Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (8 page)

Mia touched his arm and smiled at him.
I
know you are doing all that you can to help her.
 

We need to move her. We’ll take her to
the hospital once we’ve made sure she’ll survive.
He carefully
scooped Kara up in his arms. Mia’s nearness was filling her with a peace he
couldn’t offer her. He was careful to make sure Mia stayed in Kara’s line of
sight as he shifted them home and lowered her onto the bed.  

We can’t take her to the hospital. Her
father will send more men.
Mia said.

She wasn’t just the victim of a
professional hit. A vampire was involved. We need to make sure no threat exists
once she is well enough to continue with her life. We’re taking her to the
hospital. We will be waiting for anyone who shows up to harm her.

With a wave of his hand he removed
Kara’s dress and covered her body with a sheet to examine her. “Can you get
behind her and hold her up? She needs to start pushing with the next contraction.”

Mia nodded. She moved slowly and lifted
Kara gently to get behind her. “Your baby is coming now.” She held Kara in a
half sitting position. “You need to push with the next contraction.”

“No!” She tilted her head back to look
up at Mia. “It’s not time! I can’t have the baby now! It’s too early!”
Violently arching her body, slamming Mia’s head against the headboard she
clutched her belly as another contraction began to escalate.

 It wasn’t going to work. Kara was
far too distressed and experiencing too much pain. Mia wasn’t big enough to
comfortably hold Kara down. He got up and lifted Mia out from behind
Kara. 

“What are you doing?”

“We’re trading. You need to deliver the
baby. I’ll hold her,” he explained.

“I can’t. I’ve never delivered a baby.”

“There is no other choice. Trust me.
Stay merged with me. Everything you will need to know will be available.”
Joseph knew the thought of delivering, of holding a deceased baby disturbed Mia
like nothing else could.
The instant the baby is born I will be able to put
her to sleep, and I will take care of the baby.

Getting in position to deliver the baby,
she nodded. 

“I need to hold your legs.” She was such
a small woman that Joseph was easily able to use his body to support her weight
as he reached around her and grabbed her legs. He found his center, his calm
and then he shared it with both women. He reached for his power and strength
and filled them with it.

I see the baby’s head, Joseph.

“I know you’re in a hell of lot of pain.
I can’t imagine it. I know you’re tired and you’re afraid, but you need to push
now, Kara,” he whispered.

She started to push, but she stopped
within a matter of seconds. “I can’t.” She struggled to catch her breath. “I
can’t do it.” 

“You need to steady your breathing,”
Joseph instructed. “Wait for the next contraction. We are here with you. You’re
not alone. We can all do this together, Kara. The baby is coming whether we’re
ready or not. You know we don’t have a choice. The next time you feel a
contraction I want
you
to remember to breathe. I know it’s hard, but you have to do it. And when you
push, use me, push against me.”  

***

Being
in hiding for months Kara had never been able to attend any birthing classes. She
wasn’t ready at all. Of course it didn’t help that she’d been shot and the
labor had started and progressed so quickly. She knew her baby was dying and it
was her fault. 

A new contraction began. Its intensity
elevated quickly. Unable to catch her breath, she started to panic, but Joseph
and Mia were right there, whispering words of encouragement and keeping her
centered, refusing to allow her to give up. 

She was gripping Joseph’s hands that
were holding her legs. She realized her finger nails were digging deep into his
skin as she pushed. She almost let go, and she almost stopped pushing
altogether. “No. Don’t stop. You’re not hurting me. Keep pushing until the
contraction is over. That’s it. You’re doing great.” Her head started feel
strange. “Your head feels funny because you aren’t breathing. Don’t forget to
breathe.”

The contraction slowly subsided. He’d
heard her thoughts? No. It was coincidence. Her eyes started to feel so heavy.
She felt so tired. “Come on now, stay with us, Kara.”

Startled, she snapped her head up.
“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s okay.”  No it
wasn’t. Another contraction started. It seemed worse than before. She pushed
through it. “That’s wonderful. Keep breathing. You’re doing wonderful.” Her
chest felt heavy. It felt like there was a weight on it. It was her heart. She
knew she was having a heart attack. She was dying.    

Joseph’s voice, so calm and so gentle,
whispered in her ear. “Your heart feels strange because you were shot and lost
a lot of blood. But your heart is strong. You won’t die.” His voice seemed to
penetrate her heart and strengthen it. The weight was lifted up off her chest.
Once again it seemed he’d heard her thoughts, but she didn’t have time to dwell
on it. Another contraction gripped her hard. She knew this was it. She pushed
with all she had. “That’s it, Kara. Keep breathing. You’re doing great.”

Putting all she had into it, she pushed
as hard as she could. It felt as if her body was being ripped apart. She cried
out,” Oh God! I can’t! It hurts!”

“Yes, you can. You’re already doing it.
I know it hurts like hell, but you’re almost done.”

The contraction subsided, but almost
instantly another one started. “You’re so close now. Just one more time. I know
you can do it. Use me. Push against me.” Gripping his hands, she pushed with
all she had as she screamed. “That’s it. You did it. Now sleep.” Her first
instinct was to fight the command to sleep. She panicked when she realized he’d
used a compulsion on her and she wasn’t strong enough to fight it. “You will
rest for a little bit. We will be here watching over you. No one will harm
you.”

~Four~

ELI
KNELT DOWN and picked up the silver crucifix from the dirt floor. It was the
perfect thing to take Kara from his thoughts. The emotional and physical agony
linked with the hatred emanating from it was simply too intense to ignore. It
created a dark force as tangible and cold as the dusty brick walls surrounding
him. He took a moment to study the cross in the center of his palm. “I’ll never
understand why humans choose to destroy each other and other life forms in the
name of one form of organized religion or another, for no other reason than
their diversities.

“What’s so hard to understand? It has
nothing to do with diversity. Not really. Yes. They use religious diversity as
an excuse but fear, hatred and greed are the true culprits. Take your pick.
Some humans are terrified of power unless they own it. Some despise it. Some
covet it.” Without slowing his pace, Nikolas Drake continued to make his way
further into the tunnel.

“You’ve forgotten the ones who believe
their method of achieving perfect righteousness is the only way.” Clenching his
fist around the cross, Eli started to follow Nikolas again.

“I haven’t forgotten. They’re also
driven by fear, hatred or greed. Mostly fear. They don’t want to be damned for
eternity.”

Like it or not the demon was right. Eli
hated being in the tunnels, but he didn’t have a choice. He needed to help
Nikolas search for Zack in the network of catacombs called The Shanghai Tunnels
beneath Portland, Oregon. Hundreds of years ago the place had been used by a
group of religious fanatics hell-bent on ridding the world of all that they
perceived to be evil. They happened to believe Eli’s kind, Lycans, were the
wickedest of all beings. “It will never make sense to me. After all this time
why do you continue to protect them? You know humans cause more trouble than
they are worth.”

Nikolas stopped and turned. “Is that not
the reason they turned on your kind? Didn’t they say your kind caused more
trouble than good?” Demons had a preposterous drive to protect humans whether
they were right or wrong. Demons were fierce protectors. They were physically
built to conquer any enemy but their hearts were weak. “Tell that to your
ancestors who united with human mates. They obviously found something good
about humans. How many of you will never find your mate because you’re new laws
forbidding you to mingle with humans? And you know damn well it wasn’t all
humans. Fear, greed and hatred aren’t plagues that only taint the morals of
mankind. We are all susceptible. We all have evil within each of our souls.”

“I don’t have any reason to listen to
you. What about Brianna? You refuse to be bound to your own mate because she’s
human?”

“I would destroy her. I refuse to bind
her soul to mine, but it has nothing to do with her being human. She’s perfect.
She deserves a kinder, brighter fate than to be shackled to a ten thousand year
old demon. She’s under my care and protection until the day she takes her last
breath. I will follow her.”

“Do you plan to allow her to enjoy life
and have children with a human husband? Will you watch over him as well?”

“She would never want or need another
male.” Nikolas stopped and then, staring at the wall, he seemed to be studying
it, looking for something.

“What are you doing?" Eli knew
better than to argue with the demon. He was growing impatient to get out of the
tunnels, but he didn’t miss the importance of what the demon had stated. 

“You’re free to leave at any time, if
being here is too much for you to handle. I don’t need your help. To be honest,
you’re beginning to annoy me.”

Eli smiled. “The past is past. The
future is all that matters now. I’m not leaving until we figure out where the
hell they’re hiding Zack.”

“This way.” Nikolas gestured for him to
follow.

“You see the brick wall,
right?” Some demons weren’t thrilled when Eli chose to get involved, but they
didn’t reject his help. It was a time to band together for the good of all.

“Where you see a wall I see
an open door.”

“To what?”

Eli stopped. “Wait. It sounds like we
have company in the tunnels above us.”

Waving him off Nikolas kept walking.
“It’s a group of tourists on a ghost hunting excursion. They won’t be a
problem.”

“Not for you. I don’t have the ability
to poof away or make myself invisible.”

“If it comes down to a confrontation you
can always poof into a dog, tuck your tail between your legs and run like
hell.”

“Will you ever get bored with the dog
jokes?” Eli asked.

Nikolas shrugged. “Probably not. The
group that leads the tours hasn’t discovered this series of tunnels. I doubt
they ever will. Most humans will never see beyond the spell concealing the
entrance.”

“I’ve never actually seen a human ghost.
I don’t believe anyone I know has for that matter. You’re older than dirt. Have
you ever encountered an apparition?”

Nikolas stopped and stared at Eli for a
few seconds as if seriously pondering the question. “Do you mean like the cagey
looking one sneaking up on you from behind?”

Eli spun around and stared down the
seemingly empty brick corridor. Nikolas laughed. Realizing he’d been duped, Eli
faced the demon. “Ha. Ha. You’re too funny.”

 “Don’t be afraid, pup.” Raising
his arms and making a show of flexing his muscles, Nikolas smiled. “I promise
this incredibly strong, ready and able to kick ass, older than dirt demon will
protect you from all the scary spooks down here.” 

“That’s wonderful news.” Eli shoved past
Nikolas, but he only took a few steps before he caught Zack’s scent mixed with
vampires. He stopped. “We must be getting closer to locating him.”

Nikolas pointed to the left. “In there.”
Removing iron bars from the entrance with a wave of his hand, he walked into a large
jail cell.

Eli followed. “He has been here
recently. His scent is still strong.” 

“He’s still here.” Gesturing toward the
center of a dark, musty cell used in the mid eighteen hundreds to the early
nineteen hundreds by human traffickers, Nikolas shook his head.

“He isn’t here.” Just in case the demon
saw something he didn’t Eli studied the area for a few seconds. Nothing. He
didn’t see or sense anything.

“Look again.” With a wave of his hand Nikolas
opened the door into what appeared to be another dimension. Zack’s form
shimmered. He looked like a ghost before his image truly solidified, but it was
obvious by the way his body remained limp that he was in rough
shape.    

Zack raised his head and looked directly
into Eli’s eyes for a few seconds and then, eyes glowing red, he met Nikolas’
gaze. “Go away.”

“No,” Nikolas said.

Straightening his shoulders and knees,
Zack stood full height. “Leave me.” His voice was nothing more than guttural
whisper, but the promise of brutal retaliation if they defied him rang loud and
clear.

“You know I can’t.” Nikolas moved toward
Zack.   

“Back off,” Zack growled. He exuded
utter darkness. He’d been transformed into creature similar to a corrupted
vampire, but he was far more powerful and intelligent. His relentless thirst
for human blood, like a pounding heart, thrummed in the atmosphere.