Turner laughed, because if there was a reason he had won Ilona in the fated mate lottery, here it was. She was beautiful; she was kind; but above all, she was curious; and he knew he couldn’t ask for better.
There’s a few theories for that,he typed.We’re getting into some pretty obscure stuff, you sure you want to know?
Yes!!!
Turner slouched back against the wall, his thumbs flying over his phone’s keyboard. He could talk about unicorns for hours, and by the time he was done with her, Ilona would be able to as well.
*
Turner came awake with a start, unsure of how long he had been dozing. He could tell it was full dark outside, and, in the stall, Maisey was pacing back and forth. She had been restless all day, but this time there was something different about it. She seemed agitated, nothing pleasing her, a nearly palpable aura of discomfort rolling off of her. She tossed her mane, stamped first one foot on the ground and then another, and uttered a long, sighing grunt that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Without taking his eyes off the pregnant unicorn mare, he called Ilona’s phone.
“Turner?”
“I think it’s time—” he said, and then Maisey dropped her head andgroaned.
“It’s time,” he said tersely. “Please. Come.”
Then he had to put down the phone, and he eased closer to the birthing stall where one of the most singular animals in the United States was entering labor for the first time.
CHAPTER EIGHT
∞∞∞
Ilona hit the ground at a dead run, stumbled, picked herself up before she could go sprawling down in the now-thick snow, and kept running. It was only a short distance between the house and the barn, but she was certain she had never run so far or so fast. By the time she got to the barn door, she was panting, her ribs barely able to contain her heart, and, when she reached the door, she forced herself to take a long breath.
The urgency in Turner’s voice echoed in her head, and she knew that if she allowed it, she’d spiral into panic and be no good to anyone. No. Her mate had told her to come, and she had, and she would help.
Ilona cracked the door open, suddenly feeling as if she was intruding, but right away she saw how things really were.
Maisey was braced in the rear of the birthing stall, her head down and her horn leveled at Turner, who was standing just beyond the horn’s reach. Even from the back, he looked desperate.
“I can hear you,” he said without turning, and she realized belatedly he was speaking to her. “It’s all right, I know you’re there. Come in, but keep your distance.”
Maisey uttered another scream, and Ilona’s stomach turned. Even she could tell it was a pained and exhausted sound. Moving as quickly as she could without tripping or falling, she came to Turner’s side.
“Is it time?” she asked, and he laughed hollowly.
“It should be, but she won’t let me close. Something should have happened by now, and I can’t check.”
The fear in his voice hurt her. She would do anything to make sure he never sounded like that again, and then she realized there was something she could do after all.
“Maisey,” she called softly. “Hi, Maisey, it’s me. You remember me, don’t you?”
For a moment, there was nothing, and then Maisey lifted her head, making that horrible screaming sound again. Ilona could see the white all around the edges of the unicorn’s eyes, and it struck her all at once that this was Maisey's first foal, and how frightened the mare must be.
“I need to go into the stall with her,” she said, but Turner was already shaking his head.
“It’s too dangerous, she doesn’t know what she’s doing—”
“I’ll be careful. I will be so careful. But if I can do it without getting skewered, it’ll help, right?”
She saw the options flicker across Turner’s face, saw him come to the same conclusion she had. If there was any other way, he would have taken it, but there weren’t.
“I’m going to go in first, and if I give you the word, you have to get out right away, all right?Right away,or I’ll lock you in the other stall right there. That clear?”
“As crystal,” she retorted. “How do we do this?”
