Ashes(117)

"How dilated is she?" Nora asked.



Linda checked. "Nine centimeters."



"Not good enough," Whiner snapped. "We can't afford for this to go on any longer. And I don't know about any of you, but I'm tired and uncomfortable. This ground is solid."



Was this asshole for real? She'd been in pain for hours, prodded and poked by Linda, had nothing but tepid water, and was stuck in the same awkward position for way too long – her legs spread in front of multiple people as she waited for her cervix to dilate to the size of a freaking ball while her body felt like it was splitting in two …  and he was tired and uncomfortable?



"Her water broke not so long ago," Linda reminded him. "That's progress."



"We need more than ‘progress'," he clipped. "We need the child in our hands."



Harper shrugged. "You can't blame the baby for not wanting to come out."



Jumpy honed in on her, a glint of fear in his eyes. "What do you mean it doesn't want to come out? How would you know what it does or doesn't want?"



"It told me," she lied, delighting in the way his face paled. 



"Nonsense," Whiner scoffed. "It doesn't yet have the capacity to speak in either thought or voice." But he didn't sound so sure. He exchanged wary glances with the others.



"Ignore her," Linda advised. "It's just a baby."



Jumpy spoke again. "It's not just a baby. It is Knox Thorne's baby. We have no idea what he is, which means we have no idea what we're dealing with." He looked at Harper. "It talks to you?"



"Not with words, but with images and impressions," Harper replied.



Jumpy swallowed. "I would like to disbelieve you, but you have shown too little fear for my liking."



Because she'd wholeheartedly believed that Knox was coming …  but she was beginning to think he wouldn't get there in time. Heat seemed to build behind her eyelids, and a lump formed in her throat. But she'd never been a person who accepted defeat. Never. No self-respecting Wallis ever would. She could see only one way to fight the incantors that were holding her captive. Just one. It would be a huge risk because she had no idea what would truly happen, but she had to take it.



Harper dug her fingers into the soil, felt the vortex's menacing energy sizzling beneath her. Instead of fighting the vortex as she'd done since she arrived, she worked with it. It was definitely not the best idea to work with a malevolent, indiscriminate energy, but she was out of options.



Hoping it would be strong enough to help her, she sucked it in. Absorbed it. Welcomed it – and maybe that was why it didn't hurt her. The dark energy mixed with the protective power in her belly, which painfully shot to her fingertips like zaps of electricity. Without a second's hesitation, she called to her wings. She felt them respond, felt them begin to rise …  but they didn't. Damn.



"You think the child will save itself, don't you?" Whiner asked.



Ignoring him, Harper sucked in more of the vortex's energy. Took it, filled her metaphorical power tank with it even as it made her feel soiled inside and caused her head to pound like a bitch. A contraction caught her off-guard, breaking her concentration. Shaking, she breathed and moaned through the excruciating pain. Once it passed, she took yet more of the vortex's energy, seeking out the "bridge" between her wings and the flames. And there it was.



"You do think the child will save itself, don't you?" Whiner pushed.



Harper glared at him, smiling inside as the ground began to shake. "No, I don't." The air buzzed and thickened with power. "I think it will kill you all."



Flames exploded out of the ground in front of her – red, black, gold, and hungry. They devoured Linda whole, and Harper couldn't help finding immense satisfaction in the bitch's screams. Yeah, maybe the vortex's energy had fed her vengeful streak a little.



The unbearable heat radiating from the flames burned Harper's skin, but they left no blisters. Despite their strength and power, they wouldn't harm her. Instead of spreading as she'd hoped, the flames returned to where they came, leaving only ashes behind. Shit. It was hard to concentrate while battling with panic, pain, and rage.



Head still pounding, Harper infused hellfire into the grass, making the enchanted vines restraining her wrists catch fire. They released her with an animal-like squeak, and she sat up and did the same to the vines restraining her ankles. Finally free, she forced herself to get to her knees. The others were all staring at her in horror – no, at her belly in horror.