Prowled Darkness (Dante's Circle, #7)(17)

He was larger than what she figured normal lions were. Much larger. And he had a black mane on golden fur. She’d known lions with black manes existed and had even heard a news report about a famous one at one time, but she’d never really seen one.

“You’re beautiful.”

Malik chuffed, and she figured that was some form of lion laugh.

She smiled and reached out to touch him, only to freeze at the feeling of an inward snap. Wetness covered her legs and she looked down in horror and shock.

“Oh, dear goddess.”

Malik shifted back right away. “Eliana? Did your water just break?” Panic filled his voice and she couldn’t blame him.

She met his gaze and clutched her belly. “I think so. I think the baby’s coming, Malik.”

She tried to smile, tried to think, but all she could do was freak out. Because she wasn’t ready for this, and yet she knew no matter what, her life was about to change yet again.





Chapter Six


Eliana had told herself she would remain calm once she went into labor and the baby came, that she wouldn’t freak out, but she had a feeling she was freaking out anyway. She’d literally just run through all the new and challenging things in her life and she’d told herself that she’d deal with things one at a time.

Apparently, little squirt had different ideas.

Freaking squirt.

Malik had her in his arms and in is Rover before she could tell him to take a breath and not freak out with her. One of them had to be calm, and she would have preferred it to be the large lion.

“Malik,” she gasped as the first contraction hit. Her friends had lied. All of them. There was no way the girls hadn’t used drugs for these because this hurt. Her stomach tightened and something rocked through her before ending in a cramp from hell in her back. She was going to die. That was it. The first contraction, and she already knew she wasn’t strong enough for the rest.

Some mother she was turning out to be.

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt?” Malik cursed but didn’t start the Rover. “Of course, it f*cking hurts. You’re having a baby and we’re not ready. I’m not ready. But it doesn’t matter about me. We need to worry about you.”

For some reason, seeing Malik freak out like he was even though he was usually the one who was calm and growly and took charge calmed her.

“Malik, honey, I need my bag. And my purse.” She looked over at him and gripped his hand. “I have a bag packed for the hospital and I need my purse. It has my phone in it.”

“You can’t go to a hospital.”

She nodded. “I know. You’re going to take me to your realm and they are going to help me.” She only guessed that was the right course of action, but from the way some of the tension left Malik’s shoulders, she figured that was a good plan to start with.

He gave her a solemn nod. “Stay right here.”

“It’s not like I’m in position to leave right now,” she said dryly.

He didn’t laugh, and she didn’t blame him. They were both on the verge of a mental breakdown as it was. He left her to get her things, and she sat alone in his Rover, her hands over her belly.

“Okay, little squirt,” she said as calmly as she could. “This is going to be scary for both of us, but we’re going to make it through. You’re going to come into the world with a mommy and daddy who love you.” She couldn’t help but tear up at that. “I’m so happy Malik is here for you when you come into the world, because despite what I might have muttered about him before, he’s a good man. He’s going to be a good daddy to you and I’m going to do my best to be a good mommy. Now, just don’t freak out in there and we’ll be okay. Let me make it to the healers or whatever Malik called them, and then you can make your presence known. Can you do that? Can you wait just a little bit more?”

The baby gave her a slight kick and she took that as an agreement. At least, she hoped that it was because she knew she sounded more than a little crazy talking to her unborn baby.

Malik walked quickly out of the house with her purse and bag in one hand and a phone in the other. She hadn’t told him which bag it was, but considering Lily had labeled the freaking thing ‘Baby Bag,’ she figured he’d found it easily enough.

After he’d put her bag in the back seat and handed her the purse, he got into the front seat and started the engine. “I called Tristan. He said he’d let the others know.”

She let out a relieved breath. “I was going to call Lily and have her start the phone tree, but Tristan is as OCD as Lily so that works. Are they coming? And where exactly are we going?”

She scrunched up her face at another cramp, but it didn’t turn into a contraction. She kind of wished she’d been able to change out of her clothes because she was pretty sure she was ruining Malik’s car as it was. He’d moved too fast when her water had broken for her to care about practicalities like that.

“I can’t open a portal to get into my realm. We have to go through a warded area much like your wolf friend Hunter has to.”

“So the lions are inside the human realm like the wolves are?”

He shook his head even as he drove toward wherever they were going. “We have our own realm, but the entry points for each realm are different. So we have to go to the edge of the forest for this particular point. There are thousands of entries to the lion realm around the world and this is one of them. The others will meet us there as I’ve already relayed a message to my hunters that your friends have permission to be there. Normally, they’d have to go through a process, but I’m a royal and it’s about time I use that to my advantage.”