by Leeda Vada
Belen, closest to her, rushed forward and tried to grab her hands, but Calli fought her off.
Vesta yelled at Nia to take all the children out of the room. She punched in 700, the security code for a Level One emergency. It would send the alert directly to the security command station.
Her husband, Erol, came online.
“Something is wrong with Calli. We need a medic here immediately! Hurry, Erol! Please, hurry!” she yelled frantically.
“What is wrong with her?” Erol asked, after relaying instructions to his staff.
“I don’t know, but she’s choking. She can’t breathe. Please, Erol. I’m frightened.”
Hanging up, Vesta rushed to Belen’s side. They laid Calli on the floor and tried to pull her hands from her throat.
“What is it, Calli?” Belen pleaded. “Please, tell us what’s wrong?”
But Calli couldn’t speak. Her face was flushed. Her head arched and her eyes rolled back in her head. She continued pawing at her throat so hard that she was drawing blood from the gashes she was making in her skin.
She lost consciousness.
They sprang back in horror as her body began to convulse, the force of the spasms pulling her torso from their hands.
Laura, her screams piercing the air, rushed to her daughter’s side.
“What is wrong with her?” She turned to Belen, “What have you done to her?”
Belen looked at her in shock. “We’ve done nothing. We don’t know what’s wrong.”
By this time, Vesta had removed Calli’s upper clothing, trying to see the origin of the choking.
#
“Oh, dear Lord,” gasped Vesta, forcing their attention back to Calli. She covered her mouth in horror.
Calli’s skin had turned a mottled gray, and it looked as if something was underneath it as waves of undulating flesh began moving over her body.
They all watched in shock as Calli’s body lifted from the floor. They could not turn away, their eyes riveted on the undulations rolling through Calli’s abdomen.
“No, God. Please, no!” Laura screamed. “Not the baby! Please, not the baby!”
Belen watched in panic as the movements intensified. The unrelenting waves were forcing Calli’s body to expel the life so desperately needed by all of them.
A howl pierced the air, a sound so visceral in its pain that no one made a sound.
They turned to see Canaan framed in the doorway, his face frozen in stunned horror. He fell to his knees beside his wife and child.
Calli’s body jerked once more as blobs of a dark, viscous substance began to cover the area between her legs. As Canaan changed positions, an earsplitting scream tore from her throat. A large mass slid from her into Canaan’s hands.
Her torso, weakened and torn, collapsed to the floor, though it continued to jerk as small tremors echoed through her body. Tears streaming down his face, Canaan stared at what was left of their son.
Erol, Duncan, Dakota, and Odin had reached the doorway. They parted to allow Dr. Arjani through. She dropped to the floor and reached for Calli’s wrist to check her pulse. Her face was an emotionless mask as she beheld the skin beneath her fingers still quivering with the force of the subcutaneous substance still attacking Calli’s body.
“Tell me,” Canaan demanded, gripping her arm. “Tell me.”
She forced herself to look into the eyes of the grieving husband. “She’s alive, Canaan.” “She still lives.”
Closing his eyes in relief, Canaan stilled. Then he looked at the doctor again, his eyes asking the question he dared not voice.
Dr. Arjani glanced at the still mass partially suspended in the remains of his mother’s underclothing.
She knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry, Canaan.”
As he reached for his son, his uncle hand caught his arm. “No, Canaan, let the doctor take care of him.”
Canaan tore his arm from his uncle’s grip. “No!” he yelled. He turned to the others assembled in the room. “All of you. Get out!”
“Canaan, please,” Belen pleaded, clinging to a weeping Vesta. The usual equanimity of her role as Lupa supplanted by the heartbreak in front of her.
“Canaan, your mother is just trying to help,” admonished Vesta.
“Her pressure is falling,” interrupted Dr. Arjani. “Everyone out, except Canaan and Vesta. Everyone. Now!” she ordered.
Erol led a sobbing Belen from the room.
“I’m not leaving,” Laura declared, standing firm in Odin’s arms.
Canaan caught Laura’s eye. “Laura stays,” he said.
After everyone else had departed, Dr. Arjani turned to Canaan. “She’s been poisoned. But I don’t know what kind of poison it is, and we don’t have time to find out. Her body cannot take this punishment much longer.”
“I don’t want to hear that. I just lost my son. I will not lose my wife,” Canaan insisted. “Do something.”
Suddenly, they were distracted by shouts and angry voices from the hallway.
Flinging wide the door with such force that it came off its hinges, Rand rushed into the room. With him were four Scythian Amazons, two armed with weapons, one with what looked like a medical bag, and a fourth carrying a folded litter. The leader made eye contact with Laura. Laura nodded.
“Excuse me, Dr. Arjani, but we don’t have much time,” the red-haired, statuesque intruder said. “I need you to step aside. Now!” she commanded, as Dr. Arjani hesitated. Dr. Arjani noted that neither Canaan nor Laura showed any alarm at the appearance of the Scythians.
Dr. Arjani had heard of Amazons but had never seen any in person before. They all wore uniforms of silver, luminescent, skintight body suits with the half-crescent pelta emblazoned on the left shoulder, and a small, deep red ax resting in a sling over their right breast. Long, thick, fiery red braids hung down their backs. Slim, flesh-colored cleats were strapped to their feet.
The Amazon holding the silver bag approached Calli and collected a small amount of the dark substance from her body. Putting a drop into the chamber of what looked like a small carousel, she pushed a button and the substance spun through the cylinder.
Less than a minute later, she looked up at her leader. “The poison is corrupting all the blood in her body. Her only chance is to replace the blood and hope the new blood can stop the deterioration of her cells. We have to begin. Now! We can’t wait until we get her back to Artemis.”
“Use my blood,” Canaan said.
“No,” the Amazon Mai said and turned to him. “Canid blood may not be strong enough. Since Calli’s Canid blood is not fighting the poison, the odds are yours won’t either. We don’t have time to chance it.”
“I will use my blood,” Orithyia said.
She glanced at Odin and Canaan, including them in her question, “Do you understand what that means?”
“Do whatever it takes to keep her alive,” Canaan replied. “I can’t lose her.”
Flicking her gaze to Odin and Laura, she seemed satisfied with what she saw in their faces.
“We will begin then,” Mai said. “Dr. Arjani, I need to ask you to leave.”
“No. Calli is my patient,” the doctor protested. “I’m not leaving.”
“No longer,” Orithyia informed her. “She is our patient now. Calli is Canaan’s wife and mate. It’s his call.”
Dr. Arjani turned to Canaan. “Please,” he said.
“I won’t be responsible for what happens, Canaan.”
As the door closed behind her, Mai, with Orithyia’s help, prepared Calli for the transfusion. Then the Amazonian princess positioned her body parallel to that of her cousin.
Before they began, Mai reached down, removed the remains of the fetus from Calli’s clothing, and wrapped the precious mass in a piece of plastic from her case. As she began to put it away, Canaan gripped her arm.
“No, don’t put him in a dark place,” he protested, tears in his eyes.
Mai released her hold and placed the package into Canaan�
��s outstretched hands.
Laura looked through the gift bags and found a small blue baby blanket from the pile of shower gifts scattered across the floor. Her tears fell as she handed it to Canaan who took the small blanket and wrapped his son in the soft down cloth.
He raised the blanket to his shoulder. “Hello, little man. I’m your dad. Your mom is sleeping right now, but she loves you as much as I do.” Raw, harsh sobs began to shake his body. “I’m so sorry I could not keep you safe. I’m so sorry.”
There was a knock on the door and Odin opened it.
Rand looked past Odin’s shoulder at the Amazons transfusing his sister. “Transport is here.”
“Okay, we can go,” responded Mai. “We’ve made enough of a blood replacement to keep her stable during the flight.”
Laura helped Orithyia to her feet. The Amazon turned to Canaan, “You understand that you cannot come?”
Canaan, rigid, nodded his head, an inscrutable expression on his face.
“Ever, Canaan,” the Amazon reiterated.
“Just keep her alive,” he rasped. “I just want her to live.”
“We’ll contact you about her condition,” Orithyia told him. Two other Scythians picked up the stretcher. Canaan’s eyes locked on his wife’s face as they carried her through the patio doors to the small jet uncloaking in the garden.
After their departure, Odin walked over and pulled the weeping Laura into his arms.
“Canaan?” Rand began.
“Leave me,” Canaan responded. “Please!” he repeated in warning tones as Laura started to protest. “I need to be alone with him.” He slid to the floor, still cradling the blue bundle in his arms. “Please!”
Laura stepped toward him, but Odin caught her arm and pulled her back. He shepherded her toward the door. As they passed through, he paused and turned to Rand.
Nodding his head toward Canaan he said, “Will you stay to make sure no one disturbs him? I’m taking your mom home.”
Rand nodded.
Chapter Forty
While everyone else was concentrating on helping Calli, Eshe had grabbed her stricken sister and removed her from the room. Bena was shaking and blubbering incoherently. Seeking a private place, Eshe took the weeping child into the restroom at the back of the small chapel at the southern end of Alpha House. She pulled the small, shaking body into her lap.
“What happened, Eshe? What’s the matter with Calli?”
“She just got sick, that’s all,” Eshe said as she tried to reassure her. “The doctors will take care of her. Don’t worry,” she told her as she rocked her back and forth.
Eshe suspected that Calli had been poisoned by something in her food. She remembered the cup from which Calli had drunk just before she began showing distress. All the other attendees had drunk and eaten the same things, so why weren’t the others ill?
Then she remembered that she had seen Bena in the kitchen earlier with a cup in her hands. She recalled being curious about Bena having the cup. The children were always served drinks in mugs, not the fragile delicate China cups used by the adults on special occasions.
“I’m sure Calli will be fine. Too bad this happened to spoil the baby shower. We were all having such a good time, and everyone was helping out,” she reminded Bena, trying to distract her.
“Yes, I helped too,” Bena said, having calmed a little.
“Yes, you helped fold napkins, put cookies on trays, and wrapped presents,” Eshe continued in soothing tones. “You even helped with the cups. That was a big job for a little girl. Usually only the adults get to the handle the China cups.”
“I know,” Bena commented, proudly. “But Donoma said I could. She trusts me.”
“What do you mean, she trusts you?”
“She knows I can keep a secret.”
“I bet you can too. Do you and Donoma have secrets?”
“I can’t tell you that,” she whispered. “Then they wouldn’t be secrets.”
“Who else knows these secrets?” Eshe asked, careful to keep her voice low.
“Momma knows one of them.”
“Well, that is okay. Mom would only keep a good secret.” She paused. “Is there more than one secret?”
“Yes, but only Donoma and I know those.”
“Is there a secret about the China cup?”
“How did you know?” Bena looked at her with surprise.
“Big sisters know these things,” Eshe responded.” She lifted Bena’s chin so she could look into her eyes, “Now, you and I have a secret, a big-sister, little-sister secret.”
“What is it?”
“We have a secret about the cup. Telling another person a secret is like giving that person a gift. And you know that once you give a gift, you can’t take it back.” Eshe paused to let Bena absorb her words. “So, in a way, the secret belongs to me now, so you can’t give it to anyone else. Understand?”
Bena frowned. “I guess,” she replied. Then, after a moment she asked, “Do I tell Donoma that I told you the secret?”
“No, since I own the secret now, I’m the only one who can give it away.”
“Okay. That’s good. I don’t like keeping secrets, Eshe.”
“That’s okay. Little girls should not have to have secrets. Donoma was wrong to ask you to do so. Promise me that you won’t keep anymore secrets for her.”
“Okay. I want to go see Mamma now,” Bena said, sliding off Eshe’s lap.
“Not just yet, but I’ll take you to the nursery. You can help the guardians care for the babies. The little ones are probably upset because of the confusion caused by the attack.”
“I’d like that,” Bena responded.
Eshe lifted her little sister into her arms. She used the chapel exit so she could bypass the frenzied activity and quietly get Bena to the nursery.
#
When she stepped outside, Donoma was standing there. “Let me take her, Miss Eshe. I’ll put her in my bed until things settle down,” she offered. “Poor little thing. She should not be subjected to any of this.” She reached for Bena.
Bena turned her head into Eshe’s chest. “I don’t want to.”
“That won’t be necessary, Donoma. I’ve got her,” Eshe replied, holding on to Bena and taking a step back.
“But I’m sure your Mom and the others need you, Eshe,” Donoma said firmly, again reaching for Bena. “This is a tragic loss for your family. Please, allow me to do something. I feel so helpless.”
“With so many people in and out of the house, there is something you can do that will really help. They’ll need to eat. You can help by opening up the kitchen, maybe making tea, coffee, and sandwiches,” Eshe suggested firmly.
“Okay, if you insist,” Donoma acquiesced reluctantly.
#
“What’s going on?” Eshe exclaimed to herself at the housekeeper’s suspicious behavior. Then, she thought back.
First, the attack on Bakari when most of their defense forces were absent. Then, her father being seriously injured and Canaan having to come to Bakari. Calli’s pregnancy. Now, the assassination attempt on Calli and the unborn child.
Coincidence? No way.
For Calli and her unborn nephew, all she could do now was pray. But she could do more than pray that Bena does not suffer from this. Even if there had been poison in the cup that Bena had handled, Eshe knew without a doubt that her little sister would never have taken part in anything that would cause harm to anyone. She had been so excited about becoming an aunt.
Bena must never suspect her part in all of this.
Eshe could have kicked herself for not thinking to remove the cup when she left the family room. She knew it was too late now, feeling sure that the cup had been seized as evidence. Bena’s fingerprints would be on that cup, and she would undoubtedly be questioned.
But her fingerprints alone would not implicate her in the attack. No one in their right mind would suspect a child of planning anything like this.
#
Laura did not remember returning home with Odin and Rand. She did not know how long she had been in bed, what day it was, or when she had last bathed or eaten.
She felt so empty. The pain in her womb was so excruciating she could not discern any fluctuations in the waves that consumed her.
She had stood by helpless as her daughter’s body had seized. The poison clogged her veins as its toxicity permeated each organ, working its way through her system. She heard her screaming in agony until her voice was exhausted.
By the time Canaan arrived, Calli had lost consciousness. Laura had ached for him as she recalled the shock on his face as his son’s bloodied body slid into his hands, the fetus still intact enough that Jonathan’s face was as clear as it had been on the sonograms. He had been a little person, her first grandson. She never had a chance to show him how much she already loved him.
“Oh, God,” she cried, hugging herself, trying to stop the sobs and shudders wracking her body.
She did not hear the door open but felt the pressure at her back as Odin stretched out on the bed beside her and pulled her taut body into his arms.
Laura pushed at him, screaming, flailing her arms, trying to escape his tight embrace. “No!” she cried. “Leave me in peace.”
“No, baby,” Odin refused. “I won’t let you go through this alone.”
“Go through this alone?” she sneered. “When have you cared what I went through? Where was your concern for my feelings when you knocked your daughter senseless in defense of your precious Alpha? Where was it when you stood by while they attacked your child in the press? When that scum raped and beat her nearly to death? Where was your concern then, Odin?”
He released her and she scurried from the bed.
“I’ll tell you where it was. It was with Apollo—with your Alpha and your Lupa—not with your wife or your daughter. So get away from me now Commander. Go where your loyalties are! Surely, not here!”
Odin stared at her, his face frozen. Then he rose and left the room. Laura crumbled to the floor, screaming until her vocal cords were raw.
Standing akimbo, gazing out the window at the sheets of rain shrouding the house, Rand did not turn when his father entered the room. Odin paused as he opened the back door, “Will you stay with her?”
