Blood of the Infinity War (Afterlife saga Book 8)

by Stephanie Hudson

“No, oh God, okay, okay so it’s coming! Draven! AAAAHHHHGGGRRR!” I screamed and gritted my teeth and pushed.

  “Oh, Dom, I can see the head, Dom!” Sophia said getting emotional and I saw Draven look up at me and he said,

  “Sweetheart, oh my love, we are nearly there, okay…I love you so much,” he said kissing me and then I gripped his hand again and he knew…this was the last time.

  “Draven!” I shouted his name and he soothed my fears.

  “Okay, so one little push now, alright not too much sweetheart and the baby will be here, okay…here it comes, now push!” Draven told me and he let go of my hand so that he could deliver our child. And I did as he told me to, one little push and…

  “AAHHH!” our child was born.

  Now crying into its father’s arms.

  “Oh Dom!” Sophia cried.

  “By the Gods, she is beautiful!” I heard Draven whisper and my head snapped up and said,

  “A girl?! We have a girl?!” I asked on a shout.

  “We have a baby girl!” he told me with tears in his eyes and he held up the most perfect little bundle in his arms. I burst into tears as he placed her into my arms and I held her to me as if I never wanted to let her go and would protect her with my life. Sophia handed Draven a blanket and I looked to her to see that she had tears of joy streaming down her face.

  Draven wrapped a blanket around our baby and I looked up and saw Pip too was crying, nearly sobbing but she wasn’t smiling like everyone else…she knew something.

  “What is it?” I asked looking panicky and then checking the baby to see that she looked fine. Colour was rising up on her skin, giving her a healthy pink colour. Draven stepped closer to me and kissed my forehead and said,

  “Ssshh, the baby is fine. I am so proud of you sweetheart, so, so proud…by the Gods, I love you,” he told me tenderly, stroking back my hair and kissing me again, before leaning down to bestow his first kiss on our baby girl’s head. But then something started to happen. Sophia was cleaning me up and someone handed Draven something to cut the cord with. Once that was done I started to feel strange.

  “Draven, I…something’s wrong, my stomach, I feel weird.” And I did. Draven reacted straight away.

  “Sophia, take the baby,” he said, taking her from my hands gently,

  “It’s alright sweetheart, we are just going to get her cleaned up.” I let her go and then quickly after was clutching my stomach in pain.

  “AAAHH! What’s happening?! Draven, it hurts!” I shouted and Draven was at my side in seconds, holding my hand.

  “I know Keira, and we will…I…” Draven didn’t know how to finish that sentence as he looked to Pip who was still crying.

  “They…they have no…host,” she told him and I frowned.

  “What is she saying…what does she mean…Draven?!” I shouted his name as I needed him to tell me what was going on.

  “Sweetheart I…”

  “It’s alright son, allow me.” A heavenly voice spoke and it was one I recognised…Draven’s mother. I frowned, wondering how she could have known unless she was here for another reason.

  “Mother I…” Draven was about to speak but she put up a hand to stop him.

  “You knew this could happen, as is our way.”

  “What is she talking about, Draven?” I asked getting so worried now, I was going high pitched.

  “My dear, you may have given birth to a beautiful baby girl, but you have also given life to two other souls,” she told me softly.

  “What?! Ahhha OWW!” I shouted as the pain hit once more.

  “Keira!” Draven was holding me close, cradling my head in his chest as I experienced the pain. Once it eased, I looked up at him and asked,

  “You knew this?”

  “I couldn’t be sure, I knew it could be a possibility but…sweetheart I am sorry.”

  “What? Tell me, what is going on?!” He turned to look at me and held my hand and said,

  “Three souls have been created, one is a mortal child, but the other two…well they are souls that need to be protected until the time comes for them to be united with a host,” he told me and I frowned, looking down as I tried to process all of this.

  “And your mother?”

  “She has come for the Angel,” he told me and I swallowed hard.

  “So, sometime in the future we will have another child, one that will need a Vessel?” Draven nodded and I cried.

  “But now, what if…” I couldn’t even say it and in the end, I didn’t need to as Draven shook his head and told me gently,

  “It doesn’t work like that, sweetheart.”

  “And the other soul, who will…”

  “I will.” A strong voice came from the shadows and I knew it was Draven’s father. That was what Draven had meant when he asked Takeshi to call them.

  “A demon?” Draven nodded in answer to my question and I sniffed back a sob and said smiling,

  “Figures.”

  “My Lord, its’ time,” Pip said placing a hand on his arm and giving me sad eyes.

  “What the Imp says is true, for we do not have long,” his mother agreed.

  “Why, what happens now?” I asked and Draven placed a hand on my belly and said,

  “It is time to say goodbye and hand their safety over to their grandparents…we will be with them again…I promise you this my love.” I closed my eyes, let the tears fall and nodded, placing my hand over his at my belly. I knew there was nothing else to be done. Draven kissed me and then nodded to both of his parents to come forward. They stepped up to me and Draven’s father couldn’t take his eyes off his mother.

  “Sarah.” He said her name like a purr rolling off the tongue. Like a promise of all he wanted to do to her and some of that probably included worshiping at her feet.

  “Asmodeus,” she said back and for someone so confident, she suddenly looked anxious as she brushed her beautiful hair behind her ear. She was dressed in a stunning blue gown and she nervously ran her palms down the sides as if she needed to find something to do with her hands. I looked to Draven’s father who was watching her actions like a hawk. He looked as though he wanted to devour her whole and then do it all over again.

  “AAAhhh!” I shouted in pain again and Draven growled at his parents.

  “Can we please get on with this as my wife’s pain is not a sight I relish in seeing,” he snapped.

  “Yes of course. My dear, this may feel strange but please, try to just…let go,” she said pausing as if this was difficult for her to say.

  “Step back son, we will take care of her, your mother and I.” Sarah looked up at him and shot him a look as if it was the first time she had ever heard such a thing from his lips. Draven nodded and said,

  “It will be alright.” Then he shifted so his parents could take his place. They both placed a hand at my shoulder and the second they made contact I started to feel strange. Like something was being drained from me and the pain I felt started to ease. I didn’t see anything to tell me what they had said was true but I felt it. And I knew the second that those sweet souls left the comfort and security of my body.

  Tears fell and rolled down my cheeks in sadness for them and I wished I had created small tiny bundles for both of them, but then that was obviously not their fate…I just hoped that one day, that fate brought them back to me…

  Brought them back home.

  To their own Afterlife.

  Epilogue

  Four Months later…

  “I swear, just like her mother,” Draven grumbled playfully as he joined me on the balcony. He placed a high-tech baby monitor down on the small table and collapsed down in the chair next to me. I had moaned at him about six months ago, when reaching my angry pregnancy peak, that what was the point of having a balcony just off our room if there was no place to sit. This was mainly because I hit a stage very quickly when being pregnant, that I had hated standing of any kind, so moaned whenever I had to.

  After this it had take
n Draven all of about five seconds of tapping away on his phone to declare, ‘Done’ and the next day a beautiful outdoor garden lounge set had turned up that was rated highly for one main thing, comfort.

  Draven knew how to keep his wife happy.

  “Did she not want to take a nap again?” I asked also thinking how lucky I was that my supernatural husband didn’t need much sleep as he certainly wasn’t getting any. But our beautiful little girl was at her happiest when she was up and awake, simply sat in someone’s lap watching the world in action around her as if she was taking it all in. She was full of smiles and made everyone around her fall in love with her with a single look and a grab of your hand. I had seen the biggest, baddest, and broodiest supernatural men nearly crumble and become soppy, cooing puppy dogs in her hands.

  We had named her Amelia, as I let Draven choose. He told me it was Latin, meaning ‘striving’ and also ‘defender’. I then chose her middle name Faith, as after all, that is what she had represented by coming into our world.

  Our little…

  Amelia Faith Draven.

  It had taken me a while to get my head around what had happened after the birth. I would often cry, finding myself feeling the loss of two souls it wasn’t possible to hold in my arms, right alongside my daughter. Draven had understood how I had felt and he too felt it tugging at his soul. But he also knew his world better than I did and he had ‘Faith’ that one day soon, we would find ourselves reunited as a family. The moment he said this was when I made my choice to give our daughter a middle name.

  Shortly after giving birth one by one everyone came to pay their respects and pledge their loyalty and protection to their new Princess. Well, all I could say was I felt sorry for her already for she could get the idea of ever dating anyone right out of her head. Not unless he was someone powerful enough to beat back a small army of badass supernatural kings. I had laughed until tears formed when mentioning the prospect of dating to Draven as his face had said it all…

  Murder.

  Jesus, but I felt sorry for the day that a kid came knocking to take her to the prom! Especially if Ragnar was the one to open the door and lead the poor soul in to meet her father.

  Yep, she was in for a rocky ride with that one.

  But she was also the luckiest little girl in the world, for she had the best family you could ever have wished for. Included in this was Aunties, Sophia, Libby, Ari and Pip, as Pip had already had T shirts made, with the words, ‘Team Kick Ass Aunty Squid’ written on the back. Gifts she had handed out swiftly after the birth.

  Everyone there had taken turns holding the baby, but the one who touched me the most was Draven. To see our child in his large hands with the sheer level of love in his eyes as he looked down at her, it was as if she was the most precious gift in the whole world. To me, it was a perfect moment and one I got to relive over and over again, every time I saw him with our daughter.

  He was a natural with her. He wasn’t scared like I was the first time we bathed her, as she was so tiny. Or when dressing her the first few times, doing it so gently, I was barely getting anywhere, as I was too frightened of hurting her. Draven had merely chuckled, kissed my forehead and taken over, doing so with such ease, you would have thought he’d been doing it every day of his life before that point.

  I would hear him at night after feeding her, she would be perched across his naked torso, her little head at his shoulder as he patted her back trying to get a burp out of her. He would be cooing her and whispering in different languages, telling her in Latin how much he loved her. Then this tiny bundle in his arms would let out the biggest of burps in response, which had him chuckling and praising her like she had just won the national spelling bee.

  It was the sweetest thing and the first few nights, it made me cry it was so sweet.

  “So, just like her mother, eh?” I said giving him a sideways look. Then he placed a hand behind my neck, pulled me to him and said over my lips,

  “Yes, both just as stubborn, but both adored all the same.” Then he kissed me and it was divine. Then he took my hand in his and started playing with my wedding band as he usually did out of habit. If my hands weren’t free his attention then shifted on to my hair, wrapping strands around his thick fingers absentmindedly, as if it was second nature to him.

  But I think touching my ring was a comfort to him to know and see that it was there. As if it reminded him that it was all still real and I truly did belong to him. That night, after our wedding and the turbulent events that followed it, we had been in our bed after Draven had just made love to me. It had been slow and sensual and above all intense. Then, lying with one another, he took off my ring and then his ring and showed me the symbol they created when put together. On his ring, he had the part that looked like an ‘A’ symbol and I had what looked like an ‘O’ with feet. They interlocked with each other when turned a certain way.

  It was my birthmark.

  I told him about it, as if it was some secret I blurted out and had been meaning to tell him about for years but strangely never had. He gave me a warm smile and said,

  “I know about your birthmark, sweetheart.”

  “You do?!”

  “But of course, I have the same one,” he told me and my mouth had dropped.

  “What?! All this time and you never told me!” I argued making him laugh again, only harder this time.

  “You never told me about yours.” Well okay, so this had been true but still, he knew and I didn’t.

  “Where is it?”

  “The same place as yours, hidden away under my hair.” Again, this surprised me and he laughed when I turned his head and tried to look for it.

  “But what does it mean? I have seen it around your home, on the back of your chair, as part of your family crest and…” his answer cut me off and it wasn’t one I would have ever expected.

  “Simply put, it means us.”

  “Us?” I asked getting high pitched.

  “You and I, our union.” I frowned in thought and then asked,

  “What, you mean like a man and woman coming together, that type of us?”

  “No, Keira, what I mean is…” He paused to get closer to my face so that he could whisper,

  “Just you and me...together.”

  “Okay, you are going to have to explain this to me,” I complained making him pull me in close and kiss my temple. But after this he did as I asked. He told me that the symbols represent the Alpha, which was him and meant the First. And the Omega, which was me and meant the Last. Then he slipped me beneath him and told me the sweetest thing,

  “It means I was the beginning but you were my end…my everything, my only…it is like Vincent said in his speech…you complete me.” He finished his sentence as he thrust inside me and once seated in the warmth of my body I knew he was only half right. So, I reached up and touched his cheek and whispered back…

  “We complete each other.”

  The ancient symbols that represented our beginning and our end were entwined for a reason and even now, a year to the day, I knew it had been the perfect time to find out and I was glad I hadn’t done so any time sooner.

  “So, can I give you your anniversary present yet?” I asked him as it was a year ago today that we had not only become husband and wife for the second time, but also saved the world from the end of days and given it a future for our child. One we knew would grow up to face her own prophecy.

  “That depends, is it the baby book in ashes given to me in a little bottle to wear around my neck, like you threatened five months ago?” he joked and it was true, I had threatened that and right after Sigurd had witnessed it had said to my husband,

  “Shit Dom, what have you been feeding her for breakfast, rusty nails and broken glass?” Needless to say, I had swiftly taken the book out of Draven’s hands and thrown it at the Big Dumb Viking at one of the council meetings. Okay, so he wasn’t dumb, but still I had been an angry uncomfortable pregnant lady at the time, so in Draven’s e
yes there wasn’t much I couldn’t get away with. Although I had given him hell when he replied,

  “No, but I find sex helps with her mood swings, and I benefit greatly from this also.” I growled and then banned him from sex for a week, which ended up lasting not even an hour, thanks to him taking it as a challenge. Damn Hot Demon/ Angel King!

  The council meeting ended early that day.

  “No but if you carry on, it will be your gift for Christmas.” I told him making him laugh and say,

  “What? No woolly hat this year?”

  “Ha, ha.” Then I got up and as quietly as I could, so as not to wake the baby, I reached under the bed, no longer in fear of demon sized dust bunnies biting my hand off or Pythia hiding under the bed. Thankfully, all had been forgiven and she was currently living out her life in peace…and in Florida of all places.

  I grabbed the gift bag, I had hidden there.

  Then I reached for the post, hauled myself up and missed the step, which meant I went down on one knee, which also meant I had done the unthinkable…I had made a noise.

  I turned quickly and saw our baby girl with her eyes wide open staring at me smiling. I think if she could have talked right there and then she would have said one word…

  Busted.

  “What are you doing awake?” Okay so her answer would have been,

  ‘Because I have a clumsy mummy who doesn’t know how to be graceful to save her life and woke me up’.

  “Come on then, let’s go surprise daddy,” I said picking her up and hugging her to me. I snagged her blanket, one her Uncle Ragnar had sweetly bought for her. The thought of him going into a baby shop and buying a pink blanket covered in hearts and flowers had me in near hysterics, after thanking him of course. I told Draven once we were alone, how I would have paid a very large sum of money to have seen the woman’s face behind the counter. He agreed with a smirk.

  I wrapped the blanket around her and walked outside saying,

  “Guess who is awake” I heard Draven groan but the smile on his face said it all. He was happy as this way he would get a cuddle but first, he wanted to watch me for a while holding our daughter. He had admitted to me not long after she was born that watching me nursing her gave him immeasurable amounts of pleasure, of the likes I would never know. Needless to say, that whenever I had hold of her, his eyes would light up and he would watch us with a small, secret smile playing at his lips.