ROGUE BLOOD
If Gus finds out, he’ll never stop until the child is dead.
Helena gasps again. Her grip falters. “Please.”
I swallow hard, my throat tight with tears. “I promise.”
The second I say it, she collapses against the mattress. I catch the baby, small and blood-slicked, as she slips into the world with a piercing cry.
“She’s beautiful,” I whisper.
Small, fragile and covered in blood, the baby takes her first breath, her tiny body trembling from the cold air.
Helena’s tears aren’t from pain this time, but something deeper. Something stronger. “Let… let me hold her.”