Page 58 of Which Witch is Willing?
Moira looked to Julian who, in his smoking jacket and dark slacks, had become an odd tether for her in a sea of uncertainty. “Well done, Moira de Moray,” he said, his lips drawing back from beautifully shaped white teeth. “I believe you’ve conceived the devil.”
III
Claire
By Cindy Stark
27
Claire de Moray’s excitement quickly faded as she stared at Moira’s belly, now swollen with child. “I have a bad feeling about this,” she whispered to no one in particular.
The walls of Moira’s bedroom closed in around the eight beings who’d attempted to bend the fate of the world by encouraging Moira’s pregnancy. Oxygen fled from Claire’s lungs, leaving fear in its wake. This was no longer about becoming an aunt again.
What had they done?
Moments before, the entire household of witches and horsemen had woken in the early morning hours and rushed Moira’s bedroom. Claire had learned that her very own sister had conceived the devil, and a foreboding as dark as the clouds currently hovering over Port Townsend weighed heavy over her.
The previous night, the four witches and the four Horsemen had agreed that one of the women needed to conceive a dark-souled baby to balance Tierra’s angel baby. In the shadows of the night, their idea had seemed completely reasonable. But now?
Good Goddess, that baby in Moira’s stomach was almost as big as the one Tierra carried.
Overnight.
Everything about the conception and the child seemed wrong. Nothing good grew that fast. Yesterday, the baby had been a thought, and now look at it.
A chill colder than an arctic wind blew through Claire and threatened her fire, leaving her with a shiver. She’d lost her fire once, when Dru had convinced her to give it up, and she never wanted to experience that again. “I have a really bad feeling. Maybe we shouldn’t have messed with babies and prophecies.”
All eyes in the room focused on her, and Moira’s face turned ghost white. The newly pregnant mom accepted a secondhand blue terrycloth robe from Aerin and donned it. She tied the sash tightly above her bulging belly and then placed a protective hand over the baby. “Don’t go saying that now, Claire. This little one went straight from tadpole to full-fledged bullfrog overnight, and I can’t—”
Aerin coughed. “You mean whale,” she said under her breath.
Moira clenched her fists. “That’s just about enough. We decided this needed doin’ and I was the only one willin’ to do it. So, hush your mouths and start believing that he’s gonna restore the balance to the world. Just because he’s fixin’ to take the devil’s place don’t make him bad. I thought we were clear on that point.”
Her hefty stomach rolled like an earthquake across the land, and Moira gasped.
Claire dropped her jaw. It was too bad Moira hadn’t bonded with Nicholas and become immortal like Tierra. Claire would feel a lot better about things then. Still, Claire had bonded with Dru, but she didn’t know if she’d been blessed with immortality or not, either. “She sure is strong one.”
Nicholas snorted. “Would you expect otherwise from my offspring?”
Dru and Killian chuckled, but Julian stepped forward and took Moira’s hand with his gloved one. He searched her eyes and offered a kind smile. “I’m sure everything will be fine. Would you mind if I touch your stomach?”
Moira seemed grateful to have someone on her side. “I don’t mind none if you do, Julian.”
Pestilence reached out with a gloved hand toward Moira’s stomach.
“Stop!” Tierra said before he could touch her.
Claire turned a surprised gaze toward her Earth witch sister. Tierra’s face had also blanched, and she clutched her stomach. Her breaths came shallow, and the terror in her expression mimicked that in Claire’s heart.
Killian wrapped a possessive arm around her. “What’s wrong, my gazelle?”
Tierra panted. “I don’t—”
She released a cry of pain and doubled over. “It’s the baby,” she managed. “Get me to my bed. I need to lay down.”
Claire searched her sister’s features, looking for evidence of her well-being. “Are you okay, Tierra?”
She blew out a measured breath and gave a short nod. “I will be.”
