It’s not. A mess created by mortal hands can only be healed in the same manner. We tried to stop Fiona, but she chose her own path. Now the burden has fallen to you and I’m sorry for that.
“Why wasn’t Rachel able to fix it?”
Maeve O’Clery was never meant to be the one to heal this rift. It takes a very particular person, and she was not it. Your motivations are drastically different, and your capacity to love without reservation is greater than hers. Maeve’s path wandered too closely to Fiona’s.
“So it was always supposed to be me? Always my loved ones at risk of losing everything?” Even disconnected from my body as I was, I felt the rise of nausea. “Can you at least guarantee it won’t all be for nothing?”
Hecate shook her sparkling head.Other factors are still at play, more free will to be contended with. But if it will comfort you, by going through with the bonding because you loved them and wanted to share your life with them, you have at least not assured death for yourself and your bondmates. That is the most I can offer at this time.
Fury all but choked me. I wanted to cuss her out, to tell her thanks for nothing, but what good would that do?
She crossed the short distance between us, wrapping me in starlight.I know you would prefer the easy path, and I promise I do not relish your pain. Thereisno easy path when destiny comes to call. Have faith in yourself and your mates. No one is better suited to this task.
I let myself cry in her arms, pouring out all of my fear and anxiety into her loving embrace. “Can I at least know how much time we have left?”
Will any amount be enough?
No.
Be brave. Trust yourself and have faith in each other.
When I opened my eyes I was back in the clinic, hot tears sliding down my cheeks, and Velda holding my face in her hands.
“Scared the shit out of me. Was that one of your vision thingies?”
I nodded slowly, not quite able to make myself form words.
What’s going on?Calliope asked.
“Nothing—” I croaked. “Nothing you need to worry about right now. Let’s just focus on getting these babies into the world.” I looked Velda in the eye.How are we going to protect them?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Can the pilot come back? Evacuate this whole family?
I’ll get Shakti to reach out, Velda promised.
I zoned out, brushing Calliope to keep her relaxed, allowing the time to pass while I struggled to keep myself together. We had one chance to make everything right and if we failed… well, there was no coming back from failure.
Calliope was in labor for about five hours before the first cub shot free like a slippery little rocket. She didn’t move to lick the baby or chew the umbilical cord free like I knew cats did, not that I blamed her. Sarah scooped it up, snipped the cord, took it over to a separate space to make sure the airways were clear and gave it a good scrub-down, stimulating its lungs to start working. Cub number two made a similar entrance before Sarah was finished with the first, and I elected myself in charge with that one.
They were so much bigger than the kittens I usually worked with, but still cute as hell. I helped Sarah get each one cleaned up while Dr. Atling coached Calliope through the birth. We set each baby at her belly so they could get a snack while she worked on bringing their siblings out to join them.
Murdoch looked absolutely beside himself with joy, shifting to his own tiger form to bathe the cubs.
“How long until they can shift?” I asked.
“They’ll do it sporadically for the first few years before they gain any sort of deliberate control,” Sarah replied. “It’s one of the reasons nests are so ideal for young families. No one is going to look at you sideways if your baby turns into an animal out of nowhere. Do that out and about with regular humans and they’re going to panic.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
This is endleeess. Calliope huffed.
I laughed softly and hugged her giant tiger body. “You’re almost done.”
“This is what happens when you get knocked up in animal form,” Velda said, patting Calliope’s hip. “You wanna get freaky, you risk having a whole litter.”
It was one time!
