Flames of Fury

Chapter 7

Where my night owls at?

**Warning: Blood...lots of it**

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Magnolia

"Lay back and lift your shirt up a little. This may feel a little cold." Ember squeezes out an extremely generous amount of a pale blue jelly onto my stomach, which is cold but I don't complain. It's been a week since I woke up, a week since Ian told me I was pregnant and gave me an ultimatum.

I've dreamed of him almost every night and every dream is more or less the same; I'm restrained, he toys with me, and then I wake up just before he forces an orgasm from me.

It doesn't help to remind myself that it's just a dream. It doesn't make it feel any less real or any less invasive. I've tried forcing myself to stay awake, but sooner or later my body shuts down and forces sleep upon me the same way Ian forces himself on me in my dreams.

Though I'm exhausted, both mentally and physically, I try to push all that aside and focus on getting the proof I requested of my alleged pregnancy. Ember places a wand like device over the jelly, smearing it over my belly as she moves the wand from side to side.

Eventually, the fuzzy black and white images on the screen stabilize and focus on a large black oval with more fuzzy black and white shapes inside it.

"Huh," Ember lets slip before her face hardens with determination and focus.

"What? What do you see? Is there anything in there?" The questions come pouring out of me, everything hinges on this moment. Either I'm not pregnant and I can torch the place and go home, or I am and I'm stuck figuring out a plan B.

"See this here?" She points to the screen. "That's the baby's head, and down here," she moves the wand an inch down my belly and slightly to the left, "these are the feet of the other one."

I stare at the screen mesmerized, the tiniest of humans is floating around peacefully, completely protected and unaware of the hell hole I dove into.

Ember turns a knob on the machine and a rapid, rhythmic thumping begins to play. "They have strong heartbeats, they look perfect so far."

I'm so transfixed by the sound of their little heartbeat that I barely register anything that she's saying to me right now. All I hear is the sound of a new life growing within me, my mates' baby. "Sorry, what's perfect?"

Ember smiles warmly at me, "your babies, my Queen. You're having twins, fraternal twins, but it's still too early to tell their genders."

It's a good thing I'm already laying down because the room starts to spin and close in on me. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be experiencing this moment in the depths of hell. I should be surrounded by Ro and Varian, watching their faces as they react to seeing not one, but two babies that they shot into my belly swimming around on the screen.

"Magnolia, look at me," a voice calls out to me through the fog amassing in my brain. A hand cups my cheek and directs my face to look in the direction of the voice, "over here, my Queen, focus on me now."

My heavy eyes lift enough for me to take in the sight of Griffin crouching at my side. One hand still on my cheek, the other hand clasping one of my hands. "There you are," he beams at me with a wide smile, "breathe, Magnolia. You're not alone."

I force my lungs to expand and take in fresh breath. After five or six deep breaths the fog has cleared and I'm back in control of my senses. "What the hell is happening to me?" I mutter to myself, frustrated that I can't get a grip on my emotions. I've survived worse than this, so why are my emotions steamrolling me now?