The Gold Queen (Prequel)

Feb 29, 2000

***Karina***

“I have to get it out!” He snarls, pulling the scalpel out and plunging it into my belly again. “Es un demonio! Un demonio! {It’s a demon! A demon!}

As I feel the blade about to pierce into my stomach for the third time, a funny thought enters my mind.

This man, the man I had once admired so much, had trained me to be a killing machine. How ironic that I would one day use the skills he taught me on him.

Grabbing his wrist and twisting it back so that the scalpel now faced him, I push it with all my might towards him. I could feel the life draining out from my wounds, but I refused to give up. My baby’s life was on the line.

The General was a strong man, despite his twisted mind. He struggles against me with such a force, screaming his head off as he fights.

“Lo tengo que matar {I have to kill it},” he mutters, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. “Tiene que morir! {It has to die!}”

In the midst of all the chaos, I had dropped the remote the nurse had given me and the garden was completely empty. I didn’t have a mind-link with Valentina and Emi was too far to reach.

“Auxilio! Auxilio! {help!}” I cry out, hoping by some miracle, Valentina was by the door or a passing nurse could call for help.

He takes advantage of my distraction to slap me over the head and I stumble back a few paces, twisting my ankle and falling over. The general rises from his chair, holding the scalpel tightly in his hand as he wobbles over to me. I scramble back as far as possible, my back colliding with the bench I had been sitting on earlier.

The General towers over me, his crazed eyes zeroing in on my belly. He gets down on all fours, panting as he climbs on top of me.

“Shhhh… it’s okay Kari…” he murmurs as I cry. “I’ll get it out quickly.”

I let out one last scream before realizing no one would save me. I was on my own.

Taking a deep breath, my arms feel the earth for a weapon. My fingers find a small stone and grip it tightly in my hand. The General bursts into a laughing fit as he raises the scalpel over his head.

Now is my chance!

My leg is crushed by General’s weight, but I wiggle it free and slam my knee into his family jewels. He howls in pain, dropping the scalpel onto the ground and hunching over to massage his balls. He crashes beside me, his hands between his legs as he cries. I swing my arm over, slamming the stone onto the side of his head.

Knowing he could get up any second, I scramble onto my knees and bring the stone down on his face, his nose breaking by the sheer force of my swing. All I see is red, my anger fueling my every movement. This man was no longer my father… He was the man who tried to kill my son, the man who once tried to sell me to pay off a debt, the monster… who needed to die.

I swing down the stone again and again until all that remains is the pulp of his face, his body going still. The only sound that can be heard is the sound of my own chest pumping with adrenaline.

I sit back against the bench to rest, feeling the exhaustion slowly creeping in on me. My belly was on fire, every breath I took burning me from within.

“HELP ME!” I scream. “SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!” I whimper, placing my hand on the wounds to stop the bleeding.

Suddenly I hear the door to the garden open, Valentina waltzing in.

“Did you call me-“

She stops dead in her tracks when she sees the General’s lifeless body on the ground and me leaning against the bench, b***d seeping from my stomach.

“Oh GODDESS!” she screams, running over to me, her body splitting in two as a clone appears beside her.

“H-he tried t-to kill t-the baby,” I wheeze, struggling to keep my eyes open.

“No, no, no, no, Karina. Stay with me,” Valentina snaps, tapping on my cheeks to keep me up.

She and her clone sling my arms around their shoulders and I scream when I feel the pain from my wound.

“H-help me..” I whimper. “P-please, don’t let my baby die.”

“No one is going to die,” Valentina soothes, she and the clone moving slowly.

A third clone suddenly appears, running out of the garden to get help while the other two get me to my feet. After a few agonizing minutes, I’m finally up, a bit breathless from all the work.

We hear footsteps race towards us as the door bursts open and a team of nurses and doctors wheel in a gurney. I’m carefully lifted on, Valentina holding my hand the entire time.

“She’s lost a lot of b***d,” one of the doctors says. “We have to get the baby out now.”

I burst into tears, fear consuming my every thought. It was too soon to get the baby out. I was only half way through the pregnancy!

“No,” I whimper, shaking my head. “No, you can’t-“

“You’re going to be okay,” Valentina says, kissing my hand. “I’ll just go get Emi.”

She had never been this nice to me but her presence was so comforting at a time like this, I needed her to stay.

“P-please,” I cry, not wanting to be left alone. “Please don’t leave me. Please, I can’t do this by myself.”

She stares at me for a moment, trying to decide what to do.

“Okay,” she nods. “Okay, I won’t go. I’ll stay right here with you.”

Relieved, I finally close my eyes and surrender to sleep.

***Emiliano***

“Sofia!” I gasp, staring at the bloody sleeve she had coughed into. “Sofia what the-“

I don’t even finish my sentence before she starts shaking violently, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Afraid she might hit her head on something, I roll her onto her side, shoving a pillow beneath her head. B***d starts to drip from her nose, lips, and eyes, sending my wolf into a panicked frenzy.

“Mateo!” I mind-link with urgency, hoping even in his anger, he would take my call.

He g****s back in annoyance, clearly still angry with Sofia.

“Look if you’re calling just to get me to talk to her, then stop!” He snaps. “I don’t want to see her right now!”

“Teo, something’s wrong with Sofia. She’s having a seizure and she’s bleeding.”

“Emi, this isn’t funny!” He warns.

“TEO WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN?” I snap back. “This isn’t a joke! Something is seriously wrong with her and I don’t know what to do.”

Suddenly, Sofia stops seizing, starting to scream bloody murder instead. In full panic mode, I grab her face and force an electric jolt in her body to assess her situation.

“Come on Sofia, calm down,” I murmur, smoothing back her hair as I concentrate on her body.

A small wave energy surges through her until I sense the source of the problem.

Poison… This is witchcraft! Estevan snarls. There’s a f*****g witch here!

I don’t get much time to dwell on the thought when I feel a stabbing pain in my abdomen. My wolf whines and whimpers, pacing back and forth in his anxiousness.

What’s wrong? I ask, feeling the pain intensify to the point that I find it hard to breathe.

She’s in trouble… Estevan replies. Our mate is in trouble.

Karina… I g***n as another wave of pain rushes up my stomach. Oh goddess, our baby…

Sofia’s screams deafen my ears.

“Emi! Make it stop! Make it stop!” She begs, the veins on her neck popping out as she writhes on the couch.

My heart was tearing to pieces. My mate and child needed me but so did my Queen.

I didn’t have time to wallow in my pity or think. I had to act quickly or I would lose them all. Scolding myself to get it together, I take a huge gulp of air and cup Sofia’s cheeks. Her tears of b***d roll onto my fingers and I wipe them away with my thumbs.

How do I help her? I ask.

Absorb the poison. Imagine yourself sucking out, my wolf instructs. But fair warning. Without lavender oil, this will hurt. A lot.

It didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to make her pain go away.

“I’ve got you, Sofia,” I murmur, letting a jolt of energy enter her body.

I attempt to absorb the poison when I feel a burning sensation shoot up my arm towards my temple. I try my best to stifle a scream, burying my face in my arm and biting down hard to hold it all in. Gritting my teeth, I push onward, absorbing the witch poison out of her system. It feels as though a thousand needles were pricking my temples, the pain hitting every nerve and setting my body on fire.

Sofia slowly starts to relax, her beating heart coming down to normal rhythm. She sighs in relief as I take the last drop and slumps over on the couch in exhaustion. I, on the other hand, crash on the floor, writhing in agony as I process the poison.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, my wolf instructs. This pain shall pass.

I stifle my whimpers, my body convulsing a little from holding in my screams. A few minutes drag on until it slowly starts to subside. I hear a crash and roll over to see Sofia on the ground, crawling on all fours towards me.

“Emi…” she cries. “Emi, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” I nod, wiping my tears from my eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

We hear a swarm of footsteps come into the room, Mateo and several guards arriving.

“Sofia!” Mateo yelps, rushing to us on the ground, the b***d on Sofia’s face freaking him out. “Sofia what-“

“She was poisoned…” I murmur, slowly raising up to a sitting position. “My wolf sensed the witchcraft in her system. A witch must have breached us somehow.”

“That’s impossible,” Mateo says, shaking his head. “There’s no way a witch would have made it past the guards.”

“Well somehow, a witch got in here,” I sigh, staring at the glass of water Sofia drank before she started convulsing.

That maid had been too nervous…

Before I could bring up the issue, my wolf snarls at me.

Mate! GO HELP HER NOW! He snaps.

I’m on my feet in an instant, scrambling to find my car keys and rush home.

“Where are you going?” Sofia asks as I search my pockets.

“Karina…” I mutter, finally fishing out the keys. “Something’s not right with her.”

Emi! Valentina shrieks.

Being twins, Valentina and I shared a special mind-link that could somehow reach both of us even when we were miles apart.

Emi! Come to the hospital! She orders. The baby is coming now!

Any sense of calm leaves me at once and my knees feel as though they might buckle any second. now

The baby… It’s too early!

I must have looked unstable because Mateo reaches over and forces me to lean on him.

“You okay buddy?” he asks, a storm of worry swirling in his grey eyes.

“Karina’s having the baby,” I whisper, still in shock by the news.

Mateo gives me a confused look but I do not have time to explain all the details. I need to get to the hospital. I stumble onto my feet when Sofia takes the keys from my hand.

“Teo drives. You’re in no condition to get there on your own,” She says, her voice stern.

The look on her face lets me know I had no choice in the matter and she hands the keys off to my brother. The three of us pack into my car, Sofia forcing me to sit with her in the back. My mind roams to dark places. Karina was not as strong as she let on. I didn’t think she would survive the loss of our first child. I knew I wouldn’t.

Sofia squeezes my hand for comfort and I’m grateful she didn’t let me come alone. Mateo, as usual, speeds through all the traffic signs, honking and swearing at people to move out of the way. I’m amazed we were not pulled over.

As we pull up to the hospital, my heart thumps against my ribcage violently.

Please be okay… Please be okay.

Valentina comes racing out, grabbing my wrist and dragging me inside.

“She’s been put under,” she says, her voice shaking. “And it’s not looking too good.”

She leads me to the room and as I walk in, the doctor lifts a silent baby from Karina’s body.

It’s not crying… Why isn’t it crying? I panic.

A team of nurses scramble to attend the child, cleaning him up and hooking him up to a million machines. A nurse begins CPR, the silence in the room deafening.

No…

Panicking, I race into the room, a number of nurses rushing to hold me back.

“You’re not sterile, sir. You need to get back to the waiting room!” One of them orders, but I hear none of it.

I need to see my son.

Pushing past the medical staff, I march up to the nurse holding my son and take him from her arms. I couldn’t feel his tiny heart beat, my own heart plummeting to my stomach.

Looking back at Karina, a thought enters my mind. She would be absolutely broken to wake with no baby in her arms. I could not give up on him… not when he was her savior, her chance to have a loving family.

I focus on his tiny body, forcing back my tears as I gather up every ounce of energy I had left and pour it into him.

Please Moon Goddess, I pray to her. Please don’t take our son home yet.

I don’t know how much time lapses but it felt like an eternity before I heard the most beautiful sound, the sound of his heart, faint but beating in his chest. I heal him for a bit longer until he looked like a full-term baby, plump and bright red as b***d pumped through his tiny body. He begins to wail, the sound making my heart flutter with joy. It was at that moment that I finally burst into tears. He was so small; so small and so fragile, and so absolutely perfect.

A nurse sticks her hands out to me and after a bit of hesitation on my part, I finally hand the child over to her. Another nurse helps me into a sterile gown so I could stay with Karina while the nurse finishes cleaning off the baby.

My sense of peace is temporarily interrupted by the sound of Karina’s heart monitor going off like a siren. The doctors scramble to fix her up but I knew they could do nothing compared to what I could. I don’t offer an explanation, my eyes going straight to my mate lying still on the table. A mask pumps oxygen to Karina while the medical team works on her belly. I push past the doctors, placing my hands on her body. The doctors watch in awe as I work, Karina’s wounds stitching themselves back together until there is not even a scar left. Her heart begins to descend back to normal and I’m thoroughly exhausted when I’m finished.

The doctors clap and cheer, a nurse bringing me a wheelchair for me to rest as they wheel us out to a private room. The nurse sits me next to Karina and when she’s done setting her up, I climb into the bed with my mate, pulling Karina to my chest.

“I’m right here, baby,” I whisper, smoothing back her hair. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“What will you be naming the boy?” A nurse with a clipboard asks as she walks in.

Karina and I had argued over a name for weeks, unable to agree on one we both liked. I think for a minute before the perfect name comes to mind.

“Salvador,” I murmur, looking over at my wife. “His name is Salvador, our little savior.”