Page 25 of Retribution

My breath short.

My body ached.

The sheer energy I used to hold up my ice shield and manipulate the vines was draining me. But the weakness didn’t force me to stop. I pushed on. Asking the spirits of the earth for help before sending a visual to the vines, asking them to travel up through the worm's body and pierce into its five hearts. The vines paused in their movement. They read my images before violently spearing into the worm, heading upward through its body, destroying all its organs in their wake.

The worm's body seized up, stiffening from the attack, but still determined to harm me. Its body fell forward, banging against the ice in an attempt to break it. Giving one last effort to destroy me before its final destruction.

But it was too late.

With one final push, I ordered the vines the last two feet to wrap around the five hearts, squeezing progressively tighter until the organ couldn’t take any more pressure and exploded, causing the worm itself to blast outward. Pieces and chunks of flesh landing all around us before the last remaining acidic goop present in the worm’s system went to work, dissolving the flesh into smoldering piles on the asphalt.

Chapter 11

OAK

The ice wallsfell away just in time for Liberty’s body to begin to waver. Lenin was there, catching her and cradling her in his arms before she could fall to the ground, whispering words in her ear that I couldn’t hear.

Furious.

Tortured.

So fucking disappointed that we couldn’t protect her, even after giving it our all. We were useless. Unworthy. She shouldn’t have to have saved us. Yet she did. She put her and our daughter’s life in danger and disregarded all else.

I stormed toward her, my body glowing, my displeasure radiating off me, and when I reached her, weariness etched in her face, exhaustion, overexertion, it weakened me. My temper cooled, my anger ebbed, and my words were nearly choked as I spoke.

“You had no right. No fucking right to keep us behind a wall, Liberty.” I shouldn’t have cursed at her, and I knew that. But I was hurt and though I hate to admit it, scared.

“It was fate's choice,” Lenin answered as he held her tighter against him, using a free hand to brush away her wild hair. I hated it, hated that he looked at me as a threat right now when I would never harm a bone on her body.

“She risked too much,” I shot back.

Her voice was weak when she said, “And I would do it all over again.”

“But-” I began before letting silence fill the air. I let my heartbeat calm before saying, “It’s not just you that worries me.”

“The child is well. The fates have not altered their visions.” Lenin turned, dismissing me as he carried her through the damaged iron gate, expecting us all to follow him.

We did; we followed him into the manor, each of us trailing behind in silence as we processed our thoughts. After the last person entered and the door slammed, Ellis spoke, “We cannot let her leave again.”

This fact was non-negotiable. Liberty would never leave. She was safe here, and it was foolish and irresponsible to let her leave today, knowing she was at risk. She opened her mouth to argue, but Lenin cut her off before the words could leave her. “She will not leave until our daughter is born. It is not safe.”

She punched his arm, the jab hardly jarring the ogre as he laid her on the couch. “You are supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on the side of fate first, Kitten.” He paused, gazing down at her tenderly before he placed a kiss on her forehead. “I will make you tea.”

He straightened his body and stared down at her for a moment before he turned, gazing at Justice, then walking out of the room. Ellis waited until Lenin was out of the room before saying, “I can’t decide if he just prefers to avoid confrontation or if that man really thinks tea will solve all world problems.”

“I suspect both,” Justice mumbled before he fell to his knees in front of Liberty, his fingers roaming over her body to make sure she was well. The irony wasn’t lost on me. The man, once too prideful to accept our vampire, was now on his knees in front of her, worshipping the body he once despised. He buried his face in her hair, his eyes closing as he inhaled.

“I’m fine – no, we are fine.” Her hand went to her stomach, and a soft smile played on her lips.

“What is it?” Sterling was replacing her hand on her stomach in an instant, his eyes growing wide. “She’s moving.”

A rush of bodies moved forward, and I had no shame using my size to make sure I was first in line to feel the next kick or slide of the baby’s body. It was the strangest thing, realizing the exact moment you fall instantly in love. The moment my heart beat fully for another. But it happened at the very moment, the very second, I felt the first kick against my palm. I pushed Sterling’s hand out of the way and placed both my palms flat against Liberty’s stomach, aching to feel her again. To connect. To feel that undeniable swell of emotion that came with the movement under my palms.

The anger from earlier vanished. My voice was almost hoarse when I finally was able to speak, “How had we missed this?”

It didn’t take long before I was the one pushed aside, cast to the back of the group while they all took their turn, feeling the small rolls of movement under Liberty’s skin. It was mesmerizing. And a part of me felt ripped off. How long had she felt this and held back? How long hadn’t she told us? And it wasn’t like I could blame her. We were all acting like douches, unsure what to do with ourselves or the situation. We were fully aware of her pregnancy, but somehow it became easier just to pretend it wasn’t there, even as we watched her transform before our eyes.

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