ChapterForty-Eight
SUNDAY
Cashel’s voice washed over me, stopping me dead just outside the library. The door stood ajar just wide enough that I could hear the conversation inside as easily as if I was in there. But, God, I wish I couldn’t.
“Turn her? You want to turn my mate into a vampire?” Kingston asked.
“If it’s the only way to save her life, would you really question how it’s done?” Cashel’s words were mocking.
“What happens if it’s not successful? What if I lose her to the change?”
“If we don’t attempt it, you lose her anyway.”
I was barely breathing as I listened to them debate the pros and cons of my becoming a vampire. The thought hadn’t ever crossed my mind, so I didn’t exactly have an opinion one way or the other. The only thing I cared about right now was keeping my daughter safe.
“So you are suggesting we wait until the baby is born and then...” Noah’s voice trailed off as his father completed the sentence.
“We get rid of it while you turn her, yes.”
“Get rid of it?” Alek bit out, his voice dark with rage.
“There is a way to stop the world from ending, but it must happen in the moments immediately following its birth. We will only have one shot.”
“And you’re just mentioning thisnow? What is it with you bloodsuckers and burying the lead?” Kingston’s question was filled with livid frustration. “How do you know this?”
“I can’t say much.”
“Of fucking course you can’t.”
“But,” Cashel continued, “Just know there has been someone watching Sunday Fallon since the day she was born. A soul linked to her, charged with keeping this from happening. Fate had other plans, and so did we. With every event that opened one of the seven seals, our plan of attack solidified.”
My stomach churned as Cashel continued speaking, each new revelation filling me with dread. Who was this spy? How had I never suspected them?
“And by plan of attack, you mean the murder of this child?” Alek asked.
“One life to save the world.” Cashel said it so simply I would have been on his side if the life in question wasn’t my baby’s.
“How many seals have been opened?” Noah asked.
“Six.”
“So there’s still a chance—” The excitement in Kingston’s voice died as Cashel interrupted.
“No. Not anymore. Maybe before now, but the last seal is known, unlike the others.”
“And it is?” Alek’s tone was stoic and steady. Too calm. If I could have seen his face, I bet flickers of the berserker would be shining in his eyes. He was fighting to remain in control.
“The birth.”
A shuffling noise came right before Noah spoke. “What if we prevent the birth?”
“You mean like an abortion?” Kingston whispered, horrified.
“It’s too late for that. Killing the child or the mother ends the same for us all. It’s as I told you, the only way to stop this now is during one very specific window and with a ritual I have to complete.”
“So you will kill the baby, and I...” I hated the resignation in Noah’s statement, like he’d already agreed to this horrific plan.
“Will attempt to turn your mate.”