‘I wish I could take this for you,’ I say, and she gives me a wan smile.
‘I think you've taken enough for me,’ she puffs, looking at the wound on my shoulder that’s black from the poison.
‘It’s time,’ Del says.
Mari staggers back to her bed.
‘You just have to stand, okay? I'll tell you when it’s time.’
Mari nods and Brax and Tor take her hands.
Del does something underneath the hospital gown. ‘I need you to push now. Okay, everything's okay. You just need to push as hard as you can. Stop when I tell you.’
Mari pushes, her face scrunching up as she screams.
‘You're doing great,’ Del tells her. ‘A little more and?—’
I hear a wail, and I crane my head to see.
Del cuts the umbilical cord and her assistant makes sure the baby's airways are clear. The doctor gives us a smile.
‘The first dragon baby born in two decades,’ she says with a grin. ‘A healthy little drake. You did great, Mari. Take him, Tor.’
She swaddles the baby and gives him to Tor, whose eyes widen as he stares at the baby. His son. Brax’s son.Ourson.
‘Okay, sweetheart, we're almost done,’ Del says to Mari, giving her a shot. ‘This will help you with the rest.’
‘The rest?’ Mari asks, faintly.
‘Just the afterbirth. It's important that it comes out. But then you can sleep.’
Tor and Brax bring the baby over, and I stare at him in wonder.
‘He's perfect,’ I whisper, staring at the little shock of dark hair and his round face. ‘Perfect.’
I look over at Mari and see that she’s in the bed being wheeled over to us. The baby is given to her, and she takes her first look at him, her eyes wide in wonder.
‘He’s beautiful,’ she coos, and her expression turns thoughtful. ‘He looks human. Are you sure he’s a little dragon?’
Del nods and grins down at him. ‘I’m sure. He won’t change for a while and when he does, he won’t be able to breathe fire until he’s in his twenties, so you won’t need to worry about that yet. Congratulations.’
Mari takes Del’s hand. ‘Thank you, Del.’
She winks. ‘No problem. Now,’ she straightens with a gleam in her eye and her laptop in her hand. ‘It’s time for me to give all of those Aziel-loving assholes out there a little dose of truth and an even bigger dose of female anger.’
I chuckle. ‘What are you going to tell them?’
Her grin is wide as she steps out of the clinic. ‘Everything.’
