37. Barrett #2
“Who knew you’d become such a gentleman?
” she teased before wincing, lips parting as a gasp slipped from her lips and she grabbed onto the bench again.
I offered her my hand, and she grabbed it, squeezing as she breathed through the pain.
A few seconds passed before her shoulders sagged with a sigh. “Oh, that was a strong one.”
“Perhaps we should get you back, contact the midwives,” I said, and she nodded faintly with a weak smile as she took the hand I offered.
“That would probably be wise,” she admitted.
“Come on, let’s get you inside,” I said, gently lifting her into my arms. “I’ll send someone for Damien.”
She nodded, and by the time we made it through the garden and into the house, another contraction hit. My heart twisted at the way she held onto me as she tried to breathe through it.
“Isla!” I called out as I carried Lucia down the hall toward her room.
She appeared in the doorway as I eased Lucia onto her bed. “What is it?”
“The contractions are getting closer,” Lucia explained. “Still inconsistent, though.”
“Ah’ll send fer Lord Damien and the midwives,” Isla said, turning and hurrying down the hall, calling out for one of the other servants.
“What can I get for you?” I asked Lucia. “How can I help?”
“Some water would be nice,” she said before she exhaled a slow breath.
I nodded and hurried to retrieve a drink for her. By the time I returned, some of the servants were in the room tending to her, discussing plans to prepare her for labor and the arrival of the babe.
“Thank you,” Lucia said as I offered her the drink. She took it, drinking deeply before I set it on her bedside table.
“They’re on their way, deary,” Isla said as she entered the room, tying her coppery hair into a low bun. “How far apart are they now?”
“Maybe five to ten minutes? They’re still a little inconsistent,” Lucia answered wearily as one of her attendants supported her, her skin already covered in a faint sheen of sweat.
“Lucia?” Damien said, his voice full of concern at my back. I twisted around to find him emerging from the converging shadows along the wall, Zephyr following close behind him.
“ Mea sol ,” she breathed, a smile of relief curving her lips as he rushed to her.
“I’m here,” he whispered as he took her hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Lucia leaned into him before her eyes shut tightly, a moan of pain slipping from her lips as she gripped the sheets on the edge of the bed.
“They’re getting closer. Just try tae breathe through them,” Isla muttered, and Lucia did so, breathing deeply through her nose before letting all the air expel from her lungs through her mouth.
Isla looked at Zephyr. “Ah think it’s really happenin’ this time.”
Zephyr nodded before proceeding to discuss needs with the attendants. He slid past me, and I couldn’t seem to do more than stand frozen.
“Would ye like tae rest in bed until the midwives arrive? Or try to get on your feet?” Isla said as she approached, and her tone softened, turning into something warm and encouraging. “Gravity always helps the baby move along.”
Lucia nodded. “I think I might try standing.”
“I’ll retrieve the midwives. I can get them here faster,” Damien said, and Lucia nodded before he ducked into the shadows.
Zephyr rushed into the room again, arms full of linens, towels, and a basin. “Here are the things you requested.”
“Thank ye,” Isla said, taking them from him.
I stepped closer to Lucia, offering her a reassuring hand in Damien’s absence, and whispered, “You’ve got this.”
She lifted her eyes to me, slumping as she braced herself against the edge of their bed in the wake of another contraction. Sweat beaded along her brow in the summer heat, and I grabbed a damp washcloth from a nearby basin of water.
“You’re the strongest warrior I know,” I said, dabbing the rag against her forehead as she let out a sigh of relief. “You’re a goddess, a damned powerful one at that. You’ve faced more terrifying things than this.”
For a moment, her eyes seemed to waver as she absorbed my words, but then her lips curved into a weak smile, and she nodded.
“Lady Lucia,” a woman’s voice called from a shadow doorway as three females in gray robes entered the room before Damien. They carried a number of bags in their arms, likely loaded down with various tools and instruments they might need to help deliver the babe.
“Let’s get ye changed intae somethin’ more comfortable,” Isla said, approaching with a linen gown draped across her arms.
“I’ll be right outside,” I said, turning to Lucia once more. “You can do this. ”
“I can do this,” Lucia echoed weakly, and I wasn’t sure if it was for her own reassurance or mine. I offered her a smile before reluctantly stepping back to allow Damien to return to her side.
The room erupted into chaos, midwives and attendants going in different directions as they prepped the bed, lit candles, and brought Lucia a gown to change into. It was all happening so fast—too fast.
I stepped out of the room, closing the door to allow them privacy. Zephyr had pulled up a couple of chairs and was sitting across the hall, his chin resting atop his interlaced fingers.
Our uneasy gazes met, and I knew by how his green eyes wavered, he was just as fearful as I was.
———————————
I wasn’t sure how long Zephyr and I paced the hall, unable to speak.
How long would they be in there? How long would she suffer?
The only sounds we had heard over the last few hours had been words of encouragement and moans of pain, some so intense that Zephyr and I had to resist the urge to open the door and make sure Lucia was all right.
Attendants stood outside the chambers, ready to enter if needed. They quietly whispered to each other, and I tried to avoid hearing them discuss the risks and complications Lucia faced.
Isla stepped out of the room, and Zephyr and I twisted around to face her. Her cheeks were flushed, sweat coating her skin, and she glanced at me before looking at Zephyr. “Can ye get me some fresh towels?” She then turned to me and held out an empty basin. “And could ye bring me some fresh water?”
“Is she all right?” Zephyr and I asked in unison.
She didn’t respond at first, glancing back at the door nervously. “She’s tired, but everything is going as hoped. It won’t be long now.”
A loud groan sounded from beyond the door, and Isla whipped around before glancing back at us. “Go, please,” she begged. “I need to return to them.”
We nodded and split off to do as she asked.
I could faintly hear Zephyr muttering prayers under his breath as he hurried down the hall, begging The Fates to protect Lucia and the babe—to spare them the fate so many of our kind suffered in childbirth.
When we returned to the door, Lucia cried out from the other side, and my heart twisted at the agony in her voice.
“You’re doing amazing, mea luna . Hang in there. You’re almost there,” Damien coached, and we stood there, useless. Utterly fucking useless .
How could we just stand here? How could we not be able to help her? I’d always been at her side, fighting every battle with her, but now... Now, I was stuck outside, unable to help her face this.
“I’ll take those,” one of the attendants said, taking the linens from Zephyr.
As the attendant cracked the door enough to slip through, Damien’s voice reached my ears as he urged Lucia to push, and she let out a cry of pain.
Zephyr and I froze, unable to move, to pull ourselves away from the door as it closed once more, to do anything but lose ourselves in our terror of what might happen.
We waited in silence, narrowing in on every sound, every moan of pain, every word of encouragement, every order from the midwives, every cry of agony.
“She’s beautiful,” Damien said from the other side of the door, and for a moment, my heart soared, hope welling in my chest.
An attendant slipped out, her face grave. She wouldn’t meet our gazes, and Zephyr and I exchanged looks of unease as she called to the attendants.
“What’s wrong with her?” Damien demanded from within the room, and the strong scent of blood reached my nose. “ Mea luna ? Stay with me, stay awake.”
The attendants rushed in, and I couldn’t bring myself to move as I caught the faintest glimpse of Damien climbing onto the bed, cradling Lucia in his arms as he spoke to her. She was muttering something to him, too faint for me to hear. Gods, her skin was pale, her lips losing their color.
“They’re taking care of her,” Damien said, his voice full of terror. “Stay with me, Lucia. I need you to keep your eyes open for me.”
“What’s happening?” Zephyr demanded of the attendants as they rushed in and out of the room.
Isla emerged, soft cries reaching my ears from the tiny bundle wrapped tightly in her arms as she looked over her shoulder. This was wrong. This can’t be happening.
“Isla,” Zephyr said, and she twisted back to face him as he demanded an answer, each word clipped, “what is happening?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and my heart plummeted.
“No,” I muttered, taking a step forward.
“She’s bleedin’ out; we don’t know when it started,” she said, her voice thick before she returned her attention to the bundle in her arms.
No. I shook my head, looking back just as Damien sliced his blade across his wrist.
“Can’t we do anything for her?” Zephyr asked, panic marring every word.
“There are nae any healers left,” Isla said, her voice breaking as she stepped past us .
Because they had all been killed in the battle, leaving no one with the healing ability of House Latros. Lucia possessed the magic, but its only disadvantage was the inability to heal oneself.
“ Drink, Lucia, please !”
Our attention snapped to the room where Damien cradled Lucia, her eyes flickering, and the world went quiet as her blood-stained lips moved. Damien shook his head as he pulled her against him, begging her to stay with him.
She sagged in his arms, head falling against his chest, lashes lowering over those silver eyes that once held such love for everything around her.
And every bit of hope died within me.
Her smile flashed across my thoughts—the smile she had given me when we first met. I’d hated that smile at first, hated the pity... I’d hated that she had tried to work her way beyond the walls I had built up around myself. I’d pushed her away, said things she never deserved to hear.
I’d never deserved her kindness, never deserved her light...and yet, I wanted it, couldn’t imagine a life without it, couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t exist. I didn’t want to imagine it.
What was I without her, the one person who had held faith in me when everyone else had left me to rot. The person who had pulled me from the dark depths and given me purpose—where would we go without her?
Isla’s hand clasped over her mouth as a sob broke free, the babe in her arm quieting.
One of the midwives emerged from the room, the only sounds Damien’s sobs. My vision blurred as the midwife gave us a sorrowful look and shook her head.
“No...” Zephyr muttered. “She was fine. She was doing good. You said so yourself.”
“It all happened so fast,” the midwife whispered.
Zephyr’s pain and anger burned through the air, filling my nose like rain falling on a forest fire. I couldn’t bring myself to form any words as I stared at my best friend lifeless on the bed, her mate holding onto her tightly as he cried for her to come back to him.
She couldn’t be gone, not like this.