“I think that’s a contraction.” My heart pounded and my thoughts raced. It was too early. And how had she notnoticed? “The baby’s coming. For real this time.”
“The baby can’t be coming,” Meshara insisted calmly, staring at her contorting stomach. “It’s too early.”
“That’s not up to you.” Fear plucked at my nerve endings like the strings of a guitar. What was I supposed to do with a demon in labor? Even if she safely delivered her “human shield,” enabling me to exorcise her from my sister’s body, what could possibly come next? My soul would do the poor child no good if there was no one there to take care of it once I was gone.
Minutes after the birth, I would be sitting alone in the middle of the badlands with the bodies of my sister and her baby.
Of all the ways I’d pictured the birth going horribly wrong, this wasn’t one of them.
Panic sharpened my thoughts like the lens of a camera, blurring everything on the periphery so I could focus on the most important part.One thing at a time, Nina. The baby comes first.Even if it would only live for a few minutes.
I twisted in my seat, angling my bound wrists toward the demon. “Cut me loose so I can help you.”
Meshara ignored my order, still ogling her belly in detached fascination. “Is he trying to rip his way out the hard way?” She reached for the lever on the side of the driver’s seat, then pushed the whole chair back to put more space between herself and the steering wheel.
“It’s not like there’s an easy way.” I tore my gaze away from her belly to study her face. “Can’t you feel that?”
She shook her head, and Melanie’s pale hair fell over her right shoulder. “It’s like I’m watching the whole thing from the outside. How long has this been going on?”
“How amIsupposed to know?” I sank back into the passenger’s seat, trapping my hands against the upholstery as anger swelled to rival the fear already storming inside me. I wanted Meshara to deliver my niece or nephew screaming in agony the whole time. Then I wanted to fry her from my sister’s body with my left hand while I cradled the baby in my right.
Was that too much to ask?
“You’re supposed to be in a lot of pain right now!”
“No, I’m supposed to be in a brand-new body with no appreciable stomach, perfect vision, andmeas the only parasite!” Her eyes were wide and she kept blinking, as if to clear her sight, but I still saw no sign of pain. “With any luck, we’ll be in Pandemonia long before the damn thing pops out.” She slid the seat forward again and slammed her stomach into the wheel to punctuate her dissatisfaction.
Anger bubbled up from deep inside me. “Be careful!”
“Let’s be clear!” Meshara grabbed my chin and squeezed it mercilessly, glaring at me with eyes that held all of the color and expression of Melanie’s yet none of the warmth. “I don’t give a shit about this little uterine leech.” To demonstrate, she punched her stomach with her free hand. I flinched, tears welling in my eyes, but she didn’t even seem to feel the blow. “We’re going to Pandemonia, come hell, high water, or motherfucking childbirth, and when we get there,I’llget a pretty new body and you’ll get…whatever Kastor decides to do to you before he gives that tight little flesh-and-blood fortress away.” She looked me up and down appreciatively, and my skin crawled even as I noticed her stomach contorting again. “That man does like his toys. Andthisthing…” She punched her belly again, and hot tears spilled down my cheeks toward the ironclad grip she had on my chin. “With any luck, they’ll cut it out of your sister’s corpse and show it to you before they throw it out with the rest of the garbage.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I said through clenched teeth, glaring into eyes that had seen my most intimate moments of triumph and despair. Eyes that had laughed with me and cried with me and fallen closed in the bed next to me every night for fifteen years.
Eyes that now held nothing of my sister’s light or love or beauty.
Meshara laughed and let go of my chin. “No, you won’t, because even thoughI’mwilling to kill this kid just to watch you scream, you’re not. You’re going to let me drive you straight into hell on just thechancethat you might find an opportunity to save this baby, because hope is a disease festering inside you, compromising your aim and crippling your logic.”
“You’re right about all of that.” I twisted in my seat until I felt the jagged bit of plastic against my wrists again. “But you’re wrong about the timing. You’ve hadtwocontractions in the five or six minutes since you got back into the car.” She might not be able to feel them, but I couldseethem. “You’ve probably been having them for hours. You’re not going to make it to Pandemonia before the baby comes.”
“The hell I’m not!” The first thread of anxiety laced her voice. Meshara shifted into gear and slammed her foot down on the gas.
I sawed at the nylon cord as fast as I could while we barreled down the road, terrified all over again every time she rubbed her eyes. Something was wrong, beyond the surprise contractions. The numbness, blurry vision, and hearing loss werenotpart of a normal birth.
“You can’t drive while you’re in labor, whether you can feel it or not.” I tried to remember everything Melanie had ever told me about the process. “You could vomit. At some point your water is going to break. And you might lose control of your bladder and bowels.”
Meshara swerved around an ancient three-car pileup, and my shoulder slammed into the window again. “Okay. That’s disgusting. But at least I won’t be able to feel or smell it.” She stomped on the gas again, and the SUV bumped over a huge crack in the pavement. “That’s the only good thing about this stupid, failing body.”
“Whycan’t you feel it?” Blood trickled down my wrist, but I kept sawing at the cord.
“Something’s wrong with your sister.” She squinted at the road. “Nothing feels right. Nothing tastes right. I can hardly hear you.” She turned to look at me, and it took a second for her eyes to focus. “If I’d known Melanie was sick, I’d have picked Anabelle, human shield or not.”
Fear crawling up my spine, I sawed harder at my bindings. Something wasseriouslywrong. “Melanie wasfineuntil you pushed her out of her own body. Something’s wrong withyou.”
Meshara shook her head, leaning as close to the windshield as she could get, obstructed by both the baby and the steering wheel. “Demons have no bodies of our own in your world, which means we’re at the mercy of human physiology.” She finally eased up on the gas pedal. “Looks like you were right about my not making it to Pandemonia, but labor isn’t the problem. This body is failing. Fast.”
My mind raced as the car began to swerve slowly, erratically, while she blinked furiously. “Are you still going numb?”
“Can’t feel the wheel at all now,” Meshara confirmed. Then she stomped experimentally on the gas, and the car shot forward again. “Can’t feel the pedals either. And my tongue is tingling.” She turned to look at me, and the car slowed again. “What thehellis wrong with your sister?”
