Chapter 14

It was January First – New Year's Day and Béla writhed on the bed, sweating and delirious, with a body temperature of a hundred and six. The baby inside her was a lot hotter than that.

'She's burning me!" Béla cried. "She wants out!" Katie and Jake held Béla down on the bed while Frank Junior got a hypo ready.

"This should induce your labor," he told Béla. 'I only hope to hell it works on her species... ' He shot the needle gun into her belly. Béla curled up in a ball, a growling scream coming from her throat.

"Praetor! Tell me what to do!" Katie cried, half lying across Béla's feverish, sweaty body, desperately holding her down as her contractions started.

'You must mind-link with the child and find out why she is behaving this way.'

"Why can't you do it?" Katie asked the voice in her head. "I'm pretty busy here!"

Béla's elbow cracked her in the jaw as she tried to escape from the agony in her belly.

"Put her to sleep or something, will you?" Katie cried out. A few seconds later, Béla slumped limply back.

'The princess is asleep. She will not remain asleep for long. Her pain is too great. She must stay awake and stay hydrated.'

Katie lay down next to Béla and put her arms around Béla's hot belly, resting her head against her side. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the heat radiating from Béla's belly.

'Elizabeth! Where are you?' Katie thought, concentrating on the search-image of Beth.