Chapter 12 Annika
Annika
Apained cry flies past Olivia’s lips, and I swear every living being within the residence can feel it.
My heart clenches as I pace back and forth in Gabriel’s medical room.
The vampire doctor moved my aunt here a week ago, and had done everything in his power to make the space as comfortable as possible.
Beside the medical grade bed and the hospital equipment, the room is adorned with thick blue rugs, a lush sitting area against the focal wall, and tons of open, airy space—which is beneficial with how many of us are in here right now.
Of course, Ransom is at Olivia’s side, clutching her hand as another contraction racks her body. Gabriel is on the other side of the bed, monitoring her levels, and instructing her in a calm, calculated manner.
Myself, Aviana, and the king and queen round out the space, the rest of our little family lingering in the hallway just outside the room.
I don’t give any attention to the fact that I can feel Dagon out there, his nerves as shot as mine.
The mark on my back practically burns for acknowledgment.
I ignore it. My aunt has been in labor for two straight days with little improvement, and while I’m not much help, I’m trying, offering supportive words whenever there’s a lull in contractions.
My aunt is the strongest vampire I’ve ever known, but a body can only take so much. Icy fear prickles against the back of my neck, and I suck in a sharp breath, practically willing the baby to come. Once the baby is out, Oliva will heal. She’ll be okay.
An alarm sounds from one of the many machines in the room, the shrill, long beep like a death knell.
“Olivia!” Ransom’s voice is scraped raw, his eyes panicked as Olivia’s head lulls to the side.
“What’s happening?” I bark at Gabriel in a panic, then quickly clamp my hands over my mouth. I don’t need to distract the doctor right now.
“Alek.” Gaberial says the king’s name in a tone I’m sure he rarely uses. “Get Lachlan and Hawke in here now.”
The two assassins hurry through the door with barely a prompt from the king.
Gabriel flashes Ransom an apologetic look before giving an order to Lachlan and Hawke. “Get him out of here,” he says.
“No!” Ransom goes entirely feral. “You can’t keep me from her!”
Lachlan, Hawke, and Alek immediately grab onto Ransom, hauling him back.
“I can’t risk you killing me!” Gabriel fires back. “She’s your mate, carrying your child, and right now, I’m going to have to cut into her.”
Ransom roars, looking more like a predator than a vampire. The assassins can barely contain him.
I’m frozen to the spot, trying my best to melt into the wall. Aviana flashes me a worried look, doing much the same as we try to stay out of the way.
“If you want her to live, then leave. Now.”
Tears roll over my lashes, and the queen, Lyric, reaches out to grasp my and Avi’s hands.
“Ransom. Let the doctor take care of her. Stop fighting us,” Lachlan demands while they drag him thrashing from the room.
“I can’t leave her!”
“You have to,” Hawke snaps.
“For her life, for your child’s life, you have to,” Avi says from my side.
Ransom releases an agonized cry as they manage to drag him from the room.
“Lock the door, Avi,” Gabriel says.
She doesn’t hesitate, hurrying across the room and bolting the door shut.
“Annika, I need your help.”
I’m at Gabriel’s side in an instant.
“That syringe on the table,” he says. “Insert it into her IV. Now.”
My hands are trembling, but I do as he says. It’s all I can do to focus and not look at my aunt, limp and clammy on the bed.
Gabriel rushes around her, firing off more instructions to myself and Lyric, and I slip into a cold, automatic mode where emotion can’t trip me up. After a few moments, Olivia’s eyes flutter open.
“The baby,” she says in a weak voice.
I dip down, gripping her hand in mine, smoothing my other one over her forehead. “It’s okay,” I assure her, even though Gabriel has fallen silent the last few moments. His concentration focusing on his work—an emergency C-section.
“I can’t feel…” Olivia’s eyes widen with panic, but I quickly shake my head.
“It’s the medicine,” I say. “You’ve got a ton pumping through you. Gabriel is getting the baby out. Your heartrate dropped and—” My throat closes. Her heart stopped. It had fully stopped.
“Ransom?”
“They had to drag him out,” I explain.
She closes her eyes, nodding. “He wouldn’t be himself.”
“No one expects him to.”
“Almost there,” Gabriel says, handing a blood-tinted scalpel to a fully scrubbed up Lyric. He reaches his gloved hands beneath an updrawn sheet. “Got her,” he says.
“Annika?” Olivia is trembling at the silence.
I hold my breath, heart ripping to shreds as the seconds stretch on forever with not a sound—
A tiny wail escapes the wet bundle in Gabriel’s arms, and Olivia and I start crying.
“She’s okay,” I say through my tears. “You’re both okay.” I glance at Gabriel, a silent question of whether I’m lying or not.
“You’re both okay,” he says, shifting the baby so it’s against Olivia’s chest.
“Gabriel,” I whisper. “Is she stable?”
He nods. “Just,” he says. “I’ll have to monitor them both. Help her.”
I take the place of his hands, holding the crying baby against her chest.
“She’s perfect,” Olivia says, grinning down at the gorgeous little baby. “Annika, isn’t she beautiful?”
“Perfect,” I say. “She’s perfect.”
“Avi.” Olivia’s voice is so strained as she calls to her friend. “Can you believe this?”
Avi’s eyes are filled with tears. “You’re a star,” she says to the little baby. “And so are you.” She grins down at Olivia.
“I’ll get Ransom in a moment,” Gabriel says. “I just have to finish sewing you up. Avi, you may unlock the door now.”
Avi heads back to the door, Lyric taking her place, smiling down at the pair. “You did beautifully.”
“I lost it there for a moment,” Olivia says.
“Done,” Gabriel says. “You’re already healing, thanks to Lyric’s help.
” He flashes the queen a prideful, appreciative glance.
“Ransom.” He doesn’t need to shout. The assassin flies through the doors, taking Lyric’s vacated space in a matter of seconds.
Tear streaks line his cheeks, but relief ripples over his features at the sight of his mate and their child.
“Olivia,” he says her name like a prayer, then bends down to kiss her forehead.
“Look at her,” she says. “You’re a daddy now.”
I smile at Ransom as he’s awestruck, and urge him to take my place. He nods, putting his hands where mine were, and me, Avi, and Lyric dip out of the room to give them some privacy.
“She’s okay,” I say as I meet the crowd outside. Everyone is here—the assassins and their mates, the hunters and Aurora. It’s a beautiful collection of family.
Dagon reaches me first, immediately wrapping me in a supportive hug.
I breathe deeply, thankful for his strength when I feel like I might pass out any second.
“This is why I didn’t want to do this,” Alek says, looking down at Lyric. “There are too many risks.”
“We’ll take it as it comes,” Lyric says.
A bolt of shock hits me, and the rest of the group if their expressions are any indication.
“Wait, what?” Avi gasps. “You’re…I’m going to be an aunt?”
Lyric cringes apologetically. “Surprise?”
Avi jumps up and down, hugging Lyric while squealing. I smile at them both, but I’m still too stunned over almost losing my aunt to fully celebrate.
“Congratulations,” I say, knowing it truly is a blessing.
Dagon grips my hand. “You need to eat something,” he says, tugging me away without further explanation to the group.
We navigate the hallways to the residence, me absently following him wherever he leads me, which isn’t to the kitchens, but his rooms.
“I know things are weird between us,” he says, shutting the door behind him. “But…let me take care of you.”
I press my lips together to keep from crying. “She almost died.”
He wraps me in his arms, and I grip his shirt.
“I know,” he says.
I shake my head against his chest. “I never thought, in my immortal life, I’d think of it as short.”
He rests his head atop mine, gripping me tighter against him as he walks us back to the bed. He settles me in his lap, his warmth chasing away all the cold.
I melt into him, the tension slowly leaving my muscles as he holds me in the quiet.
There are a million things we’re not discussing—the mark on my back the main one—but I take solace in the silence, in his steady breathing, and the strength of his arms holding me together when I feel like falling apart.
“Thank you,” I whisper after I’ve collected myself enough to think clearly.
“For what?” he asks.
“For letting me just…be.”
He sighs. “You can always just be, with me.”
I swallow the knot in my throat, my heart tripping over the way he said always.
Because when it comes to him? Always may not be enough.