it was weighted down. Then she heard a whimpering sound coming from a child.
What was going on with her? Where was she?
This was getting old. She was tired and wanted to just give up, to go into the oblivion and not come back. She didn’t want to fight anymore, or to try and figure out where she was. The darkness and confusion was irritating, and Rissa was totally over it. She was going to let the blackness take her away.
As Rissa started to let go, there was an array of beeping noises and footsteps rushing around. The hushed voices suddenly sounded concerned.
She clearly heard a male voice say, “You better save her.”
Then, a wailing cry from a baby … no, not just a baby—she knew without a doubt that it was her baby.
“I’ll take the baby out,” a woman’s voice drifted in Rissa’s head.
She forced her eyes open and screamed, “No!”
The light was blinding, and all activity in the room stopped. Now, the room was so quiet, she could hear the soft hum of the lights. Her throat hurt—hell, every muscle in her body hurt, including her eyebrows. However, there wasn’t a great enough unit of measure to gauge the pain in her stomach. And, oh God, how heavy and painful could one’s breasts get? Rissa was beginning to think waking up was a bad idea.
After she had gotten used to the bright lights, the first thing she saw was people, lots and lots of people. She zeroed in on Trevor; he looked like hell. He had lost weight, and it looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. But what really got her attention the most was the bundle of pink blankets in his arms.
She had a daughter. “Is she okay?” Rissa’s voice sounded like a dying frog, rough and raspy.
Trevor was by her side in two long strides. “Shh, you messed up your voice pretty bad by all that screaming. Meet your … I mean, our daughter. She is the most beautiful baby girl anyone has ever seen. And she is perfect in every way.”
Rissa felt warm tears flowing down her cheeks and off her chin, before she even realized she was crying. These were the happiest tears she ever had flow out of her eyes.
Trevor put the crying bundle on the bed next to her. Her arms didn’t work right, so she couldn’t do what she wanted to most—hold her baby. Thankfully, her eyes were working, and she could see the sweet little girl next to her. She had a button nose, her eyes were still that blue color all newborn babies have, and her little pink lips matched her rosy cheeks. She had lots of curly light brown hair. Ten tiny toes, ten tiny fingers, and lungs that worked perfectly. She did, in fact, look perfect. But how were they both alive?
Rissa wasn’t going to question her good fortune. She stared down at the pink bundle and Trevor, who had his hand protectively on the baby’s blanket, as she lay next to Rissa.
“I want you to leave. I don’t want you here. You helped me get through the pregnancy, but that doesn’t make us a couple. I’m not your concern, so go.” The words sounded strange, not just because of her messed-up vocal cords, but because of the context she was using them.
Hurt washed over Trevor’s tired, but still sexy features. But then the hurt was replaced with resolve. He nodded and looked to the nurse, who ran over to take his place.
His black T-shirt was half out of his jeans and wrinkled. There was stubble on his chin and upper lip like he hadn’t shaved in several days. The worry lines around his eyes and forehead were well-pronounced.
She noticed the questioning look in his eyes—he wanted to stay and ask her why. But he didn’t. He kissed the baby and squeezed Rissa’s hand. Then, he turned and left the room.
Watching Trevor walk out of the room was harder than she thought it would be. But she had decided long ago, that if she lived through this, she wasn’t going to keep Trevor in her life. Oh, he would always be there, because of the kids, but they would never have a “happily ever after.” He was too wrapped up in another woman.
“Wow, that was hard to watch,” someone said. Rissa didn’t know or care who else was in the room. She was too wrapped up in the preciousness that was her princess. She didn’t know how they made it out of that situation alive, but she thanked God they did.
“All right, let’s get out. Give Rissa time with her baby. Tina and Apollo, you stay. The rest of you, get your sorry asses out of here.” Jock placed a sweet kiss on her forehead, but she noticed the hurt in his eyes. Why would he be hurt? What did she do to him?
It was only after everyone was gone, that she noticed all the flowers in the room; they were everywhere, like a freaking funeral. That explained the floral scent she detected while she was between worlds, or whatever that had been.
Rissa was in one of the medical rooms at the Agency, not at a regular hospital. The bed was big and comfy, with a light blue and brown comforter. The walls were painted a calming sky blue, accented with brown paintings and prints on the walls. The room felt homey, not like a hospital at all.
Tina had on pink Tinkerbell scrubs today, the brown ponytail high on her head made her look young, but beautiful. She was very gentle with the baby and smiled sweetly at Rissa.
Apollo pulled down the blankets covering her and checked her stomach.
“How does it feel?”
“Like it’s on fire.”
He smiled that sweet, sexy smile. Rissa noticed that
Tina let out a little sigh at that smile.
“Sorry, but it’s going to be like that for a while. We didn’t give you any opiate-type pain killers, just in case you wanted to breastfeed.”
“We’ve been feeding her from a bottle of breast milk we got from the hospital,” Tina interjected. “She is doing quite well with drinking from a bottle, so if you want to continue on that route, we can just pump yours and give it to her. You can switch to formula if you want, but seeing how stressful her birth was, I would recommend breast milk to keep her immunity up.”
The look on Rissa’s face must have shown the horror she was feeling, because Tina laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll help you, every step of the way.”
“Apollo, what happened in there?” Rissa was having a hard time talking, and the fucking tears just kept running down her face.
“That needs to wait until later. You need to spend some time with your baby. You’ve been unconscious for three days. So, you need quality time. And I would suggest you reconsider sending Trevor away. The baby has spent this entire time in his arms. He fed her, changed her, rocked her and bonded with her. Right now, you’re not only hurting him, you’re hurting her.”
“I’m going to go get a bottle for the baby so she can eat.” Tina left the room.
* * *
Rissa had no idea what time it was, but she was surprised she had slept. The baby was in a clear plastic bassinet, which was pushed right up next to her bed. Reaching out her hand, she felt her baby’s soft hair and put her hand ever-so-lightly on her chest. Feeling her little chest rise and fall gave Rissa a huge sense of peace.
“She’s a beauty.” The deep, sexy voice of Cosmo came from the couch on the other side of the room.
Rissa heard shuffling, then two sets of footsteps coming up to her bed. She hit the button on her bed that turned on the bedside light.
The light illuminated Cosmo and Sky. Both had on dark jeans, boots, black T-shirts and black leather jackets. Sky’s hair was braided with leather running through it, and the braid hung down to her waist.
“Thank you. I think she’s pretty perfect,” Rissa said, realizing her voice was sounding better.
Rissa looked up at the other two. Neither one of them looked happy to be there. Anger was making Cosmo shake. Sky couldn’t look her in the eye.
“What’s going on? This isn’t a ‘how are you doing’ visit,” she said, not taking her eyes off her baby.
“We’re here to answer your questions,” Sky said, sounding bored. She even pretended to buff her nails on her shirt. Okay, what was her problem?
“Trevor was the one who was going to answer your questions. But seeing how you kicked him to the curb, that fell to us.” Cosmo’s voice was filled with venom. She didn’t even think he liked Trevor. So, why was he pissed at her?
She hit the button that made her bed go up, so she was in a sitting position. The movement caused her stomach muscles to clench in pain. When she winced, neither of the other two seemed to care at all that she was hurting.
“Come on, what do you want to know? We’ve got bikes waiting for us to ride, and places to go, people to do,” Cosmo said.
“Who—or what—the hell was Bune? And is he gone for good?”
Cosmo made an exasperated sound, before answering. “Bune is a demon. He’s back in Hell for now. He wanted to make his own demon spawn by using Others and humans, mixed with his DNA. We don’t know if he’ll be getting out of Hell anytime soon, but it’s safe to say he’ll think twice, before climbing his slimy ass out of the Devil’s bowels again for a while.”
“What happened to him? He seemed indestructible.”
Rissa watched as Cosmo’s eyes flashed a dark color, then he put his head down, seeming to look at a spot on the floor. She didn’t miss the tormented look on his face, before he tried to hide his expression.
Sky spoke up. “Cosmo went to close the gates that all those little demon creatures were coming through, when he decided to go into Hell and talk to an old friend of his—the big guy downstairs. That’s who came on up to grab the cocksucker Bune and drag him back down. Where, we can only hope, he will be getting tortured by all those he once tortured.”
Rissa gasped and looked at Cosmo. “How did you convince the Devil to come get Bune?”
“He owes me some favors.” A look came over the man that was something out of nightmares. She couldn’t explain it, but Rissa knew she couldn’t push him. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
Wow, Rissa thought. She had just gotten a peek at Mean Cosmo, and it was scary as hell. Actually, it was way worse than anything that came up from Hell.
“Did we lose anyone?” She didn’t really want to know this, but she had to ask.
“We lost one.” Sky’s eyes teared up briefly. “The Vamps lost two. But the Light Ones and humans didn’t lose any.” The sadness in Sky’s voice matched the sadness in Rissa’s heart.
“Do we know why he wanted my baby?”
Sky shook her head. “Best we can tell, she must have some of his DNA. Apollo and Aurora have done every test possible on her blood and can’t find anything. She seems human. Do you see anything in her?”
“No, but sometimes I can’t tell with babies. She seems so perfect.” Rissa got lost in the sweetness of her daughter. “What happened to the women?”
“Cosmo and his people were able to get them out of the morgue lockers. They all had Scopolamine in their systems, also known as Devil’s Breath. It makes them zombie-like, so they do whatever they’re told and have no recollection of it all.” Sky moved closer to the bassinet. “The Vamps were able to get into their heads and made them all think they had been on a cruise. They have been returned to their homes. None of the men who were taken have been found … well, alive anyway.” Sky gave a little shrug and reached out, touching the sweet baby cheek of Rissa’s daughter.
“What’s her name?”
Rissa could only blink at the other woman. “I don’t know yet.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I didn’t think I would be around to name a baby.”
Cosmo stepped back up to her line of vision. “But you thought Trevor was good enough to name your baby? He was good enough to take care of her, if you died? What, now that you’re not dead, he’s not good enough for either of you?” The venom in his voice scared her.
“I didn’t think you even liked him.”
“He proved himself to me … to all of us. I’d do him,” Cosmo said.
“I would, too,” Sky said, running a finger across the baby’s hand. “And to be honest, I’m sure my brothers wouldn’t skin him and put him in front of the fireplace like a rug.” Rissa blinked. Sky spoke so casually about killing and skinning a man, and yet, was so tender toward the baby.
“Trevor put his life on the line for you.” Cosmo was seething. “We all did, and we all would do it again—and that includes Trevor. Since you kicked him out of here, he’s been in that little apartment, drinking himself to death.” Cosmo couldn’t even look Rissa in the eye—he just stared at a spot on the wall.
“Why is he in an apartment? He has that huge house out in that gated community.”
“He has always hated that place. There is almost no housing around here, thanks to all the oil workers. The only thing he could find was …” He just stopped there. She waited for him to finish, but his silence seemed to go on forever. Finally, he said, “Your old apartment down by the Agency. He’s there right now, no doubt wallowing in his own misery.”
Rissa refused to let herself feel sorry for Trevor. “I can’t worry about that. We all know what he did, and I can’t be with someone like that. Period. End of story.”
“Well, I know a hell of a lot of women who would be more than happy to pick up the pieces of his broken heart,” Cosmo said. “Now, I need to go ride something, or someone.” He strode to the door without so much as a goodbye.
“You know you don’t have to worry about Petra ever bot
hering you again,” Sky said, as she finally looked Rissa in the eyes.
“I don’t even think prison can keep Trevor and her from getting their freak on.”
“She’s not going to prison.”
Rissa’s eyes snapped open wider. “What do you mean? Is she out already?”
Sky rubbed her face and looked at the ceiling, before answering. “After Bune was dragged back from whence he came, the electricity at the facility Petra was being held at failed. The cameras went out for a split second. When everything came back online, she was gone.”
“She escaped? How?” Rissa felt her heart jump up into her throat.
“We don’t think she escaped, per se. There was a black spot on the floor of her cell, and it reeked of sulfur.”
Rissa inhaled. “You think she is with her husband?”
“I think she’s somewhere that makes prison look like Disneyland. Therefore, you have nothing to worry your pretty little head over, when it comes to her and Trevor.”
Rissa’s heart still felt as if it was beating out of her chest. The thought of Petra in Hell didn’t make her feel any better. “Even if she is Satan’s slut, it doesn’t change their history. What if she comes back, even more powerful than before?”
Sky looked back down at the sleeping baby. “Then we will be waiting for her. You have an army behind you. We fought them back once, we can do it again.”
“Yeah, but now Cosmo doesn’t have a favor with the man downstairs.”
The other woman snorted. “You’d be surprised by the number of favors he can call in.”
“Well, he doesn’t seem to want to help me out any longer.”
“Maybe not, but I think he would do it for Trevor and the kids.”
“Is he that pissed at me?”
“Trevor fought like a true warrior. He has the stitches and staples to prove it. Hell, his scars may even match the ones you received from the Spirit Wolf, if not worse. He protected you, Apollo and Tina, and helped the Agency fight off demon creatures. Not to mention, he helped keep you and the baby alive.”
