Page 146 of A Monstrous World: The Complete Series

Epilogue

Echo

T rue terror rips through me as Nadia grunts through the never-fucking-ending contraction.

I swipe a hand over my face, desperately trying to hold my composure.

Wraith, the silent fucker, appears at my side. He squeezes my shoulder, giving me an encouraging look.

I fight the urge to slap his hand away or possibly rip his damn throat out. My nerves are clearly getting the better of me.

“She’s fine,” Wraith murmurs in a soothing tone that makes me want to deck him. “The female body naturally knows what it’s supposed to do.”

A low growl fills the air and, initially, I think it’s the wolf, but Ridge blinks in surprise too.

Nadia jabs a finger in our direction, and it’s clear that sound came from my beloved.

“I’m never doing this again, so don’t even think about it.

” She grunts, pushing herself up on the bed.

“Oh, the female body is a wonder. It knows exactly what to do. It’s fucking fantastic.

Except, nature forgot to include natural pain relief in this magical, life-changing experience. ”

“You’re nearly ten centimeters dilated.” Nan pats Nadia’s leg with the hand that doesn’t have a glove. “Suck on some ice chips and cool off, child.”

Nadia snorts, shaking her head. “You’re so damn lucky that I love you.”

“I’m going to wash my hands and grab some tea. Call me if you feel the need to push.” The older witch heads out, winking at me on her way by.

Good God, I think I need a vat of wine or several hundred stiff drinks. It takes a lot to get a vampire drunk. My hands shake, so I shove them into my front pockets.

“I don’t think you even needed me,” Willa says. She’s technically Haven’s doctor, but she’s also a vampire. It’s not a profession I would have normally attributed to my kind, but she’s got decades of experience, and that’s a good thing.

“You’re not leaving,” I growl, taking a step forward. “You need a doctor when a baby is born! We’re having two! We should have twice the doctors.”

Knight snorts. “It’s not terrible logic, but yeah, you’re losing your shit.”

Willa smiles, meandering toward the door. “I’m not leaving. I’m simply going to sit for a few minutes. Enjoy your last few minutes alone as a family of five.”

Wraith shoves me toward Nadia’s bed. “Sit with her and touch her. I know you’re worried, but everything is going well.”

Blowing out a breath, I attempt to get my shit together. I make my way over, carefully sliding on to the bed at Nadia’s side. Her hand is warm in mine as I link our fingers.

“I love you.” She stretches her head over to rest on my chest while patting my stomach. “And because of that fact, I’m going to ignore how you just insinuated that midwives, much like myself and Nan, don’t have the qualifications to safely deliver babies.”

“Oh shit,” Ridge snickers. “You walked right into that one.”

“I’m youngish and reasonably healthy. I’ve had no complications that indicate we need a doctor, but I also agree that I feel better knowing Willa is here. Oh, hell. Another one is coming,” Nadia groans.

I run my thumb over her inner wrist, trying to give her comfort, but she squeezes my hand to the point I’m pretty sure she would be breaking my fingers if I was human. I’ve experienced much worse agony in my long life, especially when Imogen was on a decade-long torture bender.

God, what I wouldn’t give to take Nadia’s pain away.

“I’m pretty sure it is possible.” Ridge holds Violet in his massive hands.

He’s got her pulled up close to his nose.

“You said you were the only one of Imogen’s progeny without an ancient gift.

” He shrugs, pulling our daughter down and resting her in the crook of his arm.

He nuzzles his cheek to hers. “I’m fairly sure we figured it out. ”

“Power of the super semen,” Knight snorts.

“There’s no possibility.” My head shakes. “It quite literally defies the laws of nature.”

“Laithe fathered Larke.” Nadia gives me a soft smile. “And Violet clearly has fangs. If you’d like to blame that on what happened to me when I was a teenager, then I’m fine with that.” She cuddles closer to my armpit.

“They’re both mine,” I assure her. “Because they’re ours. I still can’t fathom how my DNA got all muddled up with the mutt’s, though.”

Ridge laughs, cooing down at our daughter. “She’s got a tail and fangs. She’s a whole new breed of monster.”

“It’s clear Nadia’s magic somehow combined mine and Knight’s essence.” Wraith shrugs, rocking Hazel against his chest. “Blood magic does weird shit. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“It does awesome shit,” Knight corrects. “She’ll be practically unstoppable when she’s older.”

“I’d love it if I could hold Hazel now.” Nadia raises her eyebrows at Wraith. I can only see part of her face because of how she’s lying on my side.

“No,” Wraith says vehemently. “Not yet.”

Nadia scoffs.

“To be fair, she did try to devour Willa’s soul.” Knight grimaces.

“Yeah, but you two caught it in time.” Nadia sits up. “She’s my child. Whether or not she needs to nurse is irrelevant. Skin on skin contact is important.”

Malice appears in the corner. At first, he’s just a dark, smoky mass. “May I?” He gestures to Hazel. “I have experience because of Gemma.”

Wraith cuddles the baby closer to his chest.

“Let your clustermate hold our daughter,” Nadia says, huffing like she can’t believe it’s an issue.

Wraith eventually hands off Hazel to the nightmare.

Malice’s eyes widen as he stares down at her. “She’s a devourer.”

I frown because I’m completely unfamiliar with the term.

“We did realize that,” Wraith grinds out. “The major concern is that she could accidentally hurt Nadia.”

Malice disappears in a smoky cloud and reappears, handing Hazel to Nadia. Wraith moves to push himself out of the chair, but Malice raises a hand. “She spent four months growing inside Nadia’s body. I’m sure she was just overwhelmed, and that led to the unfortunate incident with the doctor.”

“Exactly.” Nadia snuggles Hazel to her cheek, and we all hold our breath.

Well, except for the nightmare.

“You wouldn’t hurt Mommy, would you?” Malice coos, booping Hazel on the nose. He looks at Nadia. “Congratulations, little witch. They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she says. “Now, make Ridge hand me Violet so that I can finally get pictures holding both my babies.”

Ridge quickly complies.

Malice snorts. “And Dread was worried his children being different species would draw attention? Please. Nadia just birthed the first devourer I’ve heard of in a thousand years.”

“We’re aware of that too.” Knight’s jaw is unusually tight.

“She’s just a baby,” Nadia says. “Stop being dramatic.”

“What is a devourer?” I ask, studying our girls cradled in Nadia’s arms.

“They both cleanse the sins and devour the soul without reaping.” Wraith grabs Nadia’s phone, continuously snapping pictures.

Ridge snorts. “Oh yeah, I’d like to see any little fuckers mess with our girls when they’re older.”

My head tilts as I think that through, but eventually, a wide smile breaks out. He’s absolutely right. They’ll be fully capable of slaughtering any little assholes. We won’t even need to lift a finger.

I run my hand over Hazel’s head, and her dark, void-like eyes immediately lock on to me. Her tiny mouth breaks into a grin, and it’s totally clear our babies aren’t like normal newborns.

God help us. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.