Into the Fire (The Unseelie Court Book 4) Gwen Rivers (sneezy the snowman read aloud .TXT) 📖

“Who is that?” I ask Chloe.

With Addy gone, the veterinarian clinic is closed. We never get unannounced visitors.

Chloe shrugs and tosses a pea pod into a bucket we’re using for compost. “No clue.”

I set my bowl of peas on a wicker side table as the wolves emerge from the trees. Liam and company are on constant patrol of the grounds. Forever seeking to keep me safe. Or perhaps it isn’t me. It could be Gretchen that they are guarding so fiercely. Fenrir, their progenitor.

The car pulls to a stop and a tiny blonde woman emerges from the passenger’s side door.

“Sophie?” My deadly lips part in shock.

She grins at me, rushing up the stairs with both hands extended for an embrace. “Nic, baby, just look at you.”

“She’s the size of the house,” Chloe snarks. “I hope you like peas.”

“Yuck,” Tate says as he scrambles from the car to join us on the porch.

“I’ve got brownies too. With chocolate chips.” Chloe takes his hand and after collecting the bowl of peas in her free hand, leads him inside.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Sophie. “Isn’t it dangerous?”

“If it’s safe enough for my daughter and grandchild, it’s safe enough for me,” Sophie declares. “Besides, I didn’t want you to go through it alone.”

Garret stands off to the side, scanning the tree line. “Are those the same wolves?”

“Sure are,” Chloe calls from inside. “Come on in. I’ll get you some sweet tea.”

Garret scowls at the pack, then puts one hand on my shoulder. “Good to see you, Nic.”

“You too.”

“Just look at you.” Sophie places her warm palms on my enormous midsection. “Oh baby, you’re not too far off are you?”

I shake my head, still unable to believe she was here. “How did you escape the pocket realm without a giant?”

Sophie holds up a piece of paper. “We got this in the mail last week. Along with this.” She offers up a brilliant pink stone.

I take the letter and read it once.

In case you need to get out. If you are receiving this, I am gone. Take care of the queen. –A.

“Angrboda.” My eyes mist over. The mother of monsters was still looking out for me and mine, even after her death.

“That’s what we thought too.” Garret rejoins us on the porch, handing a glass of sweet tea to his wife and the other to me. His gaze strays back to the wolves. “Are they friendly?”

“I wouldn’t try to pet any,” I warn. “But for the most part, yes, they won’t hurt anyone unless they sense a threat.”

Garret says something else, but I miss it as a sudden sharp pain seizes my lower back. I stagger and then stumble. The glass of sweet tea crashes onto the porch, shards of glass glittering in the late day sun.

“Nic?” Sophie’s tone is full of worry. “What’s wrong?”

“The baby,” I gasp.

Another wave of pain and then a splash.

“Garret, get her into the house.” Sophie barks. “Her water just broke. The baby is coming now.”

I shake my head. “It’s too soon.” Oh gods, what if there’s something wrong? What if I’m going to lose her? Earlier I’d been eager for this to happen but now…. Panic claws me as another wave of agony twists my spine. Blindly I reach for Sophie. “Mom, help.”

Garret swoops in and lifts me up, heading towards my bedroom. “Call the midwife.”

“Here,” Laufey moves up the stairs. Her hands covered with garden soil. “Take her to her bedroom.”

There is a flurry of activity. Harmony and Gretchen run around collecting towels and boiling hot water. Sophie strips my bed and remakes it with an old quilt while Laufey and Chloe walk me back and forth. My breathing is uneven, unstable. I’m already failing at this.

“I need to lie down,” I grunt as the pain moves from my back to my center. The pressure is building and alongside it, all my worries mount. Is Addison Sophia all right?

They get me onto my back. Laufey slips my sodden underwear off. Sophie takes my left hand and Chloe my right.

“She’s ready.”

What comes next is a blur of endless hours broken by ebbing and flowing waves of pain. I stopped tracking anything. My limbs shake. Everything hurts. I want it to end. Am terrified of what the end will mean.

“Push, Nic,” Laufey grunts.

I cry out, sure the pain will rend me in two.

“Push!” the giantess orders.

A scream tears from my lips. The pressure is absolute.

“How long?” I grit out between clenched teeth. We’ve been at this for hours, days. Years maybe.

“Until it’s over,” Laufey’s gaze holds mine. “Chloe, prop her up.”

My aunt climbs nimbly on the bed, wedging herself behind me to help brace my back. She takes both of my hands and breathes in my ear. “You can do this.”

Fear fills me, more potent than any feeling I’ve ever known. I see the press of familiar faces merging and blending in a circle around me. They don’t understand.

In its path of inner destruction, like a horseman of the apocalypse, rides absolute certainty.

I can’t do this without him.

I shake my head and tears track down my face. “I can’t. He’s supposed to be here.”

“It’s okay, Nic.” Chloe bathes my forehead with a wet cloth. “But you need to power through this.”

A sob breaks the pattern of my breathing. If not for the enormous mound of my stomach, I would curl up and tuck my knees to my chin. But it’s been months since I could do that.

“Baby, I know you’re tired,” Sophie says in a soft drawl. “You’re at the end of your rope. It’s not fair, none of it. But you must keep fighting.”

The dream of Pharaildis, alone in her prison flashes through my head. She wanted me for her. The fey took me for themselves.

Just as they would take my baby. Without Aiden, I can’t protect her.

“No,” I shake my head.

Gretchen hovers at the side of the bed, looking like an anxious bumble bee, ready to fly off in any direction.