Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady
Chapter 32
That evening…
Hope checked on the potatoes.She was making a roast chicken with all of the trimmings for dinner. It was her turn to prepare a meal. That’s not why she had offered; she needed to keep busy. It made the time go quicker. It made her think about other things. Things other than the man she was stuck in there with. Other things besides what might be going on outside. Or what would happen to them. She had to stop herself from putting her hand on her stomach…there was that, too. The chance of her becoming pregnant should pale into insignificance beside the very real possibility of dying. And yet she couldn’t stop thinking about it, which made her think about Reece all over again.
He was working out. She was trying not to watch, but he was doing push-ups with one hand. Grunting here and there, which made her feel hot under the collar.
Not looking.
Hope was going to focus on making a delicious meal. She wasn’t going to think about her missed birth control pill. There was such a small chance that she might be pregnant. Tiny. It was stupid to give it any thought. Even more stupid was how her heart raced at the prospect. It felt like excitement she was feeling.
No!
She and Reece weren’t together. In fact, she was still married to another man. One who was expecting a baby with her sister. Imagine if she were pregnant too. It would be a mess. A whole terrible mess. Not how she saw it happening at all. There was no picket fence. No order in her life. It would be wrong on every level.
Reece jumped to his feet in one graceful move. One she hadn’t thought possible. He lifted his head, seeming to listen for something.
Wingbeats.
“Let go of me!” a woman shouted from outside as claws scraped on the rocks. “You brute!” the woman shouted even louder. “Asshole!”
“Ow!” a man said. “She’s like a hellcat.”
“Let me go!” It was Claire.
No!
They had Claire.
Reece had moved to the cage door.
“Step back!” a male voice shouted. She recognized Milos. He was holding Claire’s arm tightly. Her face was a mask of rage.
Claire kicked Milos in the shin.
“Stop that, female!” Milos growled. All Hope could see was the spattered blood on Milos’s chest.
“I’m the queen, you piece of shit!” Claire screamed. “Let me go!”
“Move away from the gate,” Cradock shouted. “This nest is surrounded. Do not try to escape, or the queen might get hurt,” he warned Reece.
Every muscle in Reece’s body looked bunched and ready. His eyes glowed. “How did they get to her?” he muttered as he stepped back. “How?” He turned to look at Hope. “This is my fault.”
Hope shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s not your fault.”
“I know who caused this!” Reece’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to kill him with my bare hands for this.”
They watched as Claire was shoved into the cage and the door locked behind her.
“I’ll need that list I told you about earlier,” Hope shouted to Milos. They pushed a pen and paper through the bars and waited while she made her list of medical supplies.
“You’ll have the items later tonight.”
“Not good enough,” Hope yelled, but they were already flying away. “How are you?” Hope gripped Claire by the elbow and helped her sit on the bed.
Claire’s face was pale. Her eyes wide. She was breathing heavily. “Not good.” She made a squeak of pain, touching her lower belly. “I think I’m in labor. The pains started soon after they kidnapped me. They hurt Locke. I think he might be…he might…” She burst into tears. “I think he’s dead.”
