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PROLOGUE

THE PAIN SPREAD froritted ht I would break and then let go I slumped back into the water

Andrea dabbed“Almost there”

Curran squeezed my hand I squeezed back

Above us the ceiling of the cavern reflected the shiny water patterns Pretty

“Stay with us,” Doolittle told me

I could just close my eyes for a minute Just for one minute I was so tired

“Does it always take this long?” my aunt snapped

“Sometimes,” Evdokia said, her hand on my stomach

“It never took that long for me”

“Each woman is different,” Andrea told her

A contraction gripped me It felt like my bones split open It passed and I slumped back down

“It’s been sixteen hours,”Give her some of those pills your civilization likes so much”

“She can’t have any pills,” Evdokia said, her voice cal”

“Give her the pills or I’ll kill you, witch”

“If you give her anything, it will hurt the baby,” Andrea said

The baby I snapped out of the fog and back to reality We were in the witch forest, inside the cavern with theoutside They had sheathed the cavern in a blanket of i as it held, my father wouldn’t find us At least that was the idea Aroundsplashed I lay in the s the pool of water Evdokia stood between s, up to her hips in the water Doolittle waited on ht There were too many people here

Another spasripped me The pain tore at me

“Push,” Doolittle said “Push Just like that, goodGood”

“You’ve got this,” Curran told me “Come on, baby”

I gripped his hand and pushed A blinding pulse of agony shot through me and then suddenly it was easier

“One more,” Doolittle said

“Push,” Evdokia urged “You can do it”

“Push One more”

There was no ain, and suddenly hI blinked

“Congratulations!” Evdokia raised so out of the water and I saw my son He was red and wrinkled, with a shock of dark hair, and he was theI had ever seen He took a deep breath and screamed

Curran grinned at me “You did it, baby”

My aunt glided into the water, a translucent shadow Evdokia cut the cord and heldhihostly arh her and into the baby For a second, lowed

“The blood bred true” Pride vibrated in Erra’s voice “Behold the Prince of Shinar and know he is perfect!”

Magic burst above us I felt it even through the barrier, ai

My aunt broke apart into a cloud of pure glowing ic The cloud swirled around ic, shielded by her essence

The needle of ic smashed into the witches’ barrier For a torturous fraction of a second it held, but the needle burrowed, pushing harder and harder A h

He would not get our son

Power tore out of me in a focused torrent of pain I sank every ounce of ic The water of the pool rose in long strands and hung suspended in the air above the dry lake bed

Words of power slid from my lips “Not today Not ever”

We struggled, theand twisting as if alive

The needle pushed, the weight of Roland’s full power behind it

I screaic flooded into ainst the intruding power

The needle shattered

The water collapsed back into the cavern’s lake

I slumped back My father had failed