Page 33 of Vampire Runner

He moves to crouch in front of me, his still full tea cup abandoned on the table beside mine. He takes my hands in his and presses a kiss to the backs of my fingers. “You’re safe, my love,” he promises, his vow adamant. “If they seek to hurt us, they will fail. They won’t be the first to try.”

Ezra snorts. “Not the last either,” he says before grinning savagely at me. “We’ll slaughter them like we always do.”

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been with the Nightshades for long enough to share their history and victories, but I’m still unsettled.

I grip Ashe’s hands, my brow furrowing. “All my childhood, I was told the stories of witch hunts as warnings. Humans, especially the overly religious ones, murdered so many of us. We were never allowed to interact with human society because of that fear.” I huff a laugh through my nose wryly. “Well, that and my coven believed humans are beneath them.”

Ezra snorts and shakes his head. I don’t blame him. My family and their coven were entrenched in disgusting beliefs and, while I haven’t sought them out in the last few decades, I doubt they’ve changed.

“We’ll get through this,” Ashe tells me again before rising. He cups my face, his thumb brushing gently over my cheek. “Together.”

“Besides,” Ezra interjects, “if all else fails, we’ll just leave. No way any human can keep up with us.”

My gut seizes at the thought of abandoning the cottage I’d inherited from Agnes, the one that Ashe and I are transforming into a home.

Someone pounds at the entrance door, hard enough for even my ears to hear. Ezra’s and Ashe’s heads snap towards the open doorway with the keen attention of a greyhound. It’s almost enough to make me laugh at them.

Someone, like Josephine, must open the door because then a frantic voice grows louder as they approach.

A wild-eyed Johnathan charges into the room with Josephine on his heels. He’s got his flat cap crushed in his hands as he stumbles to a halt. I’m already on my feet, all concerns forgotten.

“Johnathan?” I ask, striding towards him. “What’s wrong? Is it Charity?”

He dips his head in answer. “Yes, misses. She says the babe is coming but she thinks something’s wrong. Said to get you fast as I could.”

I grasp the man’s arms, locking my eyes on his. Johnathan doesn’t need my magic to calm down, just good old-fashioned confidence from a midwife.

“It’s going to be fine,” I assure him. “My husband will take you and a carriage back home. I’ll head to my cottage and get what I need before heading over. Charity needs you to be strong now. Keep her comfortable until I’m there.”

Johnathan sputters his thanks as I step aside. Ashe is already moving towards us, and he drops another kiss to my forehead. “Ezra will escort you home,” he murmurs and I nod in agreement. By escort, Ashe truly means Ezra will carry me and use his supernatural speed to get me to the cottage. If Charity’s instincts are saying something is wrong, then I need to be prepared. I’ve never assisted in a birth where the mother’s instincts were incorrect.

Ashe claps Johnathan on the shoulder and guides the man out of the room. Ezra’s up and collecting the tea tray for Josephine.

The gray-haired vampire tilts her head in question. “Do you need help, dear?”

Instinctively, I almost decline but I make myself take a moment and consider. I give a single decisive nod. “Can you catch up with Ashe and return with them to their home? As good of a man as Johnathan is, this is their first time. He’s likely to stress the poor girl out more than help. Do what you can until I can get there.”

“Of course,” Josephine answers and waves Ezra away from the tea tray. “Leave it. We’ll deal with it later. We’ve got a baby to help bring into the world!”

Charity’s room is quiet, the young woman too exhausted to even whimper. Josephine is a godsend, having kept Charity wiped down with a cool cloth the entire time, relaying requests to Ashe and Johnathan, and seeming to predict my or Charity’s needs.

Charity’s sweaty hair clings to her forehead, her eyes squeezed tight as another contraction rips through her.

Josephine’s soothing murmurs wash over me, her words a constant presence in the room.

Ashe paces the hall, his footsteps heavy.

Johnathan’s frantic prayers float up the stairs.

Sharing a concerned look with Josephine, we both know the truth. If something doesn’t change quickly, we’ll lose both the mother and the babe. Charity has lost so much blood.

I close my eyes, laying my hands over Charity’s womb, my magic wrapping around the babe. The little one’s heartbeat is slowing.

“Cassandra,” Josephine’s voice is a warning. “We can’t lose them both.”

“I know,” I answer, my magic sinking deeper, caressing the babe’s tiny body. The babe is stuck, its head turned the wrong way, and Charity’s blood loss weakens her body. Opening my eyes, I look to the young woman who’s become close since she started coming to me for her pregnancy ailments. She’s pale, her eyes glazed and wild.

“Save my baby,” she whispers, her voice hoarse. “Whatever you have to do. Save my baby.”

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