Drake’s face was terribly pale as he carried me inside the house and laid me on the couch.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice trembling. He ran a hand over my forehead, down my messy hair. “Thea, talk to me.”

Thomas appeared behind Drake. “I think she’s too weak to talk.”

Drake snapped his head to Thomas. “I thought I told you to take her away.”

“I tried, but she wasn’t having it.” He looked down at his hands. “It isn’t like I can grab her and drag her off.”

Drake ran a hand through his hair, then leaned over me. “I know you’re not okay. Tell me what it is so I can help you.”

“I’m f-fine,” I lied, my voice barely a whisper. The last bit of magic had drained me completely. I knew most of the power had been borrowed from our daughter, but it had still coursed through me and taken my energy. Pain pinched every inch of my body, but I was too numb and tired to cry. “I’ll be fine.”

“The hell you will,” Drake barked. Tears filled his eyes. “There has to be something I can do.” He rested his hand on my belly. A second later, our daughter kicked, right at his hand. His eyes widened. “Did you feel that?”

I offered him a small smile. I had no idea it was so great to watch him this excited about our kid. “I did. I think she wants to give you a high five.”

He placed his other hand on my stomach. “I’m here, sweetie.” As if she knew exactly where he was touching, our daughter kicked again, directly under his palms. Drake smiled.

Power bloomed inside me. Feeling it, Drake sucked in a sharp breath. It was slow at first, but it spread quickly. While the power he had used to defeat Morda had rushed through me and out of me and taken some of my magic with it, it was different this time. This magic warmed my core and soothed me from the inside out. My muscles relaxed, the pain faded, the dizziness disappeared. I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, letting it all refresh me.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt better than I had in months. I wasn’t pain free, or exhaustion free, but at least I could move on my own without being afraid of collapsing in half a second.

“What happened?” Thomas asked. He and Drake had a similar expression: round eyes, slack jaw, and tight shoulders.

I sat up and looked down at my body. “I think she gave me some of her magic.”

Drake kissed my belly. “Thank you,” he whispered, putting another smile on my lips.

Then I saw the blood smeared on his ripped shirt. “You’re hurt.” I reached for him.

Drake opened his shirt and showed his wound to me. “It wasn’t deep and it’s already healing.”

“But we can still apply some salve on it.” I started to get up, but Drake held me down.

“I’ll be fine. It’ll be all healed soon.” He looked up at me. “I hate leaving you alone again, but if you’re okay, I should go back to Castle DuMoir and check how things are going. Though, this time you should hide somewhere in the forest instead of being here alone.”

I shook my head. “I’m well enough to go with you.”

Drake frowned. “No, no. What if they are still fighting?”

I took his hands in mine. “All the more reason you might need me there. Besides, Morda is down. The heart is with us. All I need to do is tell the Silverblood witches to stop fighting. We can deal with the ones who don’t agree with me.”

It took a little more convincing and a few more words, but Drake finally relented. After I changed my shoes to sturdier ones, Thomas, Drake, and I went to Castle DuMoir.

To our surprise, the fighting had already ended—the Silverblood witches had either been killed or surrendered—but the tension was high in the air.

The dining room was crowded: Luana stood with the werewolves on one side, some of the princes stood with the vampires in the center, and Queen Sarah and Queen Rosilla were among the witches. All of them were snapping at each other, even the witches, and they seemed ready to start another fight.

Keeran saw us entering the room and rushed to us. “Thank goodness you’re here. I’ve been trying to keep them calm, but as you can see, it’s been too much.”

Drake patted Keeran’s shoulder.

The chattering diminished as people saw the both of us marching to the center of the room. Drake made a point of looking around, at everyone’s face, showing off his power.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of fighting,” Drake said, his voice loud and clear. The room went silent. “I know we have lots to discuss and solve, but here’s what I propose we do right away: I’ll take Castle DuMoir and rebuild it. I’ll listen to the concerns of the vampires before finalizing a new set of rules and creating a new council.”

“We don’t want rules,” a rebel vampire shouted from the back.

“Then you’re welcome to leave right now,” Drake said. “Just be sure to go far away from here, because if I catch any of you around and not following our rules, you’ll be severely punished.”

Murmurs rose and a handful of vampires left the room. I thought Drake would intervene and try to make them stay, but I thought I understood his main thought. Unruly vampires would only make everything difficult. I just hoped they stayed out of trouble.

“What about the witches?” Queen Sarah asked. She side-eyed me. “With your daughter being born soon, what do you suggest we do?”

Drake looked at me. “Thea should become witch queen of the Silverblood coven and the three of you—” He shifted his gaze between Queen Rosilla, Queen Sarah, and me. “—should work together to make sure the covens are united by the time our daughter comes of age and can become the Queen of All Witches.”

What was he talking about? Why did he want to make me witch queen if I was about to die? We hadn’t found any solution to save me. As far as I knew, I had only a month or a little over to live. If I made it to full term.

I wouldn’t argue about this with him right now. Not in front of everyone.

Queen Rosilla wrinkled her nose, but nodded. “I can live with that.”

“Me too,” Queen Sarah said.

Drake let out a relieved sigh. “Now for the werewolves.” He turned to Luana. She was wearing Keeran’s leather jacket and her face looked paler than usual. “Luana is now alpha of the Dark Vale pack.” Beside me, Keeran stiffened. “She’ll work alongside me and Thea to maintain peace between the vampires, the witches, and the werewolves.”

A couple of growls rose from the pack, but Luana growled louder, silencing them. A small smile took over my lips. It would be fun to watch her as the alpha of her pack.

For a moment, everything was perfect. Drake, Luana, Keeran, and Thomas were all right. We had defeated Morda. The princes were back and supporting Drake. The wolves looked a little tense, but I was sure they would do great under Luana’s rule. As for Keeran, we still had to talk about his role in all of this. As the first male warlock allowed to co-exist with witches, we would have to come up with new rules.

I glanced around, happy our dream of a peaceful future was within reach.

Then, my happiness was shattered when my stomach tensed and pain ricocheted down my pelvis and up my back.

I tried controlling my breathing before Drake could hear it. “I’ll be right back,” I told him in a hush, before leaving the room.

Where I was going, what I was doing, I didn’t know. I just needed to be alone because maybe if nobody else knew about it, then it wasn’t happening.

Because it was too early.

I couldn’t give birth now.