“You are doing so well, my Queen.”
“What the hell is happening?” she cries.
“This is how the Draci of old were born, my Queen.”
“Why the hell didn’t anybody tell me that?!”
“We did not think— You are human, so—”
A long, agonized shriek cuts him off.
The doctor flies to position himself between her legs. “He is crowning!” the doctor shouts and all the advisers and representatives in the room crowd as close as they can from the floor.
“You’re doing great,” Giselle calls. “Just remember to breathe!”
Shak says nothing, his face pinched and pale as he stares up at his mate, but his lips move silently in prayer.
I look around. Ana should be here. To witness this and support her friend. But right as I turn to go for her, the Queen wails louder than ever.
I look up to see her wings flapping furiously, her hands clutching her belly, and her face contorted.
“Push,” cries the doctor, lifting his hands between her legs to catch the baby.
The Queen pushes and the entire room waits with baited breath as she screams with her effort.
“The head is out!” the doctor cries. “Just give me one more big push.”
The Queen does and we all watch in awe as the Prince is born into our new world.
“He is colored like a human but he has golden wings!” calls the doctor. “And a ridge on his brow. He is Draci.”
A roar of celebration goes up from all the Draci on the ground. This is what they’ve been waiting for. The confirmation that our race will go on when so many had given up hope.
I see it so clearly now.
They will not allow me to stay with Ana if they do not think she is a good enough candidate for a mate. They will try to come between us. Shak might be on our side now, but it is like the first adviser says. He has only just been made King and he will feel the pressure of his position.
It’s a risk I cannot take.
Ana and I must run. And what better time than when everyone is distracted?
I back away while everyone cheers and then steal back down the hallway. I yank open the door to the room at the end. “Ana, we must go, n—”
But I stop in my tracks.
Ana is not in the room.
I extend my tongue and scent the air. She went towards the window. I shove it open, praying I will find her right outside.
But she is not there. I follow her sent all the way to the vehicles. Her car is gone.
Ana has left me.
Chapter Twenty
Ana
I drive and drive and drive some more. I passed Reno about half an hour ago and just kept going, on into the desert. I have to pee but I still don’t stop.
I spent the first hour of the drive crying my eyes out and now I just feel numb.
I don’t know where the hell I’m going. I just got in the car, pulled onto the highway and kept driving, heading west.
Away. I just had to get away. Where no one can find me for a while. I even ditched my cell phone half an hour in.
Not that it was ringing. If anyone noticed I was gone, they didn’t give a shit.
Then again, I’m not even sure Ezo knows how to work a cell phone.
“Not thinking about that,” I whisper, staring determinedly at the highway in front of me. Reaching down, I crank up the radio.
Death metal blasts through the car. Maybe if I play it loud enough, it’ll deafen my heart, too.
I’m finally forced to stop when my tank is out of gas and I see a rest stop ahead. I ran out of electric charge a long time ago. The hybrid is only supposed to run on gas in the most extreme of circumstances and since I didn’t exactly know I was headed out of town, I didn’t bring a spare battery.
The charge stations are so few and far between, so at least I found one before I was totally out. I pull off the highway and park to plug in. I blink my eyes against the heat and swipe my forehead.
Jesus, it really is a desert out here.
I put my hand over my eyes to block the sun and look out past the highway. I can see for miles. There are uneven hills in the distance, but all of it is covered by the thinnest layer of scrub brush. Mostly it’s just dirt, though. Dirt and dust. I turn my face away as the wind blows more grit into my eyes.
I think I’ll go wait out my charge inside. I glance at the gauge. It’ll take about fifteen minutes to fill up.
More sand blasts me as I walk over to the ancient charge station.
It was clearly once a gas station back in the day and they didn’t put much energy into any restorations when they switched to electric.