King started the engine.
“Drive carefully,” I said, taking Jeni’s hand. “And get that fucking thing out of here.”
A dark shadow hovered around the car. By now I’d figured out what it was.
“I didn’t invite him,” King said.
What the hell did that mean? Was King’s soul here to watch the birth of this Seer?
Fuck, this is too crazy. Even for me.
King
Mia, if you can somehow hear me, I want you to know I will stay until she is ready to fend for herself. After that, I’m leaving. I miss you far too much.
Mia was beyond my reach now, but a part of me hoped she felt what was about to happen. The daughter who’d had her life stolen by a Seer in an act of revenge against me would have another chance, and I couldn’t help but feel anxious to witness it before I left this world.
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Jeni’s face was pale.
“King! Oh God. It hurts.” Jeni curled into a tight ball in the back seat with Ansin, cradling her stomach.
“We are almost there. Try to use your gifts, Seer. Relax,” I said.
“Something’s…wrong…” Jeni moaned.
“Is she bleeding? Is she hemorrhaging?” I asked Ansin.
“How would I know? I don’t see anything. Ariadna, you are to keep breathing. Do you hear me? You are to fight,” Ansin said.
“Do not use that mindfuck crap on my daughter,” I snarled. Ansin’s tribe had been filled with archaic pagan witches. Primitive. Savage. I knew because I had come across them a few thousand years ago. Likely before Ansin was born.
“Do you have any better ideas, King? If yes, I’m all ears,” Ansin said.
“Oh God. Hurry. Hurry,” Jeni whimpered.
“We’re here.” I slammed on the brakes, and Ansin jumped from the car and disappeared inside. He reemerged with several men and a gurney. They removed Jeni from the vehicle and took her inside.
As I sat behind the steering wheel, a wave of darkness washed over me. Was it my imagination? Because I swore I felt my soul pushing against my skin, as if trying to get in.
The air does not feel right. An energy buzzed all around us, almost like a warning. Something bad was about to happen. I felt it in my bones.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jeni
My pulse raced, my body screamed with pain, and my mind couldn’t find shelter from any of it. The only way out was through. I had to push.
The nurse got an IV into my arm and an oxygen mask strapped to my face. The small room was filled with people who, for lack of a better term, looked uneasy.
Yes. Medical professionals in an ER. Looking uneasy.
Something was wrong with the baby.
Ariadna. Please. Just let them do their job, sweetie. They’re going to help you come out safely.
A doctor entered the room and quickly introduced himself, explaining the situation. The baby’s heart rate was erratic. They didn’t know why.
“Jeni, you’re already fully dilated, so you have to push,” he said.
I was? But how? I’d only started having pain about twenty minutes ago.
He added, “We’ll give you a few minutes, but if the baby doesn’t come out quickly, we’ll have to do a C-section.”
I didn’t want to be cut open like I’d seen Sage do to King in my nightmares over the last eight months. “If anyone gets near me with a scalpel, I’ll kill them,” I growled. “I’ll get her out. On my own.”
The contractions hit again, and I pushed into the pain. “Ahhh!” I shrieked in agony, feeling like my pelvis was cracking, like my insides were shredding and my outsides were tearing.
Ansin stormed into the small room, holding his knife. “What’s going on…”
“Put that away,” I barked.
Thankfully the staff didn’t notice.
Ansin came over and took my hand, lowering his voice and speaking in a calm tone. “You don’t feel a thing. You’re safe. You’re going to push her out now.”
His words sank into my skull, and my body went numb. He’d just used that mindfuck trick. “Why? Why use that on me now?”
“Because you needed it.”
The next wave hit, but this time, it didn’t hurt. I pushed, knowing this was happening all too fast. No one delivered a baby in five minutes. Not their first time. It was like she wanted to get out and wasn’t about to wait for anyone. Why was I surprised? King’s kid.
“Here comes the head,” the doctor said just as King appeared in the back of the room, his pale gray eyes watching with intensity.
“One more. Give us one more,” the doctor said and pulled the baby out. The doctor clipped and cut the umbilical cord, and the nurse immediately took her to clean her face and nose over on a little table.
I didn’t know how I felt about King and Ansin seeing something so…intimate, but all that mattered was Ariadna.
“Is she okay?” I panted.