Chapter Sixty-Two

Poppy.

Jeremiah looked up at me with those curious blue eyes and tears fell down my cheeks.

I’d never felt so much love in my entire life. This baby was so clueless, so innocent and it made the situation harder to swallow.

The ladies ran around the room preparing for Kelli’s arrival, while I glared at my baby's eyes with so much love.

Selena crushed her herbs into a bowl and mumbled to herself. She was afraid and I was too. I knew nothing about giving birth, but I was thankful I hadn’t been in labor for hours or days like some women.

Jeremiah yawned and snuggled into my arms.

He’d be hungry soon and I did not know about breastfeeding. I did not have a nipple shield. Did mothers use those? The panic inside of me sent a lump up my throat and it coated my eyes with tears.

Rachel stepped over. “I need to lean you over to replace the cloth beneath you.”

Melinda grabbed Jeremiah and I helped her lift me enough to replace the cloth. She tossed the dirty one into a large trash bag. “You only had a first-degree tear so you don’t need stitches.”

“Thank God,” I mumbled. Melinda handed me Jeremiah and I tucked him back into my arms.

The ground cracked again and this time I heard shouting from outside. I tightened my arms around Jeremiah and glanced at Selena doing her protection spell. She’d been able to keep me safe before from it.

I prayed it worked this time.

I was religious back on earth and the thought of Kelli giving herself over to the dark gods frightened me. “The split is cracking,” Melinda said from the window.

Selena finished the protection spell and sat beside me. “I need you to listen to me, Poppy. Kelli is going to come for you both. It’s her way of breaking Daegal, making him suffer for what he did to her. I need you to be brave. Evil feeds off fear. You have to be strong. Hold on to Jeremiah. He isn’t aware enough to be scared. He’s too innocent.”

“Are you all going to leave me here?” I asked.

“No,” Rachel said. “We’re not going anywhere. The warriors are preparing outside. I can hear them.”

“What are they seeing? Is the ground splitting? Is something coming out of it? Has Kelli showed up yet—“

“You don’t worry about that Poppy,” Melinda said. “In fact, are you hungry?”

I licked my parched lips and swallowed. “I’d love some water and maybe a burger.”

Rachel chuckled. “Birth will do that to you. Do you need help, Melinda?”

“Not at all,” she said. “I’ll be back with some water and a burger.”

I appreciated their calmness. I knew they were attempting to keep me calm and it was working.

Though Selena wasn’t as calm as the other two. Her thumbnail was tucked into the side of her mouth. She walked to the window and looked out over the courtyard.

If I could get up, I would have looked with her.

“The crack is growing,” she said, the castle shaking around us. “It’s coming this way,” she said.

Rachel cleared her throat loudly. “Why don’t you bring the water up for Poppy early? I’m sure she’s thirsty.”

Selena left the room with her arms wrapped around her body. Rachel sighed when she left the room and handed me an ice pack. “This is for you. It’ll soothe the pain. Let me help.”

She moved me around, lifted my hips, and placed the ice pack beneath me.

“Thank you, Rachel. For everything.”

“Absolutely,” she said, touching my forehead. “You did great, Poppy. You’re a natural.”

I gave her a look and she laughed. “Too soon to talk about having more?” she asked.

“Way too soon,” I mumbled, looking down at Jeremiah’s face. “I just hope I can keep him safe,” I whispered to myself.

The castle moved again and I dared a look outside. There was no one in the air so I couldn’t see any fighting.

I wasn’t even sure if she’d brought anything up from the split in the ground. Was she going to bring up some devilish animals?

There was no way to guess her plan. So I rested my head against the pillow and let Jeremiah sleep in my arms.

Selena brought up my water and I downed it in one swig. She took the glass and put it on the nightstand for me. She still seemed uneasy but she didn’t speak about it.

She watched out of the window in silence.

Melinda brought up my burger a while later and took Jeremiah in her arms. He didn’t stir as I ate my burger and fed off the silence.

“Did they get his crib up here yet?” I asked.

“Luther had it brought up but it hasn’t been painted yet,” Melinda said, smiling down at Jeremiah.

Selena turned her back to the window and a roar echoed from the courtyard. It sent a shiver down my body. I placed my burger onto the plate and watched Selena’s face as she dared a look outside.

Her body stiffened.

“What is it?” I asked.

The growing sound of dragon windows thundered into the window. I watched as the warriors lined up in the sky in anticipation of something.

They looked positioned over the crack near the woods but I couldn’t be sure from my place on the bed. “What’s happening?” I asked, finishing the last of my burger, I put it on the nightstand.

Selena didn’t answer. She leaned over the window and looked down further into the courtyard. Melinda and Rachel looked at one another but no one said a word.

“What’s happening?” I asked again.

The castle moved again but this time debris and pieces of the earth flew up into the air. I watched in slow motion, my body heaving in fear and anger.

Selena covered her mouth, reached forward, and pulled the windows shut as rocks hit and cracked the glass.

When she turned her face was ashen.

“What is it?” I asked again, frustration in my voice.

Selena looked around the room. “The ground completely opened up. I think Kelli is coming out of it, but I think she plans to bring someone into it with her.”

My first thought was Daegal. But that would be too easy. She didn’t want Daegal to simply die. She wanted him to suffer for what he did to her.

She wanted to bring me, or Jeremiah, into the ground with her.

Selena walked over and stood over the bed. “I’m not going to let that happen to you, Poppy. Don’t you sit and worry.”

A battle cry sounded from outside and I listened to the sound of wings and fire blazing into the air.

It made me grow dizzy. I leaned back against the pillow and took deep, sharp gasps into the room.

“Bring me Jeremiah,” I said. “I want to nurse him.”

Melinda handed him to me, and I looked at Rachel’s worried face for advice. She walked over and helped me maneuver my shirt off and help me get a good latch.

I wouldn’t let Kelli ruin these first few moments with my baby.

If she got into the castle she wouldn’t break me. I wouldn’t give her my baby no matter the cost.

Rachel placed her palm on my shoulder. “You’re doing great,” she said.

Jeremiah nuzzled his mouth against me as war ensured outside of our walls. But I wouldn’t allow his first moments to be full of tears and pain. If he remembered anything about this moment, it would be love.