The run out of the forest nearly caused her to pass out, but she eventually made it to the house. Once inside, she kicked off her boots and tossed her jacket onto the floor, huffing for air. The lethargy from awakening her power hit her, but she refused to let the magic-induced exhaustion take her.

Not yet.

When she reached the bedroom, she could hear shouting through the door. When she walked inside, she stopped and gawked at the strange scene she'd just strolled in on.

On her back, lying on the queen-sized bed, Crystal had a fistful of Sterling's hair. She must have dragged him onto the mattress because he had a knee on the edge and hovered over her. Crystal was detailing his death in grisly clarity.

Pregnant Crystal was scary, but in labour, she was terrifying. Rowan sat at her side, trying to provide comfort by rubbing Crystal's forehead soothingly.

Presley was in the corner by the window, far from the bed. He was scrolling on his phone and recounting his findings on how to birth a baby. The internet was slow here, and he had to keep refreshing the page.

Were they really going to do this?

All the terrible scenarios that could happen hit Hannah and weakened her knees. Women die in childbirth. What if Crystal started bleeding and didn't stop? What if the baby wasn't breathing? What could they do? She had no idea. Rising anxiety gnawed in her belly.

After his hair was released, Sterling rose to stand with a wince. "I'd ask you kindly," Sterling said, "to refrain from all threats of violence to your doctor." He looked very smug to have given himself that title. "I can't deliver your baby if I'm worrying about my life."

Crystal sat up with a roar, and Sterling flinched. The poor woman didn't seem to be able to shout threats any longer, her breath coming quicker, but her eyes were deadly.

Walking around the bed, Hannah placed the leather cording of the protection rune around Crystal's neck. With Rowan's help, the red-haired woman directing Crystal to take deep breaths, Crystal tried to even her out-of-control breathing. So Crystal made no indication she noticed.

Back in the woods, Valrus had informed Hannah that whoever wore it would be protected from harm until the magic within ran out-hopefully for long enough to birth the baby.

Sterling smiled curiously at Hannah. "Where did you get that?"

Ignoring Sterling's question, Hannah pulled him away from the others, stopping near the open door. "We can't do this," she whispered, and the nerves she'd been trying to taper down rose, shaking her.

Sterling nodded. "We'll run, then?"

"What?" Hannah had nearly forgotten who she was talking to. She shook her head. "Can you birth a baby, Sterling? You said you had crude medical training from the Bureau. I'll help, too. But will that be enough?" She placed a hand on Sterling's bicep, hoping the touch kept him grounded. The last thing she needed was for his sanity to slip again. But he hissed through his teeth and shook her off.

She frowned with worry, and then her anger burst. "You're hurt? Why didn't you tell me?" She wasn't mad at him, not truly, but not telling anybody about an injury when they were already dealing with this stress pissed her off.

"I'm fine," Sterling assured, shrugging. He winced, regretting the gesture instantly. "I'll put my shoulder back later. It's... There are more important things to deal with right now. This isn't the first time it's happened."

When Hannah raised her palm to whack his arm, Sterling slapped his fingers around her wrist, stopping her.

"I like you," Sterling said evenly, nearing with a glint in his gaze. She glared. "But if you hit me. I'll hit you back." He winked at her, but his words weren't a tease. She was sure of it.

"Sorry," Hannah murmured and pulled on her wrist. Sterling let go of her quickly. She couldn't tell him that the exhilaration of using her magic still lingered in her veins and needed an outlet to release. Her emotions were everywhere. "Please, tell me next time you're hurt. You're a prisoner, or whatever, but that doesn't mean you need to be in pain." He'd only just had the bandages on his wrists removed. "Okay?"

Sterling laughed. "No."

"Sterling." Hannah sighed tiredly.

Asha emerged from the doorway with an armful of towels. "It will be fine," she assured them as she approached the bed.

"See," Sterling said with a deep sigh. "Everything will be fine."

Crystal perked up. "Will Alexander get here in time?"

"I don't know," Asha replied gently. She began laying out towels over the bedspread. "But women have given birth for hundreds and hundreds of years." She was focused, so she missed Hannah's fallen expression. "It will happen naturally, as it's meant to."

"Asha?" Hannah asked warily.

Asha smiled at her. "Yes?"

"Have you been watching the History Channel again?" Hannah's throat closed up.

"It's quite informative," Asha replied happily.

"What's with your faces?" Crystal snapped, sitting up with Rowan's assistance.

They were indeed making faces-panicked ones. Because there was no vision, the assurances were from Asha's obsession with the History Channel when she wasn't watching National Geographic.

Rowan forced a broad smile, which shook slightly. "She's right," she said to Crystal. "Your body knows what it's doing, so don't fight it. Let it do what it needs to." Rowan's green eyes, darting around the room for help, made it clear she had no idea what she was talking about.

"My body is ripping me apart. That's what it's doing," Crystal rasped, her nostrils flaring.

Hannah exhaled and tried to appear calm, smiling. "It's only been an hour and a half. We have time. Babies take a while, right? The others will return, and we'll get you to a hospital." Or Anna could take over. She had become their house doctor, which was useful when they lived violent lives that often resulted in grisly injuries.

"Yes," Crystal replied breathlessly, her smile strained. "Alexander will be here in time."

No one remarked on the fact her water had broken when they moved her from the living room to the bedroom.

"I'm all for pretending," Sterling said, motioning for Asha to grab the first aid kit on the dresser she stood near. She did, and he took it from her with a smile that might have been the most genuine Hannah had seen to date. "But that baby is coming," Sterling told Crystal.

"How can you know?" Crystal asked in a small voice. Hannah's heartstrings tugged. Crystal might be lashing out, but she was terrified. The woman's husband wasn't here, and she was about to give birth to their child with the help of a man they literally stole and locked up for the last few months and three others who were practically strangers.

Sterling dropped the first aid kit on the bed. With a soft hum, he opened the lid with a flick of his fingers. "Your contractions are two minutes apart?"

Rowan's eyes widened at Crystal's wary nod. "You've been counting? When?" Rowan asked Sterling.

Slipping plastic gloves over his cuffed hands, Sterling replied casually, "I'm always counting."

Looking at Presley, Rowan mouthed, 'Always counting.'

Presley shook his head, frowning.

Sterling gave Crystal a serious stare, juxtaposed with his carefree attitude, instantly quieting the room. "We have to be careful with sterility. It'll be the most important. Everything in here has been packaged, so we should be all right. But don't stress about any of that. It's you that's going to do all the work; we're just going to be here to support you."

That sounded alright-support. Hannah envisioned a quick birth with them cheering Crystal on. It wouldn't happen effortlessly, but Hannah prayed that maybe it would, and this nightmare would be over.

"Don't wipe off the baby," Presley suddenly blurted. He blushed when they looked at him. Still so uncomfortable with attention. "I mean when it's born." He shook his phone a little. "I read that the stuff it'll be covered in will help its immune system."

Sterling nodded, wagging a gloved finger at Presley. "Keep telling us facts, Jack. Oh! Look up what you do with the cord thingy."

"My name isn't Jack," Presley snapped, his brown eyes disturbed, as if realizing that they were putting all their hopes on a madman. "And it's an umbilical cord. Even I knew that. You... did know that, right?"

Sterling laughed.

Anxiety suddenly burst within her. Hannah thought she could be here to help support Crystal, but she couldn't handle seeing...everything.

Hannah made a whelp noise. She had no idea where it came from but had no time to take it back because all eyes had fallen on her. "I'll make sure the guests in our basement are behaving." They were chained, but she didn't put it past Nyx to chew through the metal links.

Sterling glared, pinning Hannah in place with the unsettling fury in his hazel-green eyes. "No." He pointed at the bed sternly. "You're staying right here and helping me."

Hannah knew running away when they needed her was childish, but she was nearing a panic attack. "I can't, Sterling."

"You can." Sterling grabbed another pair of gloves from the first aid kit, bit the plastic packaging, and tossed them to her. She caught them. "Get gloved up, toast girl," Sterling said. "We're delivering a baby."

From the bed, Crystal whined; her skin was worryingly pale. Her chest rose quickly, and little puffs of air escaped her parted lips. "Don't let my baby die," she whispered to Sterling. "Please..."

"We won't," Sterling assured her, walking around the bed. His gloved fingers found Crystal's trembling hand. He might be nuts, but his unwavering confidence in the midst of chaos was strangely assuring. Sterling's touch seemed to calm Crystal, her quick breath slowing.

This was really happening.

A baby?

"Alright," Hannah said shakily, nearing the bed. "Show me what to do."

It felt like hours had passed.

The seriousness of the situation calmed Sterling to normality. Sometimes, he seemed to slip into a place where he seemed perfectly sane and capable. Fortunately, this was one of those times. Or Hannah would have vomited and ended up on the floor convulsing.

She wasn't exaggerating.

She'd taken the duty of holding Crystal's left leg. The moment she caught a glimpse of blood on the towels covering the bed, she nearly fell unconscious. She could deal with blood and gore, but this felt more real.

Out of them all, Sterling had adamantine courage. He hadn't blinked twice when Crystal ordered him to become the designated baby catcher. He sat, perched at the end of the mattress, waiting with a focused expression.

Beside Crystal, on the bed, providing comfort, Rowan was the palest out of anyone in the room. Maybe because she was seeing her future? Hopefully, Rowan's birth would be more controlled. There was no way Hannah could handle doing this again. If she was ever pregnant, she wouldn't let Kane leave her sight, and she'd refuse to be far away from a hospital until the baby was born.

Asha peered over Sterling's shoulder. Whatever Asha saw widened her eyes. Another reason Hannah would never chance giving birth out of a hospital. Crystal had no choice but to give them a full view of her lower half. The woman didn't seem bothered that Sterling had been stealing glances down to assess the baby since this had begun. Apparently, the head could be seen, but Hannah wasn't interested in checking.

"Are you even pushing?" Sterling snapped, and Hannah nearly whacked him for talking to Crystal in that tone. He was lucky Crystal was too exhausted to kick him because her eyes were murderous. "The baby has been right there for ten minutes," Sterling explained more gently. "If you just pushed a little...."

"I've been pushing!" Crystal snarled.

"The baby has lots of hair," Asha remarked thoughtfully, placing a hand on Sterling's shoulder.

Balancing on her elbows, Crystal gasped, "Really?"

Asha nodded, smiling. "Black."

"What were you eating? Arugula?" Sterling said, giving Crystal a disarmingly warm smile. "This baby has so much hair it'll probably need a trim."

"Arugula?" Presley asked from his corner, hunched with his face covered by his arm.

Sterling nodded. "It helps grow hair."

Crystal laughed tiredly. "I do like arugula."

A few laughs filled the room, the nervous mood lightening a bit.

Once the room had quieted, Sterling asked Crystal, "How do you feel? Any changes?"

"Besides pain?" Crystal sobbed.

"Yes, besides the obvious," Sterling replied.

"Like pushing," Crystal warbled.

"God, woman, do you think we're all here for fun? Push," Sterling replied, smiling a little at Crystal's tired laugh.

"Don't let the baby slip off the bed," Crystal whispered, glancing at Sterling. Crystal's black hair stuck to her face with sweat. Intense exhaustion was showing on her pretty features, and the seriousness of their situation fell on Hannah's shoulders once again.

This could go so wrong. But Crystal was impressively strong, despite it. Hannah didn't think she'd have kept it together as well if their positions were switched.

"Slip off?" Sterling made a show of looking at the length of the bed. There was a lot of space between Crystal and the edge. He smiled curiously at Crystal. "Are you going to torpedo the baby out? I solemnly vow no newborns will hit the ceiling under my watch."

"Shut up," Crystal muttered fondly.

Sterling's expression gentled. "You can do this. You're so close already."

"Okay," Crystal whispered, smiling.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the bedroom didn't feel so dismal anymore. Hope and excitement overtook the dread they'd all been keeping. A baby was about to be born? It was too incredible to contemplate.

"Push," Sterling said more sternly.

Crystal nodded. Her breath came quicker as she lay flat on the bed, teary eyes staring up at the ceiling. "No one speaks about anything they see."

They all affirmed this with gentle assurances.

Then, the final stretch began.

The noises Crystal began to make were guttural and raw. The woman would push, stop to catch her out-of-control breath, and do it all over again. Hannah was tired just watching Crystal work so hard.

It didn't take long.

"Oh!" Asha exclaimed. She gently slapped Sterling's shoulder, and he didn't shake off her touch. He smiled a little, sharing in her excitement. "Keep going, Crystal! The baby is coming!"

Presley hadn't moved from his hunched position in the corner of the bedroom. His forearm was over his face, blocking his view of the bed. "Finally," he said with a shake in his voice.

Then, so surreal, Sterling had a squirming newborn in his hands.

Hannah's churning stomach flipped.

Baby cries filled the room.

A bright purple light flashed.

The protection rune around Crystal's neck dimmed. Used in an instant. It wasn't clear if it was for the baby or the mother. Tears slipped from Hannah's eyes.

Despite Hannah's burning throat and upset stomach, being here was extraordinary. She couldn't deny that, even though fear masked most of the good feelings she'd be having otherwise.

But when Sterling lifted the baby, something within Hannah shifted.

Sterling's gaze was close to shell-shocked when he placed the squirming infant in Crystal's shaking arms. He kept his gloved hands on the baby's back for support. Crystal was shaking. Sterling must have felt the same overwhelming emotion that was clenching Hannah's heart.

Rowan was crying. Asha had a hand over her mouth and grabbed for Sterling. He let her hold his shoulder again. Presley lowered his arm and stared at the baby with parted lips and wide eyes. It looked like the werewolf might be trembling.

The necklace that had slid beneath Hannah's shirt collar and rested on her chest warmed. Glancing over her shoulder, following the pull she always felt when he was near, she took in Valrus standing in the doorway. Valrus's expression was guarded, but she could see, plain in his eyes, the emotion he was trying to hold back.

Love.

They all felt it.

For the baby who had just been taken from her safety to endure their cold, harsh world. Tiny hands grabbing at the air and little feet kicking wildly.

If there was ever a reason to fight...

This was theirs.