After Daye’s first defeat, Carlos had a tunnel dug into Daye’s fortress. It was deep under a mountain with only one entrance – that she knew of. The side tunnel, the one Carlos had put in in case he ever needed to lay siege to this place again, was open. It was so narrow that he and Pan had to go through in single file and, at some points, even crawl, but they made their way quickly enough to the throne room.

It was utterly deserted. The two of them crouched just inside the tunnel, staring down from the shadows. The last time he was here, Carlos had to walk over the bodies of dozens of fae: vampire, demon, many others. Now, the only sign that anybody had been there was the fire crackling in a central pit.

“Look.” Pan gestured, his voice low. “Empty clothes. Daye must have consumed the bounty hunters that brought Belinda to her.”

“And her demons. She’s banking on her own power rather than an army.”

A scream pierced the air. Carlos’ heart stopped. Belinda. It was Belinda’s voice. He made to throw himself from their hiding spot, to rush through the corridors until he found her and pulled her from Daye’s clutches. Pan’s hand shot out, stopping him.

“Let go!”

“Think.” Pan grasped both of his shoulders and pressed him into the wall. “Carlos, if Daye knows we’re here, we can’t just go rushing blindly in there. She’ll kill Belinda and then us. We have to have a plan.”

Pan was right, of course. Carlos sagged for a moment. He was right –but when Belinda screamed again, he didn’t care. It was a trap – of course it was – but Carlos had defeated the demon before. And if he waited? Daye could be consuming Belinda even now. He couldn’t waste time thinking when his love was in danger.

He shoved Pan away and leaped from the high spot. He hit the floor with a grunt and rolled several times before coming to a stop. There, he leaped to his feet and pulled his ax from where it was strapped to his back. Belinda’s screams still rang in his ears and he took only a moment to determine where it was coming from before rushing off. There was a soft thud behind him and then Pan was by his side, twin daggers in his hands. Carlos grinned and ran with another burst of speed.

They found Daye deep in her fortress, in a room with molten walls. A dozen demons crouched around her where she stood, arms raised, head thrown back. Laughter rang from her throat, almost louder than Belinda’s screams. Her stomach was distended, rippling with movement – as though there was a monster inside of her trying to break free. Carlos didn’t spare any time thinking about what Daye was doing, what she was after.

With a shout, he charged into the room. His ax sliced cleanly through the neck of a demon as it jumped to its feet. Pan stabbed two of them at once.

“Stop!” Daye called out.

Her demons retreated back from the two of them. Their eyes glowed and their lips curled back. Carlos made to follow them, intending to kill them all, but Belinda’s screams cut out abruptly. She whimpered in pain but the rippling in her stomach ceased. Pan grabbed Carlos’ arm and he stopped. His gaze remained locked on Daye even though he desperately wanted to run to Belinda and gather her into his arms.

“It seems my plan must be adjusted,” Daye cooed. “The child is ready. I will take it anyway, but you, my dear Carlos . . . You can die with your lover.”

A blade flashed in her hand. Carlos let out a strangled shout and threw himself forward. His ax cut through the air and a demon’s head. He hurled the body at Daye; it struck her chest, making her stumble back. The knife in her hand snapped off as it stabbed into the stone table Belinda was bound to. She let out a cry, but Carlos focused on what he needed to do.

Pan jumped into the fray beside him, quickly drawing the demons to him. It left Carlos’ path to Daye clear. He charged the demoness as she summoned a blade of fire. When his ax struck it, the blow reverberated up his arms. Daye shoved at him, making him stumble back, but he didn’t slow. He swung the ax again, this time aiming at Daye’s neck. She jumped away from him and danced closer, her fiery blade stabbing toward his heart. He used his blade to deflect it, then hurled himself forward. His forehead smashed into her face. A satisfying crack rang out.

“Carlos . . . ” Belinda’s voice was weak.

“Hold on!” he shouted to her.

Daye’s foot slipped and Carlos pressed his advantage. He growled low in his throat as he blocked the sword again and used the handle of his ax to smash into Daye’s already broken nose.

Daye let loose a howl. She dropped her sword and grabbed the ax’s handle. Carlos jerked as she swung him around. He hit the wall hard and had to drop at once. His ax buried itself into the molten wall. Lava began to drip down the blade. Daye pulled it free again and brought it down toward his head. He was just able to roll free.

Behind Daye, Pan slit the throat of the last demon. His daggers flashed in his hands as he turned to where Carlos fought his enemy.

The king dodged another blow and gestured toward Belinda. Pan looked conflicted for a moment before dodging forward and cutting her free. Belinda whimpered, but Daye didn’t turn around. She came at Carlos again. He struck her hand aside and lunged. His teeth sunk deep into the demon’s arm and she withdrew with a howl. The ax clattered to the floor.

“I will kill you!”

Pan disappeared down the corridor, Belinda in his arms.

Daye screeched and grabbed the back of Carlos’ head. She made to throw him into the wall, but he buckled his body. His boots immediately began to burn as he braced himself against the wall, but the leverage allowed him to push both himself and Daye back. She stumbled and fell. Carlos rolled away from her and kicked her in the face.

The two of them faced off, one against the other. Daye’s glance flickered to the empty table and she snarled. Carlos grinned.

“I won’t let you win,” Daye panted. “Not again. Not after you killed all my boys. I will destroy you, I swear it.”

“You see, that’s why you can’t win.” Carlos sidestepped a punch and spun towards the table. He grabbed the broken blade and dodged close to Daye again. The blade cut into his palms as he thrust it into her, angled upwards under her ribs. “I’m fighting for far more than revenge.”

Daye’s eyes widened. Her fingers grasped at his throat. But when he twisted the blade, her eyes went blank and her body slackened. She dropped. Two ragged breaths, and then nothing. Carlos leaned against the sacrificial table, panting as he fought to catch his breath. Then he picked up his ax again and left the room.

He turned back once to hurl his weapon into the wall; the magic barrier split and lava poured from the wound; it consumed Daye’s body and the rest of the demons, thick smoke billowing as the corpses burned away.

It was over.

***

“Carlos,” Belinda begged as Pan laid her down on the floor. The blinding pain had gone but she knew something was wrong still. She didn’t need to see the panic in his violet eyes to know that.

“He’s coming,” Pan promised. He squeezed her hand. “See? He’s here.”

Carlos dropped to his knees beside her. She had seen no fear in him when he had fought against the demon but here, now, panic was all she saw. Her spine felt like it was being bent in half and her stomach felt like it was going to rip in half at any moment. A thousand words crossed her mind but she didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t let our baby die,” she gasped out finally. “Please. Don’t let him die.”

“I won’t. I won’t let either of you die.” Carlos’ hands pressed to either side of her face as he kissed her. “I promise. You aren’t going to die.”

She found his hand and clung to it. Everything was starting to get fuzzy and dark at the edges, but she pushed it aside. Her chest was tight now, her heart pounding. Her fingers curled into his shirt as she fought to tell him everything else he needed to know.

“Pan?” Carlos looked at his manservant. “Your magic, it can—”

“It can’t undo this amount of damage.” Belinda became aware that Pan’s long fingers were probing her body. He made an angry noise in his throat. “This child has to be born. We don’t have time. Her body can’t take the strain.”

“Save our baby,” she begged. “Even if it kills me, save our baby.”

Pan’s face loomed over hers. He pulled at her skin, checking her eyes and gums. “You aren’t going to die. But you’ll have to drink Carlos’ blood. It’s the only way to save you.”

“The baby,” she whispered.

Carlos’ face replaced Pan’s. “You have to be strong for the baby.”

He drew a knife across his wrist and held it to her lips. His blood tasted like nothing. She swallowed but her whole body felt like it was acting on its own. She wasn’t even sure that there was anything going down her throat. The fuzziness grew worse until she couldn’t see either of their faces. Just blurs where she knew the men were.

“I love you,” Carlos whispered in her ear. “Hang in there, Belinda. I love you. I won’t let you die.”

Everything went black.

“No!” Carlos pressed his bleeding wrist harder to Belinda’s mouth as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. “Stay with me! Belinda, stay with me. Please. Please don’t leave me.”

“Carlos, the baby is still growing.”

Carlos ignored Pan. He slashed his wrist again, deeper, to make the blood flow more thickly. Belinda still swallowed it down. Though her eyes were half-closed and she didn’t move, she still swallowed. An instinctive response when presented with vampire blood?

Pan grabbed his arm. “Listen to me! The baby is still growing. I can’t stop it. I have to have hands on it. If this continues, no amount of blood will save her.”

Wide, panicked eyes turned toward him. Pan’s gaze was determined. He grabbed the blade that Carlos used to cut himself and pressed it to Belinda’s stomach. Despite himself, Carlos cried out in protest. He grabbed Pan’s wrist. His manservant gave him a hard look.

“It’s the only way. Carlos, either we cut her open and risk killing her to save this baby, or they both die. Keep feeding her your blood. With any luck —”

“Do it.” Carlos’ voice was rough. He tried not to think. Not about what might happen, not about anything but fulfilling Belinda's pleading to save the baby.

Perhaps her last wish.

He pushed the thought away. The adrenaline in his system was healing the wound in his wrist and so he bit deep into the other and switched them, still pouring blood down Belinda’s throat. She sucked on his wrist like a baby suckling on its mother’s breast. She didn’t even flinch as Pan pressed the blade into her stomach.

Carlos had to look away.

“It’s going to be okay,” he promised Belinda, switching out his wrists again. “I promise you. You’re going to be fine and we’ll raise this baby together. He’s going to be the best little prince ever and you, my beloved Belinda, will be the queen of my kingdom and heart. I will always be with you. You’ll never feel unwanted again. I want you, my love. I want you more than anything in this world.”

Pan let out a triumphant shout. There was a quick slap and then a baby started to cry. Carlos twisted despite himself. Pan tossed his own shirt over Belinda’s stomach as he did so. The small child in his arms was growing, slowly but surely. It writhed, kicking out its legs as it cried.

“Save him,” Carlos whispered.

Pan cuddled the baby close to his chest and began to chant. The sweet apple scent of his magic swept through the room. The baby’s cries softened and the visible growing stopped. Carlos turned back to Belinda; her rosy skin was pale, almost white. A pained cry tore from him. The noise came from behind him and he snarled under his breath but didn’t move except to reopen the wound on his wrist.

“In here,” Pan shouted. “We need a medkit!”

Carlos moved so he was holding Belinda as his men poured into the room. Many of them stopped at the scene before them but the doctor pushed through. She dropped to her knees beside them and immediately started to work.

“She needs a transfusion,” the doctor murmured. “My king? We need to get her back to the palace at once.”

Carlos pressed a wild, panicked kiss to Belinda’s head before allowing himself to be shuffled to one side. Another vampire took his place, feeding her his blood. He trembled from head to foot as the doctor ordered for Belinda to be put on a stretcher and carried out. Pan ordered the rest of the men to sweep the fortress and kill any demons left over before turning to the king.

“Your son,” he whispered, pressing the baby into his arms.

The baby stared at him with amber-brown eyes. Small puckered lips searched for something to eat and little fists waved in the air. Carlos held him close to his chest. His knees buckled as he clung to his son and sobbed.