I gently brushed the sand away, letting my fingers graze over the perfection of her mouth.
Her expression softened some and she said, “I didn’t give you permission to touch me.”
I let out a frustrated groan. “I wanted to make sure you were all right. I wasn’t molesting you. Stop making it sound perverted.”
She pushed away from me and struggled to her feet. Immortals popped out of the sand all around us. The amount of sand falling from standing bodies made a whooshing sound in the quiet night.
I watched Seraphina cringe and brush sand from her body. She stomped her feet and then shook them out. I wanted to reassure her that there was no amount of Magic that would dislodge the sand form all of her crevices, but I thought this was probably not the right time.
Oh, shite. Avalon!
I turned from Seraphina, admonishing myself for letting her become such a distraction and raced for the Source.
The structure that had been built around the ancient temple had been completely demolished from whatever happened. Splintered wood and crumbled stone filled the hole nearly to the top.
“Avalon!” I called down.
I jumped off of the ledge and started to pick my way over the bigger pieces of stone in order to uncover where he’d been buried.
I told myself not to worry about his physical state. He would be fine. He had to be. There was almost nothing in this world that could destroy his Immortal life.
Except for maybe a persnickety Source Magic that might not have been so pleased with his effort to control it.
“Avalon!”
Stone shifted in front of me and I hurried my pace. An ashy hand popped through the debris and reached out for help.
“Could you be more dramatic?” I snorted.
Muffled grumbling answered me.
By the time I’d reached his hand, Titus, Xander and Xavier had joined me. We moved the heavy stones out of the way quickly and pulled Avalon to his feet. His entire body was gray with dust and grit. His green eyes seemed to glow from his ashy body.
“Did you get it?” Titus demanded.
When Avalon spoke, a puff of dust burst in a cloud from his mouth. “Yes,” he wheezed. “But damn…”
“You own the Source?” Xander clarified.
“I do,” Avalon agreed. “I made that Magic my bitch.”
We all chuckled in relief. Our shoulders relaxed and for the first time in a long time, I felt some hope.
“Well done, Mate.” I clasped my hand on his shoulder, truly proud of my friend. “We can check this off the list then.”
“What are we going to do with it?” Xander raised his eyebrows expectantly.
Avalon and I shared a look.
“Keep it the hell away from Terletov,” Avalon finally said.
“And figure out what it does,” I added. Maybe it had healing properties like Eden’s smoke. Or made someone invisible.
I would like to be invisible for a day.
“Where is my wife?” demanded Avalon.
“Here,” Mimi said.
I whirled around to take inventory of her. Between Seraphina and Avalon, she hadn’t exactly been a priority on my mind. But she seemed well enough, standing at the top of the hole. I breathed out my relief, but it was short lived.
“Son of a bitch,” Avalon shouted suddenly. He bent over so fast his forehead collided with my shoulder and knocked me back. He let out another god-awful scream and his entire body went tight with pain and tension.
“Is it the Magic?” I demanded.
His answering shout did nothing to solve my question, except confirm that something was wrong.
Very wrong.
I realized then that these were the exact sounds I’d heard before I blacked out. But he didn’t mention being in pain before.
Had that been a vision? A residual effect from being so close with Sera right before the explosion?
“What’s wrong?” I growled at him.
Through gritted teeth, he ground out, “I think I’m in labor.”
“What?”
“I’m in labor,” he repeated. “I mean, Eden. Eden is in labor!”
Chapter Fourteen
Seraphina
It took us forever to get to London. The plane ride was only a few hours, but knowing one of my best friends was in labor and I wasn’t there to offer moral support killed me.
It didn’t help that Avalon couldn’t sit still and kept shooting Mimi anxious looks. Sebastian had asked him if everything was alright several times, but Avalon had been tight-lipped. That left the rest of us in confused limbo.
Was labor more difficult than they expected?
Was it too soon?
The babies were Immortal, more so than any of the rest of us, but what did that mean for them? They were only babies? Could they survive premature birth and complications?
Surely.
But still, we were all on edge.
By the time we reached the London palace, my hands shook with anxiety and I had to push a massive headache away with Magic. I needed sleep and food, but my friends were infinitely more important than my own needs.
We raced inside the opulent mansion only to be stopped by security. Avalon was with us so the hang-up only lasted a minute, but everything that stopped me from getting upstairs felt like it dragged time through mud.
Sebastian and I had hitched a ride with Avalon and Mimi and left the rest of our entourage to bring the other two planes. Avalon and Mimi always traveled with a few Titans that made up their personal guard, but as far as us storming the castle, we were hardly a threat.
Still, in a reluctant part of my mind, I was glad the Guard was being as cautious as possible.
I had been to the London palace multiple times in my life, but I had never quite been able to take in all of the intricate details. It wasn’t exactly a palace, although the entire Kingdom referred to it as one.
It was more of a ginormous house with a towering stone wall that fenced the property. Titans patrolled the grounds and whenever the Kings and Queens felt the whim, they held court here.
This was the home Kiran was raised in. Lucan had rarely visited the Romanian Citadel, except for holidays and festivals until Eden and the Resistance became a threat, and then he’d moved his family there in an effort to prove his strength and authority over the Kingdom.
Obviously, it hadn’t worked.
I hadn’t met Kiran until he came to Omaha. We had already been engaged at that point. And we were only engaged for a short while. During that time, I had never been invited here.
It wasn’t until after Lucan fell and Kiran and Eden had taken over the Kingdom that I’d entered the London Palace and understood why everyone continued to call this place a palace when it was technically not one.
White marble gleamed from ceiling to floor, up an extravagant centered staircase with detailed balusters. Golden accents shined from every surface and railing while the second story balcony wrapped around the foyer. The house boasted thirty-seven bedrooms, a ballroom, a massive dining room, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, and a soccer pitch. Apartments had been built beneath the basement of the house to house the Titan Guard on duty. There were forty bathrooms.
Forty.
The house was more than enough to accommodate the two Royal families and their Guards and attendants and whoever else they wanted to join them in London. And if for whatever reason they ran out of rooms, there were three separate guest houses toward the back of the property.
We sprinted the distance of the house to the Kendrick apartments. Guards stood watch at the door and milled about the hallway. Angelica waited in a chair that had been pulled into the hallway for her. She looked frail and exhausted as she rested her forehead in her hand. She perked up a little bit when she saw the four of us barreling down the hallway, but not by much.
“It was sudden.” Angelica’s greeting was hardly that, but it was the information we needed.
“It was because o
f me,” Avalon confirmed. “The shock of new Magic to her system. Am I right?”
Angelica nodded. Avalon rubbed his hands over his face and looked completely defeated. His shoulders sagged and the frustration and humiliation rolled off of him in waves.
“I should have thought of that. I should have realized it didn’t matter which of us faced the Source, we would both feel the effects.”
“That’s not true.” I snapped from my own exhaustion and frustration. “You didn’t know about India. And you don’t have easy access to that Magic either. We had no idea this would happen.” Nobody said anything to that because there wasn’t anything to say. “She was due in two weeks.” I looked at Angelica for confirmation. “It’s not as though they’re too early.”
Angelica sighed. “Sylvia isn’t worried about the timing. She has full faith that if Eden can get through this, then the babies will be fine.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Labor is extremely difficult for some reason. I haven’t heard of another Immortal having problems like this before. The babies won’t come. And Sylvia doesn’t know what to do. A C-section might have to happen before the end of the night.”
Eden’s wrenched scream resounded through the hallway and our anxiety level ratcheted up significantly.
“She’s also in pain,” Angelica continued. “Magic isn’t helping.”
“I can feel it,” Avalon confirmed. “I can shut it off, but obviously, Eden can’t.”
The next three hours were spent with our butts on the ground and our backs to the wall. The Titans brought chairs out for us, but I felt more comfortable with my knees pulled to my chest and my head buried between them.
Eden continued to suffer in a way she shouldn’t. It wasn’t as though Immortals had completely painless childbirths, but our Magic made it possible to ignore the pain. And rarely were there complications.
Eden, of all people, should not be having complications.
I had hoped that Avalon would give us updates through the afternoon and evening, but he stayed pretty tight-lipped. Amelia pressed herself close to his side and let him slip into silence as we all waited for something good to happen.
Eventually, the other planes arrived in London. Titus, Xander, Xavier, Roxie, Olivia, Ophelia and Jericho joined our waiting game in the hallway. The cooks brought up food for us, but nobody made a move to eat anything.
I felt sick with worry. My Magic buzzed around inside of me like angry wasps. I felt jolted and stung by the ferocity of it. I tried to use my Psychic powers to predict the outcome of today, but I couldn’t see anything beyond a severe warning of upcoming danger.
The instinct that the worst was yet to come was strong enough to make me panic. I wanted to warn everyone, but I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t see what was coming or why I felt such a strong urge to lock us all in the basement bomb shelter.
Sebastian sat next to me in the expansive hall and had been as quiet and stressed out as the rest of us since we left Morocco. I hadn’t even noticed that our Magics had been opened to each other since before the explosion in the desert. It had been second nature once upon a time and sometimes I forgot to restrain my stubborn energy.
I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights when I met his melancholy gaze and yanked my Magic away from his.
Sometimes I felt like my Magic was a disobedient child that I had to constantly control and discipline. One day, I would figure out how to attach one of those backpack-leash things to it so it couldn’t go anywhere without my express permission.
Sebastian didn’t say anything about my dramatic reaction and I was eternally grateful for that. I didn’t have the patience to deal with us right now.
“She’s going to be fine,” he told me quietly. “The twins will be fine.”
I swallowed down my objection. “I hope you’re right.”
“It feels like we should be preparing for something though, doesn’t it?”
I nodded. Looking down the hallway filled with my friends, teammates and highly trained Guard, and second-guessed all of my Psychic instincts.
Sebastian’s hand slid over the gleaming floor to rest over mine. I twitched at the hot contact of his skin but didn’t pull back.
It took everything inside of me to keep my Magic separated from his, but I was thankful for the distraction. I didn’t want to think through the myriad of terrible possibilities and reasons for my negative feelings.
“We should talk, Sera,” Sebastian said in a low voice so that only I could hear. “There are things I would like to say.”
I pursed my lips and tried to figure out how to respond to that. Thankfully, I was saved by Kiran’s exhausted frame in the open doorway. His hair was more than disheveled; it looked practically yanked from his head. His eyes were bright and filled with equal parts excitement and terror. But his mouth… his smile… he was giving us good news.
I immediately relaxed.
“A boy and a girl,” Kiran panted with a heaving chest. “A healthy baby boy and the most beautiful baby girl that has ever been.”
My smile hurt it was so big. Tears filled my eyes and slipped down my cheeks before I could hold back all of my emotion. I pulled myself to my feet and waited my turn to hug the new father.
Kiran stood next to the open door after the congratulations were finished and gestured for us to go in.
Soon, Eden’s “hospital” room was filled with all of the people that loved her and would treat these children as if they were each of our favorite niece and nephew. She looked exhausted in her bed and so did Syl as they each held a baby, one wrapped in a pink blanket, one wrapped in blue.
Kiran walked over and took his daughter from Syl’s hands. He pressed the sweetest kiss to her forehead and nuzzled his nose along her pink skin. He lifted his head to share a look with Eden and I swear I melted at the look of pure adoration the two shared, not just for their new babies, but for each other as well.
My heart swelled and emptied at the same time. On one side of my soul, I couldn’t have been happier for my friend. I felt full with how much joy I shared with her. On the other side, I felt completely hollowed, like I was missing the most important thing. My heart hurt with the sensation and my spirit seemed to drain.
I recognized my need for this.
I wanted this.
I wanted the kind of epic love Eden and Kiran had. I wanted to be safe and secure in a relationship that was actively working to build a life together. I wanted commitment. The permanent kind.
And I wanted my own babies.
I could be honest with myself, just as long as nobody asked me to admit that out loud. I wanted to settle down. I wanted a house full of children biting my ankles and yanking on my clothes. I wanted a husband that would look at his children as if they were the greatest miracle ever created and gaze at me as if he wanted to tear my clothes off every second of every day and then hold me in his arms until the world ended or time stopped.
I was jealous of my friends. Not because of who they were. I’d never really had feelings for Kiran and whatever had been was long over. I was jealous of everything the represented.
They’d been through hell together, but had managed to figure it out.
And now they had this.
“Sera, come see,” Eden beckoned me.
I moved to her side and sat down on the edge of the bed. I looked down at the squishy newborn face of her son and felt the tears start all over again.
“He’s gorgeous, Mama. You did a good job.”
“Mmm, I have never been more exhausted in my life.”
“Do you know why it was so hard?”
She held up the little bundle and I took him from her. He was so very tiny in my arms that I was terrified I would break him. I held him snuggly in the crook of my arm and felt my womb weep with longing.
Alright, that was a little dramatic.
But I definitely felt the pangs of baby-envy.
I wanted this.
&n
bsp; So much.
“We think it was the Magic,” Eden answered in a croaky voice. “They started to come early and the Magic knew it wasn’t exactly time yet. It was doing everything it could to protect their little lives.”
“So you had to fight it?” She nodded. “That sucks.”
“I would do it again,” she whispered. “I will do anything to protect these little nuggets.”
I smiled at her affectionate nickname but knew without a doubt how serious she was. Of course, she would. So would I, and they weren’t even my children.
“So, names? I’m dying! What did you decide to call them?”
She brushed her fingers over the little guy’s face and answered with a proud smile in her voice, “This guy is Gavriel Justice.”
More hot tears slipped from the corners of my eyes and I sniffled quickly, trying to hold back the pressure of emotion. “After Gabriel and your dad?”
She nodded. “His name means freedom and justice.”
Now she was crying too. We were just a mess of tears and emotion.
“And the little lady?”
Her voice was a broken whisper when she said, “Amari Delia.”
I swear the whole room burst into tears at the sound of her name. I felt a comforting hand squeeze my shoulder. I looked up at Sebastian and felt my heart thump in my chest. I didn’t understand my reaction to him, but I almost swayed from the force of it.
He stood closely behind me with his chest pressed against my back and his hand resting on my shoulder. He looked down at baby Gavriel and me with a proud smile on his face and eyes red from his refusal to cry.
My Magic surged with something I couldn’t quite grasp. It almost felt like a vision had fused with my present and I could somehow see the present and the future at the same time.
Only they were the same.
Well, the same and different.
A premonition?
No. It couldn’t be.
“I didn’t expect him to be so… ugly,” Sebastian said, effectively breaking me out of whatever weirdness I’d slipped into.
“What?” Eden gasped.
“He’s so… squishy. Is his face supposed to look like that?”