LITMIR.BIZ

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of blood filled the air. I inhaled deep breaths through my mouth, my chest tight, and blinked a few times. I was drenched in sweat. Waves of excruciating pain suddenly coursed through me and nearly split me in half. I reached down to touch my swollen stomach. I was on the floor in Gemma’s room. The heat from the gun still radiated on the skin of my palm.

      “Stay back!” Father growled.

      I leaned my head back to see Jackson standing by the door with his fists at his sides. If he were alive I’d be able to see his knuckles turn white. Father was holding me in his lap, his gaze hard, staring at the bed where my husband and sister’s bodies lay.

      “Father?” I breathed. My mind was fuzzy. Had I passed out? I blinked several times as if the dream I’d experienced was just out of my grasp. A blond boy found his way into my mind but he disappeared. A name hovered on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t grasp it.

      My father’s steely blue eyes dropped to mine. “You ruined everything.”

      The pressure in my chest uncoiled, but I avoided looking at the bed. “It had to be done.” Angry tears streaked down my cheeks. I had been embarrassed to learn of my sister and husband’s tryst. Then Jackson had left me. I had lost control of my life. With Gemma and Tristan gone, I had control again and Jackson had returned to me. We could start over.

      I moaned again as another wave of pain struck my stomach. “It’s coming,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.

      “What are you—” Jackson shouted.

      “She made her choice. This is something I have to do,” Father interrupted, almost as if he were convincing himself of whatever he was about to do.

      “Nicholas!” Jackson hissed.

      I tried to turn around to face Jackson, but Father adjusted my head in his hands.

      I rubbed my belly, desperate to take the pain away.

      “Jackson,” I breathed. Even though he’d left me all was forgotten when he returned. The anger I’d felt for him had disappeared and now I needed him more than ever. My Guard would soon watch my child and we could finally be together after my transformation – a family.

      “You take one step and I will kill you again,” Daddy warned.

      Jackson said nothing.

      He would understand once the baby was born.

      Mother shuffled into the room, the midwife tucked against her. The woman dropped to her knees, lifted my shift and her cold hands invaded my body.

      I jerked away.

      “Breathe, child,” she soothed.

      I focused my thoughts just like she’d taught me and took a deep breath in, ignoring the coppery taste in my mouth. I glanced at the nearby gun, the one I had used to kill Tristan and Gemma. Their still forms were stamped into my memory even though I couldn’t see them from the floor. An unexpected rush of guilt flowed through me. But they had been wrong to have an affair. I couldn’t let them embarrass me and our family. They deserved everything that happened to them.

      Something moved next to the bed. I squinted in the dim light and could make out the thin shape of a person. His—or maybe it was a her— body flickered just like the candles nearby.

      “No!” Jackson cried.

      I hadn’t been going crazy. He saw the form too.

      “Who is that?” I asked.

      “Jackson, get out of here!” Father ordered.

      I blinked and the form was gone. My entire body was in pain and I closed my eyes, willing it to stop.

      “It’s coming,” the midwife cried.

      Cramps twisted my insides. Instead of focusing on the pain, I redirected my thoughts to the baby. We would start a new life together, one without secrets and lies. I breathed through the agony and mapped out our future. And as suddenly as the pain came, it disappeared to be replaced by numbness.

      Everyone in the room held their breath. The midwife was frantically working near my feet. Something wet touched my toes just as the silence was broken by a shrill cry. It was the most precious sound in the world. I tried to sit up to see my baby, but Father held me down by my shoulders.

      “Wha—” I began to protest when a pressure on my mouth cut off my words. I inhaled. A soft cloth touched my lips. I looked up at Father.

      He wasn’t looking at me, instead his eyes stared at the bed. Even in the candlelight I saw his eyes glistening and I caught sight of the stranger’s form again. It was a man dressed in a strange white outfit. My hands trembled and the rhythm of my heart slowed. Something cool touched my neck and I sucked in a breath. The room began to shimmer like sunlight on the water in summer. My eyes stung so I closed them, leaving everyone behind.

      ***When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer on the floor in Gemma’s bedroom. Instead, I stood in a strange space. A gray hue surrounded my body as if I were inside a storm cloud.

      “Where am I?” I murmured, but my voice carried across the expanse. Whirling around, I was unable to find a way through the fog. I looked down at my feet, which seemed to balance on air, but when I reached down my hand slid past my feet into nothingness. My vision tilted dangerously and I held out my hands to steady my body.

      Red spots peppered my skin. I lifted my arm and touched the sticky substance. Why did I have blood on my arms? I brought my nose close and inhaled. It was definitely blood. The scent filled my nose trailing down to my mouth leaving a coppery aftertaste.

      My shift was covered in blood as well. I touched my flat stomach and my legs were jelly underneath me. Where was my baby? I started in the direction I must have come from. I had to be dreaming. I pinched my skin but the space didn’t change.

      I turned around and Gemma and Tristan’s dead eyes bored into mine. But Gemma and Tristan were dead. I’d killed them. I knew what I had done, but this wasn’t what I expected to come of it. As I staggered back, the vision of my sister and husband faded and I stared into the space, a chill creeping up my spine.

      What was happening to me? I dropped to the ground and tucked my head in my arms. I had to be dreaming. But the taste of something sweet against my lips brought me back to this strange reality. What had Father done?

      “Margaret,” a voice boomed out of the empty nothingness.

      I raised my fists in the air at the unseen threat. “What do you want?” Father had taught me how to defend myself from a young age and I wasn’t afraid of whoever was here that prevented me from seeing my baby.

      “You have no reason to fear me.” A hulking dark-skinned man appeared through the fog. Even though I had no idea who he was, he radiated peace and warmth and I found myself moving toward him, my arms dropping to my sides. His bright golden eyes sparkled even though there was no direct light that I could see. I looked down at his hands, which held a beautiful object. It ebbed and flowed across his palms like the spirit of a snake. The object touched something deep inside me and I couldn’t control my body from moving closer.

      “My name is Felix,” he said softly. He turned his head as if someone had called him. “There isn’t much time.”

      “Where am I? Where’s my baby? Where is Jackson?” Jackson’s beautiful face filled my vision. He hadn’t left my side since I was born. Well, not until just recently. But I knew he had to be looking for me. At the very least, I thought, he would keep my baby safe until I returned.

      “I will take you to your baby,” Felix replied hurriedly.

      “Thank you!” I gasped. It was all I wanted, to see my baby.

      Suddenly, Felix wrapped his arm around my body. Something cool touched the back of my neck and the familiar sensation flowed through me. I glanced up into his golden eyes but he diverted them to his hand. My body was light and my skin was paling by the second. I tried to turn around but he

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