She nodded, and I continued speaking low and clearly. “When you feel the urge to push, push, and we will do our part. On the next contraction, give it everything you have.”
Olivia grabbed one leg, and Ciara grabbed the other while I held Icelyn’s belly. I sent a silent prayer to the gods. Not that those fuckers cared, but we needed any help we could get. Icelyn shook her head, begging us to get help for the babe. The problem was, no one was coming to help us. We were alone.
The moment we felt the contraction, we all helped Icelyn. She screamed while we helped push her knees against her chest. My hand pushed down gently on her swollen belly while Darynda watched the babe trying to be born. Her gaze lifted to mine in apprehension while the contraction abated. I exhaled slowly, uncertain what else we could try.
Another contraction occurred, and still, no babe. I closed my emotions down to prepare for the worst to happen, praying we wouldn’t lose this child before it even had a chance to fight. Icelyn screamed when the next contraction hit harder than the last, and I massaged her stomach while she cursed the fates that were punishing her. Water exploded from her body as the first babe finally pushed through.
“Oh no,” Darynda muttered, holding up the lifeless, blue body. Silence filled the room with her words, and my heart stopped beating.
Icelyn wailed while Olivia and Ciara both held her, pushing her face into their chest while I stared at the lifeless form we’d just fought to bring into this world. I slipped from behind Icelyn, rushing to the babe.
“No, no, no. Don’t do this to us,” I cried, rubbing my hand over the child’s chest before I took him from Darynda. My mouth touched his, feeling for breath before I blew over his mouth and nose, and checked it for anything blocking his airway.
“My baby,” Icelyn sobbed, the anguish in it hitting me hard as tears burned my eyes.
“I forbid you from dying,” I snapped. “Do you hear me? I forbid it!” My hands glowed amber as silence filled the room. The glow spread throughout my body, and my skin looked as if someone had sprinkled glitter all over me.
The door burst open, and men flooded through the doorway, yet I didn’t stop. My hair floated around me as my hands held on to the tiny being, refusing to allow him to leave his parents. “You will not die, do you hear me? I said I forbid it! You are loved, and you are our family. Stay,” I pleaded with tears running down my face.
“Holy Goddess,” Icelyn whispered as a tiny scream filled the room. Relief washed through me violently as small ice-blue eyes opened and held mine, little lips parted, and the baby wailed his displeasure. “You blessed him, Synthia.”
My eyes slid from the child to his mother and back. My hands trembled with emotion as I moved, handing Icelyn the wailing babe. I stepped back, taking in the worried gazes watching me and my every move as I glowed like Danu had often done. I spun around, rushing from the room and the anxious glances, not bothering to stop until I was in the hallway.
“Destiny!” I shouted, hugging my stomach.
“Synthia?” Ryder demanded, Zahruk and Ristan beside him.
Ryder’s armor was covered in blood, proof of why they’d been delayed. Eliran rushed past us, not stopping to see what had transpired as he made his way to the room with the incubator. Power erupted around us, and I turned, staring at Destiny.
“Tell me I didn’t intervene. Tell me my children will not pay for what I just did!” I demanded.
Her eyes bulged and moved to Ryder and then back to my glowing body. “What happened?”
“I forbid a babe from dying. He wasn’t breathing, and I forbid it from happening, and then I began to glow with power. Tell me my children are safe. I didn’t mean to use my powers.”