Page 35 of Fighting the Lies

Watch over us in silence,

Hide magic from the world,

Arcendum malum, arcedum malum.”

A translucent ball appeared around them. Emma reach her hand out to touch it. It was smooth like the silk of the wedding dress.

“It’ll protect us until I’ve done the spell. I’ll need to leave as soon as I have your womb. Take all the magic with me. I’ll leave a cleanse spell in my path as well. Ciaran will never know I’ve been here.”

Now that it was actually happening, she had started shaking. Her knees were weak. In a minute, her ability to be a mother would be gone.

“I don’t have to do it. I can go get Kas.”

“No, do it.”

“I need you to remove your dress.”

“Alright.” She pulled the dress over her head and threw it on the floor. She wanted to spit on it, given as it was from Nuka.

“Shut your eyes.”

She did so. Her legs felt like they would give way at any moment. Jessica placed her hand on her stomach. The feminine touch vastly different to Scott’s. The witch’s hand was cold. Emma breathed in to try and escape the chill that ran through her body. When Scott’s hands were on her body, they scorched it, burnt the skin with the desire he felt for her. There was nothing romantic about what was happening. That’s why she felt as if she werefreezing. Emma calmed her mind. This would leave her capable of getting through her imminent future. Kas would win the war, and she’d be free. She could go and live up in the mountain with Molly. Spending most of her time as a lioness sounded bliss. It’d been so long since she’d shifted. Her bones ached for the change, the animal inside her calling to be allowed to run wild. Her lioness hated being caged. It reminded her of a time down in the Florida Keys. She’d gone on holiday with Katia for a few days. They’d been the guests of a friend of Kas’. She and Katia had gone out early one morning to catch deer. Katia was sunbathing on the side of a lake while she stalked the animal. It’d ambled down to the other side of the river, and she’d followed it. She crouched low and pounced. One bite to the neck and dinner was caught. Well, That’s what she thought. A massive crocodile rose out of the water and tugged on the other side of the dead animal. A fight ensued; it was one that she lost when the crocodile pulled the deer into the water. She wasn’t going to give up that easily. She jumped in after it. Big mistake. Lots of crocs in the water. By the time they got her out, she was badly injured. She hadn’t been able to shift for three weeks. Her lioness almost went mad. Ever since when they encounter crocodiles, both of them shied away. It was her biggest fear, because it was something that stopped her from shifting.

A gasp from Jessica drew her out of her reflection. Was it done? She hadn’t felt any pain. That was good. She opened her eyes. Jessica held her hands up. They were empty.

“You didn’t do it.” Emma questioned.

“I can’t.”

“Jessica, it’s the only way.” Her friend couldn’t let her down now.

“You don’t understand. I can’t.”

“The magic won’t work?” Emma’s heart sped up. If Jessica couldn’t do the spell, what would she do. This was the only thing that would prevent Nuka from getting his way.

“No, the magic will work.”

“Then do it. Please.”

“I can’t remove your womb, because there’s already a baby growing in it.”

Emma let out a loud bark of laughter.

“Good one but now’s not really the time.”

Jessica’s face was pale before, but now, it was the colour of snow. She looked sick to the stomach. The witch’s hand returned to her stomach, and a moment later, the sound of a rapid heartbeat filled the air.

“My heart beat?”

“No.” Jessica placed the other hand over the swell of her breast near her heart. A slower beat echoed out. “That’s your heart beat. This is your baby’s.” The faster heart beat echoed around the room again.

“Scott?” She’d slept with him. They hadn’t used any protection. Shifter’s didn’t if they could get away with it. They didn’t get all the diseases that humans did. They relied on smell to deal with pregnancy. A male could scent when a woman was fertile. Surely Scott would have smelt if she could get pregnant. The candles Selene had put out. They’d disguised all smells in order to rid themselves of the stench of the dungeons. They’d both been so caught up in the moment they’d forgotten to even consider a baby. She started to hyperventilate. She was pregnant with Scott’s baby. If Nuka found out; oh God, he would kill it.

“You have to come with me. We have no choice, now.”

“I can’t.” She was trying to calm her mind. Get some sense into it, but all it was doing was screaming at her that she was pregnant. She was carrying Scott’s baby, and Nuka was going to kill it. “I’ll delay the wedding and mating as long as possible. Go to Kas. Jessica, he has to get me out of here without getting himself into trouble.”

“Emma, that’s not going to be possible. Kas will say that you and the baby are the most important thing now.” Jessica was holding her hands out and pleading for her to go. She couldn’t though.

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