Lyra

Prologue

A low groan fills the tiny room. The sound bounces off the walls and the woman lying bound on a small twin bed, glances around furiously, hoping it wasn’t too loud. She lays in silence before breathing a sigh of relief and relaxing against the uncomfortable bed. Her light red hair fans around her and her gray eyes lock onto the ceiling in thought.

She knew this was the beginning. The beginning of the end of her life but also the beginning of her children’s. Another soft groan falls from her lips as her stomach tightens in another contraction. Her face screws up and her eyes shut in concentration, trying not to make a sound. Everything depends on her keeping quiet and not alerting her guard she is in labor. The contraction subsides for now and her thoughts drift between her unborn children and the love of her life: Felix.

She should have known when she met him, they could never work being who they are; being what they are. But the mate bond never lied. They were meant to meet, meant to fall in love, meant to have these babies; Liliana wouldn’t change a single thing.

Thinking back to almost a year ago, she remembers meeting Felix at the beach that day. How scared she had been, a part of her knew then what would happen. It was her destiny to meet him. Having his children was written in the stars and dying in childbirth was always how she was meant to die. She could live with that as long as her children survived.

Liliana glances around the dark room, her eyes landing on the small window to her right. It’s the only way she can tell the time of day. A long stream of bright light flows through the dusty, smudged window and falls upon the dirty floors. It’s probably around midday if she had to take a guess.

Lucky for her, she was allowed one walk a day, and she hadn’t used it up yet. This just might work out. Ana braces herself for the next contraction and this time, not a sound escapes her lips. She can do this; she has to.

Contraction subsiding, she calls out, “Hey! I’m ready for my walk now.” The room remains quiet and then the sound of heavy boots against the earth reaches her ears. She knew he was out there.

The door opens revealing Marcus, a cruel man who guards the small home. His dark hair shaved close to his head and his black eyes stare at her in hatred. He volunteers to watch her, just to see her suffer daily. He looks at Liliana tied up on the bed and a cold smile tugs at his mouth. Seeing her dirty and bound always made his day, and thoughts of her would flow at night when he was alone in his bed. Not that he would admit that to anyone but himself.

Leaning against the door, his eyes travel her body and settle on her round stomach in disgust. While he found the feisty redhead attractive, the thought of her carrying those nasty hybrids leaves a bad taste in his mouth. If it was up to Marcus, she would be dead by now and so would those abominations. He glares at her belly before dragging his eyes over her breasts and into her gray eyes. One would think her eyes would be drained by now, lackluster, but they are the same as when she was brought here months ago: strong. Marcus still has hope he can beat that out of her before she dies. He comes closer and peers down at her.

“You can go for your walk now if you give me a kiss first,” he says, looking down at her lips and puckering his own. Liliana turns away in revulsion. This isn’t the first time he has suggested sexual favors from her, and like every other time, she shuts him down.

“I’m sure Felix would love to hear that,” her voice rings out clear as her eyes stay trained on the wall across from her. There’s a small, dingy table littered with takeout boxes and only one chair, the other is in a broken heap by the wall; where it’s laid since another guard broke it weeks ago. Marcus inhales and chokes out a laugh.

“That pussy won’t do anything. He leaves you here every day. What kind of man leaves the woman he claims to love, who is pregnant with his children? A pussy, that’s who,” Marcus growls out and spits on the floor. Despite his tone, his hands reach into his pockets and fish out the key. He unlocks her slowly, hands lingering on hers as he twists the key in the lock. Liliana can’t suppress her shiver of revulsion as his skin touches hers. He finally lets her go and takes a step back, allowing her the freedom to get up by herself. At one point this was a relief to Liliana, but now this is torture at almost nine months pregnant. She struggles to her side and slowly escapes the bed. Her back cracks as she sits up and a sigh of relief exhales from her mouth at finally being off her achy back.

“Will Felix be here today?” Her voice is even as she asks Marcus, standing on her feet and swaying a little. Her stomach tightens, and she quickly turns away from Marcus and breathes quietly, she can’t have him know the truth or he will never let her out for a walk.

“Later. He’s bringing your lunch in about an hour. You gonna give me a show today? I’ll give y’all a few minutes alone as long as I can join in,” he asks, hands dropping to her waist. She roughly pulls away from him and almost falls back onto the bed before she leans against the headboard. Marcus laughs and walks back towards the door and Liliana follows him silently. Sometimes it’s best to say nothing, especially when she’s in a hurry to get outside and into the woods.

Walking into the bright light, her hands come up and block her eyes. Marcus grunts and slams the door shut behind them and walks a few feet away, where he has a round table and a chair set up in the grass. Playing cards are spread out along the rough wood and he continues his game of solitaire as he sits down. He doesn’t even blink at Liliana as she hurries into the trees surrounding the property. Marcus knows she can’t escape; they brought in a witch to set up a ward around the property, Liliana couldn’t take a single step past the circle no matter how much she wanted to. It also drained her of her powers, rendering her human in the small space. At least they didn’t keep her locked up in the house all the time and allowed her the chance to walk every day.

Liliana walks out of view and leans against a nearby tree out of sight. She doesn’t wait there long before she is traveling west, towards a grove of hollow trees along the ward border. Having seven months to explore the woods, she knows the perfect place to labor where Marcus won’t hear her. Every step she takes, her contractions build, and she feels wetness seeping down her legs.

Finally, she reaches the hollow trees, and she rushes to one that’s just along the line. Liliana braces herself against the tree and squats down, pushing with everything she has. Her body isn’t ready to push yet, but she knows she has little options. Marcus will come looking for her in an hour and she needs to give birth to both babies and hide them before he comes for her. Their only hope is her getting back to Marcus before she bleeds out and telling Felix where to find them. While their relationship may be forbidden, someone must be looking down on them in favor; so far everything is turning out perfect.

Liliana pushes for what seems like forever. She has no way of knowing how long it’s taking and there is so much blood beneath her; already she is tired, but she has to keep going. Reaching down, she can feel the first babies head. Excited, she bears down and pushes with everything she has. Despite her pain, she’s able to reach down and catch her baby.

It’s a beautiful baby girl, with patches of light red hair sticking to her head. She looks just like her mother. Liliana smiles down at the little babe and kisses her forehead before tugging down her dress away from her breast and bringing the little one up to nurse. She knows she doesn’t have much time to spend with her daughter but wants to give her the best start in life she can.

“Thank the Goddess! You are so beautiful,” Liliana says, staring down at her little girl. “I’ll name you Lyra, after my favorite constellation. May you look up at the stars and know I will always love you. You will be vibrant and full of life, no one will bring down your spirit.”

The tiny infant doesn’t so much as open her eyes as her mouth speaks, she drifts to sleep in her mother’s arms, feeling love and contentment.

Knowing she can’t waste any more time, Liliana finishes delivering the placenta and reaches into the hollow tree, pulling out a few shirts she was able to store there. They will have to be enough to keep Lyra warm for a few more hours. Carefully, she wraps the baby up and with one last glance at her beautiful face, she lays her gently inside the tree. Feeling another contraction hit her, Liliana braces herself against the tree to ride it out before waddling away.

Blood trails behind her and she has to stop multiple times from the pain. Liliana starts to second guess herself, maybe she should have hidden both the twins together? No, she shakes her head. It might have been easier on her, but she wanted to give them both a chance at life, and that meant keeping them separate; there was less of a chance of them being discovered if they were apart.

Breathing through her next contraction, she has to stop again. Black spots dance before her eyes and her body sways a little. She can’t make it to the other spot. Looking around, she spots a fallen log close to her, and she shuffles over to it carefully, blood pouring out of her. She’s losing too much, too fast. She falls as she reaches the log and stays on her knees as she pushes again. She has to have this baby fast; she can’t die out here without seeing Felix again. Liliana needs to tell him where to find the other baby and she wants to see him just one more time before she dies. Determined, she ignores the pain and bears down.

“What are you doing?” She hears behind her. Tears stream down her face, she’s too late, and she knows it. This baby doesn’t have a chance now that Marcus has found her.

“Please help me. I just went into labor and something is wrong,” she sobs. She can’t let him know she already had Lyra. Without a word, Marcus walks over to her and takes her into his arms, carrying her back to the small, one-room hut she has spent the last seven months living in.

“Of course, something is wrong. Did you think your babies would survive? That you would? This was always how it was going to end. Lucky Felix, he’s just in time to witness this,” Marcus laughs, “He can watch you die.” With long strides, they reach the hut in no time. Liliana’s eyes are shut and her body aches.

“Ana!” Felix’s voice reaches her ears, and she pries her eyes open, needing to see him. He’s standing by the front door of the hut and his brown eyes show his deep worry for her. Whenever he visits, he always keeps his emotions locked up tight. He never wanted to worry her, but she knew he was scared and in denial. He thought he could fix this somehow- that they could live a happy life together with their babies. That’s not their destiny though.

“She went into labor in the woods,” Marcus says, handing me over to Felix. “I found her almost passed out.” Felix looks down at Liliana and kisses her cheek before walking into the hut. The bed might not be the most comfortable but there was no way she was standing up anymore, she needed to lie down. Felix lays her down and settles in beside her on the tiny bed.

“What can I do?” He asks her. Marcus, surprisingly, waits outside the hut and allows them some privacy. This is the first time they’ve been alone since they were caught all those months ago and Liliana lays her palm against his dark cheek and brings him in for a wet kiss. Neither of them cares they are crying; they enjoy the touch of the other for a second before pulling away. Liliana pulls his head down and brings her lips to his ear.

“Listen, I had a baby in the woods already,” she says as Felix pulls away and looks at the door, knowing Marcus shouldn’t hear this.

“Are they alive?” He whispers in her ear, just loud enough for her to hear.

“Yes, I put her in a hollow tree along the west side of the property. Find her Felix. Take her and run away, please.” She whispers, tears leaking down her face.

“I will. I promise. For now, I’m staying with you. Maybe I can somehow get this baby as well? I can take down Marcus and run away with all of you.”

“I would love that, but it will not happen, at least not with me. I love you, Felix,” she says, leaning back and looking into his eyes. “But I’m not going to survive this. I’ve lost too much blood and I’ll just slow you down. You take our babies and you get them out of here. Don’t you dare look back.”

“I can’t just leave you,” he says, tears rolling down his face. In the year Liliana has known Felix, he has never cried; not even when they were found a few months ago or at any point since they have held her captive. Never. But now he’s openly crying.

“It’s okay. I’ve known for a long time now that this is how I would die. I can be at peace if you can get our babies away. That’s all that matters now. Keeping you and them safe. Can you do that for me?” Felix looks into his mates eyes and nods. He doesn’t want to believe that she will die but even he can’t deny that she is losing too much blood. The scent fills his nose and he can’t do anything to save her.

Liliana moans and sits up, pushing down as hard as she can. Felix supports her and whispers words of encouragement in her ear. Neither of them notices Marcus walking back into the room and watching them. He’s always wondered about their relationship, how they could be so in love. He’s watched them for months, but they were never very emotional, always hiding it so others didn’t see. Now he can see they love each other, and a pang of guilt hits his heart. Nothing he can change now. What’s done is done and even if he had wanted to help them, no one has ever survived this before. Only two other pregnancies like this have ever existed, and both ended in death for the mother and her babies. He stands against the wall and watches the scene unfold.

With one last push, a baby is born. Marcus steps closer as Felix lets Liliana relax against the bed and goes to his child. He lifts the little boy into the air and stares down at his tiny face, pale and covered in blood. He places the baby on Liliana’s chest and her eyes open briefly to look at her second child. She whispers, “Phoenix,” before her eyes roll back into her head. Marcus steps forward and takes the baby before she can drop him and Felix stares at his wife’s face.

“Wake up Ana! Please baby,” he cries in anguish. “I need you.”

Marcus looks down at the little baby and his heart clenches. Despite his tough guy act, he felt bad for the couple in front of him. “He isn’t even breathing,” he breathes out. Felix’s head whips away from his wife and he looks at his son. He’s right, the babies chest isn’t moving, and color isn’t flooding his pale cheeks as it should. Felix sobs looking between his dead wife and son.

His face tightens, and he hurries out the room. There is nothing left for him there. He could cry all day in that room, and nothing would bring them back, he had to get to Lyra. Someone he could save. The only person he had left in the world. Pushing his emotions down for the moment, Felix runs outside and into the forest, heading toward the west and trying to sniff out the path his mate had taken. He picks up on her scent and follows it through the trees.

Coming upon the grove of hollow trees, his eyes search the ground for any sign of disturbance. Seeing blood on the ground, he walks to the tree right along the border and reaches inside, grasping the bundle with both hands and carefully lifting it. He half expects to find a pale, unmoving baby inside and he closes his eyes before looking down. His eyes lock with a pair of deep gray. Lyra is tiny with light red hair and long eyelashes; she looks just like her mother. The baby is wrapped in a few shirts and her eyes are staring up at her father in wonder, he’s the first person she has laid eyes on.

Felix lets out the breath he had been holding and tucks Lyra into his chest and looks around before running as fast as he can. He can’t stop by his old place to grab anything, there’s no time and there’s a risk someone will see them. He has to protect her with everything he has. Lyra is all he has left.