Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

ninety-two.

I paced around the room, rubbing my belly waiting for Val to come up. She must have already showered – she smelled like sweet pea flowers.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, Celia said everything looks good, but it's going to be a while."

"Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?"

"She said I should feed... are you up for it? Chris said you were near burn out..."

"I'll be fine!" she said, pulling me towards the bed. I didn't even have a chance to stop her. She sat down on the edge of it and pulled her hair to one side. I sat down next to her and leaned on one hand. I took a deep breath and focused on dropping my fangs to begin a feed. I was almost not even in the mood to feed – I had experienced so much in the last couple of hours that I was overwhelmed.

I touched my fangs to Val's neck slowly piercing her skin and sucked down her blood. She moaned softly as I pulled from her with a grunt. Her blood was so sweet and easy to swallow. It was hard to stop even though I didn't want to at first. I took a breath and pulled away from her, pricking my tongue to heal her wound.

"You okay?" she asked, pushing my hair behind my ear.

"I'm doing as good as I can be right now, I suppose. I'm trying not to freak out."

"Honey..." she smiled. "You're going to do fine. I'll be here next to you the whole time."

"I'm trying not to psych myself out with the pain, honestly. I've been shot in the back, and I feel like this is going to be a hundred times worse."

"But it will be worth it to see our little one in the end. You can do this." She kissed my forehead. "Kellan's almost done building some sleeping quarters for everyone. I got everyone some fresh clothes to wear. Chris raided the stash, and everyone's got a drink... Did you want to come downstairs with us? It might be a while for the baby to come, but you will need to be outside."

"Right... I forgot about that. Nothing like giving birth with an audience," I grimaced.

"Don't worry. We have a section of the backyard blocked off from everyone – visually and audibly. We've already started preparing it with the sage."

"What about all those herbs and things that need magic from the sun and moon and all that other stuff we had to do for you?"

"It's already taken care of," she said helping me off the bed. "We weren't sure when you'd have the baby, so all the magical stuff that needed time is ready." I took a deep breath nervously.

We walked back downstairs and into the backyard. In the distance, I could see a large fire. They must've done some magic on it to keep the flow of the fire, and the smell of the burning bodies contained. The backyard was also warmer than it should've been for late December. I saw a couple of magical anchors placed around the perimeter – they were using a spell to keep the yard warm enough for everyone. The kids were leaning against their parents, fighting their sleep as everyone shared a few drinks and conversation.

I texted Dylan to make sure the students were alright. They were and I thanked whoever was out there listening for that. I told him to bring any dead bodies they had over and informed him that I was in labor. He was going to be over as soon as he could. I walked around the backyard, hoping to ease my discomfort a bit, but I knew it wasn't going anywhere.

"Have you burned all the bodies yet?" I asked. Part of me hoped Ignis' body hadn't been burned yet.

"We have a few left. I couldn't pile them all up," Chris said, "or the fire wouldn't burn."