I blink at him as I take that in. Because I am a Vampire with no child-bearing abilities? “But the prophecy stated…” I try to make sense of this. Somehow this child gets born. “A C-Section,” I say, landing on this grand idea, but he is shaking his head, as is the midwife.
“There is no way to cut you open for long enough to remove the child before you heal,” he says woefully.
Oh gods. I feel sick as I have a horrible image of them forcing my flesh apart to keep it from knitting itself together. As another contraction slices through me, there is only one option I can think of. I grab Remiel’s hand and say, “You can.”
He blanches further and says, “No! No, Aefre, I can’t do that to you.”
“Yes, you can,” I pant. I need this child out of me, like, yesterday.
“No, I can’t risk it,” he says.
“You can,” I say. “You have to. The pain won’t be any more than this,” I say and indicate my swollen stomach weakly.
“It’s not just that,” he says, squeezing my hand. “I can’t risk hurting the baby,” he adds quietly.
Oh. Of course. Silly me.
I close my eyes and wish for death then. He sees me give up and sighs. “I will try. I will have to go slowly, and it is going to be, well, like before, but far, far worse.”
I gulp. I remember the last time he clawed me to get to me. I somehow went numb, completely paralyzed, but I still felt the pain, and that was him just clawing my skin. He is going to have to go far deeper into my body and my sweat starts to sweat. It is going to be Hell on Earth. Something far worse than even Lance did to me for kicks.
“Just do it,” I say through gritted teeth.
The midwife starts to protest loudly, but in Dragon language so I have no idea what she is saying to him, but I can tell she isn’t happy about this plan. But then he does his mojo thing and she nods swiftly, and they position themselves at either side of my head. I look up at them in fear, but he says to me, “It’ll be okay, Aefre. We are going to knock you out. I can’t say for sure if it will work or for how long once I get started, but it’s something we can offer you.”
I swallow. I don’t really want to be knocked out. I joked before about the coma, but this is real now. They could do anything to my child, and me, if I am not conscious to prevent it from happening. He smiles at me and that’s all it takes. His mojo soothes me, and he whispers, “Do you trust me?” as he brushes the hair off my forehead.
“Yes,” I whisper back, and his smile saddens slightly. He knows he has coerced me with his special brand of magick, the midwife knows that and even I know that, but his way is too strong to fight, especially now, and I find it interesting that he doesn’t find it appealing to him.
“Close your eyes,” he murmurs, and I do. I hear chanting and feel a blinding pain in my head and then… nothing.
Chapter 4
The Underworld, March 2014 – Constantine, Xane, Devon & Cole
The months have rolled past in a drearily, exhaustingly, frustratingly, and worrisomely slow process. Constantine is at his wits’ end. He just doesn’t know if he can bear another second of not knowing if she is dead, or even worse, alive and well and happy with her child and that beast. What if she chose to stay? The not knowing is the worst part because he just doesn’t know if she chose to sacrifice him for her half-breed child. But if they ever find out what has happened to her it will be worse. A lot worse. He has been plotting for months now to find access to a portal to the Dragon Realms, but he just can’t find one. They are well and truly shut off.
A knock at the door makes him frown. He wanted a bit of privacy for what he came in here to do. He opens it and is surprised to see the girl standing in front of him, clad only in a slinky negligee that makes her look like a cheap whore.
“What?” he snaps at her.
“Uh, I was looking for Devon,” she says and peers around him into the bedroom.
“He isn’t here. Go and look somewhere else,” Constantine says and is about to slam the door in her face when she stops him.
“I know you must be missing her,” Jess whispers. “If you wanted, I could take care of you.”
He is somewhere between offended and amused. She must see the look on his face as she hesitates momentarily, but stands her ground and crosses her arms, waiting for an answer.
“No, thank you,” he says with a slight smirk. “I do not need your…services.”
She is insulted by his choice of words, but he doesn’t really care. What is she doing propositioning him in the middle of his bedroom doorway? But he is in a mood and decides to teach her a lesson in why you shouldn’t mess with him. He pulls her inside suddenly and presses her up against the door. It lights a fire of triumph in her eyes and he sees exactly what she is doing here. She wants a conquest and he is the ultimate prize, not only as an Initial Vampire, but also and most importantly, as Aefre’s husband. He extends his claws and she breathes in, waiting for his bite, but that isn’t going to happen. He has no desire to drink from her at all. He places his index finger to the base of her throat and then presses down. She yelps as his lethal claw slices into her skin and the fear in her eyes grows evident as she finally gets that he isn’t just any Vampire and trifling with him is a mistake, and her realization pleases him. He drags his claw down in between her breasts, slicing away the silky material of her negligee to expose her nipples. She fights the pain and pushes her chest out, wanting him to look at her, but he keeps his eyes fixed on hers. He slices all the way down until her nightgown is flapping openly around her and he can smell her desire. She is afraid, but she still wants him. She brings her hands up to rub over her breasts, but he has no interest in looking at her. Her body doesn’t please him, as it doesn’t belong to his wife. He reaches up to push the rag off her shoulders to the floor and her eyes dance with excitement. He spins her around and presses against her and she gasps in surprise as she feels that he isn’t the least bit aroused and that he doesn’t want her. He hears her heart start to pound then and he smiles wickedly as he leans into her neck, grazing her with his fangs.
“Do you know what I do to little girls like you?” he whi
spers in her ear and she whimpers. She struggles to get free, but he holds onto her wrists tightly. “Do you?” he asks again.
She shakes her head and he says, “I use them for my own pleasure until I am done with them. They scream as they beg me for mercy and then I drain them dry until they are nothing but empty husks and discard them.”