Eternal Bloom - Book 5 (The Ruby Ring Saga)

by Chrissy Peebles

  He let out a long breath. “It would be a very dangerous, lethal combination.”

  I sighed. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to attack their lab after all. They are so powerful. Even with the rebellion, we’re no match against them.”

  “They were going to experiment on you!” he said, his voice wavering. “They did horrifying things to Della for months, and they almost killed my son.”

  “So they needed to pay?”

  He didn’t answer, knowing there was nothing he could really say.

  I continued, “If you are so bent on revenge, Victor, why didn’t you kill Ethano?” I asked. “He needs to pay, too, right?”

  “Sarah, we attacked that facility to rescue those poor humans being held in those awful pods. I suspected that Lynn, the girl from our theater, was among the captives. I went there to rescue them, not to kill anyone. The rebellion took it a step further, and your sister only encouraged them.”

  “You had nothing to do with the explosion?” I asked.

  “No, Sarah. I swear.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that.” I sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I’ve been thinking, Victor. We should do Jackson the favor we promised, then leave. We can move to another country, a place where nobody will find us, not even the blue-ringed Immortals.”

  He flashed me a serious look. “I do not run from my problems, My Queen.”

  I sighed and stomped my foot. “Victor, you are so stubborn and—”

  He cut me off and captured my mouth in a gentle kiss. I leaned into him, and he embraced me. “You love my stubbornness.”

  Those pretty blue eyes of his caught mine, and we both burst out in laughter.

  “I never said that,” I said.

  “You do not have to say it,” he said. “I can tell by the way you kiss me, milady.”

  My eyes crinkled in a puzzled look. “You can?”

  As we rounded the bend, I saw a wrought-iron fence wrapped in snow-white ivy. “Get the key,” I said as my face lit up. “We’re here.” I could hardly contain my excitement. We hurried to the gate, and I anxiously peered through the steel bars. I sighed at the lush landscape. “It’s a blossom field, stretching as far as the eye can see,” I said as Victor put the key in the lock. With a double click, it opened.

  “Stay on constant alert,” Victor said. “We have no idea what to expect.”

  “But we’re here! You should be ecstatic!” I tried to put on a brave smile and pretend like his words of caution didn’t bother me one tiny bit.

  He smiled at me, and I gripped his hand tightly as we slowly walked into the beautiful wonderland.

  Chapter 22

  We walked into the green meadow lined with hundreds of cherry trees in full bloom. A fragrant almond scent drifted in the air. Glancing upward, I stared up at towering trees soaring at least twenty-five feet in the air. Soft sunlight shone through the magnificent display. I was mesmerized by the pinkish-white glow of the delicate petals. I smiled as a gust of wind brought down a flurry of flowers. Petals fell like pink snow and sprinkled the ground like a pink carpet.

  The majestic, serene beauty and fruity aroma took my breath away. As far as I could see, there were heavily clustered cherry blossoms and single petals in all varieties of pinkish hues, from delicate baby pink to bright fuchsia and even mauve and crimson. The birds sang happily and the sun shone on my face. I had never felt so calm, tranquil, and at peace as I did in that postcard-perfect setting.

  “Stunning,” Victor said, staring up at the pinkish-white canopy above us.

  “It’s beautiful,” I agreed, walking under the sweeping branches. I spun around and searched. “How will we ever find the right tree? There are cherry blossoms spreading for miles, blanketing the hills, and they all look like the drawing in that book.”

  Victor’s gaze locked on mine. “We need to find snow or water, perhaps a river or stream. I am not certain, but our time is running out to solve this mystery.” He reached out and caught a few falling blossoms. “These petals are falling from the trees like snow. It could have something to do with the snow clue.”

  “Symbolism? Maybe, but that doesn’t help us much. It’s snowing everywhere.” I bit my lip, pondering. “The clues were given to help us find the tree.”

  His brows knitted together as he looked around. “I don’t see how snow has anything to do with cherry blossoms.”

  I was completely stumped. “What about the fountain? Let’s look for a fountain under a cherry tree, with falling petals like snow.”

  “Where would a fountain be?” he asked.

  I tapped my chin in thought. “Hmm. Snow and fountain? What do the two of them have in common?” Then it hit me. “Snow fountain!”

  Victor raised an eyebrow. “Snow Fountain? What does that mean?”

  I smiled as the pieces started to fit. “It’s a type of flower, a pure white cherry blossom. It makes perfect sense. It stands for purity, just like this island and the tests they gave to us.” I glanced down at my white deerskin dress. “Even this dress is white. It’s all about symbolism.”

  “There was a tree full of white blossoms back that way a bit,” Victor said.

  My heart pounded as a rush of excitement ran through me. “The eternal bloom must be one of those snow fountain blossoms. All we have to do is find it. Come on!” I grinned up at Victor, tears brimming in my eyes. “Baby, we’re so close to getting out of this nightmare once and for all.”

  He grinned. “Then why are you crying, love?”

  My heart jumped at the sudden joy flooding every fiber of my body. “Because...we can raise our baby boy together! I’m going to live, Victor! I’m really going to live, to hold him in my arms.”

  He embraced me as emotion consumed both of us, and then we hurried back to the tree Victor had seen earlier.

  “According to the clues, I think we’re looking for a weeping snow fountain cherry tree,” I said. I began to peer at every tree around us, desperately looking for the miracle flower that would ultimately save my life. Suddenly, a light pain ripped across my stomach. “Victor...oh my gosh!” I took a deep breath and waited until he turned to face me.

  “What is it?” he asked. “Sarah? Are you in pain?”

  “I didn’t want to scare you, but the cramps have been coming for hours now. I think Alexander is ready to come...today.”

  A shocked expression crossed his face. “But I thought we had a tiny bit more time.”

  I bit my lip hard. “The baby has other plans.”

  “Do you hurt badly, my love?”

  “My abdomen just tightens up. It’s uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt too much.”

  “It’s going to be okay,” he said.

  I gazed into his eyes. “I know. I have to believe that.” Suddenly, I gripped my stomach. There were more cramps, but they were nothing I couldn’t handle.

  Victor’s mouth lowered on mine. Our lips connected in a slow, gentle touch.

  I stared into his eyes and felt the strength radiating from him. “Thank you. I-I couldn’t do this by myself,” I said.

  He stroked my face. “You don’t have to. I’m here with you. But we don’t have a minute to waste. If labor has started, we must find that flower.”

  We walked through all the cherry trees until I spotted a flash of pure white. The cascading, white, spring blossoms took my breath away. I squinted and saw that it was the only tree with nothing but white flowers. “There it is!” I said, hardly able to contain my excitement.

  Victor grabbed my hand, and in a flash, we rushed to the tree.

  I reached up and picked a white blossom. Its petals were as white as snow, as soft as velvet. I squeezed it in my hand as instructed and felt a cool sensation flooding through me. I was surrounded by a white glow, and I began to shiver. Intense, supernatural energy overcame me. Goosebumps covered my skin, my hands felt cold and numb, and my lips tingled, as if I was standing in the middle of the North Pole. I didn’t feel
the flower in my hand, and when I opened my palm, I only saw white dust. At the very same second, my body returned to normal temperature.

  “Are you...healed?” Victor anxiously asked.

  “I don’t feel the energy surge anymore,” I said. “I feel like my old self.”

  Victor hugged me and stared deeply into my eyes. “We did it, Sarah.”

  “I’m all better!” I laughed. “I can see my baby for longer than five minutes.”

  Victor grinned, and his eyes welled with tears. “You will tuck our son in tonight, my love.”

  I burst into tears as I hugged Victor. “We did it,” I whispered. “I’m going to be a mother, right there with him, rather than someone he only sees in pictures, video diaries, and reads about in letters.”

  Victor wiped the tears from my eyes. “This is the happiest moment of my existence.”

  “There is so much more to come, baby! This is just the beginning for us!”

  “Let’s go,” Victor said. “We must figure out how to get off this island.”

  I suddenly doubled over in pain. “Victor, we’ll never make it off this rock before the baby comes.”

  He cocked a brow. “Are you sure? I think we should—”

  I shook my head. “Alexander is coming, Victor. We’re going to have our baby right here, right now.”

  His eyes widened, as if in shock, but then he smiled.

  “What about a doctor?” I asked. “Can we do this without one?”

  He pondered, then answered calmly, “We’ve beaten the odds so far. Have no fear, my love. You will give birth to a beautiful, healthy son. I can’t wait meet my little miracle.”

  “Neither can I,” I whispered as happiness washed over me. I had waited so long to meet my tiny bundle of joy. I was ecstatic. I’m not really sure there were words to describe the most amazing feeling in the entire world, a natural high I couldn’t even explain.

  Victor carried me under a shade tree and gently placed me on a bed of pink and white petals.

  “These blossoms only have a life span of three days,” I said. “What are the chances I’d give birth here?”

  “Fate is trying to tell us that our child is destined to be here.”

  “These blossoms have long been associated with purity and simplicity, and now I’m having my baby here. It’s so...ironic.”

  “It is perfect,” Victor said. He snuggled up next to me.

  I wrapped my arm around him. Being so close to him, lying against his chest during contractions seemed to put me at ease and calm my rattled nerves. I’d never had a baby before, and I had no midwife or doctor or my mother there to guide me through it. We spent an hour holding each other as my contractions kept their easygoing pace. We talked about everything, from the impending birth to the weather and the nature surrounding us.

  He ran a hand through my hair. “You will be the most wonderful mother.”

  I smiled. “Thank you. And you will be a great dad.”

  I groaned as more cramps rolled across my stomach, making their way to my back. Victor helped me stand, and we walked around a little.

  We swayed and danced as petals fell on us like snow. I laid my head on his chest and was comforted by his strong arms and the warmth and scent of his body.

  Butterflies circled above as the song of tingling bells hung in the air. Victor held my gaze through the cloud of petals falling softly upon us. He wrapped his arms around my waist, drawing me closer.

  I leaned against him until I could feel the warmth of his skin against my racing heart, and I lifted my arm to touch his flushed cheek.

  He didn’t flinch or even react. He just smiled and kissed my fingers where they touched his lips. His arms squeezed me more tightly, but his touch remained soft, like the butterflies fluttering on the nearby blossoms.

  More pain came. I squatted, leaned on tree trunks, and arched my back forward and backward. I tried everything to alleviate the pain, but they were the worst cramps I’d ever felt in my life, far beyond even the strongest of Midol. After I rode the next wave of pain, I started to panic.

  “What’s wrong?” Victor gently asked, stroking my back.

  “I’m scared. My mother and sister aren’t here, and I have never done this before. We’re by ourselves, lost on some deserted island. I’m freaked out, Victor, and I’m afraid I’m going to panic and—”

  “You are not alone, my love. I’m right here,” he said, giving me a reassuring squeeze.

  “But we don’t have our Immortal doctor.”

  He pulled me close. “Sarah, your body was designed to do this. You will have our baby, and both of you will be fine. Remember the vision from the cave?”

  “The vision was of us in a hospital,” I retorted.

  “We changed the future by coming for the eternal bloom when you were so late in pregnancy.”

  “We had to, Victor. My fate was sealed. You know the second I delivered the baby, I would have been as good as dead.”

  “We changed that outcome,” he said. “We found the eternal bloom, and now you’re going to live.”

  “The Immortals that dropped us off will come back for us. They want their money. We could be whisked off to the hospital, which would mean the prophesy on the wall was true.”

  “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  “That captain didn’t like bringing a pregnant woman out here in the middle of nowhere. He told me that if I had that baby, he was personally taking me to an Immortal hospital himself. That the orders were straight from Jackson.”

  I closed my eyes as he wiped my face with his sleeve, comforting me. I tried to stay relaxed between contractions so I wouldn’t use all my strength up. I concentrated on the distinct smell of the cherry blossoms all around me and the beautiful songs of the birds. We didn’t talk; he just held me. It was exactly what I wanted as I soaked in all the nature around me. When I reached for my back during a cramping contraction, Victor massaged my spine without me having to ask. After a while, my soft groans turned into loud moans.

  “We need to time the contractions,” I said, touching my rock-hard abdomen.

  We clocked them at five minutes apart, lasting sixty seconds. I could barely breathe or talk through the strong waves washing over me. Victor pushed sweaty strands of hair out of my face, and then we just held hands until the contraction was over.

  “It won’t be long now. We’ll soon meet our son, Sarah.”

  I beamed. “I must be the only mom in the world who already knows what her baby looks like.”

  He touched my face. “Tell me again.”

  I smiled at the thought. “Alexander has the most gorgeous black curls, and his eyes are the bluest I’ve ever seen, at least as blue as yours. He has an infectious giggle, and we will devote all our love, attention, and energy to him.”

  “I’ll always protect him. He’ll never set foot in my world until he is a grown man.”

  I heard a light popping sound, and warm fluid rushed down my legs. “My water just broke.” A contraction ripped through me, and I fell to my knees. I tried to breathe the way I’d been taught, in through the nose and out through the mouth, but it didn’t seem to help one tiny bit. I gritted my teeth and screamed again.

  Chapter 23

  The pain had started like menstrual cramps, but now it was completely unbearable, a different kind of torture altogether. They had a beginning, a peak, and an end, a million times worse than a Charlie horse. The contractions got worse, deeper and closer together. “It hurts ten times worse now,” I said, gritting my teeth and sweating profusely.

  Victor rushed to my side, and I gazed into his eyes.

  “It’s time!” The contractions intensified, and with each one, I got louder and louder. They were so intense, powerful, and painful. I had never heard myself scream like that, like a maniac. The cramps had started out like a summer shower, and now they felt like a hurricane.

  “We’ll get through this,” Victor said, “one contraction at a time.”

&nbs
p; Victor’s support and encouragement during our labor was nothing short of amazing. I had never loved him more than that very moment. I covered my face with my hands and gasped. Pain seared my stomach and back, silencing my screams. I dug my nails into his hand at the height of a powerful contraction, then slumped when it ended. “I didn’t mean to break your fingers, babe.”

  “You’re doing a wonderful job,” Victor said, shooting me a reassuring look. “Giving birth is long, hard job. I’m so proud of you.”

  “I don’t want to be cliché, cursing, sweating, panting, and screaming at my husband like a maniac.”

  “I don’t care if you scream, curse, or hit me. If it helps you cope with the pain, you may let me be your punching bag.”

  “I need to blow through the pain.”

  “Slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth, just like we learned,” Victor said.

  He breathed with me, and I was able to breathe through the pain. I knew how important it was to maintain a rhythm so I would not panic; that would only use up all the oxygen my body and my baby desperately needed. We breathed that way for nearly an hour. Victor was my rock and never let me give up, encouraging me every step of the way.

  Suddenly, everything tightened, hardened, and I could barely breathe as I squeezed his hand. I looked to him for strength and encouragement, and he projected a strong sense of confidence and calm. “I couldn’t ask for a better coach. You’re...my rock.”

  When I began to hyperventilate, Victor breathed out loud with me so I’d slow down my breaths. My coach kept me totally focused and calm, until the peak of the next contraction. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” I grunted, whimpered, cried, and moaned. I felt pressure in my pelvis and was sure I was going to have the baby any second.

  “I’m here for you,” Victor assured me in a low, soothing tone and massaged all the areas that were hurting.

  I’d never felt so in tune with Victor, so loved by anyone. His support was amazing, and he knew exactly what to do.

  Victor squeezed my hand. “I can’t wait to have our beautiful wedding.”

  “Me too. Only three more months.”