Chapter 198 Who Looked Like Them
Ginny’s body fought with a primal, desperate strength, and after about five massive contractions, Iggy was born into the blistering heat of the vault.
He was tiny and terrifyingly quiet. But as Jax stared down, breathless, the newborn's eyes fluttered open—bright, alert, and searching.
"Get him out of here, Jax!" Veda barked, her hands already moving to stem the bleeding and stabilize Ginny. "Get him cooled off!"
Jax hesitated, his torn gaze snapping back to his unconscious wife. "But Ginny—"
"GET THAT BABY OUT OF HERE, JAX!" Veda roared, her ancient voice booming with absolute authority over the roar of the heaters. "I've got your mate! Take care of your baby!"
Jax didn't dare argue again. He scooped up his tiny, silent son, cradling him tightly against his bare, sweat-slicked chest, and bolted for the vault door. He slammed the manual release and stumbled out into the blessedly cool, filtered air of the corridor.
Miller had the basin waiting just outside the threshold. Jax dropped to his knees beside it, his hands shaking violently. He held Iggy securely over the basin, cupping his large, trembling hand to draw the cool water up, pouring it gently but swiftly over the baby's overheated skin.
The shock of the temperature drop hit the infant instantly. Iggy’s tiny chest hitched, his face scrunched up tight, and he let out a sudden, piercing, beautiful scream that echoed loudly down the stone hallway.
Just as Iggy started to scream, a groan came from Fennigan and he slumped over, then started shaking. He was going into shock.
Jax looked down at his screaming, newborn son in his hands, then back through the glass at his unconscious mate in the sweltering vault, and finally to his unstoppable brother lying lifeless on the floor.
"FUCK!" Jax screamed into the chaos.
Jax stood in the hallway, bouncing baby Iggy and holding the tiny, swaddled bundle tightly against his bare, damp chest. A few feet away, low, agonizing groans were coming from Fennigan.
"My children..." the Alpha muttered, his head lolling against the cool stone wall, his eyes vacant. "They looked like my children."
Jax froze, his protective instincts warring with his confusion. "Who?" Jax asked, taking a half-step toward his brother. "Fenn, who looked like them?"
But Fennigan couldn't answer. His mind was trapped in the horrors of Damon's bunker, completely fractured by what he had seen. Jax gritted his teeth, his heart aching for his brother. But he couldn't fix the Alpha right now; he had a newborn in his arms and a wife fighting for her life behind a steel door.
Suddenly, Veda’s raspy voice cut through the heavy air, carrying out from the vault. "Ginny needs you. Now, Jax."
Jax spun around and bolted to the bottom of the grand staircase. "Sarah!" he roared, his voice echoing frantically up into the rafters.
A moment later, Sarah appeared at the top landing, looking down with wide, fearful eyes. "Jax?"
"Please, come get Iggy," Jax pleaded, his voice cracking as he looked down at the tiny, perfect face of his son. "I have to go back in that oven."
"Oh my gosh," Sarah gasped. She didn't hesitate. She flew down the wooden steps, her hands gentle but swift as she plucked the squirming newborn from his father’s trembling arms. Cradling Iggy securely to her chest, she turned and raced back up the stairs to the safety of the nursery, returning to her mate, Toby, and the Alpha's twins.
Freed of his delicate burden, Jax whipped around and flew back through the heavy steel door of the vault.
The blistering heat slammed into him like a physical punch, instantly pulling a fresh sheet of sweat across his skin, but he didn't care. He rushed to the side of the cot.
"I need you to move her out of here, Beta," Veda commanded, stepping back to give him room. She leaned heavily on her cane, looking exhausted but triumphant. "Her eyes are fluttering. I think she released a massive amount of the toxin in the throes of labor. Her body fought back and pushed it out."
Jax looked down. Ginny’s eyelashes were trembling, and her skin was flushed with natural, living warmth rather than the terrifying chill of the Winter's Breath.
"Listen to me," Veda instructed sharply, pointing her cane at the door. "Get a gurney out in the hall. Lay an electric blanket down, transfer her, wrap her in it, and cover her up tight. We don't want her cooling off too fast and sending her nervous system into shock. She has to acclimate to the normal air slowly."
Jax nodded, sliding his muscular arms under his mate, preparing to lift her out of the suffocating heat and back into the world of the living.
Jax grunted with the effort as he carried Ginny out of the blistering vault, the sudden shift to the cool hallway air making the sweat on his bare chest instantly turn to ice. He moved swiftly, laying his unconscious mate gently onto a thick rug that had been hastily dragged into the corridor.
He grabbed the electric blanket Miller had readied, throwing it over her flushed body, and immediately tucked a heavy wool blanket over that, swaddling her tight. They couldn't let her cool off too fast and send her exhausted nervous system into thermal shock.
A few feet away, Fennigan had finally stopped shaking.
The massive Alpha was slumped against the stone wall, no longer muttering about the clones or the horrors of his father's bunker. Instead, he was just silently crying, heavy tears tracking through the soot and ash on his snow-pale face.
Then, all of a sudden, Fennigan let out a sharp hiss of pain and violently grabbed his head, his fingers digging into his scalp.
At the exact same moment, the alarms on Miller's console began to shriek a high-pitched, frantic warning.
"Beta!" Miller yelled over the noise, his eyes wide as he stared at the screens. "There's something wrong with the Luna! Her temperature is rising too fast!"