Posted 2024-06-12; Beta'd by Eeyorefan12
In the moment between understanding the sherooz's intent and losing consciousness, Bella hoped for escape. That, or to remain unconscious . . . forever.
The painful jolting lurch told her she'd not been so lucky. Beneath her the metal bed squealed, followed by an animal-like groan.
She balled her fists, fighting the pain flaring out from her groin. With a grunt, she was thrown forward into the heavy bar. Eyes squeezed shut, she tried to understand the icy needling at her face.
Another jolt. She grunted her way through the pain.
"Bella."
Edward?
Of course, she was hallucinating. She jerked against the bar. Though frigid, her hands were free. Bella felt for the restraints, finding wet leather and slippery metal buckles instead.
"Bella, stop!"
The bar squeezed and shifted—no, not a bar, but an arm supporting her.
She blinked open to fuzzy, needling blackness, slowly focusing—
Bella gasped. An alternating landscape of snow and grayness slid beneath her, leathery wings obscuring the rest of it.
"The leg braces stay on."
She didn't need telling twice.
"Edward," she gasped.
"I'm here." The arm tightened at her chest.
With it came another tightening, this one inside. The pain flared outward from her groin, her moan morphing into a scream.
"We need to land!" Edward yelled.
Bella arched into him, trying to find relief. Edward's grip shifted as the dragon dropped forward into a descent. The sounds leaving Bella's throat were barely recognizable as hers—moans, growls, and grunts only interrupted by the need to breathe.
When they landed, she frantically worked to unbuckle herself as Edward assisted, not waiting for him to help her down as she dropped to the rocky ground on all fours.
"Over here. There's cover," said another male voice.
Jasper.
Bella barely had attention for her surroundings, feet dragging as Edward and Jasper lifted her towards shelter—a shallow cave with a wide mouth. Mere feet away the sky met the ground, indicating a sharp drop-off.
When the contraction ended, she turned from the wall, staring at Edward, who watched her carefully, his face creased with . . . uncertainty?
"Bella?"
She burst into tears.
"It's alright. I'm here. You're safe." He stepped forward and drew her into his arms.
She pressed her face into his chest, letting his tight embrace hold her up.
He was alive. He'd come for her. She held tightly to the warmth that knowledge filled her with.
Her body had other ideas. The sobs returned, and with them, another contraction.
"We need a fire," Edward said over her head.
"They'll spot it."
Yes, it was Jasper, and he sounded blessedly grim, as usual. She would have laughed with relief if she hadn't been growling through the pain.
"We'll have to take the chance. She needs the warmth," Edward said.
The contraction grew, squeezing at her lungs and hips and forcing her to pant. As it receded, the sounds around her returned, the snapping of twigs, the scraping of flint, and finally, the crackle of a fire.
Edward moved her as if they were dancing, slowly turning her towards the rear of the little cave until she could lean against—Demia?
The dragon grunted softly at the pressure, turning to regard Bella with a shiny black eye.
Bella blinked, finding herself sandwiched between Demia and the small fire, with Edward beside her and Jasper standing sentry at the entrance. Outside, one—no, two—large dragons lifted their heads.
"Esme?" Her voice was raspy.
"She's at home."
"How'd you find me?"
Edward fished through a bag beside him, uncorking a bottle, pressing it to her lips. "Here."
Melisikaru.
She thought of the tea she'd been given.
"Is there water?" she asked.
"It'll chill you too much. Just a little, please."
She sipped it. The warmth felt good. Somehow still standing, she slid down against Demia, surprised she had any energy at all. Edward drew her back into his arms.
"Stolos," Edward said, finally responding to her question. "He tried to poison me."
She stared.
"And me too," Jasper added from the cave front.
"We were lucky. My sense of smell had just begun to heighten, and I caught the faintest whiff of sidero in the drink." Edward tightened his embrace, burying his nose in her hair. "It didn't take much work to get the truth out of him."
Thinking of Stolos led to thoughts of home. "Esme," she breathed out. "Is she—?"
"My mother is well." He rubbed her hands, trying to warm them. "We were able to free ourselves not long after you were taken. Jasper came back for us as soon as he could." He looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. We needed supplies. . . and a plan."
She nodded, thinking of the others who were involved. Edward wouldn't know. "Mr. Othonos," Bella began before wincing suddenly and lunging forward to all fours.
Time evaporated. The fire blazed through her contraction, dwindling to embers as her muscles finally eased.
She could have sworn she caught Jasper's mouth moving. If he was saying something, she couldn't hear it. Cloud-dimmed daylight made him a dark outline.
"Bella?" Edward was still beside her.
"Hmm?"
"You've been laboring all night."
She looked to the cave front. Jasper was gone. A few quick glances didn't find him inside. Demia snored behind her.
"He's left to give us privacy."
She froze, though her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. Edward knelt to face her. "We're safe here, Bella. We flew far enough that they'll be days behind us. We've left no trail."
"It's not that."
They'd found her afterwards, then.
She looked away, shame and anger squeezing her insides. "Stolos wasn't the only one who betrayed us."
"I know."
She closed her eyes. "Mr. Othonos."
"Yes, I know about him too. Stolos spared nothing . . . once pressed."
"But the sherooz, I'm sorry, Edward. I told him no, but he . . . he—"
"I know." A fierce tone entered his voice. "We stopped him."
What exactly did they stop?
She felt very brave looking him in the face, and even braver asking: "What do you mean?"
"You know that he drugged you?"
She nodded, feeling the tears spill down her cheeks. "He said he needed to . . . to . . ."
Edward shook his head, reaching to lay his hand against her cheek, gently shushing her. "No, Bella, we got there before he could . . . we got to you in time."
She choked out a sob.
Edward drew her against him, stroking her hair as she buried her face in his chest. "You're safe. I'm sorry I didn't say something earlier. The sidero can interfere with memory. I wasn't sure what you'd recall, and I didn't want to stir up something unnecessarily."
"He said I'd die after giving birth. From the mate sickness. Is it true?"
"No." There was a flicker of anger. "But mate sickness is real enough, and mating does ease the summoning. It can be hours, even days longer."
She knew what he was asking.
"I can't." Another sob and tears followed. The edge of a contraction began at her back, and the exhaustion felt even heavier.
"Of course." Edward held her, squeezing her hips tightly to support her as she shrieked into his chest.
The pattern continued as the light grew and faded. Edward added more wood to the fire, only stepping away to get snow and melt it for her to sip. Demia slumbered beside them, her side a warm leathery resting place for Bella. Jasper slipped in and out once to bring them food which she was unable to eat.
By nightfall, she began to lose consciousness between contractions, roaring awake and moaning through the waves of pain.
Edward said little, stroking her face and rubbing her back, giving her sips of water.
As he wiped her face clean after a bout of vomiting, he spoke quietly. "Please consider . . . letting me help. We're still safe, for now, but the longer we wait . . ."
The heat of the fire disappeared. The baby shifted inside her. She shivered as she recalled the sherooz's voice telling her what he would do—felt his ghostly hands on her, her bile rising at the memory of his touch.
But the hands on her now, soothing her, supporting her . . . they were not his. No, this was Edward—who loved her. Who had come for her.
This was his child, too.
Her body ached and throbbed with a need for something that felt familiar, and the horror of the violation she'd narrowly escaped receded with her resolve.
"Okay."
Edward leaned into her neck, kissing it, then her forehead, and then her lips.
Another contraction came and went, and when she came back to herself, she could have sworn it was day.
She blinked at the strange light.
"Moonlight," Edward said. He cupped her cheek again. "Will you mate with me?"
She nodded, awkwardly leaning forward to kiss him, letting him pull her onto his lap in a straddle. Even that position was impossible for what she needed, though it allowed her to rest against him as they kissed.
Her hands were still icy cold, and she fumbled to undo his belt, needing his help to succeed. He kicked off his boots and trousers.
As she tried to settle again, facing him, the pressure against her abdomen was painful. She tried to shift positions, but the effort was too much. Edward helped her turn around so that she leaned into Demia's side as he pulled up the skirt of her dress.
He felt cold against her, but warmer when he slid inside her swollen flesh. She grunted, grasping at Demia's leathery skin.
Edward kissed her neck, pausing before slowly thrusting forward.
He rocked them both gently, one arm cradling her abdomen, the other stroking her breast. The tension in her muscles eased.
Bella moaned, this time out of relief. The rocking became a staccato rhythm, growls coming from Edward. Instinct told her to arch her back, and she turned her head to expose her neck for his teeth, soaring with the ecstasy of his release. She barely felt the frenzy of the next thrusts, too lost in the twirling orbit of warm pleasure that doubled itself as he released again.
It was like sinking when the euphoria faded, and she dropped back down into the labor pains, bright sunlight making her squint and blink.
"You need to push, Bella." Edward's voice was at her ear.
The alternating heat and chill made sense. Her dress was at her hips, legs exposed, icy liquid pooled between them.
"Push!"
She did, squeezing her eyes shut. The scene repeated itself like a skipping record. "Push!" she'd hear, and she would push. Push—and the baby would inch down in painful fractions.
She thought she heard Jasper's voice, and then Edward's, frustrated, defeated.
"Get him."
When she opened her eyes again, it was to a nightmare.
The sheerooz knelt before her, bloodied face matched with bloodied hands.
"No!" She aimed her fingernails at his eyes.
Someone snatched her hands away. "He's helping. It's alright."
Edward?
"The baby's stuck, Bella. He's helping."
She roared through her next push, before scanning the scene to find Jasper at the cave entrance, his rifle pointed at the sherooz.
"We brought him just in case," Edward said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'd hoped not to need him, and I didn't want to make you see him again."
"Don't worry, sister," Jasper added."I wrapped him up in his fancy carpet and kept him tied to the back of my dragon. After very thoroughly beating him out of consciousness, that is. My brother wouldn't let me kill him, but perhaps you will. He's more than earned it."
"I only said not yet," Edward muttered.
"Maybe you can wait until I resolve the shoulder dystocia," the sherooz mumbled sarcastically. "Stop pushing," he said to Bella.
The pain felt like it would swallow her. "I can't!" she shrieked.
"Yes, you can," Edward said. "Look at me. Now pant."
She did, keeping her eyes on Edward's as he nodded along. Then everything inside hurt more and she screamed.
"Push now!" the sherooz said.
She did and the pain vanished, a wave of powerful relief overtaking her. She collapsed against Edward, exhausted, mildly aware of Demia snuffling at her shoulder.
Everything was very still.
"The baby—"
She followed Edward's gaze a few feet away to the sherooz, who stood holding their child—her child, a scalpel at the infant's throat.
"Throw me a blanket for her," the sherooz said.
Her.
Edward tossed him a piece of cloth, which the sherooz draped over the baby—their daughter—not lowering the scalpel. Even in her terror, Bella was relieved to see her child's tiny legs squirming.
There was a metallic echo as Jasper flicked something on the rifle, aiming at the sherooz's head.
"Don't," Edward croaked.
"Agreed. You wouldn't want to hit the baby, would you, Mr. Cullen? Or would you?" The sherooz stared at Jasper. "I've seen you with your friends. You won't chant and march with them, but you certainly don't think she has a place here"—he looked at Bella—"or me, or my kind. I doubt you'll care much for her half-breed infant."
"Hand back my niece." Jasper didn't move a muscle, the gun still trained on his target.
"Do you have any idea what this child means?" The sherooz took a step towards the cave entrance. "Her mother does." He fingered the baby's mouth, drawing gently at her lip, revealing toothless but prominently mounded gums. He held one of her hands next, drawing attention to the soft claws curling from her fingers.
Bella breathed in short, shallow pants, attention fixed on the knife still too close to her baby's throat. Behind her, Edward was a statue. She looked to her right. The opening to the cave was large enough for the sherooz to slip through, if he was fast enough. And if Jasper fired—
Jasper's gun was still aimed at his two targets.
"If you let me take her, she'll be very well cared for, I assure you." The sherooz paused. "Or you can have her body to bury."
"No." The gun muzzle followed the sherooz. "Last warning," Jasper said.
He would shoot.
"Jasper, lower your aim," Edward said. "Target the groin."
The sherooz's knife glinted in the light. The baby was so tiny. All it would take was one slip.
The dragon snuffled at Bella again, and the tail end of a significant string tickled her cheek. How had no one removed it by now? She touched the dragon's neck, the creature giving a loud snort.
When the sherooz and Jasper glanced at Demia, she caught Edward's gaze and signed: fire. He nodded his understanding. "Be fast," she whispered, yanking at the string.
As she pulled down on the reins, Edward twisted Demia's head toward the sherooz's feet, and Bella slammed her fist onto the snout. Demia's fiery exhale hit its target.
Edward leapt over Bella as she ducked away, his movement sending back a whiff of singed hair.
The sherooz's screams echoed in the cave as flames licked at his legs, the sound matching the baby's frenzied cries as Edward swept their child into his arms. In the same instant, Bella watched Jasper raise his gun and take aim. Still aflame, the sherooz jumped towards the cave mouth, scrambling under the lip, Jasper pursuing.
Edward pressed a wailing and slightly singed bundle into Bella's arms. "I've got her. She's alright."
Unwrapping the blanket, Bella wept with relief. Barring a tiny red spot on her heel, their daughter was unharmed.
Seconds later, Jasper stood at the cave mouth, rifle dangling from his hand. "He jumped off the ledge."
"Is he dead?" Edward asked.
"He's still burning, but not moving."
"Don't shoot then—it might draw them to us," Edward said, helping Bella lean back against Demia.
Still half-naked and almost numb with shock, Bella pushed again out of instinct, surprised by the afterbirth sliding out of her. Carefully, Edward tied off the ends, wrapped it up, and tucked it against the baby's back, swaddling it with her.
"We'll plant it," he said. "At home, beside mine."
Stepping away, he held the sherooz's now discarded scalpel to the flames before using it to cut the umbilical cord.
From his position keeping watch, Jasper would occasionally turn to grimly eye the little trio.
"Any sign of pursuit?" Edward asked. "Bella should try to feed her."
"Not yet, but there might be soon enough. Will you be able to ride, sister?"
At best, Bella felt like she could most likely pass out. "Probably not awake, but yes, with the harness I can stay on a dragon."
"Good. Then let's get your daughter fed and head out."