Pain cut through my body, but I couldn’t even scream.

“Hang on,” Queen Sarah said.

I had tried to hang on, to delay this as much as I could, but nothing had worked. The witches had found me hiding in the garden, trying to disguise the situation. Queen Sarah and Queen Rosilla took one look at me and knew. They brought me to an empty suite in the castle and started giving orders.

“Bring towels.”

“Bring water.”

“Bring scissors.”

“Find Drake,” I croaked.

“Stay quiet,” Queen Rosilla said. She put her hand on my forehead and a cold sensation spread through my face, down my neck. Her magic was almost soothing.

But then another jolt of pain ripped through me, and all I could do was grit my teeth. This wasn’t a contraction; this was torture. It had to be.

“Thea, stay with us,” Queen Sarah urged. “Keep your eyes open.”

My eyelids were too heavy, though. My entire body was. If I didn’t have this child soon, they would have to perform a C-section, because I wouldn’t be awake in a few minutes.

Queen Rosilla slapped my face. “Don’t you dare sleep now.”

Compared to the pain on the rest of my body, the slap felt like tickles.

I groaned and widened my eyes, trying to stay awake.

The suite doors burst open. “Thea!” Drake ran to my side. He sat at the edge of the mattress and took my hand in his. “What’s going on?”

“What do you think is going on?” Queen Sarah snapped. “Your daughter is about to be born.”

“But … it’s too soon.” His face paled. “We should have one more month at least.”

“The baby wants to come now,” Queen Rosilla said. “There’s nothing we can do to stop her.”

Drake leaned over me. “Thea …”

I tried smiling at him, but with the pain that cut through me making me want to curl into a ball, I was sure it was more like a grimace. “It’s okay, Drake. Just stay with me until the end.”

Because this was the end. I could feel it. The pain was just the beginning. By all that was sacred, I hoped I could hold my daughter once before I died.

Tears filled my eyes.

“All right,” Queen Sarah said. She covered my legs with a white bedsheet and took position in front of my bent knees. “Next time the pain increases, you’ll push. It’s gonna be a bitch, but you have to push.”

I nodded, afraid of this moment. Afraid of the pain I might feel. Afraid of hurting my daughter. Afraid that I might push and die before my daughter was born. If I didn’t resist until the end, the chances of her making it by herself were slim.

Queen Rosilla stood on the other side of the bed, a white towel in her hands.

The pain started in my lower back and spread down my legs, up my stomach. I gritted my teeth and pushed.

Suddenly, the world became a blur. My vision darkened until all I saw was faint silhouettes, and even the sounds faded, as if I was underwater.

“She’s fading away!”

“Thea, stay with us!”

“One more push. You can do this. Just one more.”

The words were a huge jumble, and it all made me more afraid.

Despite whatever they were saying, I pushed when the pain increased again, because I knew my child had to be born.

I squeezed Drake’s hand hard, gritted my teeth, curled my toes, raised my shoulders, and I pushed with everything I had left.

The faint sound of crying filled my ears—the only sound I could hear.

“How is she?” Drake asked. “Is she okay?”

Queen Sarah smiled at him. “Your daughter is perfect.”

All I wanted was to close my eyes and go to sleep forever, but I needed to do something first. “Give her to me,” I whispered.

Queen Rosilla wrapped my daughter in the white towel and deposited her in my arms. As if she knew she was with her mommy, the baby stopped crying. Realizing I had no strength left, Drake kept his hands around mine. I hugged the bundle of warmth as tears filled my eyes. A full mop of black hair, round, rosy cheeks, and a pink pout. Even though she was small for having been born before time, she was perfect. Completely perfect.

“Hi, sweetie.”

Drake kissed her forehead then mine. “I’m proud of you.”

I looked from our daughter to Drake, fighting the dark dots robbing me of my sight. “I love you. Both of you.”

“Don’t speak like that,” Queen Rosilla snapped.

“That isn’t goodbye yet,” Queen Sarah said.

Both queens placed their hands on my legs and sent their magic into me. I could feel it, but it was like water dripping through my fingers. It was refreshing for a second, but then it was gone. Still, they kept trying. And all it was doing was delaying the inevitable.

“Stop,” I told them, my voice breaking. “It isn’t working.”

“We know,” Queen Sarah said as she sent another jolt of magic into me. “But we have to keep trying.”

“Stop,” I said louder. “Please, stop.”

The queens pulled back their hands.

“Thea, please,” Drake whispered. “Don’t give up yet.”

I didn’t want to give up, but I also couldn’t hang on anymore. I was fading too fast, and I wanted to tell him goodbye before I left for good.

A tear rolled down my cheek. “It’s okay,” I lied. I wasn’t okay with this. I wanted to live a long life with the man I loved and my sweet daughter. I wanted to teach her magic and see her grow into her powers and become a great, fair Queen of All Witches.

Drake wiped the tear from my face. “Don’t leave us.”

What did he want me to say to that?

My vision darkened more and my head spun. I was losing the fight.

I placed a soft kiss on our daughter’s cheek. “Please, take good care of her.” I pressed my lips to his.

“Fight this, Thea,” Drake said, his voice breaking. “Please, keep fighting.”

I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, trusting he would catch our daughter when my arms failed.

The doors burst open a second time. “Wait!” a new voice shouted. “Thea, hang on.”

“You!” Queen Rosilla said.

“I can’t believe it,” Queen Sarah said.

I blinked, trying to focus my sight. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” the newcomer said. I blinked again and finally saw her. Bagatha stood beside Drake. “I think we can save you.”

Drake’s arms tensed. “What? How?”

She glanced at him. “Do you still have the Blood Amulet?”

He pulled the pendant from under his shirt. “Here.”

“And the heart of the Silverblood coven?”

“In my pocket,” I rasped.

Queen Sarah took it from my pocket.

“Good. Now follow my instructions,” Bagatha said. Her wand appeared in her hand and she placed it on my chest. “Set the Blood Amulet and the coven heart with my wand.” Queen Rosilla took my daughter from me. I didn’t want to let her go, but there was no strength in my arms. Like a good student, Drake did what Bagatha said. “Say these words out loud.” She showed him a ripped yellowed paper. “Then cut your palm and drip some of your blood on the wand, the heart, the amulet, and in Thea’s mouth.”

My stomach tightened. “W-what?”

“Just do it,” Bagatha urged.

Without hesitation, Drake followed her instructions. He rested the pulsing heart and the cold Blood Amulet on my chest. Next, he took out his dagger from the strap on his leg and cut his palm—a big gash. Blood oozed from his wound down to the heart and the amulet. Then he brought his hand to my mouth.

I clamped my lips.

“Thea, please, just drink it.”

I stared at Bagatha. “You’re not turning me into a vampire, are you?”

“No, dear,” she said. “I promise.”

Reluctantly, I opened my mouth. Drake squeezed his wound and blood filled my mouth. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed the blood before I could throw up.

“What now?” Drake asked.

“Just give it some time to work,” Bagatha said.

Still feeling like I could sleep for a thousand years, I closed my eyes and rested my head on Drake’s shoulder again.

“Stay awake, Thea,” he whispered. A few seconds passed and he spoke louder, “It isn’t working.”

“It should,” Bagatha said, sounding sure.

Well, it wasn’t. I felt the darkness coming, wrapping its thick arms around me, and cradling me, taking me away to its lair.

Until a jolt of energy cut through me, bringing in an explosion of light.

I jerked and gasped for air, as if I had been underwater for too long.

“Thea? Talk to me!” Drake held my shoulders.

Slowly, I sat up and opened my eyes. I took a moment to analyze how I felt. No darkness, no dizziness, no weakness. I hadn’t felt this energized and strong in months, even before I found out I was pregnant.

“I feel great.” I lifted my arms and looked down at my hands. My magic tingled under my skin, ready to be called upon. “My magic is back.”

“Thank goodness.” Drake cupped my hand and glued his lips to mine. With a huge, dazzling smile, he looked at Bagatha. “What was that? How did you find it?”

I beckoned for Queen Rosilla and she handed my daughter back to me. I cradled my baby, as tight as I could without hurting her, as emotion filled my chest. I was alive. I felt great. And I was holding a perfectly beautiful and healthy daughter.

Bagatha smiled at us. “After I told you about the Immortal Vow and how there was no way of saving Thea, I started my own research.” I remembered Drake saying he had visited Bagatha a couple of times to check if she had found anything. “But in the past month, I have visited several witch covens in a handful of countries. I talked to their queens and councils, searched their libraries and grimoires, until I found the oldest witch queen I had ever met. Queen Neith from the Blacklotus coven in Egypt is over six thousand years old. She has thousands of grimoires with every kind of spell you can imagine, and most of those spells were invented by her. Queen Neith didn’t have a specific spell to save Thea, so she made up one.”

Drake’s jaw hit the floor. “Are you saying it could have not worked?”

“Queen Neith is confident in her abilities,” Bagatha said. “According to her, all of her spells have worked so far.”

“Thank you,” I said. Tears brimmed in my eyes again. “You went to great lengths to save me, and you didn’t have to.”

She scoffed. “Of course I had to. You’re the mother of my successor.” She smiled at my daughter. “I know witches aren’t the motherly kind, but I had a feeling you’re about to change that, and I didn’t want to deprive this little girl from having her mother beside her.”

Drake smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Oh, one bit of information before I let you rest,” Bagatha said. “This spell used the magic of the Blood Amulet and the Silverblood’s heart, plus the remainder of my magic imbued to my wand, to link both of your lives.” I frowned. “Which means, it is Drake’s life force that sustains you now, Thea. You’ll live as long as he lives.”

Drake’s eyes widened. “You’re saying Thea is immortal now?”

She grinned. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Drake turned his bright green eyes to me. I knew he had been worried about that since the beginning of our relationship. I had no desire to become a vampire, but that meant I would one day die and he would be alone. But now, I could still be a simple witch and live with him forever. The relief was stamped in his handsome face.

Queen Sarah cleared her throat. “Did you say you put all of your magic in that wand, Bagatha?”

The old witch grabbed the wand and snapped it, breaking it in half like a useless little twig. “Yes. And it’s all gone now.”

“That’s crazy,” Queen Sarah barked.

Bagatha grabbed the queen’s arm. “Thea and the baby need to rest now. We can talk about this outside.”

Queen Rosilla followed them to the door. She said, “Call us if you need anything,” before exiting the room and closing the door behind them.

Drake embraced our daughter and me. “I don’t think I could be happier.”

“Me neither,” I confessed. I looked down at our baby. “We still haven’t named her.”

“She’ll be known in the entire supernatural world. We should choose a strong name for her.”

I stared at the sleeping bug in my arms. I couldn’t believe I had just escaped death and was now destined to live forever with the man I loved and my powerful daughter. Life was too perfect and I had never felt this happy.

“I have an idea,” I said.

“Tell me.”

I smiled. “Her name will be Aurora.”