Shine (Mageri Series: Book 5)

by Dannika Dark

“Not even from my hand?”

  I started to pull away when he caught my wrist and devoured that onion ring like it was the last scrap of food on the planet. After licking each crumb from my fingers and causing warm tingles to erupt through my body, I reached for my glass of ice and began crunching on a few pieces.

  Sunny returned from her fourth trip to the bathroom. She wore a tight maroon dress and black stockings. Sunny was already showing and carrying high. Novis held her chair as she sat down, then returned to the conversation with Leo about a trip he’d once taken to Alaska and some Eskimos he’d stayed with.

  Justus’s phone flashed for the fifth time, but he ignored it, listening to Leo. It was nice to see him put work aside and enjoy the moment.

  Sunny made a fish face from across the table, puckering in her lips and widening her eyes as we giggled about the topics they were discussing.

  I tapped an invisible watch on my wrist and mouthed, “Do you want to go?”

  She shook her head and sipped her ice water.

  Logan stiffened and I glanced up at him. I followed the direction of his stony gaze and caught a couple of guys ogling me, but not in a creepy way. My blue shirt was a V-neck with a little cleavage showing, something Logan had been admiring the entire evening.

  “If he turns his neck one more time in your direction, I might twist it all the way,” he muttered darkly.

  “Look around, Logan. Most of the women here are over seventy or have five children attached to their hip. They can look all they want,” I said, squeezing his leg. “I’m still going home with you.”

  An animalistic sound vibrated in his throat—the provocative kind. He slid down in his seat, causing my hand to move a little higher.

  “Someone’s in a flirty mood,” I whispered.

  “Must be the ale, or the scent of an aroused female in my presence. I haven’t concluded which could be the culprit,” he said with a growl at the end of his sentence.

  My phone vibrated and I reached around to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh, thank God you answered. Silver, it’s Page.”

  “Oh, hi. We’re just having dinner at a restaurant off the pier. Too bad you didn’t come; the food was amazing.”

  “Silver, I’m in labor.”

  I sat forward. “You’re what?”

  Eyes turned in my direction and I plugged my other ear with my finger.

  “It started early this morning but I thought it was a false alarm. It’s gotten worse.”

  “How much worse?”

  Justus stood up from his spot and leaned forward with his fingers pressed on the table.

  “I don’t know. It’s getting close. I can’t call a Relic—Justus doesn’t let anyone down here because of security and I don’t know how to work all these alarms.”

  “Oh God.” She was right. She’d never figure out how to disable them and let someone in through the double sets of security doors Justus had set up. She didn’t have the access and neither did Finn.

  “Learner?” Justus almost shouted.

  I looked up at his wide eyes. “Page is in labor. But she can’t get anyone inside because of the security and you never allow anyone down there without permission.”

  “I went out the front door,” Page continued, “but I couldn’t get through the second set of doors.”

  Justus flew out of his seat and literally ran through the restaurant and out the main door.

  “Does anyone have any suggestions?” I asked.

  Novis shook his head. “If he hasn’t put her information into the retinal scan, she won’t be able to get out without disabling the alarms.”

  Crap! The alarms could only be disabled through an identity verification. It wasn’t as easy as punching in a code.

  “Simon. Simon went ahead already. Someone call him up and tell him to get his ass over there. He’s got access.”

  Novis pulled out his phone and got up from his seat.

  “Page?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Sit tight. They’ll be there in a couple of hours. Can you hold out?”

  “I don’t know—I’ve never had a baby before! Everyone’s different and I can’t check to see how dilated I am. I’ve delivered around forty babies, but I don’t know if I can do this,” she said in a frantic voice.

  “Oh, you can do this, Page. You’re so doing this and you won’t be doing it alone.”

  Everyone got up from the table, threw down money, and headed out.

  “Can you get here faster? Maybe a plane?”

  I laughed. “I don’t know if that would be faster unless we hijacked it, and I can barely drive a car. Is Finn there?”

  She held her breath and released it. “Yes. He’s freaking out.”

  I covered my face. “He’s going to have to man up; you tell him I said that.”

  “Man up!” she yelled out harshly.

  I smiled as Logan opened the door for me. “You’ll be fine, Page. Women have been having babies for millions of years. Just remind yourself of that. Some women squat down in the cornfield and out pops a baby, then they go back to—”

  “I’m not delivering my baby in a cornfield! This is not funny, Silver.”

  “I’m trying to lighten the mood. Do you think panicking will help? Just stay calm. Think of it from a Relic perspective and what you would do to make your patient comfortable. Give your instructions to Finn and make sure he does exactly what you tell him. I don’t care if he has to rub your feet.”

  “Gee, that would be kind of nice.”

  “Do you want to stay on the phone with me?”

  Leo started the engine and everyone buckled up.

  “No. Just keep your phone on. Finn will call you if something goes wrong.”

  “Nothing’s going wrong, Page. Positive thoughts. Just let nature do its thing. Labor can last for hours, so just relax. Justus will probably be there in fifteen minutes the way he drives that damn car.”

  Levi turned around with his phone against his ear. “Novis has a trusted Relic he’s called up and she’s swinging by the house. She’ll be waiting outside for whoever shows up first to let her in.”

  “Did you hear that, Page?” I sighed with relief. I was nervous and excited all at once, but just wished we were closer.

  “Yes, I heard. Please hurry. I don’t think I can do this alone.”

  “Okay. Make sure your phone is charged. Be there soon.”

  I hung up and leaned forward to look at the speedometer. “A little faster, Leo.”

  “Silver, there are sharp curves on some of these roads and this is a vehicle not meant for top speeds. I’ll go as fast as we can without getting arrested, but any faster and none of us will get there.”

  I sent Justus a quick text message that a Relic would be waiting. His response was: I know.

  Levi’s thick arm flew back and he snapped his fingers at Lucian, who was sitting in front of me. “Swap out. Now.”

  Since Logan and Lucian needed more room, they sat in the middle and I sat in the back seat on the right side, Lucian directly in front of me.

  Lucian unbuckled while Levi crawled between the seats and fell onto Logan’s lap.

  “Ahhh,” he said, turning around so it looked like Santa Logan might give him a gift this year. “I love ya, Lo, but let’s keep this between us.”

  Logan leaned his head back and shoved Levi into the seat once Lucian crawled up front.

  “How’s it going back there, honey?” Levi turned around and I looked at the dimple in his chin.

  “I don’t know. Everything’s just happening so fast.”

  “Novis said he’s taking your girl home.”

  Without having realized it, I began rubbing at the Chitah bites on my neck. Sometimes when I felt worry or fear, they burned. I curled my legs up with my back against the side panel and watched Logan. He ran his fingers through his messy hair and turned his gaze out the dark window.

  “Leo, how about we bump up the priority of secu
ring a building for all of us?” Logan suggested.

  Leo’s eyes flashed up in the rearview mirror. “I may have found a location on the west side. Levi, do me a favor and call Sadie. Make sure she’s still at home and tell her to stay where she is. I’ll drop you off and then I need to head back. I don’t like the idea of leaving a female alone all night.”

  Levi turned around and began texting.

  Chapter 33

  “Silver. Silver, wake up.”

  “Huh? What?” My head bobbed and a few doors slammed in the quiet vehicle.

  “We’re home.”

  Those two words worked like five espressos. I climbed out of the car and sleepily rubbed my eyes as I stumbled toward the garage. We didn’t have the device to open it and Justus must not have seen us on the monitors. I opened a lockbox using the fingerprint detector and punched in the code. My Ghuardian had James Bond envy because no other member of HALO went to these extremes.

  “Call if you need anything,” Leo yelled. He got in the SUV and backed out.

  “Lucian’s not coming?” I asked as the door lifted.

  Logan chuckled and ducked under the garage door, stepping inside. “Chitah men revere pregnancy and infants; few want to actually see one being born.”

  A chill swept over my body as I remembered Logan had been there for the birth of Sadie. This was familiar territory and it must have brought back terrible memories of his mother’s death. His fingers linked with mine and we walked around Simon’s car toward the elevator hidden behind a sliding panel. I activated the doors and we descended to the tunnel below.

  Neither of us spoke a word as we moved swiftly down the hall. Justus had left his Aston Martin parked out front and the tires and frame were uncharacteristically covered in dirt.

  After the going through the security doors, I entered the house, and that’s when I began to get scared. It was quiet.

  “Finn?”

  Logan closed the door behind us and took off his coat.

  “They must be downstairs,” I said in a breath, jogging toward the hallway.

  We hurried to the lift, and as it lowered into the training room, Logan gripped my hand.

  The first thing I saw was Finn pacing around the floor with his arms folded. I hopped off the lift and didn’t like the concern on his face.

  “Is everything okay?”

  He shook his head. “She was screaming.”

  I caught sight of Simon lying on one of the weight benches. The hallway to our bedrooms was dark and empty. I apprehensively passed each door until I reached Justus’s room on the far right.

  “I can’t, I can’t,” I heard Page breathe.

  “Give her something!” Justus shouted.

  I slowly turned the knob and peered in. A Relic, who looked to be in her fifties with dyed black hair and of Spanish descent, crossed the room toward me. Her red lipstick didn’t seem to fill in the lines and her face glistened from the heat of the room.

  “Ghuardian, your energy is leaking,” I said. “Turn the heat down.”

  I could see Justus rubbing his face and pacing at the foot of the bed. Page was turned on her left side with her back to me, hugging a pillow. Adam leaned forward in the chair beside her, brushing back her hair.

  “I’m Silver,” I said in a quick meet and greet. “Page is my Relic and friend. How is she doing?”

  The Relic stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “I’m Elsa. Novis must be a good friend to you because I don’t usually work outside my clientele, but he’s always been good to my family. Page is not doing well. She’s having a difficult time with the labor. Why doesn’t she have her own Relic?”

  I glanced at Logan and back at Elsa. “The circumstances of her pregnancy are delicate,” was all I offered. “Um… she may look nine months, but the pregnancy went a lot quicker than that. She’s around five months or so.”

  Elsa’s eyes widened. “Ay Dios mio.” She touched her cheek with her hand. “Your friend, Adam, told me he’s a Healer, but he’s not able to heal what isn’t broke. If she hemorrhages, he might be able to help, but he said he’s never tried his gift on a Relic before. They’re too close to being human.”

  “Is she pushing yet?” Logan asked, easing up to my left and rubbing his jaw.

  Elsa was about five inches shorter than I was and had to tilt her head back to look up at Logan. “The contractions are coming every five minutes. I was called here on short notice and didn’t come prepared for a cesarean. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if you want to know the truth, I’ve been having difficulties picking up a heartbeat from the baby,” she said in a hushed voice. “I don’t have a fetal monitor with me because I didn’t have time to go to my office. My partner is out of town, and Novis didn’t want a second person involved. There’s a possibility we may lose the baby, if it’s even still alive.”

  I covered my mouth and lowered my eyes. Page had known this was a possibility because she had no idea what effects the drugs Slater had given her might have on her fetus.

  “Can you take her to a hospital or call someone?”

  She shook her head. “Human hospitals are out of the question. It’s too late for that. If we load her into the car, she could give birth on the side of the road and I won’t be able to see. It’s cold outside and the bumpy car ride mixed with the stress of her contractions could be worse on the baby as well as the mother. Another Relic may not get here in time. Call Novis and see if he’ll send someone else out to help, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. You live too far from the city.”

  “But she said it was an active pregnancy,” I argued. “Lots of kicking.”

  Elsa nodded. “Then maybe that’s a good sign. Say a prayer if you believe in God. The hard part is about to begin and I need that man out of the room,” she said, pointing her finger at the door. “He’s upsetting me and I can’t concentrate.”

  I opened the door and went in, then gripped Justus by the arm. His skin was so hot it burned my fingers to touch him. “Ghuardian, come out and let the Relic finish her job. Having you here is going to stress her out. I know you’re concerned—we all are.”

  Justus glanced sideways at me and I felt his skin begin to cool. He walked around the bed and told Adam to move. As Justus knelt in front of Page and held her hands, Adam approached me, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “She’s not doing well,” he whispered. “I’ve never delivered a baby, so I don’t know how much help I can be.”

  “Please stay,” I urged. “They need your skills.”

  He shook his head and combed his hair back. “I don’t know if it will work, Silver. All gifts have limitations.”

  I gripped his arms and leaned in tight. “Adam, it’s not just your healing ability that makes you stand apart. Elsa needs an assistant, and you’re the only one I know who can keep a cool head when things get crazy. I mean, my God, you watched me transform into another person and still managed to fix me up!”

  Page moaned and I watched Justus whisper something to her as he brushed back her damp hair.

  “I need everyone out,” the Relic announced, clapping her hands once. “Someone needs to bring down a pitcher of ice water, glasses, and also some hot water. I have what I need to sterilize my equipment, but I need to clean up when the baby comes. Also, grab some towels or sheets you don’t care about getting ruined.”

  I glanced to my left and Logan exited the room. “I’ll go help,” I said to Adam.

  He shaped his mouth like a small O and blew out a quick breath. “Go on, woman. Do what the doctor asks.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  Justus walked around the bed and stalked out the door. Elsa opened a large black bag and began pulling out instruments. Page clenched her teeth and screamed.

  “Adam, go hold her hand and make her sit up,” Elsa said. “She needs to start pushing, but only when I say.”

  I left them alone and as soon as the door closed, her scream shattered the silence.

  “Oh God,” I whi
spered. “Please let it be okay.”

  The reality hit that Page was mortal and aside from the baby not making it, women died in childbirth. That was a reality. The Relic knew her stuff, but part of me wanted to take her to a hospital. The only problem was, Breed women never gave birth in human hospitals. A record would be created on the child and there was a risk of them being discovered because of all the blood tests and possible abnormalities that would show up since they weren’t human. A Relic was as close to a human genetically as it got, but the risk of getting caught was too great.

  “Now that the cavalry is here, I’m going upstairs. I can’t endure the sounds of a wailing woman,” Simon announced.

  “Do you need me here?” Finn asked.

  “No, go upstairs and get something to eat. It’s probably better if there are fewer people around. Can you ask Levi to give Novis a call? Tell him there are complications and we may need another Relic.”

  I had doubts it would do any good; her labor was moving along too fast. I walked to the far wall on the right and sat down, hugging my knees. The lift descended and Logan stepped off, heading toward the hall with a stack of towels and sheets. I hadn’t even noticed until that moment that across the room, Justus was swinging his heavy sword in a series of swordplay techniques. The blade swirled over his head and every muscle in his arms bulged as he swung it down. He lunged forward and spun around, slicing through the air. I could only imagine what he must have looked like on a battlefield.

  Logan took a seat on the floor in front of me and we did a little shifting around until I slid my left leg underneath his right leg and wrapped the other one around his waist.

  “What happened with your mother?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  “She had a difficult labor that lasted thirty-two hours. In the end, she hemorrhaged and the midwife wasn’t able to stop the bleeding. She died before Sadie was born. There were difficult decisions made in order to get the baby out.”

  “How did your father react?”

  Logan shook his head. “He raged. Then something switched off and he held no more emotion. He’s not the man I once knew.”

  The sound of the heavy sword cutting the air chilled me to the marrow. I lowered my voice and tucked my hair back. “I don’t think Justus will survive this if something happens to Page.”