“Of course you are—and you’ll go faster on my legs than yours,” I said sweetly.
“I am stillfullycapable of—”
“Yes, you are. And I heard Teen advise you to keep moving—but also to rest more. You aren’t supposed to overdo it.” Then I looked down at her round form in my arms, and gave her my sternest expression. “You need to be taken care of as well, my love.”
She grumbled, but her cheeks pinked when I patted the large swell of her tummy, then darted through the corridors much faster than she could have on her own.
As we drew closer to Jann and Diadre’s chambers, my mate’s tension increased, and mine as well. “Don’t worry,” I murmured to her, stroking her back. “We have Teen, as well as the Court midwives, and every resource available. Diadre will live to raise their boy, and so will you,” I said firmly.
I knew she truly was worried when she didn’t argue with me, but just nodded. She’d wrapped her arms around my neck, and now she looked up at me. “How is Jann feeling about it?!”
Analmightyroar echoed through the hallways ahead. I grimaced. “Like that,” I said.
Moments later we turned the corner, and the servants opened the door to the large antechamber at the entrance to our friend’ssuite. But to my surprise, Jann wasn’t in the bedroom—he paced the antechamber, roaring and swearing. I paused at the door, and one of the guards cleared his throat.
“Sire, the midwives made him leave for… interfering too much.”
I frowned—no man should be removed from his mate’s birthing bed.
But Yilan growled. “Iknewyou couldn’t keep your mouth shut!” she hissed at Jann, who glared as I placed her on her feet and kissed her cheek. Still, without another word, she trotted—stiffly—into the bedchamber. So, I turned to face Jann, and raised my hands to remind him that I was an ally, not an enemy when he snarled.
“They kicked me out, Mel! My own son, and they kicked me out—”
“What did you say that made them—”
“I only told them that they were moving too slowly when she asked for water—and they refused it! Said that she was too far gone. But she’s been sweating for hours and—”
A startling scream pierced the air, and all Jann’s fury disappeared. He whirled towards the doors, his face pale and brows high.
Voices murmured, and Diadre cried out again, then went quiet.
“It’s moving too fast. It can’t be safe. She’s only been laboring a few hours,” Jann breathed. “She couldn’t possibly deliver safely when the baby is that large, and she’s only—”
There was another long, jagged cry—Diadre in pain—then everything went quiet.
Too quiet.
Jann and I both froze. For an impossibly long time, we stared at that door. I pleaded with the women to say something. To send a message. To give us some idea—
Then, a thin, high wail pierced the air.
A baby’s cry.
Jann stood bolt upright and his eyes went round.“My son!”
He launched forward,throughthe door, splintering it like matchsticks, to reach his mate and son.
Son. Hisson.
Holy shit.
54. Say the Name
~ JANN ~
Three women shrieked, and Yilan cursed when I burst through the door, but I didn’t give a shit.
Diadre lay at the center of the large bed, sweaty, exhausted, and obviously in pain. Teen, rubbing something vigorously, handed my mate her arm wrapped in a cloth.
