by Quinn Loftis
"I want to say that's a good analogy but really it's not even in the same ballpark," Jacque spoke up.
"No one asked you, Red. Your job is to have a baby not run your trap. Now—" Jen jumped into four-star general mode and started doing what she did best under pressure—barking orders. "Jacque start walking around slowly. It will help the labor progress. Sally go see if you can find any water, clean preferably, and blankets or cloth of some sort, also preferably clean. Take two swords with you and for the love of healthy placentas everywhere, don't get yourself killed."
"Oh, okay," Sally said sounding just a tad hysterical. "I'll just snap my fingers and make that happen."
Jen paused. "Wait, is that a new gypsy thing you learned while off on your 'there and back again' hobbit mission? Could you have been snapping your fingers and making stuff appear and things happen all this time and didn't tell us? Wait," she said again.
"I'm not going anywhere," Sally said but Jen didn't acknowledge her.
"Could you have gotten me chocolate at the snap of a finger and you didn't?"
"Jen!" Sally pinched the bridge of her nose as she cut her friend off. "I was being sarcastic."
Jen frowned. "Oh, I knew that." She looked from Sally to Jacque and then back to Sally. "Why are you still standing there? Red’s, going to pop out a furbaby any second and you're just standing there."
"You told me to wait!" Sally stomped her foot.
Jacque snorted and then grimaced as another contraction started.
"I swear, Jennifer, one of these days," Sally muttered under her breath as she headed off in search of the things Jen had requested.
Jacque would have laughed at her usually subdued friend but she was in too much pain. She bent over at the waist, holding onto the wall in order to remain upright.
"How you doing?" Jen asked her as she rubbed Jacque’s lower back.
"Hurts like hell, but that feels good. Will she be okay?" Jacque asked nodding in the direction Sally had just gone.
"Dude, you're about to have a baby, in a vampire dungeon I might add. Way to go on joining me in the all-time freakiest places to give birth club," she added and then continued. "The only person you need to worry about is you, well you and that pup you're carrying."
"For the record I really wasn't trying to join your freaky birth place club."
Jen shrugged. "We're married to werewolves. Did you really expect us to give birth in a normal place, like a bed? Noooo," she sang. "We give birth in creepy, filthy, vomit-worthy places. Go us."
"You're not helping right now," Jacque said and then groaned again. The damn contractions weren't playing around anymore. Her stomach tightened and she was pretty sure it was trying to make her have a trajectory birth.
"Do you know how far apart they are?" Jen asked.
"I think roughly three minutes."
"Okay, so you're getting close. You should probably try and contact your mate. He might just want to be here for the birth of his first child."
Jacque knew Jen was right but she was also afraid that if she tried to use their bond he would get distracted while he was possibly fighting vampires. Just as she finished that thought she felt the bond open.
"You're in labor?" Fane practically yelled in her mind.
Jacque glared at Jen. "Dec?" she asked.
Jen nodded and smiled unapologetically. "You're as stubborn as an ass. I knew you wouldn't contact him. So I bombarded Dec with some pretty strong emotions until he finally opened up."
"It's stubborn as a mule, you dip wad, not stubborn as an ass."
"Probably, but you're being an ass right now so I'll stick with my first description, Alec."
Jacque rolled her eyes and then remembered that Fane was waiting on her response.
"Yes, sorry I was berating Jen. I'm in labor. Surprise!" she ended lamely.
"Are you okay? Are you in pain?"
"You did hear the part about me being in labor, right?"
Fane broke out in a string of Romanian and she almost smiled because she knew he was cussing up a storm, and she had caused it, which always made her want to smile.
"I'm on my way to you," he told her and she felt him pour love and reassurance through their bond.
"I'll be waiting," Jacque told him, and then screamed.
"Shit!" Jen hissed. "Shit, shit, shit, and shit some more."
Jacque’s scream reverberated off the stone walls and pierced Jen's ears but that wasn't what had suddenly limited her vocabulary to one, four lettered word. It was the gush of blood that now soaked Jacques jeans.
"Take them off," Jen ordered as she began helping her friend unbutton, unzip, and then remove the jeans and then underwear. Jen hurried to take off the jacket she'd been wearing and help Jacque remove hers, laying them both on the ground.
"Down," she pointed to the makeshift bed as she helped ease Jacque to the floor.
"Jennifer," Decebel’s voice filled her head.
"Not now, B," she practically snarled. She was trying to keep herself together but there was just so much blood—too much blood. Jen looked up at Jacque’s face and nearly gasped at how white she had become.
"Okay, okay, we got this," she said under her breath as she helped Jacque bend her legs at the knees and open them wide. "I have to admit, Red, I'm really glad we're best friends because I don’t think I could look at a stranger’s girly bits and not be critical." She heard a small, breathy laugh come from her friend, which is what she'd wanted to hear, as she jerked her shirt over her head and attempted to clean away some of the blood.
"Are you feeling the urge to push?"
No answer.
"Jacque," Jen growled as she looked up at her best friend, but she was passed out cold. "Okay, so maybe that's a good thing."
"I found," Sally's breathless voice came barreling in behind her. Jen didn't turn around as she heard things clatter to the ground and Sally gasp. "Oh God."
"Praying would be a good right about now, but I also need supplies," Jen practically yelled. "What did you bring me?"
"I… I found—. Holy crap, Jen, that's too much blood."
"SALLY! Pull your crap together and give me what you found and then place your hands on your best friend and do your gypsy mojo or so help me I will knock you out just to shut you up."
"Right," Sally breathed out. "Thank you. Okay, all I could find were a couple of blankets. I don't know how clean they are."
Jen snatched the blankets from her and then motioned for Sally to kneel down next to Jacque. "We need to know what's going on inside, Sal. Do your thing and tell me if there's something you can do and be quick about it."
Jen wiped the sweat from her brow as she watched Sally place her hands on Jacque's swollen belly. She closed her eyes and then went perfectly still. She didn't know how Sally's magic worked or what it was she was capable of, but she begged the Great Luna that she could save Jacque and the baby.
"The placenta isn't attached to the uterus anymore," Sally said, her eyes still closed. "That's where the bleeding is coming from. The baby's heartbeat is dropping. We need to get it out. I'm trying to slow down the bleeding. You wake Jacque up and make her push this child out, now."
Jen crawled up to Jacque's face and patted her a few times. "Jacque, come on, you have to wake up. Jacque," she said a little more forcefully. When that didn't work she growled. "Screw this." Then she slapped her friend hard. "WAKE UP."
Jacque gasped and blinked several times. Her face immediately grimaced in pain.
"You have to push, Jacque," Jen told her urgently. "You have to start pushing, now. Do you hear me?" she asked, grabbing her face and jerking it so that Jacque was looking directly into her eyes.
Jacque nodded though she looked pretty out of it.
Jen went back down to Jacque’s lower half and positioned herself in-between her friend’s legs. "Okay, Red, push. And don’t you dare be a pansy ass. You push like your life and the life of your baby depends on it because it does."
Jacque took a deep breath and p
ushed as hard as she could. She rested and when a new contraction started again she took another deep breath and pushed again.
"That's it, push, push, push," Jen chanted as she watched to see if the baby's head was close to crowning. More blood was pouring out of her and Jen was beginning to get very scared that it was going to be too much.
"JENNIFER!" Decebel bellowed. "Tell me what is going on! Fane is frantic. He can't get through to Jacque and he smells her blood." He paused and suddenly Jen felt his rage and fear douse her.
"Dec, what's wrong? Talk to me," she implored.
"Vampires," he practically whispered. "They smell her blood too."
Jen felt her own blood drain from her face.
"They're coming to you," Decebel was snarling. "We're coming. You and Sally are going to have to hold them off. I don’t think we will beat all of them."
"HOLD THEM OFF? I'm in the middle of helping Jacque give birth and she's bleeding. Dec, it's so much blood. I don't, crap, I don’t—" She couldn't get the words out. She couldn't say that she didn't know if her best friend was going to live. She couldn't give voice to something so horrific.
"Hang on. Tell Jacque to fight. She's strong. We're coming."
"Sally, get your swords and stand guard."
Sally's eyes popped open. "What? Why?"
"The vampires are coming."
Costin could feel her panic. Sally was trying hard to keep him from being able to hear or feel her, but her emotions were so intense that no barrier would have kept them hidden from him.
Something horrible had happened or was happening in that moment. He could feel her fear, but it wasn’t fear for her life. Costin knew his healer would always put others before herself, so it didn’t surprise him that whatever she was fearful of, the fear was for someone else’s wellbeing. He didn’t know if that comforted him or not. Her mind was so full of chaos that he could only pick up a few thoughts—Jacque—too much blood—figure out what is wrong…. He could put together a million scenarios for what those words in that combination could mean, but he still wouldn’t really know what was happening.
He tried to send her a thought but his words seemed to bounce off a barrier. The wall she’d erected was there and he couldn’t get through, but her emotions were of such strength that they were getting past the barrier to him.
“Dammit,” he muttered under his breath. He’d been trying to remain calm and carefree around Titus because he didn’t want the little guy to pick up on his worry and stress. He’d been through enough in his short little life. He didn’t deserve anymore grief, pain, or sorrow. Titus deserved love, hugs, attention, and someone else to be strong for him. Costin would do everything in his power to give his son those things. So when he heard said little boy finishing up in the bathroom after declaring that he needed to ‘use the potty—NOW,’ Costin slapped on a smile, pushed back the worry, and prepared to become the most talented actor in history.
Fane roared as his claws tore through another vamp’s chest. His heart was racing much too fast and he knew it was his because of his mate. Something was wrong, very, very wrong.
"Peri!" he yelled over the noise of the battle at the fae who was defending herself against three vampires at once. "Flash to the girls. Jacque is in labor!"
He saw the fae’s eyes widen just before she disappeared. He wanted to go with her, but he couldn't leave his pack to fight so many vampires on their own. Even one less fighter could tip the balance and it was already not looking great for them.
The vampires had picked up on the smell of Jacquelyn's blood a moment after Fane and it had sent them into a frenzy. Fane and the others were trying to hold the monsters back, but he had already seen two get past the group. The swarm of vamps seemed to continually replenish, more appeared just as quickly as their comrades were destroyed. Fighting them off while also now trying to move back toward the dungeon room where they’d left the girls was proving too much.
Fane was just about to grab one of the vampires that was running past him when Peri appeared beside him, grabbed his arm, and they were no longer in the tunnel. When they reappeared, Fane nearly fell to his knees as he saw his mate lying still on the floor. His own body suddenly felt weak and sluggish. He stumbled over to her, crashing to the ground next to her face and taking it in his hands.
"Jacquelyn," he spoke, urgently pushing his own power into his voice. "Come back to me. You have a child to raise. Don't you dare give up."
"Peri," he heard Jen yell. "We need Rachel."
Fane continued to focus on his mate, unable to worry about the noises around him. In his mind there was only one battle that mattered and that was the one his mate was fighting.
Sally continued to push her power into Jacque, attempting to anchor her friend’s life force to her own. Jacque had lost too much blood and Sally didn't know what to do. She’d momentarily felt Costin’s worry, but she’d managed to throw up a wall before he could pick up on everything that was happening. She wasn’t trying to be untruthful with him, but she couldn’t focus on helping her friend if she was enduring her mate’s concern and frustration.
"Alston, go get Rachel," Peri snapped just as Sally saw two vampires appear in the doorway where Peri and Alston stood guard. Suddenly Peri was alone as she began to fight them. Alston had flashed but he wasn't gone long. When he reappeared, he had Rachel on one arm and her mate Gavril, on the other. Gavril and Alston jumped right into the fight as more vampires were attempting to enter the room.
Rachel knelt down beside her and gave Sally a nod. "She's passed out from blood loss and the baby needs to come out. I don’t know what to do," Sally explained to the much more experienced healer.
Rachel placed her hands on Jacque's swollen stomach. "We will have to force her contractions and use our magic to push the baby out. Jen." Rachel looked up at the blonde who was still in between Jacque's legs. "Be ready."
Jen nodded but didn't say anything.
Sally placed her hands next to Rachel’s and then waited to see exactly what the healer would do. As Rachel began to push her magic into their patient, Sally mimicked the action. She followed Rachel’s lead, continually pushing magic into Jacque's abdomen with occasional bolts of stronger power.
"I have a head," Jen said breathlessly. "Whatever you're doing, it's working so don't stop."
Sally was beginning to feel the effects of pulling on so much of her power but she didn't stop. She would not let her friend down.
"Got shoulders, and," Jen paused. "There! He's out. It's a boy!"
Rachel immediately moved down to Jen and the baby. "Sally keep her with us," she told her.
Sally tried to focus on both Jacque and what Rachel was doing because the baby had yet to make a sound. Why hadn't he cried?
Fane was still leaning down close to Jacque’s face. Sally didn't think he'd even noticed that Jen had said his son was born. She tried to nudge him. "Fane, hey," Sally said gently. He didn't move. "No, no-no-no-no-no," Sally breathed out as she stared at her un-breathing friend and her un-breathing mate.
"PERI!" Sally yelled as loudly as she could. She'd been so focused on what she and Rachel were doing that she hadn't even noticed that pretty much everyone was in the room or just outside the doorway fighting at least three vampires each. It was chaos.
Peri flashed to her side and before Sally could say anything, the fae let out a string of curses. "Rachel we need to move them now." The healer who was still working on the baby looked up at Peri and nodded. "To the garden. I've been preparing a place just in case something like this happened."
The swords Peri held suddenly disappeared and she reached down and grabbed Jacque with one hand and Fane with the other. Rachel reached toward Peri and placed a hand on the fae’s arm. At the last minute, Jen's hand snapped out and grabbed Peri. Jen looked at Sally and started to say her name but it was too late. Peri flashed and they were gone.
Sally was left sitting there on the bloody floor while a battle raged around her. She was frozen. She'd
just help push her best friend’s baby from her body and, despite all of her efforts, she didn't know if any of them were alive, or going to live. Her lungs were on fire and she realized she wasn't breathing. Sally sucked in a sharp breath trying to keep from passing out. She leaned forward and continued to breathe slowly. She didn't know how it was possible that a vamp hadn't already pounced on her, but just as that thought ran through her mind, she felt a hand on her arm and then nothing.
The battle was gone, it was dark and quiet. Maybe Peri had come back for her because she was pretty sure she'd just been flashed.
"Peri?"
Suddenly she reappeared in dark room, lit only by candle light. She blinked, attempting to adjust her eyes. "Peri?" she asked again. Whoever had grabbed her hand was gone.
"Peri isn't here, Sally," a voice she thought she recognized came from the shadows, from a man she hadn't seen since they'd defeated Reyaz. She didn't have to wonder long if she was correct, as he stepped from the darkness into the light.
"Hello, Sally. It's good to see you."
"Skender?"
Cyn stood next to Thalion in disbelief. They were both staring at the fifth empty coven they'd found. She'd been doing her best to follow the stench of evil in order to find them, but so far, the only thing they were finding were empty tombs.
"I don’t understand," she told him. "It's like they knew we were coming."
Thalion’s shoulders tensed and his eyes narrowed. "Would someone in your group betray you?"
"No," Cyn answered without hesitation. "No one. I trust every single person who is with Peri. None of them would every betray us."
Thalion shook his head. "Everyone has a price."
"Even you?" she challenged, irritated that he would question the loyalty of people she’d come to care about.
He turned so that they were facing one another and took her chin in his grasp. "Even me. And that price is you. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you. Nothing."
If he hadn't been holding her chin, her jaw would have dropped. She cleared her throat and stepped back. "I would never ask you to betray your people, not for me or anyone."
