Chapter Seventeen
Riya had little choice but to commit herself whole-heartedly to the fall, momentum and gravity would not be denied. Just managing to push off the railing with one boot, thrusting them away from the building. No way was she letting asshole Shadow dude cling to any nearby surfaces. He’d been prepared to send her plummeting eighty-four storeys to her death, it was only fair that Riya return the favour.
It wasn’t until the air was whistling noisily past her ears that she had a brief second to consider how blood-thirsty she was acting. Usually Riya was an advocate of non-aggressive problem solving avenues, but this time… no, she’d had to stand there and watch this vicious moron almost kill Marcus. Watch the Warrior turn blue as he kicked out frantically trying to reach the floor.
No one got to hurt someone that belonged to her. Someone that she loved… loved? Thankfully a large raindrop hit her square in the left eye and snapped Riya out of her thoughts.
She was falling eighty-four floors here, time to get serious. Thankfully the bridesmaid dress was muffling the Shadow Stalker’s screams of terror as they fell and was keeping his flailing to a minimum. And while an eighty-four storey drop was doable, being a half-dragon, the landing would still be hellaciously jarring if Riya didn’t begin to do something to change her current rate of acceleration.
Grabbing hold of the bridesmaid dress, she found herself having to yell over the pouring rain. “Enough playtime. We have things to do.”
The dress unfurled, revealing the Stalker, and just for a moment Riya could see into wide terror filled black eyes, his jagged screams battering her eardrums. Now that he could see Riya, the Shadow Stalker began to instinctively claw at her in panic, as if by doing so she could somehow save him.
Not this bitch, asshole.
She snapped up the bridesmaid dress, which was perfectly dry. The things were an absolute nightmare to clean, and the local Southern Sanctuary drycleaners always demanded hazard pay on top of their normal astronomical fee for dealing with a sentient creature. But at this moment Riya could only be thankful for the impervious material as it billowed upwards, acting like a parachute.
Riya watched hope blossom on the Stalker’s drenched solid but eerily black face as he realised what she was doing. Yeah, no. She head-butted him right between the eyes, in pain, Shadow guy wrenched back, letting her go. Pin wheeling, he dropped away from her faster and faster. It had been his decision to pursue a life of crime… fate, destiny, had left Riya with a choice, they could both die, or she could save herself.
Riya hitched her shoulders slightly, letting more air into her makeshift parachute, twenty floors to go. She swung to the right, tipping the material so that a gusty blast of wind could fill it even more.
A childhood spent jumping from high place, or too often being pushed off by her annoying brothers had not been wasted. She understood velocity, slipstreams and air currents. Plus, there was the whole being half-dragon. She had an innate ability to beat at the air by twisting her body rapidly, effectively slowing her momentum.
Ten floors to go. Riya ignored the sound of the Shadow Stalkers screams abruptly cutting off in conjunction with a sickening thud. Jerking her body, she pulled sharply down with her left arm, she so didn’t want to land in that mess. Luckily the sudden torrential downpour had sent any nearby pedestrians running for cover long ago.
Riya looked down, five more floors to go, ooh, that grass looked soft. She tugged hard again, her body swinging through the air and veering out further still. She might not be able to fly, but she could sure as hell fall really well. And then she was down. Knees absorbing the impact. Legs shaking slightly, she dropped to the wet grass, grateful as Hadleigh’s dress dropped over her shoulders like a protective cape. Absently she stroked it in thanks.
That had been seriously awful… and kind of fun. Her adrenalin levels crashing hard. Marcus was safe. The Shadow Stalker was dead. Only one little problem, she’d dropped the fire ruby during the free fall portion of her descent. Damn. She should probably go look for that. In just a minute… maybe two.
* * *
Marcus’s heart stopped the moment Riya flipped over that railing. He yelled a protest, a warning, a denial. No, no, it couldn’t end like this. He hadn’t told her… told her how he felt. How she was the only woman who had never taken shit from him. How he secretly revelled in the way she bullied and cared for him in equal measure. Who made him laugh. Who made him realise that the weight of the world didn’t rest solely on his shoulders alone.
Who teased him one moment. Exasperated him the next. Then made him crazy with desire the moment after that. How she surprised him at every turn. With her courage. Her determination. Her cheerful attitude that should annoy the hell out of him, and did, but also turned him on.
Maat. He prayed desperately to his Goddess to interfere, to save her. He gripped the railing so hard the metal warped. Every instinct he had was to rescue Riya, but jumping over and falling to his own death would have been a futile gesture. Still, he must have made some instinctive move because Rafe’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, keeping him locked in place.
Shit. Shit. He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t not. Fucking hell, Riya, what were you thinking handing over the chaos ruby? By the Sands, if he could go back in time… change it all. He should have fought harder. He gripped the railing tighter, to support his suddenly frozen legs. His whole body felt numb. Grief, he was numb with grief.
Marcus blinked the rain out of his eyes, then reached up to wipe the moisture away… what the… he watched as Riya grabbed the bridesmaid dress, tearing it away from the Shadow Stalker and throwing it skywards, astounded as it filled with air.
His heart began to beat again, one tentative throb. Another as Riya head-butted the Shadow Stalker and he fell away, Riya bobbing upwards ever so slightly as the dress filled with even more air, slowing her descent.
Shit, shit, what had she said to him once? That she could fall really really well, and like the dolt he was, he hadn’t given her blithe comment any credence. Marcus’s heart began to speed up as Riya veered off to the side, slamming into the grassy lawn that edged the front of the building. “Fuck. Fuck.” He had never been so happy and so bloody angry in his life.
His fellow Warriors let out various whoops of relief and cheers of joy but Marcus couldn’t do anything but stand there as anger swept aside the cold frozen feeling that had swamped him. That rage burnt away all the numbness and grief. How dare she. How dare she take such an insane risk. Anything could have gone wrong. The Stalker might have had a gun, or a knife. Refused to let go. A wind sheer might have slammed her into the building, knocking her unconscious.
Shit. He had to get down there, check if Riya really was alright. And then… then he would shake some damn sense into her. “I-” Marcus didn’t have to finish the sentence, his brothers-in-arms knew him too well.
“Here.” Nate was holding out the rappelling gear that he’d fetched from the store of weapons and mission gear that Marcus kept in his apartment.
Marcus barely bothered to check the belt and ties were secure before he launched himself over the buckled railing and began running down the side of Maat Tower. It probably took him twenty seconds to reach the ground. Another ten seconds to shed the gear. But it felt like hours before he was striding across the forecourt, rain pounding against his head, soaking him completely.
Marcus barely bothered to glance at the Shadow Stalker’s remains except to briefly acknowledge the weirdness that the Stalker bled red. Then he was on the grass, carefully assessing Riya, checking to ensure she was okay.
Riya was in the process of getting up. Her bare knees grass stained, her clothes and hair plastered to her. The bridesmaid dress was draped over her shoulders like a lumpy swamp coloured superhero cape.
She’d watched Marcus run down the side of the Tower. Damn, that looked like fun. And didn’t he look way hot doing his action man stuff. Getting to her legs to greet him, she smiled, pleased to see him. She could use a congratulatory hug right about now. She’d saved the day, but her knees were still kind of shaky.
Riya’s smile froze, then disappeared as she noted the look on Marcus’s face, dark and threatening. The man looked beyond pissed. Oh shit, he knew. How? She’d only just realised herself a moment ago. But it couldn’t have gotten too far. It was a chaos ruby, it didn’t have legs.
She’d dropped it, understandable, given her attention had been focused on not dying. But she would be more than happy to help look for it.
Marcus stopped three feet away, fists clenched, fighting the urge to grab Riya by the shoulders and shake her until she promised to never do anything like that again. His heart couldn’t take it. “Of all the reckless… idiotic… stupid things to do.”
Stupid? That was going a bit far. She’d been grappling with the Shadow Stalker and trying to hold on to the bridesmaid dress at the same time. Given the rain, anyone could have dropped that slippery little sucker. Riya opened her mouth to defend herself but Marcus wasn’t finished.
“What you did? It was without doubt the most asinine, foolhardy, insane-”
Okay, now Riya was starting to feel a tad angry. She’d instigated a risky plan. And okay, it hadn’t turned out perfectly, but if the man would just stop yelling at her they could look for the stupid thing. It wasn’t like it shattered on impact or anything, Marcus had told her himself the rubies were all but indestructible.
“Deranged. Flat out bonkers. Ill-considered. And just downright selfish.” The woman standing before him didn’t seem to have the least idea or even a modicum of contrition that the sight of her falling over that railing had almost ended him.
Riya bit back a sigh. Honestly, the man could rant for the Olympics. Momentarily, she was distracted from listening to Marcus vent his outrage because a bush about twenty feet away suddenly burst into flames. “Found it.” She crowed, reaching over to grab the closed fist Marcus was shaking at her. “Look, it’s right over there.”
Marcus tossed a brief look over his shoulder before directing a glare back at Riya. “You think I care about the fucking ruby?”
“I thought you were upset that I lost it.” Riya found herself scowling up at him. “Hold on. Why are you yelling at me?”
“Because you fell off a fucking building, that’s why.” Marcus yelled.
Riya’s scowl deepened. “I know that. I was there.”
Marcus grit his teeth together but still a deep throated irritated sound emerged.
“Why are you growling at me? You’re in one piece. I’m fine. The ruby is right over there… hmmm, spontaneous burning bush, we probably want to put that out before a church group drives by. And okay, I know the Shadow Stalker went splat.” She was so not looking in that direction, especially since the rain was starting to lighten and the clouds lift slightly. “And you probably wanted to interrogate him, but the circumstances were kind of out of my control.”
“You…” Marcus was at a loss for words, he was never at a loss for words but Riya’s blithe inability to see that she had almost died was eating him up inside. How dare she take such a risk. How dare she scare him so badly. How dare she stand in front of him, looking wet, bedraggled and gorgeous, wearing his black shirt that was clinging to her like a second skin.
Riya’s attention flicked back over Marcus’s shoulder as a second bush began to burn. Reaching up she grabbed the bridesmaid dress and placed in on the grass. “Fetch.” The lumpy ball of material eagerly rolled off to reclaim its prize. “Look, I know I probably could have tried harder… to save the Stalker, but he was an asshole.” And he hurt you… was going to kill you. But she didn’t say that, because she didn’t want Marcus to know that she was prepared to kill for him because she loved him. It wasn’t going to do her a damn bit of good to admit how she felt for him.
Marcus was sure any moment now his teeth would pulverise into dust from gritting them so hard. He would not touch her, he would not, if he did, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to let Riya go. “I don’t care about the Stalker.”
“You don’t?” Riya was beyond stumped. “And you say you don’t care about the ruby? So what the hell do you care about that’s got you acting like a lunatic? I had everything under control. Come on, you have to admit that giving him the fire ruby was a stroke of genius?” Riya smiled his way in triumph.
Marcus saw red. That damn plan of hers had almost gotten her killed and she was smiling? He reached out for her, gripping Riya by the shoulders and pulling her forward abruptly. With absolutely no finesse he kissed her. He couldn’t help himself. He needed to touch her, taste her, reassure himself that she was here, alive and unhurt. Fuck, when he thought she was dead his heart had just stopped, and a black chasm of pain had crashed over him.
He couldn’t… wouldn’t go through that again. The only reason Riya had nearly been killed today and at the Montague by the Fire and Ice Demons was because of him, because he’d pulled her into his world and asked her to help with Dimity. Shit, if he’d just left well enough alone she’d be safe and sound back in the Southern Sanctuary, sewing clothes of destiny and setting up other people to face their Fate. Not dicing with her own in increasingly dangerous ways.
Riya enjoyed the lip lock. Her fingers bunching the drenched material of Marcus’s top, pulling him close. Sinking into his hold, his kiss. Damn, the man was addictive. She shivered slightly as his body heat sent her temperature spiking a few degrees.
And double damn, she was clinging to him like some weak-kneed heroine. Even after he’d just called her asinine, foolhardy, and idiotic, right to her face. Seriously, he’d stood not four feet away and called her stupid. And what did she do? She let the big, irritating doofus kiss her. Because she really must be stupid.
She’d known from the look in Marcus’s eyes when she’d fetched the fire ruby that he had serious doubts that she had any idea what she was doing. But hadn’t they spent enough time together by now? Hadn’t she proven herself over and over again that she could handle herself?
She’d tamed Dimity. She’d slain the Fire Demon. She’d distracted the Ice Demon. And she’d sure as fuck manipulated the hell out of the Shadow Stalker. Okay, that last bit of falling off the very tall building hadn’t been part of her initial plan. But she’d improvised. Risen to the challenge and dealt with the extenuating circumstances.
But at any stage today had Charming given her the benefit of the doubt?
No, of course not. He probably thought her time would be better spent hemming dresses and sewing back on buttons. Condescending… arrogant… infuriating… man. And she was still kissing him! Triple damn, this man was going to break her heart, there was no two ways about it.
She hadn’t signed anything, she should totally leave now. Cut all ties and walk… no, run away. Which was cowardly, sure. It might be too late for her heart. But it wasn’t too late for her dignity.
Riya pushed Marcus away, staring up at him. They both panted hard. The rain had almost stopped, only a light mist continuing to fall. Riya shuddered slightly as Hadleigh’s bridesmaid dress rubbed up against her leg, all but purring… ick. It was radiating a soft heat so she was guessing it had recaptured its favourite red toy. And the burning shrubbery had pretty much fizzled out thanks to the soaking downpour.
“I-”
“I-”
They both started to talk, then stopped.
She should tell him she was leaving.
He should tell her to leave.
Silence stretched between them. Blue eyes locked with hazel. Inches separated them. Marcus still had a grip on her upper arms. Riya still clutched at his top, fisting the material.
They both opened their mouths to speak again but the loud ring tone of a cell phone interrupted them. It was a strident high pitched sound.
“That’s the emergency code.” Marcus yanked out his phone, staring at the screen, his face suddenly leeching of all colour.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Vaughn, Hadleigh’s in trouble.”
* * *
Hadleigh had commandeered the main bathroom in the apartment so she could get ready for tonight’s scheduled romantic dinner with her husband. She’d taken a long warm shower. Applied a loofah to all the bits she could reach and deep conditioned her hair.
The bathroom came stocked with some seriously high end products that smelt divine. So after drying off she’d taken a couple of minutes to rub in some thick creamy moisturizer. Not forgetting her protruding belly. Lump seeming to enjoy the short lived massage, basically remaining still and content under her ministrations.
Turning sideways, glaring at her profile in the bathroom mirror, Hadleigh couldn’t help but think that it looked as if she’d swallowed a basketball. Better not to dwell on that. Quickly she donned her dress. Sleeveless, it fell to her knees, the material a shimmering bronze. Riya had out done herself. It was perfect for the restaurant Hadleigh had chosen for tonight. Even better, the flowing material shimmered dark bronze one moment, light and coppery the next, almost managing to mitigate her over abundant pregnancy curve appeal.
In the bedroom Hadleigh contemplated the incredibly awkward task of putting on her matching glittery bronze sandals, also provided by Riya, when the Tower alarms sounded.
Shit, Hadleigh ignored the footwear and dashed out of the bedroom into the main living area. Vaughn was already there, dressed in navy trousers, with a white shirt that had fine navy and light blue lines running through it. For tonight’s special event he’d eschewed his normal steel capped footwear and had donned navy brogues.
Vaughn was pacing the living room, listening to the earpiece he must have shoved in the moment the alarms sounded. He was absently pushing back his still damp from the shower white blonde hair as he paced.
Hadleigh winced as the alarms continued to batter her eardrums, moving to sit on the armrest of the nearest sofa. Hmm, she rubbed her lower back absently, trying to determine from Vaughn’s side of the conversation what was going on.
That was suddenly made easier as the alarms were silenced. Sweet relief. Vaughn plucked out the earpiece, turning to face Hadleigh. A big grin lifting up the corners of his lips. “You look edible.”
Hadleigh rolled her eyes, even as a warm glow set up shop low in her body. Only her husband could find the time to flirt with her when there was a crisis occurring. “What’s going on?”
“Intruder. The guys have it covered.” Vaughn closed the distance between them, bending over to place a soft kiss on his gorgeous, glowing wife’s lips. “And no, they don’t need our help. We have dinner plans, remember?”
Hadleigh wanted to protest, a manhunt sounded like fun, but she needed to face the facts, no one wanted a nine-month pregnant Warrior woman stumbling around making a hash of things. “They have him? We can go?”
“Not yet.” Vaughn tucked a red curl back behind Hadleigh’s ear. “But I’m sure it won’t be too much longer… what to do… what to do, while we wait?” He leaned over, nuzzling soft kisses along the side of her exposed throat.
Hadleigh pushed her meld mate away, but not very hard. “We have reservations; we are not going to get side-tracked. I want the third date I never got to have.”
Vaughn chuffed a soft laugh, grabbing Hadleigh’s hand as he straightened up, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. “Hmmm, I never did get to tell you the rules regarding third dates, did I?”
“I’m all ears, Viking.”
“Prepare to be shocked. Tonight, there will be lots of gazing deeply into one another’s eyes across the table.”
“Sounds a little tame.”
“Ah, but I haven’t told you what will be happening under the table. My fingers will be doing a little exploring, inching up higher and higher over those lithe thighs of yours and then higher still-”
“Where you will discover I’m wearing cotton maternity knickers that could double as a main sail for a small boat.”
“Oh, I love it when you talk dirty. Such a tease.” He leaned down for another quick kiss. “And just where are you taking me this evening?”
“I made a booking at Heirloom.”
“Hmm, Korean barbeque, good choice.”
“Yes, and while you chew your way through several slabs of ribs, I thought we might talk about the baby.”
“You did?” Vaughn’s eyes widened, but he reined in his desire to pepper her with questions. He didn’t want to spook Hadleigh. “What did you have in mind?”
“For a start, I thought we might discuss names.”
“I’ve nominated my favourites. I told you. Magnhild, if it’s a girl. Eerikki, if it’s a boy.”
“I love you Viking, but no. Can you just imagine the bullying?”
Vaughn shook his head, scoffing. “As if a child of ours would ever get picked on.”
“No, with those names they’d be the one doing the picking. Throw a couple more options into the ring.”
“What about you? Don’t you have any preferences?”
Hadleigh shrugged. “I know what I don’t want to call Lump.”
“You know that attitude is kind of irritating, you must have some preference?”
“Lump is just to Lump to me.”
Vaughn smiled. “Hard to believe that Lump will be making an appearance any day now.”
“You sure you’re okay with us resettling in the Southern Sanctuary?”
“I’m sure. Your house is perfect for a family. We’ll have babysitters on tap. And with the Transportal I… we, can be here at Maat Tower within seconds.”
“Yes.” Hadleigh stood up, damn, her back was annoying her, luckily her sandals were flats. Speaking of which. “Would you grab my sandals from the bedroom? And I could use a little help getting them on.”
Vaughn squeezed her hand before letting go. “It would be my pleasure.” In a matter of moments he was back. “Here you-” His words cut off as Hadleigh abruptly dropped to the floor, clutching her stomach. “Hadleigh!” He was by her side in under a second. “What is it? Is it the baby?” Shit, he hated the expression of tense frozen pain on Hadleigh’s face, her whole body rigid. He was scared to touch her in case he made things worse.
The pain finally began to ease, Hadleigh could only equate it to the time she’d taken a knife to the gut. Except, she gasped as another jolt of pain ripped through her. This was like being stabbed multiple times. Gasping for breath, Hadleigh clutched at Vaughn’s arm, squeezing hard until the pain dissipated finally. Poor Vaughn, he was white as a sheet. The least she could do was try and lessen the tension. “Ouch.” She announced.
“Ouch?” Vaughn queried from between gritted teeth.
“I’m trying to cut down on my swearing, especially now with the baby coming-” Hadleigh’s teeth locked together as another sharp pain ripped through her lower belly. What happened to the gently escalating spaced widely apart contractions she had been promised in the birthing class Vaughn had dragged her to? What a waste those six sessions had been.
“Coming? The baby is coming?” Vaughn spluttered. He’d prepared, he’d studied, he’d run through simulations… without Hadleigh present of course. But now that it was time, seeing Hadleigh in such pain, he felt frozen.
“Don’t just sit there, Tootsie Roll.” The Goddess Maat was suddenly standing behind Vaughn, cuffing him up the back of the head, knocking some sense into him. Yes, up. He scooped Hadleigh up into his arms carefully, even as another contraction ripped through her. The pain. He hated seeing her in so much pain.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Maat queried, her sandstorm coloured eyes twirling slowly.
“The Transportal. Downstairs. Need to get her…” Another contraction jolted through Hadleigh. “… to the Sanctuary Clinic.”
Maat, dressed in cream coloured yoga pants and a matching fitted long sleeve top that contrasted perfectly with her light coffee coloured skin shook her head sharply. “You don’t have time for that. Get her on the bed.”
Vaughn changed direction obediently, stopping abruptly at the bedroom door because Hadleigh had reached out, grabbing the doorframe bringing them to a halt. Hadleigh visibly winced, her breath jagged, staring at Maat over Vaughn’s shoulder. “No. You are not going to be in the delivery room.” Breathe. Gasp. Breathe.
“But, Sugar Plum-”
“No. You wait out here like any normal Grandparent.’
Maat’s eyes widened for a moment, then she grinned in delight. “Grandparent?” The door swinging shut in her face with a resounding thud.
Vaughn placed Hadleigh carefully on the bed, wincing in sympathy as she tried to curl into a ball as another contraction struck. Shit, shit, come on, he had practised what to do in an emergency. What was it again? Oh, yes, he pulled out his phone and hit the alarm, action stations everyone, he needed his Warriors by his side and he needed Nell, Hadleigh’s cousin and consummate Healer here… now.
This baby was coming.
The smile dropped from his face as Hadleigh emitted a low, harsh moan.
Shit, the baby was coming.