by Martha Woods
“No, I don’t.” Michael shook his head, lowering him to the ground. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you two. You’re my brother Liam, and Skylar is the sister I’ve always wanted. You think I don’t hate seeing the two of you like this? You think I don’t wish there was something that could be done? I know you’re hurting, but please, you’re not the only one who cares about Skylar.” He swept an arm around the house. “Everyone who is here cares about her, we just want her to be safe, that’s all we want.”
Cayden and Farah walked over, the two of them putting their hands on Liam’s shoulders. Cayden chuckled to himself, “Look Liam, I know that we don’t exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Honestly I don’t blame you, it wasn’t that long ago that I was in love with Skylar and... We both acted like total jackasses about it.” He pulled his hand back, putting it in his pocket. “I want you to know that I still care about Skylar, but as a friend. No, as family, and I’m not going to let anything happen to her if I can help it.”
“Neither am I.” Farah squeezed his arm in support. “I’ve worked for you for years, and Skylar is my best friend, as long as I’m breathing nothing is going to happen to you two.”
“You see Liam? You two aren’t alone, even if Sky can’t see us, she’ll know that we’re here for her.” He drew his brother in for a hug, squeezing his arms tightly around him. “It’ll make all the difference in the world. She’s not alone, and neither are you.”
Liam walked past them, over towards where he had a bottle of whiskey seemingly waiting. He poured out a glass, the others declining his offer, before swallowing the drink in one gulp. “Can you at least tell me anything about what’s happening to her? Can you do me that much?”
“Honestly Liam? I don’t know what’s going on, Hayley would be the one to explain all that. All I know is that apparently, she’s powerful. Really powerful, and it was enough to scare the shit out of Hayley, so you know it must be a big deal.” He looked over at the bottle, shrugging to himself. “Fuck it, I will have that drink.” He poured himself a drink, before turning to Cayden. “She did say that it has something to do with smoke, and darkness. She called it a... What was it called? An Enenra, do you know anything about those?”
Cayden shook his head. “I’ve never even heard of those before, are you sure they’re real?”
Michael nodded. “Hayley is convinced, she said that Skylar showed her some things that couldn’t be explained otherwise.”
“What?” Liam raised his head in confusion. “When was this? She never told me about this.”
“It was just before the house was attacked, when they were alone together. Maybe in all that craziness she forgot to tell you.” He shrugged. “Maybe she just didn’t want to worry you.”
“That sounds like her alright... Not wanting to worry any of us when she might be in danger. That’s just like her.” Liam ran a hand down his face, sighing deeply. “Michael, I need to get some air, maybe go tear up some trees to work some of this out. Will you come with me?”
“Sure thing brother, you don’t even have to ask.” He gulped down his drink, the glass clicking against the counter. He turned to the other two in the room. “Will you two be alright here?” He was satisfied when they both nodded. “Good, you’ve got our numbers in case anything happens anyway.”
“Have fun.” Cayden said, “Be careful.”
“We will. Oh, and by the way...” Michael smirked at the two of them. “You might want to have a shower, just FYI.”
Liam snorted as he walked past. “I thought something smelt like sex.”
The two of them were deaf to the protests of their two friends, the door clicking closed behind them as they stepped off into the forest, their worries and frustrations being worked out on the grass and on the trees.
Inside, Cayden leaned over to Farah, not so subtly sniffing at the air. “Huh.” He said, “Maybe we should hop in the shower.”
* * *
Hayley closed the door behind them, directing Skylar to sit down on the bed. Skylar was taking the whole situation very well, though worry was still quite obvious on her face. Hayley couldn’t blame her, she doubted she’d be any different if she was in her shoes. Once more, she was struck by how undeserving Skylar was of all of this, the last year of her life had been a string of tragedy and trauma, and this wonderful, caring woman deserved so much more than this. Even her pregnancy, the source of her greatest joy, was tainted by danger and worry, it just wasn’t fair.
Skylar shifted on the sheets, the sight of Hayley still standing deep in thought unnerving her. “Hayley? Are you going to come sit down?” She chuckled, if not a little bitterly, “I’m not that dangerous, am I?”
“Hey, no!” Hayley closed the distance, wrapping her arms around Skylar, squeezing tightly to show how she wasn’t afraid. “I’m sorry I... This must be horrible for you, you just want to be happy and celebrate your child and I... I come in and fuck everything up for the two of you.” She blinked away tears as she pressed a kiss against Skylar’s temple. “I’m so, so sorry for all of this.”
“What were you supposed to do Hayley? Leave me to be in danger, let things just... run their course? You’ve done nothing wrong here, you done nothing except care about me, enough to apparently risk me hating you, which was a stupid thought to have.” Skylar squeezed herself deeper into the embrace. “I could never hate you Hayley, you’re one of my closest friends, it’s going to take more than calling me a dangerous creature and locking me away from my friends and family to change that.”
Despite her still conflicted feelings, Hayley laughed, “Ok, when you put it that way it makes me sound even more horrible. All of our friends are going to be waiting nearby though, they’ll at most be a phone call away. You’re not alone here, and you never will be. Besides,” She said, “I’m going to be staying with you more or less the entire time.”
Skylar raised her eyebrow at this news. “You’re staying with me? Since when?”
“Well someone has to be here to monitor your progress, make sure that you’re ok. Since I’m the one who’s done the most research and, to be honest, since I’m pretty powerful it makes sense for it to be me.” She shifted closer to her on the bed, bumping Skylar’s hip with her own. “And honestly? I don’t want to leave you completely alone, that just isn’t fair. You’re my friend, and I care about you, and if that means that I have to spend however long dealing with those weird shadow tentacles of yours then so be it.”
“Do you really think they’ll come back?” Skylar looked down at her hands. “I’m not sure I want that.”
“Ideally they will.” Hayley turned over Skylar’s hand, running a finger along the lines of her palm. “The sooner we can get them to emerge the sooner we can work on you controlling them. It’ll be scary at first, it always is, but I think... I know that you’re strong enough to control it. You just have to believe in yourself.”
“You really think I can do it? Control these... These powers or whatever they are?”
“Skylar...” Hayley turned her head so that Sky was looking directly into her eyes. “You got an alpha shifter to fall in love with you and swear to protect you till his last breath, you helped negotiate a truce between three groups that multiple times through history have wiped themselves out trying to kill the other. Hell, last week I watched you knock a man with a gun out cold with a fireplace poker for daring to step foot into your house. Compared to all of that, I think controlling these powers should be absolute child’s play for you.”
Skylar was taken aback by the compliments. “You really think I’m that amazing?”
“Goddamn right I do! You’re so quick to see the best in everyone, to let them know how incredible they are, but you always neglect to do the same to yourself. You really are an incredible, incredible woman, and you need to see that, just like everyone else does.”
Skylar was speechless, opting instead to let her actions talk, wrapping Hayley in her arms and squeezing as hard as she could, her frie
nds head tucked into the crook of her neck, surprised squeaks tickling her skin as they were muffled. “You’re a good friend Hayley, I’m glad that you’re going to be staying with me. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about all this?”
Hayley took a deep breath as she pulled back, before nodding vigorously. “Of course, the whole point of this is for you to learn more about yourself and what you can do. Ask whatever you want to know, and I’ll try my best to answer.”
“Ok.” Sky took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I suppose the first question I should ask is... Well, what am I exactly?”
Hayley leaned down, pulling out the book that had started all of this, thumbing through the pages as she looked for the specific entry. Skylar looked over her shoulder. “Is that the book?”
“Yep, the one that Cassandra made for us.”
She hummed, “It’s pretty.”
“I know, it’s made out of marble.” Before Skylar could react to learning that little piece of trivia, Hayley found the entry, turning back to her. “You are what the book calls an Enenra, they’re creatures made of smoke and darkness. In a couple of cultures, they get mistaken for the grim reaper, but they aren’t so you know, don’t think that you’re a specter of death or anything like that.”
“Smoke and darkness?” Skylar looked down at her hand. “That would explain a lot. What else does the book say?” When Hayley’s face pinched she continued, “I want to know everything, even if I’m not going to like it. I’m a big girl, I can take it. I have to be as strong as you think I am after all.”
Hayley sighed, “The book says that it’s undecided if they are considered divine beings or if they are demons. Given their appearance and the nature of their abilities, a strong case can be made for demons.”
“And you? Do you think I’m a demon?”
“Honestly? I don’t know Skylar. But what I do know is that the last year has been a complete shake up of how I’ve viewed different species. I used to think that shifters were all mindless savages, hell bent on fighting and dying for reasons they never even thought about. Now look at me. My best friend is married to one, and I’m... I’m falling for one. So, I think that even if you were a demon, even if you were that doesn’t change the fact that you are a wonderful, caring person. So, I guess with everything else that’s been going on, a loving demon doesn’t sound that strange.”
“Well, if you’re sure about that then I guess I can believe you.” Sky clutched her stomach and gasped, the baby’s last kick driving the wind out of her. “Oh god, that was a big one.”
“Sky? Are you alright? Is it the baby?”
“Yeah, they’ve just been pretty restless lately. I don’t blame them, they must be getting sick of being in there.” She blew up her cheeks, letting out a slow breath. “So, how did I become like this? Was I born this way, is it a vampire thing? What happened?”
“Well, there are two ways that they are created. The first is that they were born, which I think is how you came to be. The second...” She paused, sucking in a breath. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I need you to be calm when I ask it, can you do that?”
Skylar wasn’t sure what she could possibly be asking that would require a warning, but she nodded regardless. “I said I wanted to know everything.”
“Alright. Sky... Have you ever died?”
That was certainly not the question she expected, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping in horror. “I... No! Why would you think I have?”
“The other way that these creatures are created is through death, at which point the victim, who had thus far been a normal human, changes. Are you sure that you don’t remember anything like this happening?”
“No, I don’t! The closest I can think was... Was last week.” She dropped her head, looking at her stomach where there should have been a mark, and instead lay perfect skin.
“The explosion? I know it was a close call, but we were fine. More or less.” She leaned over, almost whispering to Skylar. “Did something happen to you? Something you didn’t tell us about?”
She nodded. “Some glass went flying, it should have hit me but... It didn’t. It just went right through. I checked where it should have hit and... Hayley, I should be dead.”
“That is... Concerning. But that can’t be it. We’d already seen that you had these powers before that, so it has to have been some other time.”
Skylar stood, walking around the room and willing herself to calm down. She ran her hands through her hair, leaning against the wall, the desk, touching as much as she could to convince herself that she actually was still here. She turned back to Hayley, her friend looking at her in concern before standing herself.
“Sky... You’re ok. You’re with me, and you have people out there who care about you. Whatever it is you’re thinking, it isn’t true, you have to trust me on that.”
“Am I a monster?” Hayley stopped at the question, Skylar speaking through her hands. “I have to be right? Normal things don’t just... Come back from the dead, that’s not how it works. Oh god, what about my baby! Are they the same as me?”
“Skylar, calm down!” Hayley held out her hand, willing Sky to take hold of it. “You are not a monster! You’re my friend, and you’re the wife of a man who loves you very much, neither of which would have happened if you were a monster!”
Skylar doubled over, a gasp of pain ripping out of her throat as she clutched at her stomach, the pain even worse than before. Hayley ran over, gathering her in her arms before she fell to the ground. Slowly, she walked her over to the bed, putting her down softly as she continued to groan in pain, her eyes wet with tears as she tried to figure out what was happening.
“Sky, are you ok? What’s happening?” Hayley’s hand felt like it was about to break with how hard Skylar was squeezing it, but she was determined not to let go. She wouldn’t have been able to move anyway, given the shock she felt at what Skylar said next.
“I think the baby’s coming.”
Chapter 4
Hayley burst out the bedroom door, wishing furiously that she had prepared more for this moment. As it stood, she had sat there motionless for a good twenty seconds after Skylar had told her the child was on the way, before almost shrieking and getting to her feet. Which led her to this very moment, her hand trailing along the wall so that she wouldn’t lose her footing as she sprinted towards where the others were hopefully still all gathered.
Cayden and Farah looked up as she threw the door open, Hayley frantically looking around for any sign of Liam or Michael. “Hayley?” Cayden stepped towards her, hands out in what he hoped was a pacifying gesture. “What’s wrong? Is something happening with Skylar?”
“The baby’s coming!” Their eyes went wide when she delivered the news, Farah immediately digging into her pocket for her phone so she could contact the brothers.
“Liam and Michael went out into the forest to work out their stress, I’ll see if I can get them to come back.” Farah fumbled the number a few times in her panic, finally managing to dial it the third time and hold the phone to her ear. “Come on, come on, pick up!”
Farah paced around the room, Hayley chewing on her fingernails and trying to think of how they could approach something like this. Obviously a conventional birth with a conventional doctor was out of the question, which left only one real candidate...
Hayley sighed, she didn’t want to summon her here right away, not without talking to at least Michael, and especially without letting Liam know. Inviting a witch into an Alpha’s house without his permission when he was already dealing with a lot of stress was just asking for trouble, and she did not want to risk a confrontation at such a crucial time in their lives.
That was if he would actually pick up the phone, otherwise she’d tear up his carpet and draw a summoning circle to drag his ass back here. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, she didn’t want to pay for someone’s flooring on top of all of this.
Finally, just as she was giving
up hope, Farah heard a breathless voice answer the call, still partially a growl as they said, “Farah? What’s going on, why are you calling?”
“Michael, I need you to grab Liam and get back here right now, Skylar’s gone into labor and she needs us all to be here. How soon can you be back?”
“Labor?” His breathless shriek almost certainly got Liam’s attention. “Uhh, we can be back in about fifteen minutes, can you hold on till then?”
Farah chuckled, “That’s not how labor works Michael, but the baby won’t be born in the next fifteen minutes, I assure you of that.” She hung up, turning to her fellow witch who was still thinking in the corner. “What’s the plan Hayley?”
“When they get back I’m going to tell them about Cassandra, she’s our best hope.”
* * *
As it turned out, ten minutes was all the brothers needed to get back to the house, the news that his wife was in labor making Liam’s body move with a swiftness and fury that he barely thought possible. They almost crashed through the door, sweaty, harried and desperate for any news on her condition, the expression on their faces incredibly relieved when they found she was stable.
“Ten minutes, I leave for ten goddamn minutes…” Liam scrubbed furiously at the top of his head, bottom lip between his teeth as he paced around the room. “Please tell me you have a plan or something for this, I don’t like feeling helpless here.”
Hayley laid a hand on his forearm, stopping him from pacing for a second. “Liam, I’m going to need you to calm down, ok? Take deep breaths, in and out, can you do that?”
He did as she asked, his heart beat slowing down gradually and his nerves starting to calm, though he couldn’t get rid of the pit of dread in his stomach that had been there ever since they had shown up at his front door. “I’m trying my best, but I’ve never felt like this before.”
Cayden raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you oversee multi-million dollar deals regularly? I thought you were used to high pressure situations.”
