Slowing and throwing out my hand, pressing it against the wall, I start to feel sick to my stomach as another contraction tightens my middle. This one fucking hurts, and I can’t talk, can’t call for Lucas. Hell, I can hardly even breathe.
Binx, who followed me to the bathroom and sat outside the door, meows. Freya and Pandora are in the hall not far behind, and they all shadow around me, helping me stay upright until the pain is gone.
“Fuck,” I grunt, jaw clenched, and somehow, Lucas hears. He’s at my side, one hand on my back and the other going to my stomach to give me support as I lean over, but I don’t want anyone fucking touching me right now. Shaking my head because I can’t take my hands off the wall to swat him away, I squeeze my eyes closed and wait for this to pass.
“Your last contraction was about twenty-five minutes ago,” Lucas tells me when I can breathe again. I straighten up, thankful for his arms around me.
“Still random.”
“For now.”
Yawning, I hook my arm through his. “I’m really tired.”
“Rest. If this is the start to labor, you need to rest while you can.”
“I can’t. Not until the spell is cast.”
“Your friends can cast it,” he reminds me. “Tabatha and Evander are on their way, and Ruby will come if you ask her to. You’re only using your witch powers for this, so you have nothing to offer they couldn’t do on their own.”
I frown but bob my head up and down. “You’re right. But this is my spell, and I need to lead the casting.” He holds onto me on the way back to the kitchen. My appetite is gone, and I get out foil to cover my plate. I’ll eat this later so I don’t waste food.
“You doing okay, Cal?” Kristy asks.
“I had another contraction on the way back from the bathroom,” I tell her, and she gasps, smile on her face.
“Get your butt onto the couch. We’ll clean up in here.”
Normally, I’d feel bad leaving a mess like this for my friends to clean, but I’m so fucking tired I’m doubting my ability to keep my eyes open much longer. My familiars are glued to my side, and all lie on the back of the couch, needing to be close to me. Scarlet has been chewing on a bone, lying on her oversized bed in the family room, and thumps her tail against the ground when she sees me.
Lying on my side, I hug a pillow and close my eyes. My mind is whirling, but my body is just so fucking tired. Lucas covers me with a blanket and rubs my back. Almost instantly, I pass out, being jolted awake by the pain of another contraction. I whimper and grimace, back seizing up along with my uterus.
“Fifteen minutes,” Lucas says, working hard to stay calm. “And that lasted a minute.”
“It felt like an hour.”
He chuckles. “I can only imagine.”
“Can you get me some water?” I ask, exhaustion hitting me.
“I’ll bring it,” Kristy says, and I’m not surprised she and the twins are hanging back in the family room.
“Thanks.” With Lucas’s help, I sit up. Kristy brings me a glass of ice water and takes a seat on the end of the couch. Nicole and Naomi sit together on the loveseat.
“We need to pick our elements for the circle casting.” I take a drink and prop myself up on my elbow. “I’ll invoke fire since I’m the only one who can summon it from hell—or the Underworld, if I want to be correct. That leaves earth, water, and air. What do you guys want?”
“Earth,” Kristy answers. “I feel very connected to it right now.”
“I’ll do air,” Nicole says and looks at her twin. “Unless you want it.”
“Fire is my element of choice,” Naomi answers. “It makes more sense for Callie to invoke it. Water, it is.”
“Good. I’m thinking we can go old-school with a jar of moon water, lavender incense, and a bowl of graveyard dirt. Julian showed me that I can actually put a flame of hellfire in a jar and it will keep burning. Not sure how long, but it’ll last enough to do the spell.”
“Whoa, that’s crazy,” Kristy says.
“Yeah. It was…it was one of the last things he did.” I’m blinking away tears again, and the sudden reminder of how much I miss him hits me all over again. “We went over this, but it makes me feel better to say it out loud. We’ll use the modified Solomon warding to create the outside boundary and then will move to the middle to cast the smaller lines.”
“Should we drink a cleansing tea?” Nicole asks.
“It’s always a good idea,” Kristy tells her. “Can you have it?” She looks back at me.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It has a few herbs that aren’t recommended for pregnant ladies. You guys should, though. I still have a jar of the herbs mixed up and in the cupboard from the last time we had it.” My eyelids start to feel heavy again. Kristy goes into the kitchen to put a pot of water on to boil, and I’m almost lulled to sleep from Lucas gently running his fingers up and down my arm.