Page 26

M cColl

“What are you doing?” Orion yells. “Put the sword away.”

“Thesha, please,” Kyrie says from inside the barn, her voice thick with emotion. “Be reasonable! Listen to McColl. Maya is—” Her voice cracks. “We can’t just stand here and do nothing.”

“I don’t trust you, witch,” Thesha growls, her eyes hard and narrowed.

“You’ve made that clear,” I say. “I—”

“But it looks like I am outnumbered and that we are out of options,” Thesha speaks over me.

Maya’s agonized scream pierces the air again, more desperate than before.

“Please,” I beg.

“If anything happens to Maya or that baby,” Thesha says in a measured tone. “I will kill you myself.”

I believe her. A shiver runs down my spine.

Kian moves between us, his jaw tight with anger. “Don’t threaten McColl, she—”

“Stop!” Orion cuts him off, his voice raw. “Stop arguing while my wife is lying in there…while she… We’re wasting time.”

“I accept the terms,” I tell Thesha, who nods. She doesn’t sheath the sword.

“Go!” she barks at me.

“I’m coming with you,” Kian says from behind me.

“No men inside the birthing room,” Thesha all but growls.

“I’m going in there. So help me, if you try to stop me…” Orion practically snarls as he walks into the room to his wife.

“After you,” Thesha tells me, gesturing toward the bedroom with her sword.

“I’ll be okay,” I tell Kian.

“I need to stay close,” he says. “I think I discovered something…about our magic. I’ll tell you about it later.”

I nod.

As we reach the entrance that leads to Maya’s bedroom, Kian stops me with a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“You can do this,” he says quietly, his voice meant for my ears alone.

“I know you’re doubting yourself because I can see it written all over your face.

But you’re stronger than you know. More capable than you believe.

I am here for you.” He reaches out and takes my hand, his warm fingers wrapping around mine.

“Don’t listen to any negativity. Trust yourself. ”

His words settle something in my chest, some knot of fear and self-doubt that I hadn’t even realized was there.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

Before I can step away, he leans down and presses a soft kiss on my cheek. The gesture is so gentle, so unexpected, that it nearly undoes me.

“Save them,” he murmurs against my ear. “I know you can.”

I nod, not trusting my voice, and rush into the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar.

The scene inside makes my heart clench. Maya lies on the bed, her face ashen and slick with sweat, her breathing shallow and labored.

Her beautiful blonde hair is plastered to her skull, and the sheets beneath her are soaked.

Orion immediately takes his place at her side, gripping her hand as she writhes in pain.

“McColl is going to help you, sweetheart. It’s all going to be okay,” Orion tells Maya, who nods, gritting through the pain.

“Save my baby,” she gasps. “Please.”

Thesha and Kyrie position themselves where they can help. In Thesha’s case, I know that it is also to watch my every move. I try to ignore the weight of her scrutiny or the glint of the sword in her hand and focus on Maya.

I kneel beside the bed and place my hands on the curve of her belly, closing my eyes and reaching for my magic. To my relief, it responds immediately, flowing through me with surprising strength and clarity. I let it extend through my palms, gently probing.

The baby’s heartbeat is far too rapid. It’s a frantic, desperate rhythm that speaks of severe distress. As I probe deeper with my magic, the problem becomes horrifyingly clear.

“What is it?” Maya screams, her throat raw.

“He has a strong heartbeat,” I tell her, focusing on the positives.

Maya falls back. “Praise Kakara,” she pants out.

“But your baby is in the wrong position,” I say, opening my eyes to meet Maya’s pain-glazed gaze. “He’s turned sideways instead of head-down. That’s why you can’t push him out. He is stuck.”

Maya’s face crumples. “What…what does that mean?” She grabs my hand, squeezing it tighter than I thought possible. “Please tell me you can help him. Please, McColl?” Her lips are chapped, her eyes glassy.

“It means I need to turn him. Yes, I can help him,” I say as gently as I can.

“I can use magic to reposition him, but Maya…” It is my turn to squeeze her hand, needing her to understand.

“It’s going to hurt. More than what you’re feeling now.

I can’t help with the pain and turn him all at once. It is the only way to save him.”

She nods weakly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t care. Do it! Hurry! Please save him.”

I take a deep breath and place both hands on her belly, calling forth more magic than I’ve ever attempted to channel. Although I need all my power, I also need to direct it carefully, ever so gently, so as not to injure Maya or the baby.

“Do not push,” I tell her. “You will need to go against your body’s urges, but it is very important.”

Maya grits her teeth, closing her eyes. She nods. “Hurry…please.”

The power flows through me like liquid fire, and I use it to carefully, gently begin the delicate process of turning the baby.

Maya’s scream tears through the air, a sound of pure agony. Her back arches off the bed as her body fights against what I’m doing.

“You’re killing her!” Thesha snarls, stepping forward with murder in her eyes. She points her sword. “You had better know what you’re doing.”

I don’t. Not really, but I have to trust my teachings. Moreover, I have to trust myself.

I force myself to block out everything except the delicate work at hand. Slowly, carefully, I guide the baby into the proper position, feeling the moment when he finally settles head-down in the birth canal.

“There,” I gasp, pulling my hands back. “He’s in position now.”

But Maya is spent, her body limp and barely conscious. The ordeal has drained what little strength she had left. Her eyes flutter and close. The baby’s heartbeat is still too fast, still distressed. He doesn’t have much time.

I place my hands on her again and do something I’ve never attempted before. It isn’t something to be trifled with. It’s dangerous…for me…only for me. I have no choice. Maya isn’t going to make it otherwise.

I channel my own life force into her, taking her pain into myself while giving her my strength.

The agony hits me like a physical blow, and I cry out, falling to my knees beside the bed.

Kian bursts into the room. “McColl!”

“I’m fine,” I grit out. I don’t have the capacity to say anything more.

I whisper the words of the spell. I sense Maya’s strength returning as mine ebbs away. I feel her body rallying.

Not too much.

Not too much.

“Now, Maya,” I grit out through the pain that’s not my own. “You can do this. Push now!”

With a roar of effort that seems to come from the depths of her soul, Maya bears down. I keep channeling my energy into her, feeling each contraction as if it were my own body.

“I can see his head!” Kyrie exclaims, tears streaming down her face.

“Yes, my love, yes.” Orion holds his wife’s hand, his eyes wide in his head.

Another push, and suddenly, there’s a rush of fluid and a tiny, perfect form sliding into Kyrie’s waiting hands. For a moment that lasts an eternity, the barn is silent.

Then a thin, indignant wail fills the air. It is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

I laugh, but there is no sound.

“He’s breathing,” Kyrie sobs, carefully lifting the baby. “He’s perfect.” She wraps him in a small blanket.

Then Kyrie places the tiny boy on Maya’s chest, and the sight of mother and child together makes tears blur my vision.

“You did it,” Kian says from behind me, his hands on my shoulders.

Maya’s hands shake as she touches her son’s dark hair, her face transformed with wonder and exhaustion and pure, overwhelming love.

“Orion, my love,” she whispers, her voice hoarse. “Look at him. Look at our son.”

Orion’s face is wet with tears as he leans down to study the tiny face. “He’s so small.” His voice is thick.

There is another loud wail from the tiny baby.

“And healthy, too.” He chokes out a laugh. He looks at Maya in a way that makes my chest tight. “I love you so much.”

At this point, I am sitting on the floor next to the bed. Kian tries to help me up, but I brush him off. I’m sure I will get my strength back soon.

“You did it, sweetheart. You brought him here,” Orion says.

“Not just me.” Maya barely has a voice left. “You did this, too, McColl. Thank you…thank you so much. You saved our son. You saved me, too.”

“Thank you,” Orion chokes out. He is smiling from ear to ear.

I nod, too depleted to say anything.

“What will you call him?” Kyrie asks softly.

Maya and Orion exchange a look. “His name is Maxwell, after Orion’s grandfather.”

Orion repeats the name tenderly, his hand gentle on his son’s tiny back. “It suits him perfectly.”

The barn door suddenly bursts open, and Xander rushes in with an elderly woman, who I assume must be the healer. They all stop short at the sight of the peaceful scene of Maya cradling her newborn, the soft sounds of contentment filling the air.

“The baby is already here?” Xander asks, relief evident in his voice.

“Yes, he is. Meet my son. This is Maxwell,” Orion says proudly, never taking his eyes off his wife and child.

The healer, a wizened woman with kind eyes, approaches the bed. “Let me just check them both over,” she says gently. “You men should leave now.” She starts to shoo them.

But I barely register any of it. The magical and physical toll of what I’ve just done is catching up with me all at once. The barn spins around me, and I feel myself swaying. Thankfully, I am sitting on the floor. I take in big breaths, trying to stop the room from spinning.

“McColl!” Kian’s voice sounds far away. “What’s wrong?”

I try to answer him, but everything goes black.