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The men stood with fists and knives drawn, forming a cage around Ezra, who only growled louder. He was huge, far bigger than any lion I’d ever seen. He was more the size of a small elephant, with all the features and agility of a lion.
Von kept his voice even. “Boston, get October and Mariang to the safe room and lock them in now. Stay in there until I come for you.”
Boston was terrified, but insistent. “I’m not leaving you to fight a lion!”
“You’ll do as I say!” Von shouted, never taking his eyes off of Ezra. “I won’t live if you die. I can’t lose another brother. Go on! You were brought here to protect the Omens, so do your duty!”
“Go, Boston!” Danny growled.
I tried to inch toward the door, but Ezra roared, taking a predatory step between me and Boston, who was near the door. Ezra was a clever lion, cutting me off from my exit.
Danny swallowed. “Take Mariang to the safe room, Boston. October will be right behind you, so don’t lock it until you’re all three inside.”
Boston shot Danny a hurt look and ran Mariang to safety, decreasing my anxiety by like, ten percent, now that she and her baby wouldn’t be eaten by her own father.
Now there was just me, and I was ripe with fresh unborn baby. “Don’t hurt him! It’s still Ezra. Put those knives away!” I ordered.
Von’s eyes never left Ezra’s, even while Ezra pawed at the air with a loud roar that made my insides feel like they were vibrating. “Danny, go downstairs and get Lynna to safety. Then bring us up some steak. Any kind of meat will do.”
Danny was ready for attack, not a burger run. “I’m not leaving you. She’s my sister. I swore to protect her.”
“I’ll not watch you die! I’ve got a plan, Danny. Now run along.”
It couldn’t have been two minutes since the last contraction before a second one hit me like a kick to the uterus. I dropped to my knees, my body contorting and acting on some primal instinct to get on all fours. I buried my fingers in the carpet as I howled through my contraction. It lasted forever, the pain too much to hope it would ever go away. There was no epidural. No C-section. Not even a lousy over the counter pain pill for mild aches. Of all the ways I expected to have a baby, in a bedroom with a giant lion and no doctor was not on the list.
“Pull from her, Danny. I’ll handle Ezra. Get the contractions to stop. I mean it. Bliss her out if you have to.” Von was locked in on Ezra, who looked like he was readying to pounce.
My vision blurred as Danny ran to me, and Ezra gave chase. Finn and Von tackled the lion, but Ezra quickly fended Finn off. I saw Von’s fangs barred, his lips snarling as he jumped onto Ezra’s side and then climbed up his back to mount him like he was riding a horse. Von was all agility and determination, getting himself a sturdy seat on Ezra before sinking his teeth into the meat of his father figure’s shoulder.
Ezra roared in surprise and pain, shaking his mane to try and knock Von off. The horrible sound of the fierce lion rang in my teeth and shook me to my core. I understood now how Ezra could be so gentle and calm in the council meetings, while still evoking fear and respect from the kings.
I had a dad who was an animal. My dad couldn’t see me anymore; all he saw was meat. It shouldn’t have been a heartbreak, but I couldn’t control the fissure. If Ezra ate my baby and killed me, he would never survive the guilt.
I held my stomach and screamed through the tail end of my contraction, praying September wouldn’t come yet, that Ezra wouldn’t eat us both, and that Von wouldn’t be killed by his surrogate father.
Von’s teeth latched again, his arms looping around Ezra’s furry neck to try choking him out. His arms weren’t long enough for Ezra’s thick neck, so the wrestling hold only served to irritate the beast. Ezra reared up onto his back legs, pawing up toward the ceiling, unleashing his temper in a furious roar that terrified me to my very soul.
Finn jumped back into the fight when Ezra came down on all fours. He grabbed up the chair from my desk and used it like he was a lion tamer in a circus ring. When Ezra had no patience to let Finn pretend he was winning, Finn deserted what was left of the broken chair and raised his palms in threat, spraying Ezra with scalding water. The steam rose up in the room, and while I wanted to tell Finn to stop so he didn’t hurt Ezra, burns would heal. When Ezra backed away from his path to me, I saw with fright that Finn’s chest was bloody. I shouted for him to run, but he didn’t listen. Finn jumped at the lion and wrestled Ezra so Von could get in another bite.
Danny pressed his palm to the small of my back, pulling erratically. He let go when Von cried out after Ezra got in a swipe to his arm. Danny was a tank, as was Finn, but it took the both of them with all their might, plus both Duwendes pulling, to keep Ezra from lunging at me. Von sank his fangs deep into Ezra’s back again, drinking in long pulls that made his eyes roll in delirium, while Finn and Danny battled with the front end of the beast.
I couldn’t time the contractions, nor could I think clearly enough to figure out if the second contraction had actually ended and a fresh one began, but this one was enough to draw out a scream when it was probably least helpful. I couldn’t get to the door because there was a friggin’ lion in my path. I couldn’t even stand to be helpful, so insistent was September that today would be her birthday. I was sweating and gritting my teeth as I palmed the carpet, heaving like a beast, and snarling in time with my dad. The room closed in on me with every scream I couldn’t control, couldn’t temper and couldn’t run from.