I brushed another kiss over his lips. “You’ve spent so much time protecting people all because of the one person you can’t protect. What happens when the day comes that everyone is okay at the same time and there’s no one else who needs you to protect them? Will you finally let yourself live life then?”
CAIN
She seduced me with her soft touch and her remarkable calm, coaxing me into confession. Drawing pain into the light before working to shape it with logic and truth.
Logic and truth I wasn’t ready to accept.
I didn’t know what the right thing was anymore; I just knew I was tired of watching the people I cared about pay for my mistakes.
My skin prickled and I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts—my past a cluster of aggressive vines tangling through my present.
My own twin called me a traitor, the last words he ever spoke to me, my own exact replica looking back at me with such venom and betrayal. It didn’t matter what anyone said, I still felt his words and I didn’t know how to stop.
But when I had a purpose, when people needed me, I could forget how much he hated me in our last moments together.
I stared at the dark house until it blurred and came into focus again. “Something’s not right.”
“What?” Mayhem asked, glancing over her shoulder at the house.
“The house is dark.”
“Lilith probably just went to bed. She is actively making a whole human, you know.”
“But she didn’t leave our grandfather’s light on. She always leaves it on.”
“Maybe she’s in the barn,” she said, pointing past me. “The light’s on up there.”
“I told her not to worry about cleaning up. Shit.” I hopped out of the truck and headed up the hill, Mayhem right behind me. Yes, I knew what I was doing. I was diving right back into someone or something that needed me. “You should be wearing your jacket.”
“Some moody asshole dragged me out of the bar without it.”
“You should be wearing mine then. Why didn’t you grab it?”
“Because I’m sticking with you while you’re in this mood. Someone has to remind you to be nice.”
“I’m always nice.”
She snorted next to me, her bare arms swinging in the bitter cold. “Bullshit.”
She bolted ahead of me and crossed into the barn first and stopped dead in her tracks.
“So, I came up to turn off the light and surprise,” Lilith said, panting out the words from where she sat on a metal folding chair, clutching her stomach, beads of sweat gathered across her pale forehead. Just a few feet away, wet concrete.
I wasn’t here. This was my one job, and I wasn’t here.
“Okay, let’s get you to the hospital,” I said, reaching her elbow.
“Nope,” she said, stiffening up.
“Lilith—”
“Cain, he’s coming,” she said, her eyes turning frantic as they met mine. “Not only am I not going to make it to the hospital,” she said, gasping as she sucked in a harsh breath. “I’m not going to make it to the house.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, crouching in front of her.
“Do you think I want to have my son here?” she said, her teeth chattering.
“Okay,” I nodded, glancing over at Mayhem. “I need towels, blankets, and my bag from the back seat. Can you grab them? There’s a sled on the porch I use to haul gear, you can pile them on that.”
“Got it.”
“And on your way down, call 9-1-1.”
“I’m on it,” she said before turning back toward the house and heading down the hill, her phone pressed to her ear along the way.
“I’m going to turn on the heaters. Sit tight. Where’s your phone?”
“I left it in the house,” she said, putting her hand up the minute I opened my mouth to speak. “No lectures.”
“I swear, I should have put a Life Alert necklace on you.”
“Just think, after tonight you won’t have to worry about me anymore,” she tossed out with just enough sass to assure me we at least had a couple minutes.
“I’ll always worry about you.”
All four kerosene heaters fired right up. Luckily our practice ran short, so we hadn’t used up the bulk of the fuel yet. In about fifteen minutes, it’d be toasty warm in here.
“I can’t believe you’re going to have to do this,” she said, her voice breaking on a whimper.
“It’s okay, I’m trained.”
“There’s no training to prepare a brother to see their sister like this.”
“I’ll tell you what, if it makes you feel better, you don’t have to look me in the eye for six months.”
“Deal,” she said with a bit of a squeak before biting her lip.
Mayhem hauled the sled clean into the barn piled with three blankets, six towels, and my bag. “Here. Now what can I do?” she said, breathing heavy.
“Coach my sister.” I grabbed the bag first, grabbing everything I needed to sanitize my hands before sliding on gloves.
“On it.”
“I need to push,” she groaned, her hips sliding to the edge of the chair.
I put a hand on her thigh to stop her as Mayhem wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brushed her hair back from her face.
“Not yet,” I said, doing everything I could to keep my voice calm.
“Cain…”
“Lilith, blow through it. Deep breath in and big exhale. Remember what they taught you.”
She breathed in, blew it out, Mayhem speaking quietly to her, repeating my words, while watching me pull out the umbilical cord clamp and bulb syringe.
“This is so not fair. Jordan’s not here. I’m not ready. I didn’t get to experience the first stages of labor, and now my son is going to be born in an old dairy barn.”
“But just think,” I said, smiling at her. “It’s going to make one hell of a story. Grandma and Grandpa would love
