5 Darkness Falls (32 page)

Kalel and I
looked over to see
a plump, rosy-faced teen looking down at us. His chubby fingers tightly
grasping
a white envelope. I took
it
and flicked my wrist for the young vampire to go away. I studied Lexi’s name on the front of the sealed envelope; my chest collapse
d
in on itself at seeing Kai’s handwriting.

Drexel approached on Lexi’s side. He
knelt
down and carefully lifted her into his arms. “We’ve issued orders for all the dead vamps to be buried here. Graves are already being dug. I’ll leave it up to you what you do with his body.” He bowed his head for a minute. “I’m sorry for you loss.” His voice was soft, unlike the deep, brusque voice I was used to
hearing
from him.

One by one, they started closing in on us. Gabi fell to her knees beside Kai; Jack was right beside her. Red tears stained her cheeks. She gathered Kai’s hand in her
own
and kissed the top of his hand. Francesca moved in beside Kalel. She laced her fingers with his, offering him the strength she knew he needed. The High Authorities stood together in the distance,
regarding
their fallen comrade.

Bladang officers ripped off a piece of their clothing and began piling them on top of Kai. The affect was like rose petals of varying colors and shapes.

Suddenly, I didn’t care about all the times he put the moves on Lexi; I didn’t care that he kissed her more times than he ought to. As hard as it was for me to admit, if he didn’t have the connection he did with Lexi, then I wouldn’t be here. For
that
,
I would always be grateful.

I looked at my beautiful fiancé lying limp in Drexel’s arms. The swell of her belly sent my limp heart into a
flurry,
as it always did. Pain twisted my insides as the memory of her outburst flashed in my mind. I couldn’t live with the situation if Kai
and
the baby died. I released a harsh sigh.
No!
Kai couldn’t die in vain.

I patted Kalel’s back. “I’m sorry. There are no words that could express how utterly sorry and equally grateful I am.”

He met my gaze. “I know,
brah.
” He lifted his eyes to Lexi. “Go take care of her. I think she’s taking this harder than anyone. She’s going to need us. But first you need to make sure that the baby is okay.”

“Dr. H and Dr. Zhan are both on their way via helicopter,” Drexel announced.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” I told Kalel as I stood up.

“I’ll be by the doctor’s office later to check on Lexi,” he said. Even he was being selfless in this moment. He’d lost the last of his blood family in a single moment, yet
out of concern,
he was setting aside his grief
.
 

Mel and Craig were at my side in an instant
,
along with my parents, Sanders, Claire, Gabi and Jack. “We’re going with you whether you like it or not,” Mel stated, stomping her right foot into the ground. They all nodded their heads and murmured their agreements with Mel’s statement.

“Of course.” I couldn’t blame them. They would be equally concerned about Lexi and the baby.

I heard the helicopter’s blades slicing through the air as it drew closer to us. Everyone
retreated
into the cover
ing
the trees
offered
,
moving
over the fallen trees and branches that Lexi had destroyed. I ran the back of my hand over her cheek as she rested in Drexel’s arms. I needed to hold her. I needed to have her against me, with me, where I knew she was safe.

“Please give her to me.” I held out my arms.

Drexel scrutinized me for a long minute before he surrendered Lexi into my arms. Her neck fell into the crook of my elbow; our baby pressed against my chest. I walked with her to the helicopter.

“It’s going to be a tight squeeze,” Dr. H said as everyone began boarding behind me. He and Dr. Zhan immediately began checking Lexi’s vitals, listening to her pulse
and finding the baby’s
heartbeat.

They took out another piece of equipment. Dr. H lifted Lexi’s shirt, exposing her belly. He pressed the end of a mic, attached to a wire and
connected
to the heart of the machine, against her stomach.

With the switch of a dial the baby’s reckless heartbeat
could be heard
over a speaker. It sounded worse at the higher volume; so unstable. I
started grinding
my teeth, trying to keep from reacting, from crumbling. Kai was dead, Lexi was unconscious and our baby was in limbo.

“This is not good.” Dr. Zhan shook his head, a grim expression on his face.

“What’s not good?” I demanded, wanting to know exactly what we were facing. My father pressed his hand over my upper arm as if to calm me.

Dr. H frowned, his brows furrowed close
r
together. “The baby’s heart is beating at an unsafe, accelerated and erratic pace. The baby is in distress. I’m afraid if the baby’s stats don’t mellow out soon, then we’ll be forced to deliver immediately, otherwise the baby is at risk of possible brain damage or something worse.”

“At five months?” I sucked in a deep breath, trying to force my lungs to expand, but they fought
against
me.

“I’m afraid so,” Dr. H’s voice was low and solemn.

Dr. Zhan rummaged in his bag and placed a mask over Lexi’s mouth and nose. He hooked the wire to an oxygen tank on his right, tucked
out of the way.
He turned on the machine. “We will be watching both her and the baby’s vitals closely. If the baby’s heartbeat continues at this rate for too long, then we will
have
to induce labor immediately, even while she’s unconscious,” Dr. Zhan said.

I heard their words, but couldn’t wrap my brain around them. Anger was blocking my receptors. I didn’t want to face the truth. I didn’t want to think about the possibilities. I clutched her tighter, rolling her onto her side and into me. I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to her head, willing her to hold on; praying that nothing happened to her or our baby, the two people I loved the most in this world.

“
Stay with me, babe.
”

Chapter 29

Kellan

Doctor H’s office was complete
ly tumultuous.
Everyone was demanding answers, but the doctors had shut us out.

I was surprised I hadn’t
worn
a hole into the floor
from pacing
. My pulse was as erratic as Lexi’s had been. I was on the edge of the cliff, teetering. This was not how it was supposed to be.

My parents were overjoyed, but their relief was clouded by a new threat. It was no longer their son at risk, but their grandchild.

Staring around the room, we had
so many
people who cared about us. We wouldn’t have survived this long without them. But the single person who got us this far was no longer alive.

Every time I thought about it,
it was like being
sucker punched.

I sighed, peering through the small window in the door again. No one was in the hall, but I still heard my baby’s heartbeat jumping around in the distance. It felt like someone was
holding
my heart
in their fist
, squeezing that last of the life from it.

I slammed my hands against the door, splintering the wood on the surface. As I turned back to them, they were all gazing at me helplessly. We couldn’t do anything. It was up to Lexi and the doctors now.

***

Lexi

I groaned as I shifted. My entire body felt like it was bruised. My muscles ached.

Then
,
its heartbeat came into focus. My baby’s heartbeat was unstable.

My eyes flew open, my hands immediately going to my stomach.

“We need you to calm down. That’s the only way your baby will come out okay.” Dr. Zhan petted my forearm, his eyes were compassionate, but not the eyes I wanted to see.

“We’re going to keep you here for a couple hours until the baby’s heartbeat regulates
back
to an acceptable level.” Dr. H studied his clipboard of notes.

I swallowed hard. “And if it doesn’t?”

He stared down at my belly before meeting my gaze, a grim expression on his face. “Then you’ll be having the baby today.”

“What?” My heart jumped. The baby immediately reacted and guilt slammed into my chest. I took a deep breath, trying to control my reaction for the sake of my baby. “Can it survive on the outside at this stage?”

Dr. Zhan smiled. “It is a vampire. It’s stronger than you think.”

I felt marginally better with his assurance. I leaned back on the bed, swaddling my stomach. It was my fault it was going through this. The one thing I had control of was my reaction, yet I’d lost it, the same way I’d lost Kai.

Tears quickly gathered
,
as my chest compressed
and my
lungs struggled to expand.

Dr. H eyed me hard. “You’re lucky to be alive. Now you need to relax and rest.” He sighed, marking something on the stack of papers in front of him. “You have a waiting room full of people storming down our doors.”

I popped my head up. “Where’s Kellan?”

“I’ll send him back. I’m serious though. Don’t work yourself up. You can break down later once your baby is in the safe zone.” Dr. H’s tone was firm.

I nodded. I didn’t know how I would choke down the
overwhelming
amount of emotions already swelling up inside me, but I’d do it for my baby.

They left, and a minute later Aunt Claire, Kellan, and Beth walked in.

“How are you, honey?” Aunt Claire fussed over me. Her
expression changing slightly,
as she took me in.

Beth stood back, watching me from a distance as Kellan
immediately
moved
to be by my side.
He brushed the stray hairs back away from my face, kissing my forehead
lightly, with such meaning
.

“How long have I been out?” I fidgeted beneath their heavy gazes.

“Quite a while,” Aunt Claire stated.

“You need to take it easy, sweetie.” Tears shone in Beth’s eyes as she stepped forward. “We can’t lose anyone else.”

I took her hand. I felt the telltale tightening in my chest as liquid
threatened to spill from
my eyes. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.
I can’t.
” I swallowed hard, trying to contain my anguish.

I took several deep breaths, blinking the tears away.

Two by two, they entered the room, checking on me personally. No one spoke of what had happened, the loss we were
dealt.
Instead, all
I received w
ere
sympathetic looks that made me want to scream.

Kellan remained by my side until the doctors released us three hours later. They said tightening in my stomach or light cramping was okay, but anything stronger or
anything recurring would
need
to be addressed immediately.

“You ready, B
aby
C
akes?” Drexel tried to smile, tr
ying
to keep things light and airy, but even he failed under the current circumstances.

“I got here as soon as I could,” Kalel rushed towards me as we were walking out of the doctor’s office. It was obvious he was fighting hard not to let go,
struggling
to be the strong, in control vampire everyone knew him
as.

I
reached up to touch his face,
fighting
against our odds,
as I
stared deeply
into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He
’d put up a string front.
He gripped my wrist, pulling my hand
towards him.
He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand. “How are you
holding up
?”

“I think we both know.” My voice was low, strained.

He nodded. “I’ll follow you back to your place.”

“You don’t have to be
t
here, Kalel.”

He averted his gaze for a moment before meeting mine again. “He would want me to be.”

I couldn’t argue with him. I knew Kai would want him to be. That was the hard part. I knew him too well. My heart
broke again,
emotions over
powering
me. I breathed deep, trying to
brace
myself against them. I struggled to beat them down, especially with the aftermath staring me in the face right now. Kalel was officially an orphan in this world…I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Had Kai never loved me, he wouldn’t be suffering this loss.