Kiev kissed me on the cheek before leaving me with Eli, who watched as the Elder’s spawn faded into the distance.
“What was that all about?” Eli asked when Kiev was finally out of earshot.
I shrugged. “He’s been touchy-feely all morning. I think it has something to do with Clara’s visit to him last night.”
Eli didn’t ask more questions, to my relief. After all, we had more urgent matters at hand. “Okay then. Are you ready?”
I nodded. “As ready as a mother can ever be, I guess.”
As we talked, we walked steadily toward the boundaries. With Shadow tailing us, none of the vampires or the caretakers or the beasts who saw us suspected what we were up to. They were all expecting Shadow to pounce on me like he had the last time I tried to step over the boundaries of where I should and shouldn’t be.
Once we were right at the very edge of the boundary, we stopped. I slipped out the vial I tucked into my sleeve and handed it over to Eli. It contained my blood. He drank every drop of it.
We didn’t have to discuss the plan. We knew it by heart. We’d whispered about its pros and cons for weeks.
“You remember the hut?” Eli asked, careful with his words, in case someone was listening in on our conversation.
I nodded.
“Okay then?”
There were no further cues required. I took a sharp intake of breath. Eli whistled and snapped his fingers. Shadow lunged forward. As he did, I climbed onto his back and within less than two minutes, all three of us were outside the boundaries of The Blood Keep and right into broad daylight.
We were headed for a hut that Eli had heard one of the servants speak of. It was several miles away and they used it to store grain. That was our meeting place.
It turned out that Shadow was a lot faster than Eli. I could only hope that no one noticed our departure, because if they noticed, they were going to send the beasts after us. They might not catch Shadow and me, but Eli was in danger.
It felt like we’d been running for hours and I wondered if Shadow was getting tired of carrying me as he continued to sprint forward. The sun was beginning to burn the beast’s skin and I could tell that he was in pain, but I was amazed at his resilience. He just kept going and I was grateful for it. I tried to look back to see how Eli was doing, but I could barely move, as I was focusing all my attention on holding on to Shadow for dear life. All I could do was wish that Eli was unharmed. That he was safe. Should this escape succeed, I owed my life to him… him and Shadow.
I was relieved when we reached the hut. Shadow’s skin was beginning to burn off and given my current situation, I was fighting my urge to vomit all along the way. My back was screaming in pain and I was afraid of what the ride had done to the children I was carrying.
I staggered toward the hut, dying to take a seat. Shadow retreated to a dark corner in order to recover from the pain the sun had caused him. Seems like vampire dogs have far more endurance than their human counterparts. I couldn’t deny my amazement over the creatures created by Eli and The Underground. It’s too bad most of them are under the Elder’s control now.
I had to wait for Eli there. I’d barely reached the door when liquid ran down my thighs. No. This can’t be happening. Not now… It can’t be. Not now.
Sure enough, I saw a puddle of water beneath me. My waters just broke.
Tired and afraid, I stepped inside the hut. I tried to get comfortable. It felt like hours before Eli arrived. By then, I was screaming from the waves of labour pains washing over me.
When Eli arrived, he barely had any skin left on his body. The sun had burnt away his flesh. “I think I have to stay in the sun for the whole process to finish, Sofia,” he managed to tell me from outside the door. “I can’t help you. We have to get away from here. They’ll be on our tails soon.”
I tried to get up on my feet, but another wave of spasms sent me back to the ground, reeling in pain. Shadow whimpered from outside the cabin, as if he too could feel my pain.
I shook my head in desperation as I stared at Eli. “I’m so sorry. I can’t. I just can’t…” Tears were streaming down my face when I realized that I was going to have to give birth there. With no one to help me.
That was when Eli retrieved an item from his pocket—something so precious given the situation we were in. It was a phone. “I stole it from one of the servants. I don’t know if it works, Sofia, but it’s worth a try.” He threw the item at me. He then shut the door and ran to the woods where the sunlight still burned out the vampire’s curse, my blood still coursing through his veins.
I grabbed the phone and opened it. I was relieved to see the LED screen light up. There was the tiniest signal on there. I dialled the one number I knew—hunters headquarters. The line was so crackly, I could barely make out what the hunter was saying, but from what I could hear, a group of hunters was already at The Blood Keep. I had to keep myself on the line until she could figure out my location, using the phone’s signal to track me down. Waves of reassurance came over me when the hunter said, “Okay. Just hang on, Sofia. I’ll try to get in touch with one of the hunters stationed outside the Keep. Hopefully someone will be there shortly.”
The wait was excruciating. The labour was painful. When I heard shouting outside, I thought that it was the end of everything. They know we’re gone. They sent the beasts to get us. I was expecting to be found anytime even as I drifted in and out of consciousness from the pain.
When the door swung open and I saw the handsome face of my beloved husband, Corrine standing alongside him, I thought I was hallucinating.
“Sofia.” His voice broke as he ran to my side. I felt his firm grip on my arm and his lips on mine, but I wasn’t sure it was for real. I just knew that I was thankful that he was there. My Derek was there.
Everything seemed so surreal. Corrine had taken over. The pain was making everything fuzzy. I just kept staring into Derek’s face, unable to believe that he was really beside me.
“You can do this, Sofia. You’re doing fine,” he encouraged as I pushed at Corrine’s command. I clung to Derek for dear life, wondering if I was hurting him.
“You’re doing fine, Sofia.”
I heard a small cry. Then I saw tears in Derek’s eyes.
“We have a boy. Sofia, we have a son,” he announced. He reached for the child. I tried to lift my head to catch a glimpse, but then another spasm of pain came. I screamed.
“There’s another one!” Corrine announced.