Page 59 of Which Witch is Willing?
Killian scooped her up faster than he stole a soul and whisked her from the room.
The rest of them looked at each other wide-eyed.
“Did she meanherbaby?” Aerin finally asked. Then she pointed a manicured fingernail toward Moira. “Or that one?”
Claire pushed her hair, messy from sleep, back from her face. “I don’t know. But…”
Aerin caught her gaze and held it. “You’re thinking what I’m thinking.”
Claire bit her bottom lip and nodded but remained silent. No one would speak the obvious.
Moira’s child wasn’t natural.
Moira glanced furiously between her sisters. “What in the Sam Hill are you going on about? Don’t you try to keep anything from me. If there’s a problem, and I have a right to know.”
Claire sighed, not wanting to tell Moira the unhelpful bad news. “I don’t know what it means, Moira, but as long as history has recorded, the de Moray women have never given birth to…a son.”
Aerin lifted questioning brows. “Are you sure it’s a boy?”
Moira glared. “All’s I know is whatever’s in don’t feel feminine. You don’t believe me, come put your paws on my belly.”
Claire glanced to Aerin who gave a small shrug and moved closer. Claire did the same, though she wasn’t at all comfortable touching a pregnant woman’s belly, even if it was her sister’s.
Aerin and she placed their hands onto Moira’s plump stomach. Immediately, loving sensations reached out to Claire, soothing her soul. Warm waves of happiness washed away any doubt she had.
Claire exhaled in relief and smiled at Moira. “You’re right. He’s okay.”
Aerin removed her hands and stepped back. “Agreed. Nothing ominous growing there.”
Moira snorted, and a happy smile tipped up the corners of her mouth. “Ominous. How could you even think that? Day needs night, ya know, to keep things balanced and such. Just because something is dark doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
A scream of pain echoed through the house, and Claire cringed from the intensity. “It looks like things are good here, but some of us should check on Tierra.”
Julian lifted his chin in acknowledgement. “Yes, lets.”
Claire held up a hand. “How about if Dru and I go? You all should stay with Moira and care for her. Waking up with a…”
She paused, at a loss for words to describe the enormity of Moira’s stomach and what it contained.
“A baby,” Moira said firmly.
Claire nodded. “A baby. Waking up with a big baby. A big,goodbaby must be a shock. We’ll let you know how Tierra is.”
Another cry of agony sent Claire and Dru hurrying from the room.
When they were out of earshot, almost to Tierra’s bedroom, Dru wrapped his hand around hers. “I have a bad feeling about this, too.”
Claire cast him a worried glance, nodded, and then hurried faster toward her sister.
28
Unimaginable disturbances radiated outward from Tierra’s closed bedroom door. Her sister’s screams had quieted by the time Claire and Dru had arrived, but Claire felt in her very bones that life had changed significantly. She paused half a second to gather her fire, prepared to battle whatever lay beyond the barrier. She just prayed her sister wasn’t hurt.
Dru held his mighty sword in one hand and flung open the door with the other.
Claire gasped at what she saw.
White and black feathers flew through the air as Killian lunged and bounced off walls, trying to capture a small flying enemy that moved so fast Claire couldn’t make out the features. Tierra’s eyes were wide with shock, dancing back and forth as she followed the skirmish. Otherwise, she seemed okay, huddled beneath a forest green quilt that haphazardly covered her.
