King Cave (24 page)

He swallowed, lifting his hand and dragging it over his lowered face. “She’s pregnant.”

All of the air left me at his rasping words.

There was silence for the barest moment — no one moved or even breathed around me — before King Kincaid growled, “Now, Lily. Tell me who the fuck he is.”

My body jolted brutally as his command unleashed on me. Groaning, I trembled, my teeth clenching hard. I saw Ezra’s head snap up, his eyes flashing furious green. I knew in that moment that it wasn’t only Shifters who reacted to pregnancy with an animalistic manner.

“
Stop!
” the medic shouted, placing a steely grip on King Kincaid’s shoulder. I also knew in that instant she was the one who saved King Kincaid’s life. He didn’t even see Ezra’s face because of the way the medic had positioned her body in an attempt to stop him from using his power on me. But…Elder Merrick did. He stayed very still, not making any sudden movements as he watched Ezra. The medic shook King Kincaid’s shoulder. “With all due respect, Your Highness, you cannot do this to her right now. She could be miscarrying and you’re not helping.”

King Kincaid’s power cut off abruptly. “Miscarrying?”

Golden hair bobbed. “It’s a possibility. I need to get her to an examining room.”

Ezra blinked real slow-like, his eyes flying to my stomach, before his dad placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him back, saying, “Son, get back. They’ll need to move her.”

My head swam again, but I shook my head. “Pregnant?” My head thumped back on the trash can, listing to the side drunkenly.

King Kincaid gripped me like a child, lifting me as he stood. “How much of a possibility?”

“Let’s just get her to an examining room,” she stated in a clipped tone, turning and shouting at everyone to move out of our way.

My stomach cramped heavily, and I grunted, grabbing at it and turning my head into King Kincaid’s neck as we started moving. As soon as they made it through the horde of onlookers, King Kincaid started running, as did the Mage. My watering gaze opened as he raced with me in his arms, and I blinked into spring green. Ezra was right behind us, keeping pace. I could see Elder Merrick next to him, watching him, but he didn’t try to stop him, or Cahal, who was behind him, along with Pearl and Jack, whose faces were whiter than ghosts.

Ezra’s eyes held mine the entire way, never once glancing away. His gaze held fear and worry and shock, but no condemnation. It was the same as mine. I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant.

Yet apparently, I was.

My breath shuddered. A few wayward tears slipped down my cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Pregnancy was supposed to be taken care of.

“Lay her on that bed,” the medic stated, sounding winded. We had been on the bottom floor, and were now somewhere near the middle. I wasn’t sure how fast we had gotten here, but it seemed as if time had flown by quickly, staring at Ezra. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”

King Kincaid lowered me onto the medical bed inside the clinic, then turned to everyone who had followed us into the small room, opening his mouth.

Ezra slashed a hand through the air, stopping whatever King Kincaid was to say. “Do. Not. Tell. Us. To. Leave.” His Vampire growled, and he started pacing the small area of the room, his muscles bulging under the too-bright golden sparks.

“Elder Zeller, get your son out of here,” King Kincaid muttered.

Elder Merrick waved a hand. “Let them all stay.” He blinked at King Kincaid’s shocked expression. “They’ll be ruling together. Possibly during a war. They have a lot riding on this outcome. Not just her.”

King Kincaid’s eyes were still wide, but he peered down at me. “Lily? It’s up to you.”

“They’re staying,” I moaned, rolling on my side as another cramp took hold. “Where the hell did Cindy go?” I didn’t like brats, nor did I really want one of my own, by any stretch of the imagination, but if I was pregnant and lost it…I wasn’t sure how I would feel.

“Bindi,” King Kincaid said absently, glancing left and right for her.

Ezra bumped him out of the way, leaning over the bed to pull a blanket over me. He pulled a chair over with his foot to sit directly next to the bed, his face aligned with mine. King Kincaid stared as if Ezra had lost his mind, but Ezra only thumped his thumbs on the bed in an urgent rhythm, eyes darting to where Bindi had rushed off to. He cleared his throat, his eyes going far over my head, then back to the door she had left through. “King Venclaire, can you check on the medic and hurry her ass up?”

I blinked, rubbing my forehead, not even realizing King Venclaire had come here. I hadn’t even known he was in the fighting arena. Maybe he hadn’t been, and had only seen everyone running up the walkway. I was too out of it to notice much right now except for Ezra’s chest rising and falling way too quickly.

“I can hear her,” King Venclaire said softly, his voice strained. “She’s coming.”

King Kincaid finally sputtered, “Ezra, get the hell away from her.”

“Fuck off,” Ezra muttered absently, straightening in his chair to peer out the door better.

King Kincaid’s eyes flashed, but I could tell that Bindi must have come through the door behind me by the way everyone became silent inside the room. I heard her clear her throat, followed by Elder Merrick saying calmly, “Everyone’s staying.”

“Alright,” she mumbled quietly. “Then
everyone
can get the hell out of my way so I can work properly.” I heard shoes scuffing on the ground, then she said politely, “Thank you.” She came into view at the end of the bed, lifting the blanket off me and patting my feet. “You need to undress, so I can examine you.”

My blink was gradual. “Okay, King Kincaid’s right. Everyone get the fuck out.” I actually heard said King hum in approval, and I shot him a glance. “Even you.”

Ezra stiffened, not liking it at all, but left the room with everyone — the last one to leave, finagling that somehow — and I did as told, undressing with the medic’s assistance once she closed the door. After performing her internal exam, I pulled the blanket up over me, having her let everyone back in. Somehow finagling it again, Ezra was the first to enter the room this time, swiftly returning to his vacated chair, his face as drawn as it had been when he left.

I, on the other hand, just curled up in a ball under the blanket.

The medic took her seat, facing away from us, and lifted glowing hands as everyone crammed back into the room. She stated in a factual voice, “Ms Ruckler is indeed pregnant, and I’m going to show you a few pictures.” My breath caught at her confirmation, my heart rate pounding chaotically as she waved her hands and four golden squares lined the wall she was facing. “I was able to snap these while doing the exam,” she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes on mine, “like a Com sonogram.”

My lips thinned, but I nodded.

She stood and started gesturing at what looked like a large gray blob on the first ‘sonogram’. “This is Ms Ruckler’s uterus.” She pointed a finger at what appeared to be a dot. “That’s baby one.” Again, my heart rate shot off, and I was cognizant enough to hear Ezra’s start pounding, too. She stepped to another ‘sonogram’, pointing again. “That’s baby two.”

I was pretty sure everyone in the room froze.

Breath wheezing out of me, I gasped, “One and two?”

Bindi nodded. “Twins.” She moved to the other two pictures, pointing at each one. “These are better shots of their position.” As she sat down, I felt like I was going to faint and was happy I was lying down. “Now,” her golden gaze met mine, “as for your cervix.” Her jaw clenched. “You’re dilated to five. The probability of you miscarrying is around ninety percent.” After holding my gaze for what felt like forever, she gradually stood. “I’m sorry, Ms Ruckler. None of our medicines will work at this stage. There’s nothing we can do for you medically. Only time will tell.”

My gaze darted back and forth between the ‘sonograms’, staring at the tiny dots she had pointed to. “There’s nothing at all?” God, my voice cracked.

Her lips thinned, her gaze lowering before meeting mine again. “There’s no medicine to help a Mys, or even a spell I could do for a natural occurrence. Your body needs to heal on its own.” She waved a hand and the images I had been staring at went away. “Rest. Try to relax. Your body may recover. The gestational sacs are still in place and you haven’t begun to bleed yet. Like I said, the probability is ninety percent for loss, but there’s still a ten percent chance for hope.” She left the room as silence reigned, everyone still staring where the ‘sonograms’ had been.

I knew in that instant what it would be like if I lost them.

I felt utter
fear
. A sense of complete hopelessness. My heart squeezed painfully. My panting breaths came in great hiccups. “I don’t even like babies.” My whole body trembled. “I shouldn’t care, right?” My eyes darted back and forth between Ezra’s…and I saw the same emotions filling his gaze before his lids hooded. “Oh, God.” A sob racked my body as a torrent of pain-filled tears tore down my cheeks, I never realizing I may have wanted children until I had two inside me, only for them to be snuffed out after such a brief time.

I saw Ezra’s eyes flash before he rested his head facedown on the bed — hiding his expression on crooked arm — and placed his free hand on my head, running his fingers through my hair. Suddenly, I felt peace flow through me. It didn’t dull all of the ache in my lower abdomen, since it was a natural process, but it subdued the chaos in my mind. “She said you have to relax.” His voice came deep and gruff and muffled by the bed. “Do as she says.” It felt wrong somehow to feel tranquillity when I might be in the process…of losing twins.

My twins.

Ezra’s and my babies, our own little monsters.

But I lay perfectly still, doing as ordered, trying to clear my mind, only to have King Kincaid intrude, asking harshly, “Do you have to touch her, Ezra?”

Ezra didn’t move or respond.

Cahal stated calmly, “He’s relaxing her with his power. She needs him to, with the way her heartbeat was fluctuating so rapidly.”

I heard King Kincaid curse quietly, his voice tight with concern, before he flopped onto the chair the medic had vacated. “Lily, honey…the father…He deserves to be here.” I saw him viciously rub his face, even though I felt nothing but calmness now. “I know you don’t want to say who he is, but he should be here for this.” His eyes met mine. It wasn’t a command, only pure reasoning.

I agreed with him wholeheartedly. “The people I want here are already in this room.”

He didn’t blink. “I never thought you to be selfish.”

“Some would think it a kindness.”

He thumped his fist on the arm of the chair. “The father has a right to know.” I peered away, unable any further to come up with an evasive explanation. My gaze landed on Ezra’s shoulder, which was rock-solid, and I saw that his muscles were clenched, strung so tight he appeared he might break. I felt another small cramp, but it didn’t hurt as badly as before, thanks to Ezra’s power. King Kincaid sighed at my silence, muttering, “You’ll regret this, Lily.”

“So be it,” I whispered — the only thing I could say before closing my eyes, attempting to block out everyone.

Chairs were brought in for the others to sit on, even though their edges rested so closely together that everyone had to sit shoulder-to-shoulder. As time passed, Elder Merrick left and brought back coffee for everyone. Ezra’s was left untouched; the only movement he made was to tilt his head to the side and stare me in the eyes, his gaze hidden from everyone’s view but mine. His eyes were bloodshot and expressing everything I wasn’t feeling right now, thanks to his power. He was unable to keep it contained, even though I could tell he tried by the way his lips were permanently pinched.

I lay on the medical bed, holding his stare, and moved my hand under the blanket until the tips of my fingers were against his arm, the only touch I could give him right now. Pearl and Jack had maneuvered earlier to sit directly behind Ezra, and they sat with their heads resting against the wall, their faces carefully blank.

Five hours and many cramps later, Ezra’s body trembled, his head shooting up. Waking a few people, he shouted out the open door, “Bindi!” He paused, exhaling heavily on a deep pant, before bellowing, “
She’s bleeding! Get in here!
”

My breath caught. I reached between my legs, and then pulled my hand out from under the cover. My fingers were slick with vivid red blood. “Hope.” I shook my head inside Ezra’s hold and my eyes met his, both of our expressions damned, even as Bindi rushed into the room, demanding everyone leave and literally shoving people out. “Hope’s a fucking bitch.”

I miscarried both babies in those next two hours.

Ezra tried to give me a sense of peace through his touch, but I would have none of it after the medic announced I was, indeed, losing them. I brushed his hand away, still feeling the constant ache inside my stomach, and told him, “Pain needs to be remembered.” With a miscarriage being a natural process, his power wouldn’t have helped much with the pain. I needed to feel it all.

Sitting beside the bed again, he leaned his elbows on the mattress, with one of his hands covering his mouth and the other hovering above my head before falling to the pillow. Inhaling deeply, he nodded woodenly, his gaze meeting mine in mutual understanding before lowering so no others would see his stricken expression. He swallowed hard, his eyes blinking repeatedly, blindly staring at the mattress.