“What would you say about doing a little more of that…exploring…right now?” she asked.
His lips curled into a gorgeous smile, one that lit up his entire face and crinkled the skin around his eyes. A full-blown grin she hadn’t seen before. One that made him not just sexy as hell, but devastatingly handsome. “I’d say…get me out of this water, and I will explore until you scream.”
She could think of no better way to spend her last night. “You’re on.”
Chapter Eighteen
A chill spread down Demetrius’s spine, one born not just of the cool air in the room but of fear.
Behind the drape, Callia spoke quietly with the Misos healer, Lena, and a nurse who’d stayed behind to help with the delivery. Metal clanked against metal as they picked up or put down instruments. The scent of antiseptic cleaners filled the operating room.
He looked down at Isadora and brushed a lock of hair back that had slipped free of the cap on her head. “You did great at the ceremony the other day. I didn’t get a chance to tell you. You had the Council quaking with your speech.”
She tipped her head toward him. A faint smile tugged at her lips, but her eyes were closed. “Thanks. But we both know you exaggerate. The Council has never been intimidated by me.”
“Yeah, they are. You’re stronger than your father, and they know it. They’re afraid of change, and you’re bringing it. I’ll never forget the looks on their faces when you charged into that hall and stopped my execution.”
Her eyes drifted open. Fathomless, chocolate eyes he could look into forever. “I’ll never forget that moment either. Seeing you strung up like that… It was the worst moment of my life.”
His heart took a long, hard roll. “And seeing you was my very best.”
“Oh, Demetrius...”
He wanted to hold her hand, but her arms were strapped down for the surgery, so instead he brushed his fingers against the cap on her head and lowered his forehead to hers. Please don’t take her from me… “There’s more for you to do. Still so many things in Argolea that only you can change.”
A weak smile tugged at her mouth. “You worry too much about me.”
“I always have. That’s nothing new.”
“I’m going to be fine, Demetrius. It’s our baby I’m worried ab—”
Isadora’s body jostled from whatever they were doing behind the curtain, and she sucked in a sudden breath, as if in pain. He tensed, and then, from beyond the drape, a tiny cough echoed, followed by a high-pitched infant scream.
Isadora’s eyes grew wide. She lifted her head but couldn’t move any other part of her body. “Is it…”?
“It’s a girl,” Callia announced, a smile in her voice. “Give us a minute to get her cleaned up.”
“A girl?” Isadora looked toward Demetrius with wide eyes. “Are you sure? Look again. It has to be a boy. I dreamt about it.”
A hundred emotions pummeled Demetrius’s chest but he was too afraid the Fates were about to rip his world out from under him to smile. “Your gift of foresight isn’t reliable when it comes to you, kardia.” Lifting his head, he asked, “Is she okay?”
“She’s perfect,” Callia answered. “Ten fingers, ten toes. A little small, but so is her mom.”
The baby screamed louder, and Callia laughed. “Can you hear that? I’d say she definitely has some Argonaut genes in her.”
Dressed in scrubs, Callia emerged from behind the screen, a smile bright on her face. In her arms, she held a tiny bundle wrapped in a pale blue blanket. “Here you go, Daddy.”
Demetrius pushed to his feet. The rolling chair he’d been sitting on skidded backwards. Callia handed him the bundle. Nerves pinged through his stomach, and his arms shook as he cradled the small package against his chest.
There were two moments in his life he would never forget. The day Isadora had saved his life, and this. The baby stopped screaming, stared up at him with big, gray eyes. And blinked several times.
All these months he’d been afraid, not just for Isadora’s health but for what he’d see in his child’s eyes. Would she be evil, like his mother Atlanta? Would she fight an inner darkness, as he and Nick did on a daily basis? Or would the light from Isadora and her link to the Horae be enough to overpower everything else?
But when he looked into his daughter’s eyes for the first time, he didn’t see darkness. He didn’t see hatred or revenge or the million other things his mother had hoped for in an heir. He saw the future. And he saw love.
Tears pricked his eyes. He smiled, blinked several times to clear his vision, and whispered, “Heaven.”
“Demetrius?”
He swiped at his eyes with his shoulder, turned, and lowered the baby so Isadora could see her. “Say hi to your matéras, sweet baby girl.”
Isadora lifted her head. The baby stared at her, then opened her little mouth wide and yawned.
“Oh my gods,” Isadora whispered. “She’s beautiful.”
Demetrius smiled at the tears filling his mate’s eyes. “She’s not a boy.”
“Are you kidding? Boys are useless. She’s…perfect.”
At Demetrius’s side, Callia laughed. She patted Demetrius’s shoulder and looked down at her sister. “We’re almost done here, Isa. Once we get you stitched up, we’ll let you hold your baby.”
She moved back behind the curtain, and Demetrius sniffled and pushed the blanket down so Isadora could see their daughter’s tiny hands.
“Oh…see?” Isadora blinked back tears. “I told you everything was going to be okay. Didn’t I tell you?”
“You did. I’ll never doubt you again. Gods, I love you so damn much.” He pressed his lips against Isadora’s, then laughed when the baby grunted from being squeezed between them.
He eased back and swiped at the tear sliding down Isadora’s temple. Love flooded his heart—for his wife, for his baby, for everything he’d never expected and now couldn’t live without. “She needs a name, kardia.”
Isadora tipped her head and studied their daughter. “You said heaven when you first saw her. What about…Elysia?”
From Elysium, the Isles of the Blessed, the afterlife where the heroes were said to dwell. He looked down at his daughter’s picture-perfect face and smiled. “Elysia. I like that. It fits. It’s how I feel when I’m with you.”
Isadora’s gaze drifted up, held his and softened. “I love you too. Thank you. Thank you for her.”
He lowered his lips to hers again and kissed her gently, sweetly. The baby yawned again, content now between them.
“Um, Callia…” From behind the curtain, Lena’s voice rang out. “I need you. Her blood pressure’s dropping.”
Demetrius drew back from Isadora. Her face paled. Her eyes grew distant. From behind the screen, Callia’s tense voice said, “Hold on. Let me just—”
Isadora’s eyes drifted closed. A crash echoed, and Lena yelled, “Callia!”
All that relief Demetrius had felt jolted to bone-chilling panic. “Kardia?”
Oh gods…
The door to the operating room pushed open. Voices flooded the space. Zander’s. Lena’s arguing with him to get out. Casey’s as she rushed in to help.
But all Demetrius could focus on was his mate. Lying still as death. Growing paler by the second. He handed the baby to Casey and pulled the cap off Isadora’s head. “Kardia, stay with me. Stay with me!”