Hidden Fate

20

“Oh, my gods,” Mindy squeaked. “She’s far worse than when I left.”

That didn’t help matters. “Saphira and Mindy, lift her legs the way you have to when you go to a gynecologist appointment.” I examined Emily. “Thorn, if you can, change her. We need shifter healing to kick in. Her body is overstressed.”

Mindy and Saphira ran to the woman’s legs on either side of Edna, but they just stood there, staring at each other. Mindy murmured, “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?”

“No dragon shifter I know goes to a gynecologist.”

Ugh. Of course they didn’t. They wouldn’t want a human doctor working on them.

Thorn went to Emily’s shoulders and placed his hands on her. I felt the moment he tapped into his magic. The thrumming started in our connection, and his hands glowed.

I was again in awe of his growing confidence in his magic, and I was certain he hadn’t noticed that he was getting attuned to it.

Emily’s heart sputtered, and I moved from between her legs and rushed around Mindy to her other side, across from Thorn. His magic pulsed into her, and as I watched, her pale, blotchy skin smoothed into a beautiful complexion, but the color didn’t darken. The thrumming stopped, and he removed his hands. Her heart still fluttered, and she was gasping for air.

Next came the hard part. I’d have to monitor her and be ready to administer CPR since the baby was still coming and her new magic couldn’t focus only on healing. I pivoted and snatched one of Emily’s legs, bending it up toward her chest. “This is what you need to do.” I nodded to the leg by Saphira.

To her credit, she didn’t hesitate and followed my example.

“Mindy, take my spot.”

The young shifter listened, but when she took the leg, her face twisted in agony.

Shit. Her back.

“Here, I’ll do it.” I took the leg.

She hung her head.

I didn’t need to be able to mind speak to know what she was thinking. I hadn’t meant to make her feel inadequate, but I didn’t want her in pain. However, this was probably for the best. “She knows you, so she’ll be more comfortable if you’re next to her head, talking and guiding her through the process.”

Mindy’s face lifted, some of the pain easing from her eyes. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense.”

“See if you can wake her up,” I suggested, pulling the leg back.

“I see the head,” Edna said with relief. “Finally. I was worried.”

That had to be partly due to Emily’s new dragon growing stronger.

“Uh…” Thorn cleared his throat and stared across the room at the window, making sure to keep his head north of her stomach. “What do you need me to do?”

If Emily hadn’t been so close to death, I would’ve laughed at him. Such a typical male. “Go keep an eye out with Vlad and Theron.”

“And leave you?” His brows pulled together, and he flinched.

“You’ll be on the other side of this wall.” I smiled reassuringly. “I’ll let you know if I need you. Ask her husband to come back in.”

“Okay,” he said and eagerly left the room.

Saphira laughed. “He couldn’t get out of here fast enough.”

“Can you blame him?” Mindy quipped and placed a hand against the woman’s face. “Emily. Can you hear me?”

She moaned quietly in response, and that was enough to make me feel better. Emily was coming around. Now we had to focus on the task at hand.

I wasn’t sure how long we were in the bedroom, but eventually, the guys came inside the house and waited in the living room. About thirty minutes ago, Emily had given birth to a boy, and I’d stayed with her longer to make sure she didn’t go into cardiac arrest. During that time, her heartbeat had grown stronger, her dragon magic swirling inside and healing her. Even though she was healing, her husband had scooted a chair next to the bed, where Emily could see the baby while he held him.

That had been one hard labor.

The front door opened and shut, and Thorn’s discomfort flowed into our bond. Someone must have come in.

Glancing at Emily and her mate, whose name I’d learned was Mikah, I said, “I’m going to check on things out there.”

Before they could respond, a woman shouted, “What in the hell are they doing here, Edna?”

Thorn connected, We’ve got to go. Now.

Dazed, I hurried out the bedroom door, the irony not lost on me.

Even when you did something nice, sometimes…it didn’t matter.

As I stepped into the hallway, I found a middle-aged man and woman standing at the top of the stairs, their attention on the living room. The woman’s indigo eyes were locked on my mate, who was standing in front of the television, with Vlad and Theron flanking him and Saphira moving to stand in front of him.

The woman’s reddish-brown hair was pulled into a haphazard bun with several tendrils curling around her face. Her white shirt was wrinkled, and her jeans had a coffee stain on them despite the early hour.

The man beside her was similarly disheveled. His ice-blue eyes had dark circles under them, and his dark blond hair was unkempt. Though the woman was the one who’d asked the question, the man seemed even unhappier.

Edna strolled out of the kitchen and squeezed past the couple into the living room. She lifted her hands. “Katla, I need you and Volos to calm down. If it weren’t—”

“Calm down?” Katla scoffed, a vein bulging in her neck. “You have the very man who steals dragons in this house with my son and his wife! How the hell am I not supposed to be frightened? My sweet daughter-in-law is in there, near death after giving birth. We came here to check on her, and we find this instead?” Her voice trembled.

Theron and Vlad inched closer to Thorn protectively.

No one had updated them. Maybe telling Katla that everyone was okay would calm her. I said, “The baby was born safely, and Emily’s going to be okay.”

Volos and Katla jerked their heads toward me, the man’s face blanching further. He rasped, “That’s the king’s heir’s kidnapped fiancée. She’s here with the dragon thief?”

Thorn snarled, his jaw clenching. “She is not his.” His anger soared between us, so powerful that it was palpable to everyone.