“You can’t just start a war, Travis—”
“We can and we will,” he growled.
“Where do the mutants come into this?” I asked, not wanting to make him angry.
“Well, when the humans see what we can transform them into—if they survive, that is—they’ll obey us without hesitation. The ones that don’t survive the transformation will end up here,” he waved his hand at the mounds, “and honestly, this is probably better than turning into a mutant.”
I pulled away from his hold and dropped to the ground, emptying the meager contents of my stomach. How could he be so calm about this? He was talking about murdering people and taking away their free will if they didn’t comply with his wishes. Not just his wishes, but the wishes of the elders too. Oh, God, was Gram in on this too?
I didn’t know I had anything else left in my stomach, but it came spewing up.
Travis bent down, rubbing my back in soothing circles. I stiffened at the touch, but I knew better than to shake him off.
“One day, you’ll understand why I’m doing this.”
“I will never understand—”
The color drained from my face as I felt a gush between my legs. “No,” I whispered. “No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening!” I looked down to see liquid stained slightly pink with blood. I wasn’t sure that was normal.
But I didn’t have time to ponder that, because my water had broke, and the baby was coming.
I looked up into Travis’ eyes and he looked as shocked as I did.
Then, he smiled slowly. “Our son is coming.”
I almost threw up again right then. “He is not your son,” I spat.
“He will be.”
That sounded entirely too ominous to me. Travis picked me up once more, carrying me away from the mounds of dirt that hid the dead humans. So many lives had already been lost, and I knew it was only going to get worse if we didn’t end this.
I ended up back in the bed only he didn’t chain me up this time.
It was suddenly hitting me that I had gone into labor. Beau was coming, and the only person I had to help me was Travis. Holy crap. I’d thought things were bad before, but this took it to a whole new level.
I knew in that moment that Travis was going to deliver my baby. Early, I might add. I knew there had to be at least a month before Beau was due, and Travis couldn’t have any medical experience. What if something was seriously wrong with the baby? Oh. My. God.
I couldn’t worry about the dead humans, mutants, elders, or the war that they wanted to rage against humans. Right now, all I could think about was the fact that Beau was in danger.
I took deep breaths—not to control the pain I was in, but in the hopes of dissipating some of the panic rolling through my body.
I couldn’t believe I was having my baby here with no hospital in case anything went wrong. I didn’t have Caeden by my side. I was alone, and scared to death that something might happen to my son.
The door to the room opened back up and Travis wheeled a metal cart into the room with all kinds of disturbing looking medical instruments. My heart skipped a beat. He’d been prepared for this.
I lay back, wishing I had the energy to crawl away from him.
“Everything will be just fine, Sophie,” he assured me, pulling on scrubs.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Even though I knew exactly what was going on, it didn’t seem real. I wanted to believe it wasn’t real.
My abdomen clenched and I doubled over. This was awful, unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Tears coursed down my face.
“Shh, Sophie, it will be okay,” Travis smoothed my hair out of my face.
“No, it won’t,” I sobbed, closing my eyes.
He continued going about, preparing the room to bring my son into the world. I just hoped Beau was okay. Although at this point, death might be a better option for him since he wouldn’t be subjected to whatever Travis and the elders had planned. What an awful thing, to wish death for your child, but wouldn’t you if you knew they’d be better off? I didn’t even want to consider the different possibilities of why they’d want Beau.
I closed my eyes as another contraction hit me and a scream tore out of my throat. I didn’t know much about pregnancy or babies, but I knew enough to know that things were moving way too fast.
Travis ripped my sweatpants off and I couldn’t even grumble about being exposed to him. That wasn’t important right now. Right now, all I could focus on was bringing Beau into the world—alive. I needed to hear him cry. I needed to see him and hold him. Breathe in his scent.
“Sophie, there’s no time to give you any drugs.” Travis explained in a gentle tone, smoothing my sweat drenched hair off my forehead. I didn’t understand Travis at all. One moment he could be yelling and on the verge of losing it—the next he was actually…sweet. “The baby is coming now.”