Page 129 of Feral King

LYRA

“Heart rate is strong and exactly where we want it.”

Dr. Okafor tilts the ultrasound screen toward me so I can see it—the tiny, flickering pulse in the middle of the gray blur.

Still there. Still beating. Still mine.

I start to cry. It’s a full, shuddering collapse that I’ve been holding back since the warehouse. It’s the tears I couldn’t shed on the concrete and the relief I wouldn’t let myself feel on the way over.

But our baby is safe. The relief is so overwhelming, I feel as if I might burst.

Julian wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me gently toward him while Dr. Okafor hands me a box of tissues. Julian’s hand is wrapped in gauze, the texture slightly rough against my skin.

“They are both perfectly healthy, Mr. Volkov,” Dr. Okafor says gently. “Mom and baby. Ms. Thibodeaux has a bruisedrib, some minor abrasions, and a mild concussion from the fall, but nothing that threatens the pregnancy. I’m going to recommend that she rest for the next seventy-two hours, hydrate aggressively, and come back for a follow-up scan in four days. But the baby is fine. Everything is fine.”

Everything is fine.

I repeat the phrase in my head like a mantra.

Upon our arrival to the hospital, we received the wonderful news that Misha is alive. He arrived in critical condition but is now stable.

Julian and I are alive, and the people who wanted to hurt us are either dead or in Yang’s custody.

Our baby is alive and has a strong heartbeat.

Everything is going to be okay.

Dr. Okafor prints another screen capture and hands it to me. It’s a fresh printout of my little kidney bean.

“Rest,” she says firmly. “And hydrate. I mean it, Ms. Thibodeaux. No car accidents or kidnappings for at least a week.” She follows up her words with a wink and a wry smile.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Do better than your best,” she says. “With what happened over the past twenty-four hours, it sounds like you’ve had enough adventure to last a lifetime.”

With that, she leaves us alone in the private exam room. Julian holds my hand, his face a mess of emotions that Ican’t quite read. There’s relief, exhaustion, residual fury, and something else I can’t quite name.

He hasn’t spoken much since we arrived. He’s been overly protective of me since the warehouse, like I might blow away with a strong gust of wind.

"Julian."

"Yes."

"Breathe."

He laughs, shaking his head before dropping his forehead to the back of my hand. His shoulders are shaking.

"I should have killed him," he says against my skin.

"But you didn't, because that's not who you are."

"It is who I am, Lyra. That's the part you don’t understand. It is exactly who I am. I am a monster. I nearly killed my own blood. It would’ve been the smart move to remove him as a threat forever. But I couldn’t.”

"Because he’s your brother. You keep telling me you’re a monster, but you’re not." I put my other hand under his chin, tilting his face up. "Julian. Look at me. I'm okay, and the baby is okay. You got there in time. That's the only thing that matters right now."

"I almost didn't."

"But you did."