Jude keeps me anchored, his arms around me, his hand flat over my belly like it’s already second nature. “Babydoll, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
I glance between them—Seth’s laugh, Rory’s wildness, Vincent’s protective care, Jude’s steady devotion—and my heart breaks open in the most beautiful way. Too big for my chest. Too big for this world.
I take a handful of M&M’s from my lap and pop them into my mouth. Salty tears mix with the sweetness as I bury my face in Jude’s chest and hold on like he’s gravity itself.
I’m pregnant.
A miracle I never let myself imagine—not after everything that was done to me, not after the Prophet carved away my future like it was his to claim.
But somehow, it happened. All because of the five chains around me.
They don’t cage me.
They crown me.
And me? I’m their Queen of the Damned.
But I’ve never felt more blessed.
ABOUT SEVEN MONTHSLATER
Push,”Jude directs me for the thirty-first time, too maddeningly calm, like he’s not kneeling between my legs, wrist-deep in my vagina.
I grip Rory’s hand like it’s a stress ball and scream through my teeth, “If you tell me to push one more time, I’m pushingyouoff a cliff!”
Rory yelps. “Christ, woman! That’s my bone you’re grinding like a pepper mill!”
“Why are you complaining?” Vincent grunts from behind my head, cradling his mangled hand. “She snapped two of my fingers. Again.”
“What are y’all bitching about? I’m pushing ahuman beingout of myvagina!” I shriek.
I briefly look at Raphael. He’s freaking me out. He’s standing just behind Jude and to the right, never moving a muscle, other than the jaw clenching and his eyes narrowing. He’s studying everything. The others. Me. And the Animal Planet-worthy mess coming out of me.
“Okay, deep breath, Babydoll,” Jude encourages from between my legs. “Baby’s crowning.”
“Good!” I screech, glancing at my lumberjack standing just to the left above Jude. His jaw dropped. His eyes wide. “Seth looks like he’s gonna have a mental breaaaakdown!”
“Breathe.” Seth meets my eyes.
A snarl leaves my throat. “Oh,youbreathe, you motherfucker—or whichever one of you assholes knocked me up—because it’ll be thelastbreath you ever take!”
Jude’s hands are gentle but focused, working the area around the opening, fingers easing the skin, helping it stretch so I don’t tear.
Seth scrambles away from Jude’s side like he’s trying to flee a natural disaster. “Yeah, that’s the most disgusting miracle I’ve ever seen.” He sits next to Rory on the bed and substitutes his hand, giving his partner a break.
As I brace myself before the next push, Jude is already suctioning the baby’s nose and mouth, getting the baby to cry while he prepares for the shoulders. It’s all happening fast—too fast—and I can’t tell what’s sweat and what’s blood anymore.
“Push again,” Jude says.
My body coils tight, like it knows this is the final battle. Pressure builds, unbearable and all-consuming, until it feels like I’m splitting in half—but somewhere beneath the agony, there’s a flicker of release waiting to tear through me.
So, I push. I push like the gates of Hell have opened behind me. My bones stretch. I roar. I go feral.
Then, suddenly, Jude freezes. “Uh oh.”
My head snaps up. “What?Jude, you better talkfast,or I will deliver a roundhouse kick from this position.”
“Don’t worry,” he calms me, holding something small and red andsqualling. “Not that kind of uh oh. It’s just…there’ll be no living with him after this.”
