Page 45 of The Monster's Desire

My magic pulses wildly and my fingertips tingle.

“Oh, shit,” I hiss.

I don’t hesitate or wait to be invited inside.

There’s a beautiful woman on some type of bed or cot, right inside the living room, and she’s dying. Her face is so pale that it’s clear she’s not going to last long. One brownie has her face buried under a sheet, giving the poor woman some modesty, and trying to stop the massive amount of blood flow. Two others stand aside, rocking a set of freshly born babies.

Oh, fuck!

This is significantly worse than I expected.

First time dads are often overly dramatic, but not this time.

“Everyone needs to bleed,” I say, spinning to make eye contact with the thunderbird. “Nadia. You are?”

“River Belfort.” He slices his inner wrist.

Okay, fuck me. The Belforts are the line of elven royalty.

River grimaces. “Octavia couldn’t reach you, but she said you were in town. We spent the last half hour searching for you. Please save her.”

“You need to bleed too,” I tell Brant. “And maybe a few of your guests outside.”

Brant doesn’t hesitate. He rips the arrow out of his wrist. It makes a grizzly sound as it tears through his flesh and maybe bone. Spinning around, he marches to the door. “Bleed for your queen,” Brant snarls.

A shiver runs down my spine. He’s not my king, or even my alpha, but the command in his voice almost has me spilling blood that I can’t afford to lose at the moment. My hand cups the brownie’s shoulder, and I gently pull her back.

“They’re beautiful, Milania. You’re going to be fine,” River says to the woman. He leans over and brushes a kiss on her forehead. “You’ll hold them soon.”

My lip wobbles, watching the intimate moment, but also...no pressure, right?

I don’t ask for permission; my magic is insistent that there isn’t time for pleasantries or even questions of consent. Normally in Haven, I use a dye that’s been saturated in drops of my blood. It helps keep the true nature of my magic hidden, but there’s no time for that.

River growls as I bunch the sheet, baring her middle, but keep her lower half covered. I’m light-headed as I draw runes across her stomach. I don’t want to know whose blood I’m touching, but my magic ensures my finger stays wet with someone’s lifeblood as I work.

The gatherers must have heeded their king’s request, because a potent buzz of energy hits me square in the chest. My hand lands over Milania’s heart, and I focus on pouring all that excess life energy back into her. I have no idea why her body isn’t healing.

“Is she human?” My eyes bug as I blink at River. Fuck, how did I forget that very important fact?

“Aye, she is,” Brant says from behind me. “Does that change things?” His tone is ice cold.

I go rigid.

I thought I’d be seeing her in a midwife capacity and maybe help by magically encouraging the babies to come out if they were getting too large for her to carry and deliver safely. I’ve never had a life-or-death emergency with one of my human patients.

I need help.

More specifically, I need Nan. She always manages to stay calm even under the direst of circumstances.

Glancing over my shoulder at Brant, I say, “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never used my magic on a human, not outside of fertility magic. I promise I’ll do my best...”

He nods and moves to his mate’s other side.

A dark swirling mass appears at the door to the cabin.

My jaw falls as I glance from the new mother to the reaper standing in the doorway.

That’s a really bad sign.

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