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He wove the right conditions to make it happen, even if her womb wouldn't have sustained it for whatever reason so many vampire females didn't conceive. Cai was able to replace that with his magic and make it work, even as he felt his strength decrease exponentially, exacerbated by his physical condition.
Olive had delivered a beautiful baby girl, healthy as a horse, screaming her lungs out. Her husband had wanted a boy, so soon as Olive was back on her feet, he started beating his wife again for her shortcomings. Cai had been too young to know the difference between desperation and hope. He just felt her desire for a baby, which, under his mother's abundance of love, Cai assumed was always a good thing.
Olive took the blows to protect her child, but it wasn't enough. One night, her husband tossed the kid down the ladder from the hayloft, pissed off when she hid from him. The child died.
He'd told himself shit like that happened all the time, so there was no verifiable proof that God was any better at deciding who should have a baby than Cai, with his random act of misguided kindness. But lesson learned. He'd never used it toward another human again, but as he grew older, that power in him increased. He was smart enough to learn how to use it, even if he didn't extend his practical applications beyond plants and goats. He liked baby goats.
It felt almost too easy, too natural, which disturbed him. It was as if there was even more power waiting behind it, if he delved too deep. The thought brought an uncomfortable flash to Lyssa's parting words to him. Such magic is hard to quantify and often opens your path to other abilities you didn't know you had.
That ease-of-use was part of why he rarely used it. That, and it was the reason he'd been taken from his family, which had made him pissed off at it for a long time. But then he'd realized that was like a guy being mad at his own money because someone stole it and left him penniless.
Cai had no idea what the future of this baby would be. But he felt the seed take, knew when the rooting was sound and had the right start.
As he surfaced, slowly bringing himself back, he found Rand was as pale as a vampire himself, his gaze caught between incredulity and something darker. He'd taken that journey with him, Cai realized, following him in his mind.
"Holy God," the wolf murmured.
Dovia had finished her meal, and was half conscious against Rand's chest, him still holding her. From the feel of the night, Cai guessed maybe an hour had passed. He'd given her an hour respite, hopefully more, if he could prove to Goddard what had transpired.
I don't think you'll have a problem with that. There was an energy around you, Cai. It was almost...visible, like air with weight. They know something happened.
"Good." He turned his head and looked at Goddard. "If you'll come here, I can prove to you she's pregnant."
Dovia's gaze flew open, her expression shocked. Rand murmured to her when she started to struggle. The sight of Goddard rising to his full height froze her. If she could have folded herself into a tenth of her size and hidden in Rand's hand, she would have. But she seemed to recall herself as Goddard approached. Her backbone stiffened, her face going blank.
Inside she was a turmoil of emotions. Cai had felt it, waded through that jungle, had to mute it to do what needed to be done. He admired her control, even as he knew it wouldn't hold long. She was about as physically and mentally exhausted as it was possible to be. She'd been half-asleep before his words had startled her awake.
Goddard squatted next to him. God, Cai hated that smell, that unwashed odor that so many Trads thought was a badge of honor. Because of it, even when Cai stayed in the woods for weeks at a time, he bathed daily. He gestured. "Give me your hand."
When the Trad hesitated, Cai scoffed. "Believe me, I have as much desire to touch you as a leprous snake. Give me your damn hand."
Goddard complied with a threatening look, and Cai met Dovia's gaze. "It's all right," he said.
He laid Goddard's hand on her lower abdomen, molded it there. Dovia recoiled, but Rand held her steady, speaking to her in a low, soothing tone. The energy Goddard would be feeling mostly came from Cai's hand, but it connected to the magic he'd done, like an electric current passing through Goddard's palm. It won a startled expression, then a cruel flash of triumph. Even vampires could identify creation magic.
"Fuck, I think he did it."
The other vampires surged up with a scraping of chairs and thumping of boots. Dovia shrank back, and Rand showed his teeth, human self notwithstanding. Cai gave him a warning look and a calming thought.
If they confirm it for themselves, they'll leave her be. Treat her far better than they have been. Give us some more options.
Rand managed to settle himself, with visible effort, but when Brutus looked as if he was going to yank her from Rand's arms forcibly to paw at her, Cai was the one to intervene. He stood up and shoved at the male, startling him.
"Remember what I said. The first two weeks, she'll be very fragile. The seed has taken, but the roots are new, tenuous. Regular blood, in a cup so she'll drink it. A clean bed and a private corner of this shithole that's hospitable enough for a woman to be comfortable. Let her walk around at night. Fresh air. No more chains."
Goddard threw up a hand when Brutus seemed as if he was going to punch Cai through a wall and yank the girl away from Rand anyway. "Indulge him," he said shortly.
He turned a wondering gaze to Cai, his usual malevolence warring with the unknown. It gave his face a macabre harlequin look.
"It's a kick in the ass, isn't it?" Cai said sardonically. "The slave you tried your best to kill because I couldn't do what you wanted then, ends up being the road to the survival of your oh-so-special Trad purist bullshit. So here are my terms. You treat me as your guest. No more of the abuse and threats. In return, I'll become her personal nanny, keeping her safe and well through her pregnancy, making sure you get a bouncing baby boy."
"It's a boy?"
"Yeah, I figured that's what you wanted. Sorry I didn't check with you to see if you'd already picked out pink for the nursery."
"You can choose?"
"If I can create it in her, I can choose what sex it is." Cai snorted. "That's the easy part."
No, I totally can't do that, he told Rand. But I want him deliriously happy, and this misogynist crowd is all about the penis factor.
To Rand's credit, he didn't react to that by so much as a blink. But deep in Cai's head, he thought he heard a grim chuckle. A nice moment of solidarity in a totally not-good situation. This time he could handle it without cracking.
"Hmm." Goddard stared down at Dovia. She had tears running down her face, and had gone tense as a board in Rand's arms. Her look, when it fell on Cai, was one of revulsion. Cai tried not to let it affect him. Stupid kid. I'm trying to help get you out of here, so stow the attitude. He avoided Rand's eyes, not wanting to see the same issues there he saw in the disquieting abyss of her dark gaze.
Goddard frowned. "I admit...I am impressed."
"That means so much nothing to me."
Goddard snorted. Moving away, his head down and expression almost meditative, he stopped by the table, which held a variety of weapons ready to hand. Passing his fingers over them, he hovered over a set of brass knuckles, picked them up and slipped them over his fingers. Then he turned toward Cai.
The light in his eyes was one Cai recognized all too well. It brought a surge of childhood terror, desperation and hopelessness, which rose like a wave to overcome the man he was now. A man who yeah, you could fuck with him, but you couldn't own him. Not now, not ever.
He told himself that, even as he braced for the worst Goddard could bring. Because he could tell it was coming.
Somewhere during their back and forth, Rand had closed his eyes. Now they opened, for he felt the danger, the hairs lifting on his neck. Cai and Goddard's mutual contempt was obvious, but beneath that, he felt something far deeper and more sinister.
Absolute hatred for one another.
Goddard returned to Cai, facing him. Ther
e was a significant pause, and then things went bad. Really bad.
Fast as the cliched snake, but Rand could think of no other comparison that fit, Goddard struck Cai in the face three times. Breaking things. His nose, more of his teeth. Maybe his jaw. Rand's protective instincts went into full forward gear, but even through the phenomenal pain, Cai's mind roared at him.
No! You don't care about me. Her. Protect her.
