Word Count::852
Characters::Cord and Muirenn

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Muirenn knew she was running out of time. It was hard to hide a pregnancy forever and she was starting to show. There was really only one place she could go if the rumors were true. Some bar in the middle of nowhere, some place that literally didn’t have a name. 

Finding the place hadn’t been difficult. The waves of magic coming off of the place was like a beacon of hope and the woman was all but clinging to that. It was too late for her, Ren knew that much, but there was no way in hell Robert was getting the child. 

Still, she hesitated just outside of the bar. What if the person that ran the place wasn’t willing to help her? After all, Ren had made some awful choices under Robert’s guidance. But that didn’t mean her baby had to suffer the consequences of who her parents were. 

Cord glanced up when the woman walked through the door, the mess of emotions coming off of her nearly startling. The demon glanced at the hound meandering about and wiping tables before nodding towards the door. The last thing she needed was for someone to come in and startle the woman. 

“I…I’m looking for someone called Cordae?” she asked, trying her hardest to sound confident when she felt anything but.

“That would be me,” Cord answered as she pulled herself atop the bar and over it. She seldom bothered to walk around the damn thing and it showed in the practiced ease of the motion. 

That hadn’t been the answer Ren had expected. She looked younger even than herself, but she was too desperate to question it. “I need help.”

It took a bit of effort to not scoff or roll her eyes. Even an idiot could see the woman needed help just by looking at her. “Gonna need more information ‘n that, darlin’.”

The accent seemed just as out of place as the ginger and the bar they were standing in, so she knew she shouldn’t be so shocked, but she was. 

Her hand went to her stomach for a moment before she slipped off the illusion casting ring she was wearing. It was just strong enough to mask the size of her stomach, to hide, at least on a visual level, that she was nearly towards the end of her pregnancy. 

Cord nodded, not at all surprised. No one was more distressed than a terrified parent. “What seems to be the issue?”

She couldn’t guess if it was a medical situation and the woman was looking to make a deal or if it was the sheer demonic aura coming off of her. At best guess, Cord was willing to bet the baby was a cambion. 

“He can’t find out about her. I need…I need her safe. It’s too late for me, but not her. He’ll hurt her if he knows about her.” The swell of emotion she had been bottling so long was beginning to show through the cracks, the damn beginning to break. She just wanted her baby safe.

After a moment, the demon touched her arm gently, soothing her and quieting the hurricane that seemed to be raging inside the woman. It wasn’t quite as easy as it should have been, but it was an indication of the power level the witch possessed. The child was going to be one hell of a powerhouse if it got the right mix of genetics. That limited where she could be sent. 

“I’ll help you, but you have to be willing to let her go when she gets here,” she explained gently. If whomever the father was was so hellbent on hurting the child, he would be able to use the mother to track her if they stayed in touch.

“I’ve made my peace with it. I just want her safe. Nothing else is important.”

Truthfully, Ren knew her mother and the council the woman sat on were about to intervene. They had already stripped her brother, bound even the smallest flicker of magic in him. It was only a matter of time before they got to her as well. She was worse than Ajax was. Hell, she had been the one to turn Ajax down that path. All because she thought she was in love. 

“I’m far enough to be induced. I need this over with.”

Cord blinked at her slowly. “You do know there are risks to that, right?” If the lungs weren’t fully developed, the child could be in trouble the moment she was born and the demon honestly didn’t have the equipment for that.

“I know the risks, but the risk of him finding out are greater. Please. He’ll notice if I’m gone too long.” The desperation was rising again as she practically clung to the demon. She knew it was foolish to trust another of Robert’s kind, but she had heard that this one was different. Exiled. 

It was the only hope she had for her daughter.

“I need to do an ultrasound first. I won’t do it if the baby won’t survive the procedure.”