Righting his shirt, Dario frantically shook his head. “No, my grandmother would never do something like that. She has no reason to do it. She could not possibly gain anything from it.”
Levi spoke, “There are plenty of reasons why someone would want Knox’s child, and you know it.”
“She’s old —”
“Just because somebody’s old doesn’t mean they’re frail or harmless,” said Jolene. “She also has help. She’s not working alone.”
Dario’s mouth fell open. “Don’t tell me you think she’s one of the Horsemen,” he scoffed.
“It’s possible,” said Levi. “She knew plenty about them. Maybe this was why.”
Dario shot him an impatient look. “If she was one of them, why would she ever make you aware of them?”
“For the same reasons that serial killers tip off the police,” said Levi. “For attention. To create fear. If people aren’t aware that something or someone exists, it doesn’t have any power over them.”
“Face it,” Knox snapped, “your grandmother kidnapped Harper. She wants my child. Make me believe you’re not part of this plot and tell me where Nora would take her.”
Scrubbing a hand down his face, Dario said, “I just can’t believe that she would —”
“Believe it, because she has. Convince me you had no part in this, or I swear I’ll end you right now.”
Dario stood tall, looking ready to challenge Knox. Wisely, he didn’t. “I have played no part in whatever has happened to your mate.”
Knox, where are you? I don’t want to do this alone.
He almost flinched. The pain in those words gutted him. “How much longer is this going to fucking take?”
“The process is slow-going, I know,” said Thatcher, “but I’m going as fast as I can.”
Knox softly brushed his mind against hers. You’re not alone, he soothed. I’m right here, and I’ll be physically with you very soon.
“Is there a limit to how many people can step through the portal?” asked Levi. When Thatcher shook his head, Levi turned to Knox and said, “I’m going with you.”
“All four of us are going,” said Tanner, referring to each of the sentinels.
Knox looked at Jolene. “I need you to stay here.”
“You need me to guard the portal and ensure that Thatcher doesn’t attempt to trap you there,” said Jolene in understanding.
Yes, because Knox couldn’t rely on his ability to pyroport if the place where Harper was being held would weaken him.
“I’ll kill him on the spot if he does,” Jolene vowed.
“And I’ll help,” said Khlo?.
“The portal will remain open,” Thatcher assured Knox. “No one else will get in or out of it, and you need not worry that I will try to trap you.”
“I hope that’s the case, Thatcher,” said Jolene, “because I’d rather not kill you.”
Biting her lip, Raini came forward. “Do you think the baby’s coming tonight?”
Knox nodded. “I’ll need to arrange for Rodgers to be waiting at the mansion, ready for Harper. There’s nowhere else she’ll be completely safe while she gives birth.”
“I’ll arrange all that,” Jolene told him, pulling out her cell phone. “Everything will be ready. Ciaran can teleport the doctor and whatever he needs to your home. You just concentrate on getting to Harper.”
Knox might have protested, but he sensed that Jolene needed to be proactive, needed to feel that she was doing something. She might look calm, but she’d undoubtedly be far from it.
He reached out to Harper. We’re almost done reopening the portal, baby, just hold on for me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The agonizing contraction passed, and Harper almost slumped to the ground. Her knees, back, and shoulders felt stiff from being in the same position for so long. But she wouldn’t give in to the urge to lie down. No, she wouldn’t make herself even more vulnerable than she already was.
Her movements clinical, Linda used a cloth to dab the sweat from Harper’s forehead. She was a panting, moaning, sweaty mess, and she knew that her face was probably haggard and pasty. Her eyes watered with both the pain and the harsh wind that kept slamming into her face, stealing her breath. At least the haunting sound of it helped her block out the hideous, droned chanting that grated on every nerve she possessed.
Tied down while surrounded by chanting hooded people, she might have felt more like she was having an exorcism than that she was in labor if it weren’t for the excruciating spasms that continuously wracked her womb.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been at this. The minutes had soon become hours, and the hours felt like days as cramp after cramp assailed her. As time went on, the intervals between them became shorter and shorter, and the pain had become more intense.
She kept reaching out to Knox, but she only heard from him occasionally. She knew the long gaps in those conversations was due to the difference in how much time passed for each of them. For Knox, he was talking with her a few times per minute. For Harper, it was a few times per hour and his responses were always delayed reaching her.
Of course, he didn’t know any of that. She’d kept it to herself because she knew that the truth that she’d been in agony for hours would torture him, just as she knew from the other times that she’d been taken from him exactly how hard his demon would be riding him.
God, she really was sick of being kidnapped. The first time, it had been Knox that the culprits wanted to capture – she’d been nothing but bait. The second time, she had in fact been the target. This time, the baby was who the kidnappers wanted. If they thought they’d get their hands on her child, they were out of their ever-loving minds.
“Here,” said Linda, holding a bottle of water to Harper’s mouth.
Throat dry and lungs burning with every breath, Harper gulped down the water, not worried that it could be drugged. They wouldn’t give her anything that would kill her – the dark magick would do that for them once the baby was born.
Well, Linda probably would be tempted to kill her beforehand, considering she now sported one whopper of a bruise on her jaw. Her demon absolutely loved the sight of it. Shame the vines had restrained Harper’s feet to stop her from kicking the bitch again.
“I’ll bet you’re wishing you were in a hospital right now having an epidural,” said Linda with a smirk. “Sorry, no pain relief for you.”
Harper narrowed her eyes. “I hope I shit on you.” She’d heard women sometimes did it during labor, and she’d hoped it wouldn’t happen to her. Now, however, it would be a fucking treat.
Linda’s lips pinched together. “It won’t be anything I haven’t seen before.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. I haven’t shit for about two days. I’ve got lots stored up there.” Her demon might have chuckled at that if it wasn’t so wound up.
A crippling pain once again rippled through her womb, sending her back arching. She tasted blood and distantly wondered if she’d bitten her tongue. It didn’t matter. It was the baby that mattered, and she figured that it had to be even harder for the baby, since it was pretty much stuck in what couldn’t be a comfortable position.