The Vampire King's Cage by T. S. Ryder

Author:T. S. Ryder [Ryder, T. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Fire.

Lights flash. Blue, green... Blackness fills her vision. She gasps, pain lancing through her. It curls around her abdomen, squeezing her. My baby. What's going to happen to my baby? She screams as the pain comes again. Smoke curls around her nose. The room is on fire. Hands are on her shoulders, pushing her down, holding her in place. Outside the sun is shining, heedless of the battle. A baby starts to cry.

Rachel screamed as she jerked awake. Beside her, Henry woke with a start. He was on his feet in an instant, a knife in each hand as he searched the room. Nearby, Becky and Leila both started awake as well. Leila lit the room with magic, peering around while she blinked blearily. Rachel closed her eyes, her heart pounding.

It had been just over eight months since the four of them fled from the vampire king. They hadn't seen any sign of vampires in that time, not that that meant anything. Henry was afraid they were being hunted by his father, so they moved every few days to a new location. The store of items Leila had pilfered from the palace to sell was almost out. Even though they tried to stretch their money, and took up what odd jobs they could, it wouldn’t be long until they ran out of funds.

Worse were the dreams. Rachel hadn't had any visions for almost four months, and then the dreams of smoke and fire came and they wouldn't go away. They were getting more frequent as the birth of the baby got closer.

"I'm sorry," she gasped. Her throat was dry and scratchy as if she had actually been breathing in the smoke. "It was another dream."

Henry sank back down beside her, running a hand over his face. Leila joined them while Becky grabbed a bottle of water. Rachel's heart was still beating hard in her chest, but the smell of smoke was slowly dissipating.

"Are you alright?" Henry stroked her hair as Rachel rubbed her aching belly.

She felt the baby moving. There was no more room to kick, but he squirmed and stretched. He was a strong baby, and sometimes Rachel was afraid he was bruising her.

"I'm fine. Usually the pain goes away when I wake up, but—" Her stomach clenched. She could feel it tighten under her hand, and her eyes widened. Slowly she brought her eyes up to Henry's. "It's probably just false labor."

Her voice came out whispered and choked. A wave of nausea coursed through her. Henry's muscles tensed, but in the next moment, Becky was pushing both him and Leila out of the way. Her hands probed Rachel's stomach, brow furrowing. Even though she only had some medical training, Rachel felt better with Becky here.

Though they knew that she would have to go to a hospital to give birth, they had all agreed that, except for a visit to the emergency room once in a while to make sure that everything was okay, they couldn't risk regular doctor's visits.

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