Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
A nother contraction ripped through her, and she gulped over the pain, gripping Cass’s hand with all her might. Again, she tried the breathing she had learned in Hyannis and felt the sweat beading at her forehead.
The cramp finally passed. As she peered through the tombstones jutting out from the damp ground, she saw Death silhouetted against the cemetery’s curved iron gate watching.
“Death’s here.”
“I know.” Cass followed her gaze and nodded. “But you’re not dying here.”
“You see him?”
“I do.”
“He’s here for me.” She had no time to reflect on how Cass was suddenly seeing her old ominous companion. “Or for the baby. We are dying tonight.”
“No. You’re not.” Cass was trying to soothe her fear with his low and steady tone. “He’s here for the birth of one of his own. A banshee’s child.”
But she was having none of it. “We’re not going to make it out alive.”
Lightning flashed. Ambrus was barely containing Moloch in the church’s courtyard, just a few hundred feet away. But the demon raised his massive claws toward Ambrus. At the demon’s magical command, his hell brother lifted up in the air. Moloch thrusted both fists forward and Ambrus was propelled into a crypt, cracking the stone on impact.
The demon turned in Tilly and Cass’s direction.
Tilly held her breath. “Oh god. He’s coming.”
“I got this. I can hold him off.” With his free hand above her, Cass cast a protection barrier around them. “You have to push soon.”
Everything suddenly turned quiet in her mind as she willed her focus. She could see Death nodding as if acknowledging that it was time.
“I can dull the pain.” He slid his arm farther along her back and laid his hand on her stomach. “ Vahrasth pyahn !”
Another contraction came over her but this time, the pain was almost nonexistent.
“Better?”
“Yes.” She gulped, knowing what she had to do next. “How long can you hold this protection shield?”
His answer was resolute. “As long as it takes.”
Ambrus had scrambled to his feet and was facing his demon brother again. Shouting loud incantations into the wind. The time was now.
She nodded at Cass. It wasn’t as if she had a choice. Her body had taken over. She shifted to sit up to lower her clothing so she could start pushing.
She called for a primal source inside her, for nature to tell her what to do.
“Merde, what the hell is this!”
“Emme!” Cass shouted. The female vampire was by the gate under the streetlight, with Griff joining her. “We’re here.”
Emme and Griff soon found them, looking confused as to what to do.
“What’s going on, fille ?” Emme’s worried look bounced between the savage demonic battle and down at Tilly curled over herself on the crypt’s steps.
“She’s having her baby,” Cass huffed. “And baptême , Griff. You gotta go help Ambrus. Those idiots summoned the demon Moloch to this plane. And Ambrus is the only one standing between the demon and us.”
“Ambrus?” Griff asked.
“No time to explain,” Cass snapped and pointed at the church. “Get your ass over there.”
Griff bolted at vamp speed toward the church’s yard. A flash of light exploded along with his shouting commands.
A contraction hit Tilly again and she tensed in Cass’s arms.
“I’m sorry.” Emme kneeled by Tilly. “I wasn’t there to protect you like I promised. But I’m here now.”
“You know anything about delivering a baby?” Cass asked.
“Me? Are you nuts?” Emme said. “Thank the Almighty we brought the old bat with us. She was right behind us.”
At her word, an older woman in dark shawls stepped out from behind a mausoleum and rushed to Tilly’s side. Her long braids fell down alongside her as she bent to feel Tilly’s belly. “I see I’m needed here.”
“She wasn’t due for another month,” Cass told the woman. “This is Madame Ioshta, Tilly. She helped find you.”
“Precipitated labor,” Madame Ioshta appraised in an expert tone. “Not surprising, considering. Don’t worry, ma chère . You’ll hold your baby in no time.”
“It’ll be fine,” Cass insisted. “Just focus on what you have to do.”
“Don’t leave me, Cass.” Suddenly panicked, Tilly held his arm tight as Emme and Ioshta helped with her yoga pants and panties, the elder taking off her large pashmina to give Tilly some privacy.
This was it. It was about to happen. Now.
“You, Cass. Keep that protection barrier up just in case the demon gets any closer,” Madame Ioshta ordered. “Emme, you help get Tilly up so she can crouch more and facilitate the delivery.”
Emme assisted Cass in lifting her to change position on the crypt’s steps.
More shouts erupted from the direction of the church. Tilly swore she could see more flashing lights from the fight. And they seemed to be getting closer. She clamped her jaw with fear.
Could she deliver her child now while a demon after her baby was a mere hundred feet away?
“I want you to ignore everything.” Guessing Tilly’s mindset, Madame Ioshta held her under a strong, reassuring gaze. “You push now.”
Tilly pursed her lips and nodded gravely. She was ready. She took a deep breath, held it, and then bore down with all her might. Her body knew what to do.
Cass was rubbing her back, kissing her damp forehead. “That’s it, mon amour . You got this.”
The pain was low due to Cass’s spell, but the effort needed seemed beyond possible.
“I see it crowning,” Madame Ioshta hollered. “Give it another push, chère.”
A roar suddenly echoed in the distance followed by loud footsteps.
“I want my sacrifice!” The terrifying command resonated, clear in the air. “Where’s my human infant?”
“You’ll have to kill me, brother,” Ambrus retorted.
“They’re coming this way,” Emme called, “the demon is gaining ground on us.”
“Shut up, Emme.” Cass held Tilly tighter and kissed her temple. “Focus right here on what you’re doing, sweetheart . Griff and Ambrus got this.”
But as she pushed one more time, the shadows of the battle in the middle of the cemetery grew larger.
“Ambrus is down,” Griff shouted.
“Shit, Cass. I need to go in,” Emme said.
“I got Tilly. You go,” Cass urged, supporting Tilly’s entire weight.
Emme unsheathed a short sword from her boot and ran into the fray with a loud battle cry.
The vampire’s fierceness suddenly jolted Tilly out of her apathy.
Things were happening to her, but no more. She was in charge of her destiny.
Rage abruptly fueled her. She pushed hard again and roared with wrath. “He’s not going to have my baby.”
“No, he won’t,” Madame Ioshta agreed, rubbing Tilly’s belly down with one hand, the other ready to receive the newborn.
Emme could be heard swearing in French. Spells were being cast—the complex words shouted in a hurry. The boom of thunder, natural or called by one of the demons or Griff, cracked around them.
“I can’t hold him,” Griff screamed.
Emme’s screech echoed in the dark. And suddenly the monster was there.
Right in front of them.
Huge, as tall as two humans and twice as wide. Snarling.
“The infant belongs to me.” His battered snout dripped with blood.
“Fuck.” Cass shifted to maintain the magical shield in front of her and Madame Ioshta.
“One more push, Till,” Cass begged. “Then we can whisk you and the baby away.”
“You’re a banshee,” Madame Ioshta pleaded. “Your scream will obliterate that devil.”
Tilly panted and gave it another push. As she let out a hefty breath, she shook her head, tears of hopelessness in her eyes. “It won’t work.”
“Oh, but it will,” Madame Ioshta affirmed. “You’re a mother giving birth. Nothing is more primal. The next time you push, you will tap into the very essence of who you are. Find the frequency. That rage that comes to any mother toward those who dare hurt their child.”
Tilly’s heart banged into her chest. She could feel her infant, her flesh and blood ready to take his first breath.
“You can do this, baby,” Cass coaxed over his shoulder. “Think of your mixing, discovering that special sound. Find it.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Tell the others.”
“Griff, Tilly’s about to scream! You’re going to have to duck.”
“What?” Griff bellowed back.
“Do what I say.”
“Where’s Ambrus?” Griff yelled.
“Don’t know,” Cass shouted. “Emme?”
“Ok, ma belle ,” Madame Ioshta declared. “You’re almost there. One last push.”
“Griff,” Cass ordered, “get the hell out of the way!”
It all happened so fast. Tilly inhaled deeply, filling her lungs to capacity.
And then she let it all out.
Her rage, her fear, her life as an orphan who had never known love until now. As a banshee screaming for thousands of women wailing for retributions. Screaming against any who would do them harm.
A bright light shone around her as the powerful pressure wave erupted from her.
She felt the baby slide out.
Then everything fell silent. Her body collapsed from the exertion, her awareness heightened. She first noticed the sound of rain. Then heard the joyful noise of a baby’s healthy cry.
“He’s here.” Madame Ioshta’s statement was a mere whisper as she presented the newborn wrapped in one of her many scarves. “Your child is born.”
Tilly cradled her infant, who quieted down as soon as she held him in her arms, and she fell back into Cass’s chest.
Moloch was gone.
A feeling of peace as she had never known before engulfed her, surrounding her with more love than she could have ever imagined.
“What the hell!” Emme shouted from the dark. “There’s green goo all over me.”
“That’s demon goo for you,” Griff jested, swiping the substance from his own hair and clothes as he came into Tilly’s field of vision. “Damn, that was something. Did you do this, Tilly? Did you make the monster explode?”
“That was awesome!” Emme exclaimed as she joined them. “And look at that precious little thing. You totally rock, fille .
Tilly was too absorbed by her child to reply, but she beamed up at them.
“It’s a boy, mon amour .” Cass was enchanted. He gently touched the child’s head. “We have a boy. With silver hair.”
“Congrats to you both.” Griff sounded ecstatic before his tone dropped down a frequency. He looked lost for a second. “Where’s Ambrus?”
Tilly had no idea. He had left before meeting his grandchild.
“He was gone before that demon exploded. That’s for sure,” Emme said. “I think I saw him go poof, sort of just disappear.”
“We need to cut the cord,” Madame Ioshta reminded them. “Cass?”
As Cass proceeded, Tilly looked back at Death silhouetted against a nearby tombstone. She smiled as she saw him nodding at her, then she rested her gaze on Cass. She had no idea how it could have happened, but she noticed the streak of white in his hair, the strands matching the silver hair of their perfect infant.
Her heart expanded with love.
Cass and the baby were just like her now. They all walked with Death.