Christian raised his head briefly, distracted from reading a rather fascinating book on shamanism that a store regular, a shaman herself, had loaned him. Something kept nagging at him, interfering with his concentration.

He closed his eyes and turned his awareness outward, scanning the house. Mark was down in the living room, engrossed in a game on the PlayStation, adrenaline levels slightly elevated. Sid was in his porch, playing tag with a couple of the small earth elementals that cared for the lush plants, all of them clearly enjoying the game to no end. Eric was in his room... there was the problem. Christian put down the book and headed for Eric's room, not pausing even to close the library door behind him.

Eric lay curled on his bed in a tight ball, his breathing perceptibly faster and shallower than it should be. To Christian's extended senses, the energy levels in the room were chaotic: Eric, instinctively, was grabbing wildly for any source of power in range, but the base level from the house spells wasn’t enough to compensate, and his gifts were all instinct, not quite sure what to do with raw power and so putting it only to a very inefficient use while the rest bled away uselessly. Christian had been worried that might happen if the demand increased too high. He really needed to talk to Margaret about some way, any way, that they could help Eric get that under conscious control. But not today.

He went back to the hallway, to the top of the stairs, and shouted down them. “Mark? Eric’s room, red alert!”

“Coming!”

He didn’t wait; he went back to Eric’s room, settled himself on the bed, and forced his worry for Eric away firmly. They had a plan for this, they knew that it worked because they’d tested it repeatedly and enthusiastically, and it would be fine. Kitsune rarely had difficulty giving birth, they’d been assured, and this part shouldn’t take long. Then it would be over and Eric would be safe.

He reached down into the earth, into the familiar rivers of power down there, and made sure he had a strong firm connection; faint rainbows sparkled into life, like ghostly glitter dust, around everything in the room, as the level of ambient power escalated. The spell he’d created for Eric absorbed it, and that boosted the amount that Eric himself was getting, but it was still not being used effectively. They needed one more piece of the puzzle for that.

Come on, this is going to take all three of us...

Bare feet were silent, but he sensed the dark tides of Alexandra's aura nearby; then she was there, joining him on the bed, wearing only a short-skirted, short-sleeved dress made entirely of stretchy lace, nothing under it that he could see. Her expression was impassive, but her eyes were dark with concern.

“Jade?” she asked.

“Would be my guess,” Christian said. “It's around the right time. What I'm doing now is too inefficient, most of it’s being wasted.”

Alexandra nodded. “Then we switch to a more efficient way.” She knelt beside Eric, cupped a hand around his cheek, and called his name gently.

Eric stirred, and moaned softly. “So tired,” he whispered.

“I know. We'll fix that.” She stroked his hair affectionately, soothingly. “Trust Chris and I, all right?”

“Mmhmm.” It was barely audible, more a sigh than a vocalization.

Alexandra pushed him onto his back, carefully, and lowered her head to nuzzle at his throat.

She didn't bite, though; instead, she glanced at Christian. “I'd normally never feed from someone in this condition unless I intended to kill,” she said, very quietly. “If I mess up, I could kill him.”

That wasn't just caution, Christian thought. Lexa genuinely feared exactly that.

“Then be careful and go slow,” he said steadily. “You're used to Eric, there won't be any surprises, and I can keep feeding you both energy all day and all night if need be. Eric trusts you and I trust you, and more to the point, right now Eric needs you.”

Slowly, she nodded, and leaned down again.

Eric hardly twitched when her teeth slid through the skin; it was, by now, too familiar a sensation to provoke much reaction on its own. When she kissed him, his response was more reflex than genuine. Christian watched, worriedly, while Eric's precarious energy levels dropped even more—though not much, Alexandra was taking as little energy as she possibly could while still in fact feeding.

The feedback loop snapped into place more suddenly and much more perceptibly than was normal; Alexandra shuddered, her supporting hand digging deep into the blankets, and Christian thought he heard fabric tear. No matter, the domovikha would be happy to mend it later, or would send one of her helpers to do so. Christian monitored the flow of power from the ley-lines into the battery spell, but it didn’t actually need to be increased, it was just wasting less now. Alexandra unclenched that hand, one finger at a time, even as he watched, and snuggled herself against Eric, reminding Christian oddly of a mother cat curled around a hurt kitten.

This way was vastly more efficient: Eric's gifts had a direction to work in, and if they needed to replenish far more than Alexandra was actually taking, the difference didn’t seem to matter. With all that energy being put to use instead of wasted, they gradually began to win against the terrible draining from outside. Eric’s energy levels edged up out of the critical range, then up to a point where Christian relaxed.

So did Alexandra. “Better?” she asked Eric gently.

“Much.” He still looked pale, and his voice was a trifle lower and huskier than usual, but at least he was alert. “Jade's having her baby?”

“I would think so,” Alexandra agreed. “You should have called one of us.”

“Didn't have time. I was reading Shakespeare for my English class, and next thing I knew, I was so tired I couldn't move. Shakespeare's not that boring.”

“We'll keep you safe,” Christian assured him.

“Hope Jade's okay.”

“I'm sure she will be. Margaret's with her, and she's an excellent healer aside from having herself had... how many? Four? Five?”

“Five. And she's helped her daughters and a couple of my cousins. And kitsune almost never have trouble. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone from Jade’s clan is also there to help out.” Eric closed his eyes wearily. “Well, if she's having it now, then after today we won't have to worry about my getting tired so much. Either you two can counterbalance it and it'll just be over, or it'll be too much and I'll die and it'll still be over.”

“You are not going to die!” Alexandra said fiercely.

Eric smiled faintly. “Why do I not find it hard to visualize you challenging Death himself to a fight?”

This morbid train of thought was not going to help at all, Christian decided.

“Because she's a crazy wench who'll fight anything that moves and some things that don't,” he said cheerfully. “Or rather, she'll fight anything that wouldn't be more fun to have sex with.” All three of them were going to be right here in Eric's bed for the foreseeable future, and they had to keep Eric from getting depressed; every instinct screamed at him that in a situation like this, resignation and despair and negativity could kill all too easily. Eric had to want to live.

“I don't think I have the energy right now to give a lady what she properly deserves.”

Alexandra kissed him again. “Then this time,” she said, “relax and take instead. It is okay to, sometimes.” Narrow pale hands ran lightly down the length of Eric's body. “There are entirely too many clothes on the bodies on this bed.”

There. Of Eric's favourite pastimes, computers were out, and this wasn’t a gaming moment, but sex would keep not only his energy levels but his mood high.

Christian obligingly helped Lexa strip Eric and himself, before she wriggled out of her stretchy dress.

Eric opened his eyes, and gave Alexandra a proper smile. “You should be well fed, dark lady.”

“As if I'm ever not.” She kissed his throat. “Relax, and let's see what I can do to give you a good reason to stay with us, hmm?”

Much later, they all felt it when the intensity of the draining eased and faded, and within moments vanished altogether.

“See?” Christian said. “All over, and you're still alive.” He stretched, carefully, and his stomach growled. He glanced at the clock, tried to remember what time this had started, and decided it had been something like three hours, give or take.

“Won't be for long with no food,” Eric groaned. “And then a good night's sleep.”

“I'd have to agree. Pizza delivery?”

“Pizza, hell,” Alexandra said. “You two need good food, not junk. I'm paying.”

Christian decided not to argue; he just scooped his glasses off the bedside table, and pulled on his clothes so he could answer the door. Alexandra retrieved her t-shirt, which resumed being the stretchy lace dress again as she pulled it on.

Eric was a bit shaky; Alexandra hovered close, and Christian kept an eye on him, ready to catch him telekinetically if he looked likely to fall on, or down, the stairs.

Eric laughed it off. “Considering that by rights I should be dead, I'm not all that worried about being kinda worn out. Of the two, I much prefer this.”

“How do you know?” Alexandra teased. “Ever been dead?”

“No, but I think I was just in yelling distance, a time or two. It's getting to be a habit.”

Christian waited until Eric was actually sitting at the kitchen table before turning away to get juice and cups. Alexandra phoned a restaurant that did delivery, and ordered a really amazing variety and quantity of food to be delivered.

“I would really like an update,” Christian said. “But I don’t want to phone and disturb them, they’re probably busy.”

“Gran will let us know when she can,” Eric said. “Right now, Jade and her baby matter more than whether we know what’s going on. Huh. Jade has a baby that’s technically mine too. If a human lover got pregnant, well, obviously I’d do whatever I could. With Jade, I’m definitely unnecessary at this point and have been for a while. Part of me wishes I could’ve been with her all along and that I could do more to help, but...” He shrugged. “There’s not really anything I can usefully do, so it’s probably better if I’m not underfoot making a nuisance of myself.”

Christian poured him a glass of juice, and filled one for himself. “She does love you,” he said gently. “We'll go visit them during your week off. This baby can grow up knowing that both parents are alive, despite one being human, and that Jade loved you enough to go to considerable lengths to protect you.”

“Growing up knowing you killed one of your parents sucks,” Alexandra muttered.

The front doorbell rang.

“There’s no way that’s the food already,” Alexandra said. “It’s only been ten minutes since I called.”

Christian shrugged, and went to investigate.

“Pearl? Hi!”

She smiled at him and offered a folded sheet of paper with Eric’s name on the outside. “Just running a quick errand. Is Eric okay? Jade and Margaret are worried, there were a couple of mildly bad moments.”

“Eric’s tired and hungry and we’re waiting for food, but he’ll be back to normal tomorrow. Mm, maybe the day after.”

“Oh, good! I’ll tell them. I need to get back.” She shifted back to her fox form and darted away.

Christian closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

“Foxmail,” he said. “Checking on you and delivering this.” He handed Eric the paper.

Eric unfolded and raised it to read it out loud. “Jade is doing wonderfully, there were no complications. Her one worry was for you, but I’m sure Pearl is going to come back and report that you’re safe, which means that by now, she couldn't be happier―to say nothing of how relieved I’ll be! She said to send hugs all around, and two for you, and that she can hardly wait until you can all come visit and see Jacinth. At the moment, Jacinth is nursing like any other hungry newborn, and Jade is all curled around her like any other proud mother. All of you take care.”

“Perfect,” Christian said.

Smiling, Eric set the letter on the table and raised the glass of juice. “Jade and Jacinth.” Something in his tone made it sound like a prayer. He swallowed about half the juice in a couple of gulps. “And you two, too, for everything. Being dead would mean missing the next bit, and I really want to see Jacinth.”